Unusual Historicals: The Alhambra

Showing posts with label The Alhambra. Show all posts

13 December 2015

Author Interview and Book Giveaway: Lisa J. Yarde on SULTANA: THE POMEGRANATE TREE

This week, we're pleased to welcome author and Unusual Historicals contributor Lisa J. Yarde again with her latest novel, SULTANA: THE POMEGRANATE TREE (Sultana Book #5). This next installment of a six-part series is set in fifteenth-century Spain as the last Muslim dynasty attempts to hold on to Granada's Alhambra Palace while the Catholic monarchs Isabella and Ferdinand consolidate power and prepare for a final campaign against the Moors. The author will offer a free digital copy of Sultana: The Pomegranate Tree to a lucky blog visitor in his or her preferred format; this giveaway is open internationally. Be sure to leave your email address in the comments of today's author interview for a chance to win. Here's the blurb.

In fifteenth-century Moorish Spain, Aisha, the descendant of the Sultans of Granada endures a life imperiled by dynastic warfare, loss, and cruel fate.

Enemies descend on the kingdom from all sides and threaten to tear it apart. To preserve a fragile peace, Aisha suffers a sham marriage to a cruel tyrant, forever divided from the love that once ruled her heart.

Years later, when a trusted confidante becomes a powerful rival, Aisha must fight for the future of the next generation or witness the destruction of her family and the last vestiges of Moorish rule in Spain.

**Q&A with Lisa J. Yarde**

You've written about the same family, the Nasrid Dynasty of Granada, in four previous books of your Moorish Spain series. What makes this novel different?

The heroine Aisha. She faces struggles that none of my prior heroines ever dealt with in the earlier books. All of them enjoyed close relationships with their fathers that influenced the course of their lives and eventual marriages, but Aisha starts out very different. She is the last of three daughters born to the tenth Sultan of Granada named Muhammad al-Aysar. Because her father lacks sons, he chooses an unlikely ally and successor in his cousin Muhammad al-Sagir, who marries Aisha's eldest sister. The union doesn't last long, and soon Aisha has the possibility to wed Muhammad al-Sagir herself. Unfortunately, their happiness isn't mean to be. As often happened during the history of the Nasrids, another cousin Saad invades the kingdom and Aisha is forced to marry his son Abu'l-Hasan Ali, a man she despises, who ruined all her hopes including those for the dynasty. Years later, under Abu'l-Hasan Ali's reign, Aisha forms a close bond with a captive named Isabel de Solis. She appears to be Aisha's devoted slave, but life in the harem changes their relationship dramatically. In the novel, Aisha explores the depths of her resilience. As a result, she learns more about the limits of pride, the importance of friendships, and the effect of choices within the harem outside its walls than any of my previous heroines.

What challenges, if any, did you find in writing about this period of Spanish history?

I knew long before writing this series that I'd encounter several challenges. The largest one has always been and remains to date, even with this latest book: getting at the right resources. The 15th-century Nasrid dynasty is better documented than any of the earlier periods I've explored in the series, but bias, plain misinformation, and legends still make the history murky. Hence my love and hate relationship with Washington Irving.

You hate Washington Irving? Why?

While his Tales of the Alhambra influenced 19th-century interest in Granada's Alhambra Palace and the lives of those who inhabited the place, Irving's popularization of existing legends made it harder to get at the truth. For instance, within the palace, there is this room called the Hall of Abencerrages. It was the southernmost gallery of the harem in Aisha's time. Supposedly, members of the clan called Abencerraje were killed there because their chieftain Ahmet was having an affair with Soraya, the second wife of Abu'l-Hasan Ali. The water stains on the basin in the room are purported evidence of the blood that flowed because of this massacre. But the legend is all wrong; the wrong Sultan, the wrong reason for the murders. The deaths actually occurred during Saad's reign, not Abu'l-Hasan Ali because Saad wanted to rid himself of the clan's influence. Throughout the history of the dynasty, other clans helped keep the Sultans of Granada in power. Readers of my first novel in the series might recall the Ashqilula family and how the Moorish rulers of Granada dealt with them. So while I love Irving for having spurred awareness of Granada's Alhambra, and later conservation efforts, for a writer trying to get at the truth, the popularity of his version of events doesn't help the research.

Why might readers find your heroine compelling?

