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Copy of the painting "The Moors uprising in Huecija" whose original has disappeared.

Governor Juan Gibaja was burned alive in the tower of Huecija (Almeria). The Moors were led by General El Gorri. The Moorish commander El Rami ordered the tower to be set on fire.

THE GIBAJA: A LINEAGE INVOLVED IN THE EXPULSION OF THE MOORS BECAME RELATED TO THREE MUSLIM DYNASTIES

Leonor Avis Granada Venegas, sister of Alonso Avis Granada-Venegas, descendant of the Kings of Granada, the Umayyad Emirs and the Sultans of Baghdad, married at the age of 15, Gabriel Gibaja, son of Juan Gibaja, Governor of the Taha de Marchena, from where the rebellion against the Moorish was led. The marriage was rejected by Eleonor's father, who considered the Gibaja's rank, without a noble title, inappropriate for his daughter. In an attack on December 25, 1568 in Huécija, Governor Gibaja, Leonor's father-in-law, was burned alive by a Moorish attack. Gabriel Gibaja, Leonor's husband, replaced his father as governor. The Gibaja are originally from Cantabria and have served the Kings of Castile for several generations. Andres Gibaja de Cabrera, Treasurer of King Henry IV of Castile, and later a close advisor to Isabel the Catholic, participated in the reconquest of Málaga, Guadix, Baza and Granada. (The 18th Marquess of Moya from this genealogy was Eugenie de Montijo, born in Granada, later Empress of the French through her marriage to Napoleon III). Rodrigo de Gibaja, a cousin of Andres Gibaja de Cabrera, participated in the reconquest of Almeria where he was appointed Governor "Regidor" of Almeria. Some of the Gibaja held official positions in Almeria until the 19th century. Another became a Corsair to fight against the Arab and Ottoman invasions. Other Gibaja of Almeria suffered setbacks, and some immigrated to Oran at the end of the 19th century. Filmmaker Joel Soler, who initiated the Magos Foundation, is the son of Marie Gibaja, herself a granddaughter of Captain Manuel Gibaja of Almeria, who immigrated to Oran, and comes from this lineage.