Muslim Empire and
Coexistence
Arabic Invasion
711 Tarik crosses the Strait of
Gibraltar
Summary of Periods of Islamic Spanish
Occupation 711-1492
I. Al-Andalus (711-56)
--Berber expansion, period
of conquest and
consolidation
II. Independent Umayyad
Emirate (756-929)
--Cordoba established by
Abd al Rahman I as
capital
III. Umayyad Caliphate (9291031)
--Abd alRahman III
(caliph)
--advisers: wazirs
IV. Taifa Kingdoms (10311090)
V. Almoravides and
Almohades occupation
(1090-1212)
VI. Nasrid Kingdom of
Granada (1235-1492)
1150
1300
Society in Al-Andalus
• Characterized for
tolerance toward
Christians and
Jews
• Peoples of the
Book
• Center for
knowledge and
learning in Middle
Ages (the Great
Library of
Cordoba)
Contributions
• Influence on language (vocabulary,
mozarabic dialect
• Art and architecture
• Literature (oriental tales)
• Daily life
 More advanced than Latin culture in the
sciences, astronomy, medicine,
mathematics, philosophy, literature,
construction, comforts of daily life (baths),
agronomy.
Society in Al-Andalus
 Mozarabic (mustarab): a Christian living in
Muslim Spain, who conserved their eclesiastical,
judicial and religious organizations.
 Muladí (muwaladi): a Hispanic Christian who
converted to Islam during the period of Muslim
rule.
 Jews: allowed to practice own religion and
conserve own community structure.
 In Christian territory: Mudejar (mudayyan):
Muslim permitted to live under Christian
domination conserving own religion.
Language Influence
 Guadalajara< "río de piedra"
 Guadalquivir < "río grande"
 Gibraltar < "monte de Tarik"
 Algebra, alcalde, ajedrez
 Ojalá “May Allah grant”
Arquitecture
Alcázar, Sevilla
Mezquita de Córdoba
Interior of the mezquita in
Córdoba
Giralda de Sevilla
La Alhambra, Granada
Jarchas
tanto amare tanto amare
habîb tanto amare
enfermeron olios nidios
e dolen tan male
¡Tanto amar, tanto amar,
amigo, tanto amar!
¡Enfermaron unos ojos
brillantes
y duelen tan mal!
Characteristics
• Appear at the end of a much longer poem
in Classical Arabic or Hebrew called
muwuassahs («collar de perlas»)
[moaxaja, muvaschaja]
• Language: romance (mozarabic)
• Many times the poetic voice is female
• Amorous themes predominate
• Simple structures, parallelistic
• Popular in nature and anonymous
• The same jarcha appears at the end of
different muwuassahs
The Structure of a moaxaja:
a ________
b ________
a ________
d __________
d __________
d __________
b __________
a __________
e __________
e __________
e __________
b __________
a __________
} cabeza (markaz)
} mudanza (dyuz)
} vuelta (qufl)
} mudanza
} jarcha
Hebraic Jarcha
Ibn Hazm of Córdoba (994-1063)
Wrote: Tawq alhamamah [The Dove’s
Necklace] (c. 1020) a
treaty about love and
lovers in verse and
prose that includes
autobiographical and
historical details.
Kitab al-Fisal, a
history of religions
that was not
surpassed by Western
scholars until well into
the 19th century
Ibn Sina (Avicenna) ??1037
• A universal scholar,
the most influential
philosopher and
physician of the
Islamic east in the
Middle Ages, who
interpreted Greek
metaphysics in the
framework of Islam.
• Known in the West as
the Galen of the
Moslem world.
Avicenna’s Canon of
Medicine
• Surveys the entire medical
knowledge available from
ancient and Muslim
sources
• Includes such advances as
the recognition of the
contagious nature of
tuberculosis, distribution of
diseases by water and soil,
and the interaction
between psychology and
health
• Describes 760 drugs
• First to describe meningitis
• Contributionn to anatomy,
gynaecology and child
health
Avicenna
• Wrote numerous works on medicine, a
philosophical dictionary, astronomy, mathematics,
music, theology, physical sciences and poetry
• Neoplatonic outlook in his summaries of Aristotle
with an emphasis on the dualism of mind and
matter. Saw matter as passive and creation as
the act of instilling existence in this passive
material; only in God are being and existence
one.
• Said that cause and effect are simultaneous and
therefore God and the world are co-eternal; that
God created intelligence or the soul, and these
emanate from the heavens and reach the earth in
huge chains, intelligence being sustained by God.
Averroes (1126-1198)
• Andalusian qadi,
physician, philosopher
in the Aristotelian
tradition, and author
of important
commentaries on the
works of Aristotle, as
well as on music,
astronomy, medicine
and jurisprudence
(over 20,000 pages).
Averroes
• Deeply influenced Christian
and Jewish thinkers
• Called the “commentator”
by Thomas Aquinas.
• Composed 38 treatises on
works of Aristotle
• Controversial figure among
the anti-philosophical
forces, was exiled and his
books were burned.
• Theories of the evolution of
pre-existent forms and of
the intellect anticipated
modern concepts.
• Taught that there is one
eternal truth that can be
seen in two ways: the way
of revelation and the way
of natural knowledge, with
the aid of Aristotle and
other philosophers
• Double truth: a proposition
may be theologically true
and philosophically untrue
and vice versa
Jews in la Peninsula
• In the peninsula since the time of the
Romans
• Lived separately from the Christian
community
• Were persecuted by the Visigoths
• Maintained good relations with the
Muslim community
• Important philosophers
(Maimónides), poets and translators
Maimonides 1135-1204
• Enormous influence on
European thought
• Wrote works in Arabic
• Guide to the Perplexed: An
effective synthesis of
medieval Judaism with the
philosophy of Aristotle:
Reason is the primary
source of human
knowledge, but it remains
acceptable to rely on faith
in cases beyond the reach
of rationality. Suggests
philosophical reasoning not
helpful to most ordinary
people who are advised to
rely on faith.
• Book of Commandments
codified Talmudic law.
Bibliography
• http://www.sumadrid.es/ariza/aland
alus/hmalanda.htm
• http://www.legadoandalusi.es/legado
_es.html
• http://www.museosefardi.net/
• http://www.cla.umn.edu/courses/spa
n3xxx/egea/andalus/index.htm