For the reasons described above, but also, the time in which she lived. Aisha has often been portrayed in various ways; most often as a jealous wife motivated by Abu'l-Hasan Ali's affections for a younger bride. Watchers of the Spanish TV series Isabel were treated to a perspective on her life in season two, as the show featured Isabel of Castile's conquest of Moorish Granada. One of the most hilarious scenes I found was of Aisha discovering her husband's paramour, later second wife, would go to his bed. In a jealous fit, Aisha runs out of the harem screaming into the night. My knowledge makes the scene ridiculous; first because the real Aisha grew up in a harem and would have had every expectation that her eventual husband would sleep with other women. Second, the particular husband she had played a role in the end of her relationship with Muhammad al-Sagir. I found it hard to believe the real Aisha would have mourned her husband's interest in another woman.

What are you working on now in the series and what can we expect in the future? Will you ever write about Moorish Spain again?

I'm working on the last book of the series, Sultana: The White Mountains. It's a bittersweet moment, in which I chronicle the last ten years of Moorish rule in Spain, as experienced by Aisha's eldest son and her daughter-in-law Moraima. I hope to have the first draft completed by mid-2016. Then I'm possibly collaborating with a friend on historical fantasy, which is slightly different for me while heavily researching my next series about Dracula's family. The current series, its heroes and heroines, and even the villains have inhabited my mind for over twenty years and I'm so pleased by how readers have reacted to them. Actually, I'm mostly glad to have them out of my head and on the page.

Available for pre-orders now at:

Amazon

Apple / iBookstore

Kobo

Smashwords

About the Author

Lisa J. Yarde writes fiction inspired by the Middle Ages in Europe. She is the author of two historical novels set in medieval England and Normandy, On Falcon’s Wings, featuring a star-crossed romance between Norman and Saxon lovers before the Battle of Hastings in 1066 and The Burning Candle, based on the life of one of the first countesses of Leicester and Surrey, Isabel de Vermandois. Lisa has also written four novels in a six-part series set in Moorish Spain, Sultana, Sultana’s Legacy, Sultana: Two Sisters, Sultana: The Bride Price, and Sultana: The Pomegranate Tree where rivalries and ambitions threaten the fragile bonds between members of the last Muslim dynasty to rule in Europe. Her short story, The Legend Rises, chronicles the Welsh princess Gwenllian of Gwynedd's valiant fight against twelfth-century English invaders and is available now.

Born in Barbados, Lisa currently lives in New York City. She is also an avid blogger and moderates at Unusual Historicals. Her personal blog is The Brooklyn Scribbler. Learn more about Lisa and her writing at the website www.lisajyarde.com. Follow her on Twitter or become a Facebook fan. For information on upcoming releases and freebies from Lisa, join her mailing list at http://eepurl.com/un8on.

10 December 2015

Excerpt Thursday - SULTANA: THE POMEGRANATE TREE (A Novel of Moorish Spain) by Lisa J. Yarde

This week, we're pleased to welcome author and Unusual Historicals contributor Lisa J. Yarde again with her latest novel, SULTANA: THE POMEGRANATE TREE (Sultana Book #5). This next installment of a six-part series is set in fifteenth-century Spain as the last Muslim dynasty attempts to hold on to Granada's Alhambra Palace while the Catholic monarchs Isabella and Ferdinand consolidate power and prepare for a final campaign against the Moors. Join us again on Sunday for an author interview, with more details about the story behind the story. The author will offer a free digital copy of Sultana: The Pomegranate Tree to a lucky blog visitor in his or her preferred format; this giveaway is open internationally. Be sure to leave your email address in the comments of today's post or Sunday's author interview for a chance to win. Here's the blurb.

**An Excerpt from Sultana: The Pomegranate Tree**

On their return, Aisha plodded as if in a dreamlike state, forced along at Kissenga’s insistence. Meanwhile, Fatou took Aisha’s soiled garment to the laundress. In her rooms again, the eunuch would not let her return to the solace of the bed. Instead, he maneuvered her to the thick pillows arranged around the antechamber, pushed her down amidst them, and gripped her shoulders.

She blinked and gawked as if seeing him for the first time in recent weeks. “Why did you lay such rough hands upon me? I don’t want to sit here. ”
He muttered, “Why do you care? Bed or cushion. What matters most in your wretched state? Your feeble complaints mean nothing. The Sultana Aisha I knew, the one whom I've served since her birth would have upbraided me for such treatment. You’re not her.”

