Charles Morris
speaker
7,961 appearances
2 recordings
1 series
first heard Jul 2026
last heard 18 Aug
Charles Morris’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
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recordings per month · last 12 monthsRecordings per month over the last 12 months — 2 in all, peaking in Aug 2026 with 1.
Appearances
His plan worked well, the seeming retreat giving assurance to the Muslims, who rushed forward in pursuit along the narrow ledge that borders the Diva, and soon emerged into the broader path that opens into the valley of Kovadonga.
They had incautiously entered a cul de sac.
in which their numbers were of no avail, and where a handful of men could hold an army at bay.
A small body of the best armed of the Spaniards occupied the cave, the others being placed in ambush among the chestnut trees that covered the heights above the Diva.
All kept silent until the Muslim advance had emerged into the valley.
Then the battle began, one of the most famous conflicts in the whole history of Spain.
Famous not for the numbers engage but for the issue involved.
The future of Spain dwelt in the hands of that group of patriots.
The fight in the valley was sharp, but one sided.
The Muslim arrows rebounded harmlessly from the rocky sides of the cave, whose entrance could be reached only by a ladder.
While the Christians, hurling their missiles from their point of vantage into the crowded mass below, punished them so severely that the advance was forced back upon those that crowded the defile in the rear.
Al Kama, finding his army recoiling in dismay and confusion, and discovering too late his error, ordered a retreat.
But no sooner had a reverse movement been instituted than the ambushed Christians on the heights began their deadly work, hurling huge stones and fallen trees into the defile, killing the Muslims by hundreds and choking up the pass until flight became impossible.
The panic was complete.
From every side the Christians rushed upon the foe.
Pelaio, bearing a cross of oak and crying that the Lord was fighting for his people, leaped downward from the cave, followed by his men, who fell with irresistible fury on the foe, forcing them backward under the brow of Mount Auseva, where Alcamas strove to make a stand.
The elements now came to the aid of the Christians, a furious storm arising, whose thunders reverberated among the rocks, while lightnings flashed luridly in the eyes of the terrified troops.
The rain poured in blinding torrents, and soon the diva, swollen with the sudden fall, rose into a flood, and swept away many of those who were crowded on its slippery banks.
The heavens seemed leagued with the Christians against the Moslem host, whose destruction was so thorough that if we can credit the chronicles, not a man of the proud army escaped.
This is doubtless an exaggeration, but the victory of Pelaio was so complete and the first great step in the reconquest of Spain was taken.
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