Editing Calafia (section)

==Character==
[[File:Esplandian.jpg|thumb|left|Queen Calafia and [[Etymology of California|California's name]] originate in the old Castilian epic ''[[Las Sergas de Esplandián]]'' (The Adventures of Esplandián), written by [[Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo]] in 1510.]]
In the book ''The Adventures of Esplandián'', after many pages of battles and adventures, the story of Calafia is introduced as a curiosity, an interlude in the narrative.<ref>Putnam, 1917, [https://archive.org/stream/cu31924008278347#page/n29 p. 313]</ref> Calafia is introduced as a regal black woman, courageous, strong of limb and large of person, full in the bloom of womanhood, the most beautiful of a long line of queens who ruled over the mythical realm of California. She is said to be "desirous of achieving great things"; she wanted to see the world and plunder a portion of it with superior fighting ability, using her army of women warriors. She commanded a fleet of ships with which she demanded tribute from surrounding lands, and she kept an aerial defense force of griffins, fabulous animals which were native to California, trained to kill any man they found.<ref name=Hale/>

Calafia meets Radiaro, a Muslim warrior who convinces her that she should join him in retaking Constantinople from the Christian armies holding it. Calafia, in turn, convinces her people to take their ships, weapons, armor, riding beasts, and 500 griffins, and sail with her to Constantinople to fight the Christians, though she has no concept of what it means to be Muslim or Christian.<ref name=Hale/> Her subjects arm themselves with weapons and armor made of gold, as there is no other metal in California. They fill their ships with supplies and hasten to sea.<ref name=Hale/>

Landing near Constantinople, Calafia meets with other Muslim warrior leaders who were unable to remove King Amadis and his Christian allies from the city, and she tells them all to hold back and watch her manner of combat—she says they will be amazed. The next morning, she and her women warriors mount their "fierce beasts" wearing gold armor "adorned with the most precious stones", advancing to invest the city.<ref name=Hale/> Calafia orders the griffins forward and they, hungry from the long sea voyage, fly out and maul the city's defenders.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Myres |first=Sir John Linton |author-link=John Myres |year=1917 |title=The influence of anthropology on the course of political science |journal=Publications in History |publisher=University of California Press |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=307–308}}</ref> Sating their hunger, the griffins continue to snatch Christian men in their claws and carry them high in air only to drop them to their deaths. The city's defenders cower and hide from the griffins. Seeing this, Calafia passes word to her Muslim allies that they are free to advance and take the city. The griffins, however, cannot tell Muslim from Christian; they can only tell man from woman. The griffins begin snatching Muslim soldiers and carrying them aloft, dropping and killing them. Calafia questions her pagan faith, saying, "O ye idols in whom I believe and worship, what is this which has happened as favorably to my enemies as to my friends?"<ref name=Hale/> She orders her woman warriors to take the city's battlements and they fight well, taking many injuries from arrows and [[Quarrel (projectile)|quarrel]]s piercing the soft gold metal of their armor. Calafia orders her allies forward to assist the Californians in battle, but the griffins pounce again, killing Muslim men. She directs the griffin trainers to call them off, and the griffins return to roost in the ships.<ref name=Hale/>
This inauspicious beginning weighed heavily on Calafia. To restore their honor she directed her forces to fight alongside those of her allies, with the griffins kept in the ships. Terrific battles raged along the city's walls but the attackers were repulsed. Calafia led a picked group of women warriors to attack a city gate, one held by Norandel, the half-brother of King Amadis. Norandel charged out of the gate against Calafia; upon meeting their two lances were broken but the warriors remained standing. They struck at each other with sword and knife, and a general melee ensued, Calafia throwing knights from their horses and taking great blows on her shield. Two more knights charge forward from the city, nobles named Talanque (a nephew of King Amadis) and Maneli, a prince of Ireland. These men nearly swamp Calafia in blows, and she can only be pulled back to friendly forces by her sister Liota who attacks the two knights "like a mad lioness".<ref name=Hale/> The day's battle left many dead including 200 of Calafia's women.<ref name=Hale/>

The story continues with the arrival of several more Christian princes and their armies. Radiaro and Calafia issue a challenge to two Christian warriors to engage them in single combat for the purpose of deciding the battle. King Amadis and his son Esplandián accept the challenge. The black-skinned warrior woman chosen as messenger tells Calafia that Esplandián is the most handsome and elegant man that has ever existed. Calafia determines that she must see the man herself before engaging him in combat. She stays awake all night wondering whether to wear royal robes or warrior's armor. Deciding in favor of a thick golden toga embroidered with jewels, topped by a golden hood, she rode to meet her enemies, escorted by 2,000 women warriors. After being seated among the Christian kings, she immediately recognized Esplandián from his great beauty, and fell in love with him. She tells him she will meet him on the field of battle and, if they should live, that she wishes to speak further with him. Esplandián considers Calafia an infidel, an abomination of the rightfully subservient position of woman in relation to man, and he makes no response.<ref name=Hale/>

The next day, Calafia duels with King Amadis, and Radiaro duels with Esplandián. With Leonorina, his betrothed, looking on, Esplandián masters Radiaro with a flurry of weapon thrusts. Calafia and Amadis trade blows until he disarms her and knocks her helmet off. Both Calafia and Radiaro surrender to the Christians.<ref name=Hale/> While being held prisoner, Calafia acknowledges the astonishing beauty of Leonorina, daughter of the Constantinople emperor and the intended bride of Esplandián, and resolves not to interfere with their union. She accepts Christianity as the one true faith, saying, "I have seen the ordered order of your religion, and the great disorder of all others, I have seen that it is clear that the law which you follow must be the truth, while that which we follow is lying and falsehood."<ref name=Hale/> She marries Talanque, a large and handsome knight who fought with her outside the city gate; similarly, her sister Liota marries Maneli, Talanque's companion in arms. The women return to California with their husbands to establish a new dynasty complete with both sexes, as a Christian nation.<ref name=Hale/>
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