In October 1469, Princess Jiashan, the most beloved daughter of Zhu Qizhen of Ming Yingzong, gave birth to her first child, and when the baby let out its first cry, the princess shed tears of joy.
At the same time, nine thousand kilometers away on the Iberian Peninsula, a foreign princess is also shedding tears of joy.
However, compared to Princess Jiashan's stability and happiness, the joy that this princess is experiencing is quite bumpy, but it is enough to change history.
She was Princess Isabella of Castile.
At that time, Castile was not yet called Spain. The Iberian Peninsula is also shrouded in religious conflicts.
Against this background, Princess Isabella and Prince Fernando of Aragon chose an unusual path - they eloped. Later, in the presence of Cardinal Rodrigo, the lovers secretly held a grand wedding.
Despite being secretly married, their marriage was considered legal thanks to a marriage license issued by the Pope, and both countries had to recognize their marriage.
As the heir to the two most powerful Christian states in the Iberian Peninsula, Princess Isabella married Prince Fernando and nominally unified the Christian states of the Iberian Peninsula except Portugal.
In 1474, Princess Isabella succeeded to the throne of Castile, and five years later, her husband, Prince Fernando, succeeded to the throne of Aragon, giving them the collective title of "Catholic Double Kings".
On the basis of the union of the Kingdom of Castile and the Kingdom of Aragon, they implemented kingdom co-rule and eventually established the Kingdom of Spain in 1492.
The Fernandos could never have imagined what Spain would be like in 530 years.
The Kingdom of Spain, standing proudly in the southwest of the European continent, occupies most of the picturesque island of Iberia, bordering France and Portugal, and has a vast land area of about 500,000 square kilometers, nearly the sum of five Zhejiang provinces.
Today, Spain is not only the third largest country in Europe, but also a sacred place in the hearts of countless travelers.
It is surrounded by the sea and the sun shines all year round, with the capital Madrid having more than 300 sunny days a year. The Eastern Mediterranean, the Atlantic Ocean and the Cantabrian Sea together carve out nearly 8,000 kilometers of Spain's coastline, spreading out some of the best beaches you can imagine.
If you come to Spain during the peak travel season, you will definitely be mesmerized by the scenery on the beach.
The clear blue sea in the distance, the pale golden sand beach is bustling with people, the open-air café not far away always exudes tantalizing aromas, and the empanada pie made from the best seafood in Europe is unforgettable.
Choose a café to sit down, order a latte in your hand, watch the swimsuit beauties running and chasing on the beach, feel the unrestrained enthusiasm of Spain, can you imagine that Spain spent nearly 800 years under dull and rigid Muslim rule?
Today, however, apart from the southern Andalusia region, which retains some traces of Arab architecture, there are few other traces of Islam in modern Spain.
So how did Spain complete the de-Islamization so thoroughly?
Let the time go back to Zhenguan for another 6 years, as soon as Emperor Taizong of Tang Li Shimin sat firmly on the dragon chair, a fierce rival rose in the distant Arabian Peninsula, and by the time of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, its national strength and momentum even surpassed that of the Tang Dynasty, defeating the Tang Dynasty's army in one fell swoop and seizing control of Central Asia.
The Chinese call it "Big Food", while it calls itself, the Arab Empire.
In 711 AD, the armies of the Arab Empire occupied almost the entire Iberian Peninsula. They established the Al-Andalus regime in the land and began to vigorously promote Islam.
However, after the occupation of Spain, the Arab Empire did not adopt a policy of forced religious assimilation. On the contrary, they have shown surprisingly tolerant attitude and have not forced the people of the occupied territories to change their religion.
This is not because the rulers of the Arab empire have suddenly changed their temperament, but because they have accumulated experience in the long process of conquest: if the colonies were to be administered purely by force, they would inevitably provoke strong revolt, and the colonies that had been won so hard would become difficult to manage.
Thus, in the early days of the Al-Andalus regime, Muslims adopted a policy of religious tolerance towards Christians.
But religious tolerance is conditional, for example, Al-Andalus allows local Christians to retain their religion, but requires them to pay a high poll tax; Christian buildings are protected to a certain extent, but they are not allowed to be renovated, even if they are badly damaged by the war.
In order to completely conquer this land, the Arabs built a large number of mosques in the Iberian Peninsula, in an attempt to subtly influence the local population with Islamic ideas and make them gradually convert their faith.
This policy of tolerance has indeed served to stabilize the situation in the short term. However, it also laid the groundwork for the smooth and rapid removal of Islamic traces in Spain.
More than 700 years later, Queen Isabella drove all the Arabs out of Europe in 1492 AD. Since then, Spain has truly achieved its political goal of recovering lost territory and unifying the country.
In the early years of the Reconquista, Spain skillfully borrowed the tactics of the Arabs and showed great tolerance towards Muslims and did not take drastic actions to suppress Islam. This tactic has led to a gradual relaxation of vigilance and resistance among Muslims within the borders.
