The Des Moines Register reported in 1990: "When Edouard Izac died earlier this year, few remembered the Iowa native or knew that he was a hero of his country.” As is often the case, the nation forgets its heroes almost as quickly as they rise.
The Reconquista, or Christian reconquest of Iberia, took nearly 800 years. The fighting did not come without great attempts by Muslim powers across the strait trying to reestablish their presence in mainland Europe. The last gasp of that effort came in the 1330s, when the powerful Marinid sultanate of what is modern Morocco invaded in an attempt to reverse Christian gains and secure the perilous position of the Sultanate of Granada.