Al-Andalus

For the tourist train, see Al Andalus (train).

Map of al-Andalus in 732, at its greatest extent

A 12th century Quran used in al-Andalus

Al-Andalus (in Classical Arabic: الأندلس) is the name that the Muslims gave to the Iberian Peninsula in the Middle Ages. Some authors restrict the term to the peninsular territory (and initially also that of Septimania) under Muslim rule between the years 711 and 1492. For medieval Arab authors, the term al-Andalus designates all the areas conquered by Arab-Muslim troops in territories that today belong to Portugal, Spain, France, Andorra and the British overseas territory of Gibraltar.

After the Muslim conquest of the Iberian Peninsula, al-Andalus was initially integrated into the North African province of the Umayyad Caliphate. In the year 756 it became the Emirate of Córdoba, and later, in the year 929, the Caliphate of Córdoba, independent of the Abbasid Caliphate. With the dissolution of the Caliphate of Córdoba in 1031, the territory was divided into the first taifa kingdoms, a period followed by the stage of the Almoravids, the second taifa kingdoms, the stage of the Almohads and the third taifa kingdoms. With the advance of the Reconquista begun by the Christians of the mountains of the north of the peninsula, the name al-Andalus was progressively adapted to the dwindling territory under Muslim rule, whose borders were gradually pushed southward, until the taking of Granada by the Catholic Monarchs in 1492, which put an end to Islamic power in the Iberian Peninsula, although most of the Muslim population remained in the peninsula, some converting to Catholicism and others, with more deeply rooted beliefs, moving to the heights of the Sierra Nevada (see La Alpujarra) until their final expulsion.

Toponymy

Dinar from the year 98 of the Hegira (716 AD) on whose Arabic obverse the name Al-Andalus appears for the first time. On the reverse, the same text in Latin, which has made it possible to identify Al-Andalus with Hispania.

The name al-Andalus referring to the Iberian Peninsula is first documented on a coin preserved in the National Archaeological Museum of Spain and dated to the year 98 of the Hegira / 716 AD, a few years after the Muslim conquest of the Iberian Peninsula. On one face of this bilingual Latin-Arabic dinar appears the inscription Ferit[us] soli[dus] in Span[ia] ann[o] XCVII ("this solidus was struck in Spania, in the year 97 [sic, for 98]") and on the other face its Arabic equivalent: duriba hadal-dinar bi-l-Andalus sanata taman wa-tisin ("this dinar was struck in al-Andalus, in the year 98 [of the Hegira]"). Thus, "Spania or Hispania corresponded to the al-Andalus newly incorporated into the Islamic Empire," concludes María Jesús Viguera Molins. "The use of the new name contains the purpose of establishing a new state entity here, as if seeking to make evident the nominal and decisive break of al-Andalus with respect to the Visigothic kingdom, while maintaining its spatial entity. Applied at times to the whole Iberian Peninsula, it specifically designated the Muslim territory," this historian adds.

However, although it is clear that the toponym al-Andalus was used as a synonym for Hispania, the origin of the term is not clear, and several theories have been put forward on the matter.

Arabic spelling of the word "al-Andalus" (unvocalized)

Arabic spelling of the word "al-Andalus" (with the diacritical vocalization marks)

Vandal thesis

This historical and disputed thesis holds that the Vandals, a Germanic people who occupied Roman Baetica between 409 and 429 and from there passed into North Africa, gave rise to the name al-Andalus. The Vandal thesis was already put forward in the Hispanic world during the Middle Ages, although it was from the 16th century onward that it began to spread more widely, appearing in the works of many antiquarians of the Spanish cultural sphere. The 19th-century Dutch Arabist Reinhart Dozy was the first to argue it according to modern philology. He was followed along the same lines by Christian Friedrich Seybold (1859–1921) and Évariste Lévi-Provençal (1894–1956). This hypothesis has been argued in different ways throughout history.

One line of reasoning held that the name of Andalusia came from "Vandalicia", which would mean "the land of the Vandals". The weak points of this thesis are that the toponym "Andalucía", in its original form "el Andalucía", is a documented Castilianization of the Arabic "al-andalusiya", an Arabic adjective relating to the noun "al-Andalus", and that it is not logical from a chronological point of view to explain the name "al-Andalus" through the name "Andalucía", which is later. Moreover, there is no documentary evidence that the region was ever called "Vandalicia". Nevertheless, this has been a very popular etymology and a genuine, much-repeated historical cliché. Following this false etymology, the Latin toponym "Vandalia" even came to be used as a neologism to refer to Andalusia in modern texts written in Latin, as for example the motto that appears on the coat of arms of the city of Carmona: SICVT LVCIFER LVCET IN AVRORA, ITA IN VANDALIA CARMONA ('As the Morning Star shines at dawn, so shines Carmona in Andalusia').

