The far distant shore 10


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page 39  Before the 8 th century AD, the so-called Dark Ages of Europe were particularly dark for the Iberian Peninsula, but even more so for the Balearic Islands (Formentera, Ibiza, Majorca, Minorca). Since ancient times, the islands had maintained an extraordinary freedom and prosperity even after the Muslim invasion, due to a political and religious "independence", but in 902 AD the Muslims annexed the islands, basically to defend them from pirate attacks.

Spanish history is highly infused with legends for the period between the 7 th and 8 th centuries, when Muslim Moors invaded the Catholic Visigoths in the Iberian Peninsula, after a dark 7 th century characterized by persecution of Jews and conflict between kings, nobility and clergy. The reasons for the Moorish invasion are uncertain. It's even said that the Jews helped the Moors, but mostly there are only legends about a Christian vassal who betrayed the king: the legend of King Roderick, Count Julian and his daughter Florinda.

In this legend King Roderick violated the door of an enchanted tower, finding the Table of Solomon made of gold, silver and priceless jewels, but also the prophetic message of the imminent invasion. The tower, which fell the following night, was part of the ancient palace built by Hercules above a vast underground labyrinth of caves, founding Toledo, the capital of the Kingdom. The Cave of Hercules in Toledo still exists and is said to be the remains of those caves.

In the Middle Ages, the caves were the site of black magic and necromancy. Curious people and treasure hunters have investigated the caves for centuries without luck, but just thinking about the tower itself was also very valuable, according to some: "None but light and inconsiderate minds do hastily reject the marvellous. To the thinking mind the whole world is enveloped in mystery, and every thing is full of type and portent. To such a mind the necromantic tower of Toledo will appear as one of those wondrous monuments of the olden time; one of those Egyptian and Chaldaic piles, storied with hidden wisdom and mystic prophecy, which have been devised in past ages, when man yet enjoyed an intercourse with high and spiritual natures, and when human foresight partook of divination." — Washington Irving, Legends of the conquest of Spain  sources → Irving, Washington. Legends of the Conquest of Spain. Paris: Baudry's European Library, 1836. 31. Print. http://books.google.com/books?id=sh86AQAAIAAJ&pg=PA31