However, as the situation in Spain stabilized, the newly succeeded King of Spain, Charles V, grandson of Queen Isabella, realized that the time was ripe to eliminate the influence of Islam.
As a result, his attitude changed abruptly, and he began to adopt a series of harsh measures to remove the traces of Islam.
In order to erase the traces of Islam, Charles V can be said to have done everything.
He first cut off the chain of Islamic culture and ordered the nationwide search and destruction of all Islamic books.
In order to completely erase the imprint of Islamic culture in Spain, these books range not only to religious texts, but also to Islamic philosophical, scientific and literary works, which can be said to be the Spain version of "book burning".
Faced with the large community of Muslims in the country, the Spain royal family took tough measures, demanding that all Muslims must convert to Catholicism or face the threat of death.
And in order to accelerate the marginalization of Islamic culture, Spain authorities have also banned the use of Arabic and Arabic scripts by natives, otherwise they will be punished heavily.
This not only denies Muslims their right to the language, but also forces them to abandon their cultural traditions that have been passed down from generation to generation, especially Muslim children, who are forced to learn Spain and forget their mother tongue.
It is worth mentioning that at that time, many industries were still under the family inheritance system, and this measure in Spain directly led to the loss of knowledge and skills passed down from generation to generation, and the social status plummeted.
In 1567, King Philip II of Spain again issued a ban on the forced assimilation of Islamists. Under the ban, the Spain royal family introduced a series of social reforms in an attempt to completely change the way of life of Spain, thus eliminating traces of Islamic culture.
For example, traditional Muslim dress, eating habits, and festivals are banned, and people are encouraged to adopt a Catholic lifestyle.
Among them, the greatest blow to Muslims is undoubtedly the conversion of a large number of mosques into churches, as well as the destruction of a large number of Islamic cemeteries or conversion to Catholic cemeteries.
For devout Muslims, this is truly "nothing to live and nothing to love". It is clear that these initiatives of the Spain royal family are not only the transformation of the physical space, but also the reshaping of the spiritual world.
Most notorious, however, was the establishment of the Inquisition throughout the country, the ultimate weapon for Spain's de-Islamization.
The Inquisition targeted those who formally professed to be Christians, but whose actions led others to suspect that their beliefs were insincere, i.e., false Christians.
According to some written accounts, torture was a common method in the Spain Inquisition, which brutally tried those suspected of being hypocrites.
For example, pouring a large amount of water into the mouth of the interrogated person to make him feel the pain of drowning, this is called waterboarding; or hang the victim on a beam until his shoulder is dislocated, which is called hanging; The most serious is the burning at the stake, and once the person is convicted of apostasy, he is burned alive.
On February 6, 1481, in the first case tried by the Inquisition in Spain, six hypocrites were burned at the stake in public, accompanied by a sermon by a Catholic priest.
What's even more terrifying is that there was no principle of "no guilt in doubt" in that era, that is, even if there is no tangible evidence, as long as someone reports it, they are considered guilty.
Coupled with the fact that the Inquisition system at the time encouraged people to report and expose each other, whistleblowers could anonymously expose people with suspicious behavior or thoughts.
There are at least some signs of suspicious behavior, such as not eating pork, wearing clean clothes on the Jewish Sabbath, or lighting candles on Islamic holidays.
But if the mind is suspicious, then it is all up to the whistleblower's mouth to make judgments, arbitrarily reporting others without taking personal risks, which makes the ugliest side of human nature exposed, and many people have begun to report their neighbors, employers, and even their friends and wives.
It is difficult to determine how many of them are really guilty, but there are by no means a few innocent people who have been wronged.
What is surprising is that such an Inquisition was welcomed and embraced by the masses at that time! Many Spain believe from the bottom of their hearts that such institutions are necessary.
This is not because they are masochistic by nature, but because in the Iberian Peninsula, the changes of power over the centuries have been too frequent, and the wars and turmoil have lasted too long and too long.
So many people are genuinely happy to see the emergence of a strong centralized government and to eliminate social disharmony.
Under the influence of the Inquisition, the Spain gradually became very valuing religious orthodoxy. In the words of historian Henri · Carmen, it became "a standard phenomenon on Spain soil".
In 1609, the Spain government issued an eviction order against the so-called "Moriscos," former Muslims in Spain who had converted but were still suspected of maintaining Islamic traditions, forcing tens of thousands of families to leave their homes for generations and travel to North Africa and beyond.
With their departure, Spain was largely de-Islamized and completely transformed into a predominantly Catholic state.
Today, 96% of Spain's residents believe in Catholicism, coupled with the unique climate of the Eastern Mediterranean, Spain culture is self-contained and enthusiastic, which makes Spain a maverick existence in Europe, where the "cold style" prevails.
Spain people know how to enjoy life and are good at balancing work and life, which makes Spain known as one of the happiest countries in the world.
What was once a thick and turbulent history has become a colorful place in Spain, and the diversity of different religions and cultures has also made Spain culturally confident.
Peter · Hale said that history is a play without an ending, and each ending is the beginning of a new plot of the play.
Today's Spain has entered a new plot.