At the end of the 20th century, following the same idea that links the name "al-Andalus" with the Vandals, another hypothesis was proposed. It holds that the Arabic term "al-Andalus" may originate from the Berber or Amazigh expression "tamort uandalos", which would mean the "land of the Vandals". According to this hypothesis, the inhabitants of North Africa, seeing the Vandals arrive from the other side of the Strait of Gibraltar, called the lands on the other side the "land of the Vandals". The reasoning is that the genitive in the Berber language is formed by adding the particle "u" to the beginning of the word, a phenomenon known as the "construct state". Therefore, bearing in mind that the Latin name of the Vandal people was "vandalus" (pronounced "uándalus"), the Berber expression "tamort uandalos", which would mean the "land of the Vandals", could have been confused by the Arabs with the homophonous Berber expression "tamort u-andalos", or land of the Andalos, which would have led to the Arabic word Andalus, with the loss of the "v" (pronounced u) through confusion with the aforementioned Berber "construct state", and preceded by the prefixed article "al-". The weak point of this hypothesis is that its supporters have likewise been unable to provide any documentary or epigraphic historical source proving that Baetica or Hispania were ever called "Vandalicia" or "tamort u-andalos".

Visigothic thesis

Heinz Halm proposes that "al-Andalus" is the Arabization of the Gothic expression "Landa-hlauts", a compound noun made up of the terms "landa" (land) and "hlauts" (lot), meaning "lands by lot". According to Halm, the Visigoths distributed the conquered lands among themselves by means of "lots" in order to resettle them, and called the distributed lands "Sortes Gothicae". In this way Halm holds that "Landa-hlauts" was the Gothic name of the former province of Baetica, and that the Arabic word al-Andalus could have derived from it. However, in the historical sources only the Latin expression "Gothica sors" referring to the Visigothic kingdom has been documented, and the expression "Landa-hlauts" or anything similar has not been found in any historical source.

The Visigothic thesis was revised in 2004 by the historian Rafael Sabio González, in a work that stresses the political character of the root "land". Thus, it would allude to the concept of nation rather than to a distribution of lands, following a widespread tradition among the Germanic languages (Deutschland, England, Scotland and Switzerland are some examples), and would therefore refer to the whole of the territories occupied by the Visigoths in the Iberian Peninsula, and not only to Baetica. In opposition to al-Andalus, the concept of Spania (a late derivative of Hispania) would have been appropriated by the Byzantines in their attempts to recover the western part of the Empire. Once the Muslims entered the Iberian Peninsula, replacing the Visigothic governing elite, they would have adopted the expression al-Andalus to refer to their dominions, by then devoid of etymological understanding but retaining its political meaning. This would explain why, as the area controlled by the Muslims receded, so did the geographical extent so named. It is interesting to note that the current macro-toponym al-Andalus might rather be the result of the fossilization of the word carried out by Castile, whether casually (given the temporary fixing of its border against the Almohad dominions) or intentionally (given the first etymological explanations of the term and the emergence of the belief that it comes from the Vandals).

Atlantic thesis

The Atlantic thesis derives the name "al-Andalus" from the Greek Atlantis or from the Latin Atlanticum. The first modern scholar to point out this possibility was Juan Fernández Amador de los Ríos, basing himself on the Andalusi chronicles themselves. More recently the philologist Joaquín Vallvé Bermejo, in his work La división territorial de la España musulmana, stated that the name "al-Andalus" originates in the Arabic phrase "Jazirat al-Andalus", which means the island or the peninsula of the Atlantic or of Atlantis, and which would allude to the Iberian Peninsula. According to this professor, Plato's legend of Atlantis was transmitted to the Arab world before Islam was born in the 7th century, as is revealed by pre-Islamic poetry, which already refers to an al-Andalus. To explain the shift from the Greco-Latin Atlantis to the Arabic al-Andalus, phonetic transcription is invoked: Atlanta pronounced al.landa (just as atleta is said al.leta), replacing the "t" with a geminated "l".

In 2002 María Jesús Viguera stated that the name might have been applied to "the Peninsula of the Atlantic" (Yazirat al-Andalus). More recently, the historian Eduardo Manzano Moreno, after rejecting the Vandal thesis as "hardly credible" ("the presence of the Vandals did not leave a lasting mark and, moreover, had that been the case the name would have been attested in some text of the Visigothic period"), has considered it "more likely" that Al-Andalus is "a learned denomination, an evocative name, perhaps referring to the ancient myth of Atlantis, which led the conquerors to identify that mythical place with the land at the westernmost end of their expeditions".