She shook her head and dispelled the fog in her mind. “What are you saying? I am her, Kissenga.”

“No. You’re not. You’re weak and beaten down by your losses, in the manner of your father. He let his enemies best him, too. They took Al-Qal’at al-Hamra from him and each time he fled, even as far away as Al-Tunisiyah. He sought his mother’s kin like a mewling boy.”

Aisha struggled against his hold. “You attended my father loyally. Why are you saying such cruel things about him and me?”

“I don’t want to spend my life in servitude to the causes of feeble cowards.”

“I’m not a coward,” she murmured.

His grip tightened as he hovered over her and pressed her down into the seat. “Then prove it! Get up if you wish.”

“Have you lost your senses?”

“Not as much as you’ve abandoned your will.”

“I have not. Let me go now, Kissenga.”

“Command me. The great Sultana, a princess of Gharnatah, eh? You’re pathetic! You can’t even rule a lowly eunuch of the harem. What would you do if Abu’l-Hasan Ali towered over you instead of me? Would you let him control you?”

She gaped at him, aghast. How dare he be so callous?

“I… I... wouldn’t.”

“Liar! You hesitate because you’ve forgotten how to speak the truth. You only remember your misery and bitterness. You’re letting Abu’l-Hasan Ali have power over you now. He is not here to dictate your movements, but you have surrendered your will to grief and despair all the same. So what if you have lost? How many countless others before you have suffered? You sob and simper, a frightened kitten, no longer a lioness of Gharnatah. Abu’l-Hasan Ali killed the man you should have married. His father ordered the deaths of children whom you claimed to adore—”

“I did! I loved them as only a mother could have! I still do.”

“Their blood cries out for vengeance, and still you do nothing, but accept Abu’l-Hasan Ali’s dictates. He says you must remain in your chambers, so you stay. You’re no Sultana of Gharnatah. You don’t have the strength of the Sultanas Jazirah, Butayna, or Fatima before you, or even a tenth of the cunning of the viper Maryam. What happens next? You’ll let the mighty prince lock you away in a tower like your wretched mother. Will you become like her, too, frail and frightened of your shadow?”

Aisha drew back her fist and punched him in the throat. As he tumbled backward, she rose and stomped his belly twice, until he rolled away with a groan.

“Don’t you ever talk about my mother in such ways! I’ll have your head! She was my father’s treasured queen, and he sought her love as a great prize. His enemies may have chased him away from the palace, but always, he returned to his throne. Only death could take it from him. I am my father’s daughter. Only death will rob me of what is mine!”

She stood over him, enraged and panting, with her tiny fists shaking. A red haze, brighter than any envisioned in her angry outbursts, filled her gaze. Through it, Kissenga rose and clutched his midsection. He groaned and sagged once more.

With a ragged breath, she uncurled her fingers. “Why did you say such horrible things to me? You’ve never hurt me before.”

“I spoke so you would not forget who you are. You have a proud heritage and Nasrid pride, the pride of lions who lived and ruled for centuries before your existence, and the Sultanas, who would not let fate or circumstance bend or break them. Their blood flows in your veins. Prince Abu'l-Hasan Ali and his father have taken from you. Show them that you are as fierce as the Sultanas Jazirah, Butayna, Fatima, and even Maryam the viper. As strong as the lioness upon the plains. A lioness of Gharnatah. You have not forgotten. You do not forgive. You shall have recompense for the lives they have ruined and the blood they have shed.”

Available for pre-orders now at:

Amazon
Apple / iBookstore

Kobo

Smashwords

About the Author

04 April 2012

Family Feuds: The Nasrids of Granada

By Lisa J. Yarde

In August 1359, blood spattered the redbrick walls of Granada's Alhambra, as conspirators dethroned the 21-year old Sultan Muhammad V. The monarch, a few of his immediate family members and some lucky courtiers barely escaped with their lives. Muhammad's half-brother ascended the throne as Ismail II, but he was only a symbol whom the traitors rallied around. The family feud that placed the crown on Ismail's head started in the harem, born out of a decades-old rivalry between the mothers of princes.

