The Story of the Moors After Spain

When the united wisdom of Ferdinand and Isabella resolved on the expatriation of Spanish Moors, they forgot the risk of an exile's vengeance. No sooner was Granada fallen than thousand of desperate Moors left the land which for seven hundred years had been their home, and disdaining to live under a Spanish yoke, crossed the strait to Africa, where they established themselves at various strong points, such as Shershel, Oran, and notably at Algiers, which til then had hardly been heard of. No sooner were the banished Moors family settled in their new seats than they did what anybody in their place would have done: they carried the war into their oppressor's country. To meet thhe Spaniards in the open field was impossible in their reduced numbers, but at sea their fleetness and knowledge of the coast gave them the opportunity of reprisal for which they longed.