Recently there was a post on Facebook by the Ishbilia Mosque in Seville, Spain (using the name the Islamic Community) demanding that King Felipe VI of Spain apologize to Muslims for the Reconquista of the Middle Ages, during which Christians retook Spain (as well as present-day Portugal) from the Moors (who were Muslim). Such a demand follows on the heels of Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Abrader asking the Spanish monarch to apologize for the conquest of Mexico.
I wonder if other nations that were former colonies of Spain will also be demanding an apology. The same might be said for any other nation that was a colony at one point or another throughout history.
But let’s focus on the Reconquista. It was not an unprovoked conflict waged by Christians against Muslims. It was an attempt to take back the Iberian Peninsula that had been conquered by the Moors whom had invaded the region (as well as France) during the Seventh and Eighth Centuries. In A.D. 732, the Moors were
defeated at the Battle of Poitiers (a.k.a. the Battle of Tours) by the Frankish chieftain Charles Martel. As a result, the Moors were driven back into Spain, of which its entire Medieval History became the Reconquista, which was completed in 1492. Muslims are bitter over this, because they believe that any region that
they conquer thus belongs to Muslims forever. Hence, they want Spain (which they refer to as Andalusia) back under their control.
Contrary to popular belief, Spain was not a pluralist society under the Muslims, even if there were Muslims who were lenient on non-Muslim subjects. The same can be said over all other lands under Muslim domination, including the Holy Land, which the Crusaders sought to retake from the Seljuk Turks when the latter
posed a threat to the Byzantine Empire. Hence, both the Reconquista and the Crusades were responses to Muslim invasions, not unprovoked wars. It should be noted that Muslims were also carrying out raids and invasions upon Christian lands throughout the Mediterranean during the Middle Ages (e.g. Italy).
A repeat of the Reconquista would take place in Eastern Europe. In the Fifteenth Century, the Ottoman Empire completed its conquest of the Byzantine Empire. But the tide of Muslim expansion into Europe would soon turn in favor of Christendom. The Turks were defeated at the gates of Vienna in 1529, and again in 1683. By the early Twentieth Century, Eastern Europe was free of Ottoman rule.
A Reconquista would also take place in Russia. Muslims conquered areas of southern Russia and its neighbors during the Eighteenth Century but were soon driven out.
It should be noted that Muslim lands in Asia and Africa would later be colonized by the nations of Europe.
As a result of these Reconquistas and the Muslim invasions being repelled, Christianity (and the freedom and ideas it promoted) would become the heritage of the West.
Thus, there should be no apology for the Reconquista. Nor should there be any apology for the Crusades.
