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Where is the origin of the celebration of the Moors and Christians Festival and its connection with the Virgen del Rosario in Carchelejo?

The feast of the Virgin of the Rosary is established at the request of Pope Gregory XIII, in commemoration of the naval victory obtained over the Turks by the Christian army in the battle of Lepanto on October 7, 1571. This Christian army was under the invocation of the Virgen del Rosario, as it appears in the banner that is conserved in the National Museum of the Navy.
There are several theories that can be launched about the origin of these Moors and Christians festivals. On the one hand, it is necessary to signify the deep warrior sense, where you can appreciate the historical vicissitudes of some border populations for 250 years with the Muslims of Granada (the case of Carchelejo, Campillo de Arenas and Bélmez de la Moraleda).

On the other hand, we must consider the basic identification that the common people make between victory and supernatural intervention, combining the representations of Moors and Christians with the festivities of the patron saint. This coincidence may have its origin in the training that the council militias had to carry out periodically and with the passage of time it came to coincide with the patron saint festivities, days when agricultural work is abandoned and they take the opportunity to carry out military training.

The first documentary news about the brotherhood of Nuestra Señora del Rosario de Carchelejo, dates from the year 1751 and is registered in the Cadastre of the Marqués de la Ensenada. The brotherhood had as an annual obligation the realization of 4 plain festivals, 16 festivals with processions and "a festival with procession, priest, sacristan and sermon." This last party could be the biggest party of the brotherhood.

The text of The Embassies, full of topics, doctrinal mentions and historical references, is a mixture of events to be commemorated, such as the aforementioned battle of Lepanto, the struggles against Protestants and Jews and especially the struggle of Catholic Christianity. present in the social mentality and in the popular tradition, to which is added a religious doctrine, reflected in the act of confirmation of faith of the mysteries of the Trinity and of the Virginity of the Virgin. The rest are updates, additions that the oral tradition itself includes according to the evolution of the history of Spain, such as the allusions to Fernando VII, once the War of Independence is over. Or to the nationalist Christians, I cannot determine the origin of these Moors and Christians festivals in Carchelejo, but surely the union between the devotion to the Virgen del Rosario, the obligation to hold annual festivals by her brotherhood and the military references above mentioned have given rise to the current party. This makes us reflect in the direction that traditions are and must be always changing, otherwise the moment may come when the reason or foundation of the festivities is understood, the dialogues and texts become stagnant, to the point of not understanding them.

This change shows that the tradition is still alive, fresh, that the people who make it and live it participate in it and therefore that it will never die.