History

Main article: History of al-Andalus

The Muslim invasion began in 711 and divided the Peninsula into the Muslim State of al-Andalus and the various Christian counties and kingdoms of the north of the Peninsula. Both geographical boundaries shifted and presented two clearly differentiated models of society.

Conquest

Main article: Muslim conquest of the Iberian Peninsula

Between the years 711 and 715, the generals of the Umayyad Caliphate conquered part of the Iberian Peninsula, although without any kind of effective control north of the Sistema Central. The conquest of the south of the peninsula was sustained manu militari. The entry of the Muslims into the peninsula took place with the landing at Gibraltar (Jebel Tariq), on April 27, 711, of Tariq ibn Ziyad, lieutenant of the governor of Tangier (Musa ibn Nusayr), leading an army of 9,000 men. Shortly afterward, on July 19, the Visigoths were defeated and their king Roderic died at the Battle of Guadalete. The presence of the Umayyads north of the Sistema Central was anecdotal, limited to garrisons from which to push their military incursions or raids (razzias) deeper.

Emirate of Córdoba

Main article: Emirate of Córdoba

In the year 756 Abd al-Rahman I arrived in Córdoba and established a dynasty that ruled al-Andalus until 1031. In 773 Abd al-Rahman I created the Emirate of Córdoba, becoming politically and administratively independent of the Caliphate of Damascus, although he maintained a cultural, spiritual and moral unity with it. Despite everything, the true organizer of the independent emirate was Abd al-Rahman II, who delegated powers into the hands of the viziers. Islamization was very rapid and the number of Mozarabs (Christians in Muslim territory) decreased considerably.

In the year 912, Abd al-Rahman III ascended the throne, when the political decline of the emirate was already a fact. Seeking to put an end to the uprisings and conflicts, he proclaimed himself caliph in 929, giving way to the Caliphate of Córdoba.

Caliphate of Córdoba

The Caliphate of Córdoba around the year 1000

Main article: Caliphate of Córdoba

Main article: Fitna of al-Andalus

In the year 929, Abd al-Rahman III established the Caliphate of Córdoba, declaring religious independence from Baghdad, capital of the Abbasid Caliphate. This proclamation of the caliphate had a twofold purpose: internally, the Umayyads wanted to consolidate their position; externally, to consolidate the maritime routes for trade in the Mediterranean, guaranteeing economic relations with Byzantium and securing the sub-administration of gold.

After the conquest of Melilla in 927, by the middle of the 10th century the Cordoban Umayyads controlled the triangle formed by Algeria, Sijilmasa and the Atlantic Ocean. The power of the caliphate likewise extended northward, and in 950 the Holy Roman Empire exchanged ambassadors with Córdoba. In the year 939 a Christian army led by Ramiro II of León defeated the Arab hosts sent by Abd al-Rahman III in one of his punitive operations (raids) against the north. The result of the battle dissuaded the Umayyads from their intention of settling Arab populations in the vicinity of the Douro and its depopulated areas.

That of the Umayyads is the most important political stage of the Islamic presence in the peninsula, although a short-lived one, since in practice it ended in 1010 with the fitna or civil war that broke out over the throne between the supporters of the last legitimate caliph, Hisham II, and the successors of his prime minister or hajib Almanzor, which triggered the fragmentation of the Umayyad state into a multitude of kingdoms known as the Taifa kingdoms. In the background there were also problems such as the crushing tax burden needed to finance the cost of the war efforts in successive, ever more onerous campaigns against the north.

First taifa kingdoms

Main articles: First Taifa kingdoms and Taifa

The taifas were as many as 39 small kingdoms into which the caliphate was divided as a consequence of the fitna or civil war. The movement, begun by the Banu Hammud with the proclamation of the kingdom of Málaga, became widespread during this period and led to the fragmentation of the caliphate and to the first taifa kingdoms. This was not a peaceful period, as the various taifa kingdoms fought one another. The Umayyad Caliphate of Córdoba was succeeded by the Hammudid Caliphate of Málaga; although the right of the Hammudids to claim for themselves the imamate or primacy of the community was not recognized by a number of petty kings of the Taifas, it was a legitimate right. During much of the Taifa period, the Hammudid dynasty, from the Taifa of Málaga, continued to exercise its effective power and its recognized religious authority over a large territory on both shores of the Mediterranean.

Each taifa was at first identified with a family, clan or dynasty. Thus there arose, in addition to the aforementioned Hammudid dynasty, which would rule the territories of the former Cora of Rayya, the Taifa of Algeciras and the Cora of Ceuta, the taifa of the Amirids (descendants of Almanzor) in Valencia; that of the Tujibids in Zaragoza; that of the Aftasids in Badajoz; that of the Birzalids in Carmona; and that of the Abbadids in Seville. Over the years, the taifas of Seville, Badajoz, Toledo and Zaragoza constituted the Islamic powers of the peninsula.

