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The Garduna, otherwise known as the Holy Warriors of Spain, claim to have been in existence for over 1200 years. The story goes back to the year 710 Apollinario, a holy man who lived like a hermit, spent his life worshipping the Virgin Mary in the Sierra Morena mountains around Cordova. One day she visited him to chose him as her messenger, and presented him a button that was taken from the robe of Christ. The button was a miraculous thing that would protect the owner from death.

She told him that the Moors had been victorious due to a divine punishment, and that she had spoken to her son about the qualities of the Spanish and that they should be given a chance at salvation. The Virgin and Christ decided that Apollinario was the chosen one for the task, and that he should raise an army of true Spaniards and lead them against the Moors.

Apollinario was blessed with a high charisma that led the common people to seek his leadership. He told them that the Garduna, what he called his army, was given an order from the heavens to kill all non-christians to reclaim the land. That anyone who stood against the Garduna, that if anyone criticized their goals, then that person was mocking the word of God and could be killed without punishment from above.

There would be open warfare, as well as guerilla tactics and harassment of the Moors. The members of the Garduna were told to commit murder and all sorts of nefarious activities against the Muslim invaders. The rewards would be the Moorish riches.

The Moors had been invading Spain since 711 and even advanced into France until they were stopped by the French in 732 AD. Spain collapsed into a network of petty kingdoms that had no chance against the power of the Moors who had established their Spanish capital in Cordova.

Unable to fight the Moors head on, the Garduna broke down into a loose criminal organization for the next 700 years, still following the practice of only spilling the blood of non-christians. This lasted until the late 1400s.

It was then that Ferdinand the Catholic made great use of the Garduna in the Inquisition. Their reputation was legendary, and it was not too long before the warriors of the Garduna were looked upon with suspicion. They had accumulated a great amount of wealth from these activities and were not going to part with it to anyone not part of their order, least of all a king. Efforts to eradicate them failed, and in 1670 the church withdrew its support.

It was at this time that they became a proper secret society. New initiates were called ‘goats’ and performed all the worst jobs. Next were the ‘bellows’, older men of good standing who would fence the wares, and the ‘athletes’ who were often convicts and criminals – the rank and file of the Garduna. Next were the ‘swordsmen’, the leaders of individual bands. Above them were the Chiefs, District Chiefs, and then Commanders until it reached the Grand Master ‘Hermano Mayor’

They also had women in the organization. These were the ’covers’, women who would lure men into ambushes for murder, robbery, or kidnapping. And the ’sirens’, beautiful women who would seduce their targets, usually state officials.

As well as being fighters, the Garduna engaged in all kinds of illegal activities. These range from the previously mentioned to assassination, forgery, extortion, and enslavement. All the money raised from these activities were used to buy favors and corrupt those in power, particularly judges, magistrates, and prison governors.

They continued to be a powerful force in Spain until 1822 when a concerted effort was made to eradicate them. Police raided the home of the Grand Master in Seville and found all the documents dating back to 1520. They were good record keepers and it spelled the end of their order. This large amount of incriminating evidence sealed their fate, as the Grand Master and sixteen district chiefs were hung in the market square. Remaining members fled to the hills and became bandits.

But that was not the end of it. In the mid 1800s the Garduna were known to be in South America and Portugal. Their battle cry of “Remember the Virgin of Cordova!” could be heard during the Spanish civil war from 1936-1939, and as late as 1949 were said to be helping the Nazis flee Europe.

Some say that two rival Garduna churches survive, one pro-church and the other, a left-wing organization intent on setting up a holy socialist state. Or they never existed, as no proof remains. The documents were said to be stored in the archives of Toledo and Seville, but they haven’t been found or made public, and this has led some to believe they never existed and were just a band of criminals with an exaggerated history.

What do you think?

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This is the first of a series on secret societies you may never have heard of. Please follow @getonthetrain for more investigations into secret societies.

Click HERE for the second article on Secret Societies!

In addition I am in progress on a series dedicated to Leonardo Da Vinci, his amazing life and inventions. https://steemit.com/science/@getonthetrain/leonardo-da-vinci-inventions-of-flight

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