Guest Post + 5 book giveaway! By Fire, By Water by Mitchell James Kaplan

Passages to the Past is pleased to bring you a guest post by Michell James Kaplan, author of the new novel By Fire, By Water.  Stay tuned for giveaway information at the bottom of this post.  Take it away Mitchell....

Introduction:  By Fire, By Water depicts the end of an eight-hundred year era in Spain, the era known as convivencia. It may be helpful, as background, to see all that was achieved during that era, and to get a sense for all that Spain lost (as well as what she gained) through the process of “unification.”

THE CONVIVENCIA IN MEDIEVAL SPAIN — A TIMELINE


The term convivencia (“coexistence”) refers to the period when Christians, Jews, and Muslims shared rulership of the Iberian Peninsula. This period was one of the most fruitful and significant in European cultural history. However, forces of intolerance, blame, and superstition continued to vie against the forces that promoted cultural exchange and expansion. Major dates include:

Synagogue, Toledo
creativecommons.org

711  Islamic Berbers and Arabs (the “Moors”) invade Spain from North Africa. The caliphate they create is far more tolerant than the Christian Visigoth society they conquer.

10th and 11th centuries  Cordova and Toledo are the most prominent and sophisticated cities in Europe, producing important scholars, poets, scientists, merchants, and philosophers. Islamic-Spanish architecture, harmonizing complex geometries, reaches its zenith. An extraordinary example of cross-cultural literary wealth, the poetic form called muwashaha, calls for both Latin and Classical Arabic versification within the same poem.

1066  The crucifixion of the Jewish vizier of Granada, and the subsequent massacre of Jews throughout Granada, mark the beginning of the end of the Golden Age of Judaism in Spain.

12th century  The Muslim Averroes and the Jewish Maimonides reintroduce Aristotelian reasoning to Europe, foreshadowing Aquinas and ultimately the Renaissance.

1118  Alfonso I of Aragon reconquers Saragossa and its stunning fortresscastle, the Aljaferia, future home of King Ferdinand.

Aljaferia Palaca, Saragossa
creativecommons.org

13th century  The Islamic presence in Spain, under pressure from Christian forces, retreats to the Emirate of Granada, at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula.

1236  Ferdinand III of Castile reconquers Cordova.

Late 14th century  Anti-Jewish riots throughout Christian Spain lead to forced conversions and deaths.

Late 15th century  By the late fifteenth century, the end of convivencia is in sight as Spain retreats into a tragic, monolithic parody of its imagined past. The events listed below, as witnessed by Luis de Santángel, the chancellor of Aragon, form the historical background of By Fire, By Water:

October 19, 1469  Marriage of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella of Castile.

September 15, 1485  Murder of Pedro de Arbues, first chief inquisitor of the kingdom of Aragon.

August 18, 1487  Auto-da-fé (religious trial) in Saragossa, the capital of Aragon, including members of the chancellor’s family.

January 2, 1492  Fall of the Emirate of Granada, the last Islamic political entity in Western Europe.

March 31, 1492  Expulsion Edict, aka the Alhambra Decree, ordering all Jews to depart from Spain, leaving their wealth and possessions behind.

July 31, 1492  Final date for all Jews to quit Spain.

August 3, 1492  Christopher Columbus’s ships depart on a voyage of discovery.

October 12, 1492  Columbus lands in the present-day Bahamas.

Columbus at the Royal Court of Spain by V. Brozik 1884

Thank you to Mitchell for stopping by and writing such an interesting post!!!  And now on to the giveaway, of which PTTP has been given FIVE copies of By Fire, By Water to giveaway!

SYNOPSIS:  Luis de Santángel, chancellor to the court and longtime friend of the lusty King Ferdinand, has had enough of the Spanish Inquisition. As the power of Inquisitor General Tomás de Torquemada grows, so does the brutality of the Spanish church and the suspicion and paranoia it inspires. When a dear friend’s demise brings the violence close to home, Santángel is enraged and takes retribution into his own hands. But he is from a family of conversos, and his Jewish heritage makes him an easy target. As Santángel witnesses the horrific persecution of his loved ones, he begins slowly to reconnect with the Jewish faith his family left behind. Feeding his curiosity about his past is his growing love for Judith Migdal, a clever and beautiful Jewish woman navigating the mounting tensions in Granada. While he struggles to decide what his reputation is worth and what he can sacrifice, one man offers him a chance he thought he’d lost…the chance to hope for a better world. Christopher Columbus has plans to discover a route to paradise, and only Luis de Santángel can help him.

Within the dramatic story lies a subtle, insightful examination of the crisis of faith at the heart of the Spanish Inquisition. Irresolvable conflict rages within the conversos in By Fire, By Water, torn between the religion they left behind and the conversion meant to ensure their safety. In this story of love, God, faith, and torture, fifteenth-century Spain comes to dazzling, engrossing life.

GIVEAWAY 411: 

- To enter, please leave a comment and include your email

- Only one entry per person

- Giveaway is open to US and Canada entries ONLY (sorry to my int'l readers)

- Giveaway ends on June 2nd

Good Luck to you all!