II - ISLAMIC SPAIN
2.1 The end of the Visigothic Kingdom
In 711 A.D. the Muslims from North Africa attacked the Visigothic Kingdom and defeated it in the battle of Guadalete.
Soon they conquered almost the whole Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands. The Muslims were nor Christians. They professed the Islamic religion.
2.2 al-Andalus: the Emirate
They called this land al-Andalus and they established their capital in Córdoba.
The only area free of their domination was the mountainous North of the Peninsula, were the Christian Visigoths resisted.
In 756 A.D. al-Andalus was converted into an emirate (province) because it was ruled by an Emir.
The Emir of Córdoba obeyed the Caliph of Damascus, in Syria (Asia).
2.3 al-Andalus: the Caliphate
In the 10th century al-Andalus became independent from Damascus and turned into a Caliphate, a territory ruled by a Caliph.
The Caliphs were supreme rulers. They took all the political and religious decisions. The capital of the Caliphate was Córdoba, which became the greatest city in Western Europe.
In the 11th century the Caliphate of Cordoba disappeared and Al Andalus split into small kingdoms called taifas.
The Taifa Kingdoms fought each other and against the Christians.
The Christian Kingdoms took advantage of the division of the Taifa Kingdoms. Little by little, the Christian Kingdoms conquered the Islamic territories.
2.5 The end of al-Andalus
In 1212 there was a huge battle in Las Navas de Tolosa (province of Jaén).
The Christian Kingdoms of Castile, Aragon and Navarre won the battle against the Muslim troops.
After this battle the Christian Kings conquered almost all the Muslim Kingdoms, except the Nazari Kingdom of Granada, which became the last Muslim Kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula. It was conquered by the Christian Kingdoms of Castile and Aragon in 1492.
2.6 The Islamic religion
Islam is the religion of Muslims. It was born in the Arabic Peninsula.
There, in the 7th century, Muhammad began to speak about the existence of a One God, Allah.
The doctrine of Allah is in the Koran, which is the sacred book for the Muslims.
Every Muslim must fulfill five duties:
- To accept Allah as the One God and Muhammad as His Prophet.
- To pray five times a day
- To go on a pilgrimage to Mecca (in Arabia) once in a lifetime.
- To fast during the month of Ramadan.
- To give alms to poor.
Muslims go to mosques to pray and to study their religion´s precepts.
2.7 The mosque
The mosque is the building where the Muslims gather to pray and to study the precepts of Islam. Every city had one or more mosques.
From the minaret, or tower, the muezzin calls the believers for the prayer.
2.8 Society
The society in al-Andalus was composed by people of different religions.
The Muslims were the most powerful group. They occupied the ruling roles in government and owned most of the best lands.
The Muladíes were former Christians who had converted to Islam.
The Mozarabs were Christians under the rule of the Muslims in al-Andalus.
The Jews were a minority. They lived in separate quarters in the cities.
2.9 The countryside
Most of the Andalusi people lived in the countryside.
Muslims introduced many new crops in Spain, such as artichokes, oranges, aubergines, cotton and rice. They built new methods of irrigation and built canals (acequias) and waterwheels.
2.10 The city
The cities were surrounded by walls and their governors lived in the alcázar, a fortified palace. The streets were narrow and sinuous. In the center of the city was the souk (zoco) or market, where people traded and met with other people. Besides, in every city there were mosques.
2.11 Culture and art
From the 10th century on al-Andalus became a very important cultural center where famous doctors, astronomers and philosophers taught in Universities and studied in libraries. Some of them were the Muslim Averroes or the Jew Maimonides.
Muslims were also interested in Literature, Mathematics and Astronomy. They took paper and silkworms from China, the compass and the numerals that we use, taken from India, including the numeral zero.
2.12 The influence of Arabic language
Nowadays we still conserve many features from the Islamic culture. For example, many words (not only in Spanish language) are of Arabic origin, such as aceite, naranja, sandía, limón, zanahoria, bellota, acequia, noria, gandul, rubia, olé, mazmorra, rincón, chisme, jirafa, joroba, jinete, alcohol, baño, almohada, hazaña, hasta, ajedrez or alcalde; or the names of many places, such as Madrid, Albacete or Albelda.
2.13 Culture and art
The Islamic architecture mainly used bricks decorated with paintings, tiles and plasterboards. They also used a great variety of arches. One of them was the horseshoe arch, like in Visigothic art. They liked gardens and ponds.
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