"A house full of snakes and scorpions"

As an ex-history student, I still have a passion for history, especially episodes that are often ignored in history lessons.   Matt Carr's talk, which drew on research for his recent book, enlightened his audience about the attempt to purge Muslims and their descendants from Spain in the early 17th century.  

 

This illustrated talk most surely delivered. Matt began by giving general information about the beginning of the purge, before going into detail as to why it happened, and the aftermath of the events.  One of the most shocking quotes from the talk was the contemporary Spanish description of the purge as "the agreeable holocaust."  There was nothing agreeable about the sudden uprooting of families who had lived in Spain for generations - and many didn't reach the beaches of  North Africa where the survivors of the purge were dumped.

 

Hearing the story of the arrival of the Spanish inquisition in modern-day Leicester was an enlightening yet disturbing experience, and it lived up and exceeded all my expectations.

Corey Bedford

When history touches us now

It’s not every day you go into a talk learning about a part of history that you have never heard of before or never learnt about in school. Not knowing what to expect, I sat and listened with open ears. 

 Matthew Carr’s book, Blood and Faith: The Purging of Muslim Spain covers a particular time and place in Spanish history, looking at the expulsion of Muslims in Spain near the beginning of the 1600s and how Spaniards of Muslim descent - even though most were at least nominally Christian - were given three days to leave Spanish Territory with the threat of death.Carr also touched on the way Muslims were seen at that time, what happened to them, what their communities were like, King Philip III of Spain and his choices, the wars that were surrounding Spain as well as a closer look on Islam and Christianity. 

The whole talk was very detailed and there was a lot of information to absorb. Ideas were relevant to the way we see religion now, which I feel is especially important. 

When understanding other people’s culture in the past and their way of living, we realise how lucky we are to live in a city with a variety of different cultures and identities where we can work and play together, in a place where we do not have to fight to be free. 


Dayle Corbin

When there's no free food, grab the politician (but he's off)

Cultural Exchanges ... my first thoughts were of events from around the world. I imagined myself listening to music from India, watching African dancing and eating large amounts of FREE Chinese and Japanese food.

It was not to be. In the absence of a culinary feast, I decided my best bet would be a book launch and a talk from Rohan Silva, who is a policy advisor to the Prime Minister. Politics is a keen interest of mine. Alas, the talk has been cancelled.
 
The two book launches I've booked look pretty interesting too. Matt Carr's book is about the mass purges of Muslims from Spain from the 15th to the 17th century while American Michael Heller is launching his Collected Poems. Both should be interesting and I'd like to talk to each author about the process of putting a book together.

 The Rohan Silva event would have been right up my street. As for the rest, I guess I'll just mingle and let it sink in. The atmosphere of the week is sure to be good.


Guy J.H Bezant