Autobiography - The Galindo Group

Ram Galindo THE MAKING OF AN AMERICAN Page 206
Hearted” of England. The year was 1212. All three of these kings carried the Galindo
gene all the way back from the last monarch who carried the name, Endregoto Galindo
of Aragon. All three were nine generations removed from her and had more than one
infusion of the gene in their lineage. Alfonso VIII and Sancho VII shared the same
grandfather - Garcia V. EL Cid was their great-great grandfather.
Following the Almohads’ invasion in the last quarter of the 12 th Century, the momentum
of the war had been turning in favor of the Moors. But now there was a general
stalemate. The Moroccan Caliph Aben-Yacqub-Yusuf I had earlier called for a jihad to
consolidate the enlarged frontiers of Moslem power in the peninsula once and for all. In
response, a horde of fanatic Moslems from Asia and the Maghrib descended upon
Spain, crossing the Hercules Straits on anything that floated.
Although he was at war with them off and on, Alfonso VIII nevertheless called on his
Spanish Christian relatives. Pope Innocent III preached a crusade in Europe and
several French bishops and knights responded. However, most of the latter turned
around when in early encounters Hispanic forces opted for negotiated surrenders of the
Moors, instead of plunder, murder and burning. The biggest battle of the Reconquista
was enjoined July 15, 1212 on an ample Andalusian plane in the Sierra Morena just
south of the Despenadero Pass, near the border with La Mancha. It went into history as
the battle of Las Naves de Tolosa. My reputed ancestors were in command of the
Christian forces. Among their valiant troopers was a young man to whom my lineage is
connected with good certainty.
By this time, Muhammad Al-Nasir, known to the Spaniards as Miramamolin, had
succeeded Yacqub I as Islamic Caliph. He deployed his Arab, Yemeni, Berber, Nubian,
Moroccan and other North African troops at the center of his massive line. His personal
black African bodyguards were an awe-inspiring sight to the ignorant Spaniards. The
Andalusian Moslems were at the wings, involved in the battle more in fear of the
Almohads than resentment of the Christians. Miramamolin was seen riding his black
steed through the fields, offering his troopers eternal salvation in return for their lives in
this battle. The chain mails protecting his soldiers shined in the morning light with a
brightness that scared the Spaniards opposing them. The Caliph surrounded the exit to
the pass and was ready to inflict a lethal blow to the Christians.
With the guidance of a local shepherd, the Hispanic kings learned of another mountain
pass (now called “Paso del Rey”) and surprised the Moslems with the overnight
deployment of a full formation on the plain. It appears that King Alfonso commanded the
center force, Pedro the left wing and Sancho the right. Several bishops held reserves to
the rear. Miramamolin launched his strike force and the battle was enjoined. At one
point the Christians began to fold and Alfonso, in desperation, lunged himself into the
battle proclaiming that he preferred dying to living with defeat. The bishops from the
reserves launched their troops and together they charged anew. For hours the front
swayed back and forth in mortal hand-to-hand combat. It is said that more than 300,000
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