For 21 years prior to the coup against Muhammad V, his immediate predecessor Yusuf I controlled the kingdom of Granada. A brilliant ruler, his reign ushered in a golden age for the Nasrid Dynasty in southern Spain, centered around the court at the Alhambra. In 1338, Yusuf became a father for the first time when his first wife Butayna bore a son, the future Muhammad V. Nine months later, Yusuf's second wife Maryem had Ismail. Eventually, Maryem and Yusuf became the parents of six other children; another son named Qays and five daughters. Butayna had one more surviving child, a daughter Aisha. For unexplained reasons, Yusuf favored his children with Maryem more than the others. Still, every Sultan before him had followed the order of primogeniture, meaning that his eldest son Muhammad could expect to inherit the throne of Granada.

Yusuf I died on October 19, 1354, when a demented slave stabbed him to death in the Alhambra's stables. Muhammad V succeeded his father at the age of sixteen. He proved capable, particularly under the guidance of Yusuf's chief minister Ridwan, Muhammad's former tutor. Four years later found Granada deeply involved in a war between the Christian kingdoms of Castile and Aragon, with Muhammad providing galleys and use of Malaga's port on the southern coast to the young Pedro I of Castile. Meanwhile, Maryem plotted with her eldest daughter and her son-in-law (incidentally a cousin of Muhammad V) to steal the throne. At night, over one hundred conspirators crept through the palace. Muhammad V escaped and fled west to the nearby city of Gaudix, but his enemies stabbed Ridwan to death and stole his wealth. At Gaudix, Muhammad tried in vain to rally supporters. Eventually, he crossed the Mediterranean Sea and found refuge with the ruler of the Moroccan dynasty, the Marinids, in Fez. It seemed Maryem had achieved everything she wanted, but in less than a year, her fortunes and those of Sultan Ismail II and his brother Qays would change. In June 1360, the walls of the Alhambra ran red again.

Lisa J. Yarde writes fiction inspired by real-life events. She is the author of On Falcon's Wings, a medieval novel chronicling the star-crossed romance between Norman and Saxon lovers. She has also written the medieval novels Sultana and Sultana’s Legacy, both set during a turbulent period of thirteenth century Spain. Her future title, Sultana II: Two Sisters (spring 2013) explores the turbulent lives of the wives and children of Yusuf I of Granada.

04 July 2011

Photo Essays: The Alhambra

By Lisa Yarde

The Alhambra is not only the most visited, but also the best-conserved site from the Moorish period in Spain. It has existed since at least the 9th century. It became the royal residence of the sovereigns of Granada, from 1236 until 1492. In November 2001, I visited and fell in love with this old relic of a bygone era, after researching the Nasrid Dynasty that ruled from the Alhambra.

In Arabic, the name Alhambra, from the Arabic al-Qal'at al-Hamra, means "the red one" and refers to the color of its red, brick walls. It rises from a sloping hill, known as the Sabika in Moorish times, and overlooks the city of Granada. A UNESCO World Heritage site, it was more than a royal palace in Moorish times; a palatial city, it housed the residence of the ruling monarchs, their families and advisors and the military barracks

There are two entrances to the Alhambra; in the north, the Puerta de las Armas (the Gate of Arms) and in the south, the Puerta de la Justicia (the Gate of Justice), which is the best-preserved of the two and the gate through which modern-day visitors enter the Alhambra. The 14th century King Yusuf I is thought to be responsible for its construction in 1348.

After you enter the Puerta de la Justicia, the stout walls of the Alhambra’s Alcazaba (Arabic al-Quasaba) rise in the west. This military fortification goes back to the 9th century, and contains the barracks of the kingdom’s soldiers, a kiln and cistern, and the Moorish prison. In the 13^th century, King Muhammad III had his primary residence in the Alcazaba, from which he could hear the screams of countless prisoners whom he tortured during his murderous reign.

The most prominent tower of the Alcazaba, Torre de la Vela, rises 87 feet. The Torre de la Vela offers a fantastic view of Granada, provided you’re willing to ascend the spiral staircase that rises to the summit. In January 1492, when the united Catholic monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella, completed their Reconquista with the capture of Granada, they raised a cross at the Alcazaba for the first time in seven centuries.

