July 25, 2003
To Iraq, under the sign of the "Moor Killer"
If President Bush's use of the word "crusade" to refer to the war against terrorism offended many history-conscious Muslims, what will they think of this?
A row broke out in Spain yesterday after the country sent its first troops to patrol Iraq wearing on their shoulders the Cross of St James of Compostela - popularly known in Spain as "the Moor Killer".For source material on medieval Spain, look here. Note that Matamoros ("Moor-Killer") is also the name of the Mexican border town which abuts on Brownsville, Texas.Patches bearing the cross, the symbol of a saint who allegedly guided the medieval Christian reconquista of Spain from the Muslims, are to be worn by a 2,000-strong Spanish brigade in central Iraq, who will patrol the sacred Shia city of Najaf.
Posted by David on July 25, 2003 3:17 PM
Huzzah for Santiago! My confirmation patronal saint, by the way -- and I'm teaching the Pilgrimage Roads seminar this fall.
Posted by: Michael Tinkler on July 27, 2003 8:11 AM
I didn't blog it, but there was a recent article on visiting Santiago in -- I think -- the Times of London. Nothing remarkable, but it did note that one can fly directly from London, which made me envious. It's so cheap and convenient to pop over to almost any part of Europe from hubs such as Stansted.
Posted by: David on July 27, 2003 10:10 AM
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