History by Irving, published in 1829 and revised in 1850. Praised by Prescott and others for its careful documentation, the work is the result of research in Spanish archives and in the library of Obadiah Rich, but is presented within a frame of humorous and romantic fiction, and purports to be based on a work by the fictitious “Fray Antonio Agapida,” who is “intended as a personification of the monkish zealots” of its period (1478–92). Through this chronicler, Irving emphasizes the barbarity of the Christian conquerors, the prejudices and ignorance of the court, and the heroism of the Moorish leaders in their hopeless struggle to retain Granada.
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Washington Irving (1783—1859) American writer