East of the Alcazaba is the palace of Mexuar (Arabic mashwar), which was not considered a palace when King Ismail I (maternal nephew of Muhammad III) built it in the early 14^th century. The King’s council met in this chamber to supervise administrative duties and enforce judicial edicts. There were once two floors in the room, allowing the Moorish King to watch the activities below while hidden from view.

The northern façade of the Mexuar serves as a portico for the Cuarto Dorado (Golden Room) courtyard. Sunlight filters in through the open roof and glints off the walls, illuminating decorative motifs and the shield and emblems of Ferdinand and Isabella. Lattice windows on the second floor overlook the space and there are two doors, only one of which is open to the public.

The Cuarto Dorado is part of the Torre de Comares (Comares Palace), built primarily under the 14^th century King Muhammad V, who was son of Yusuf I and grandson of Ismail I. The Hall of the Ambassadors on the northern façade is the largest room in the Torre de Comares. This was the center of diplomatic life in the Moorish period.

The cedar ceiling of the Sala de Barca, just outside the Hall of the Ambassadors, represents the seven heavens of Islamic religion.

The entrance to the Hall of Ambassadors derives from the Patio de los Arrayanes (Court of the Myrtles), where marble columns reflect in the recesses of a long central fountain set in the marble pavement. King Charles V destroyed whatever once stood to the south of the Patio de los Arrayanes.

The Patio de los Leones (Court of the Lions), considered the private residence of Muhammad V and his family, has it its center a stone basin supported by 12 marble lions. Since the Koran forbids the figurative representation of animals (as well as humans, no one knows whether the figures are from the Moorish period or the later, overlapping Mudejar period, which artisans blended Christian and Muslim styles.

The Sala de los Mocárabes (Hall of the Mocárabes), through which visitors enter the Patio de los Leones got its name from the Christian architects who worked on the Alhambra after the Reconquista, men influenced by the Moorish style. They changed the original cupola for a baroque ceiling.

The Sala de los Abencerrajes (Hall of the Abencerrajes) derives its name from an Arabian noble family, the Banu Sarraj. Legend (mainly from the fertile imagination of Washington Irving) states that in 15^th century, King Abu’l-Hasan Ali (Spanish Muley Hacen), the penultimate monarch massacred the Saraj family because their chieftain Ahmet was having a love affair with the King’s second wife, Soraya (Spanish Isabel de Solis).

In the Sala de los Reyes (King's Hall) to the east, a painting adorns the central vault of the ceiling. It supposedly features the first ten Moorish Kings of Granada.

The Sala de las dos Hermanas, (Hall of the Two Sisters), which was built by 1362, is perhaps the most beautiful room adjoining the Patio de los Leones. The ceiling features gold and lapis lazuli. Legend states the name comes from two sisters held as captives during the Moorish period, or it could derive from the two slabs of marble at opposing corners of the room.

Beyond it is the Mirador de Daraxa (corrupted from the ‘Ayn dar Aisha), which is supposedly a reference to King Abu’l-Hasan Ali’s first wife, Aisha. Legend says that the jealous first wife pined away for her husband, who had cast her off for his second wife, from this spot and plotted her revenge through her son, Muhammad XI (Spanish Boabdil). It overlooks a garden.

The baths of the Alhambra are between the Sala de las dos Hermanas and the Patio de los Arrayanes. When I last visited, they were not open due to restoration work.

The Partal dates from the 15th century. It was the primary residence of King Yusuf III, grandson of Muhammad V.

Further east of the complex is the Generalife (Arabic Janat al-Arif), built by Ismail I in the 14^th century, as a summer palace of the Nasrids. Again, legend points to this site as the meeting place of Soraya and Ahmet of the unfortunate Sarraj clan.

On the now obliterated southern portico of the Patio de los Arrayanes is the palace of Charles V, an Italian renaissance structure. Its architect, Pedro Machuca, was a student of Michelangelo in Florence. It houses the National Museum of Spanish-Moorish Art, where you can see many relics from the Alhambra.

Lastly, the Church of Santa Maria now stands on the site of the mosque of the Alhambra, which Muhammad III built.

The Alhambra is a place of fragile beauty, frightful violence and tragic history. To learn more, visit Alhambra.org.

Lisa J. Yarde is a historical fiction author. Her novels ON FALCON'S WINGS, an epic medieval novel chronicling the starstruck romance between Norman and Saxon lovers, and SULTANA, set during a turbulent period of thirteenth century Spain, are available now.