Almoravid Empire

Main article: Almoravids

Expansion of the Almoravid empire around the 12th century

The breakup of the caliphate into multiple taifas made it evident that only a centralized and unified political power could resist the advance of the Christian kingdoms of the north. Thus, the conquest of Toledo in 1085 by Alfonso VI heralded the Christian threat of putting an end to the Muslim kingdoms of the peninsula. Faced with this situation, the kings of the taifas asked for help from the Almoravid sultan of North Africa, Yusuf ibn Tashfin, who established himself at Algeciras and not only defeated the Leonese King at the Battle of Zalaca (1086), but progressively conquered all the taifas from 1090 onward. But his brutal military occupation ended in failure when the Castilians and Leonese withstood the siege of the emblematic Visigothic capital of Toledo. The Almoravid intervention in the peninsula marked the beginning of a long stage of Maghrebi influence in al-Andalus. The Almoravid period (from the late 11th century to the 1140s) was then followed by the Almohad period (from the middle of the 12th century to the 1220s) and finally by the Marinid period (from the late 13th century to the early 15th).

The crisis of the Almoravid Empire is marked by the loss of Zaragoza in 1118, occupied by Alfonso I of Aragon. The first signs of Andalusi discontent with the Almoravids occurred in Córdoba in 1121, when the population rebelled against the Almoravids; only the intervention of the alfaquíes was able to prevent a bloodbath. Other rebellions took place in various cities, and from 1140 onward Almoravid power began to decline in North Africa under Almohad pressure. This news reached the peninsula. In 1144 a Sufi, Ibn Qasi, began an anti-Almoravid movement and the so-called second taifa kingdoms began to emerge.

Second taifa kingdoms

Main articles: Second Taifa kingdoms and Taifa

Battle of the Reconquista, miniature from the Cantigas de Santa Maria

The first signs of the discontent of the Andalusi population with the Almoravids occurred in Córdoba in 1121, when the population rebelled against them. Only the intervention of the alfaquíes was able to prevent a bloodbath. Other rebellions took place in various cities. From 1140 onward Almoravid power began to decline in North Africa under Almohad pressure, and this news reached the peninsula. It was between 1140 and 1153 that the second taifa kingdoms appeared. Most of these kingdoms would soon be swept away by Almohad military might (although the Taifa of Majorca would survive until 1203).

Almohad Empire

Main article: Almohads

Main cities and roads during the 12th–13th centuries.

The Almohads landed in the Iberian Peninsula from 1145 onward, and tried to unify the taifas, using as propaganda their aggression against the Christian kingdoms and the defense of Islamic purity. In little more than thirty years the Almohads managed to forge a powerful empire that stretched from Santarém (central Portugal) to Tripoli (Libya), and they succeeded in halting the Christian advance when they defeated the Castilian troops in 1195 at the Battle of Alarcos.

Despite the efforts of its rulers, the Almohad dynasty had problems from the outset in controlling the whole territory of al-Andalus, especially Granada and the Levante. In addition, some of its more radical positions were poorly received by the Muslim population of al-Andalus, which was alien to many Berber traditions. The Christian victory at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa (1212) marks the beginning of the end of the Almohad dynasty, not only because of the outcome of the encounter itself but because of the subsequent death of the caliph al-Nasir and the succession struggles that followed, which plunged the caliphate into political chaos, giving rise to the third taifa kingdoms.

Third taifa kingdoms

Main articles: Third Taifa kingdoms and Taifa

The collapse of the Almohad central power led to a new period of fragmentation that once again gave rise to the appearance of taifa kingdoms, between 1224 and 1265 (once more an island taifa kingdom, the Taifa of Menorca, would be the longest-lived and would survive until 1287).

Nasrid Kingdom of Granada

Main article: Nasrid Kingdom of Granada

The Surrender of Granada, by Francisco Pradilla y Ortiz.

By the middle of the 13th century al-Andalus had been reduced to the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada. In the year 1238, Muhammad I ibn Nasr, also known as Al-Ahmar, "the Red", entered Granada. He was the creator of the Nasrid dynasty (which had 20 Granadan sultans) and the founder of the Kingdom of Granada, which, although at first it fraternized with the Castilian kings, had in time to become their tributary in order to maintain its independence.

In the last decades of the Nasrid dynasty, Granada was divided by an internal civil war that pitted Al-Zagal, Muley Hacén, brother of Al-Zagal, and his son Boabdil against one another.

The last King of the Nasrid dynasty was Boabdil (Abu 'Abd-Allāh). His defeat in 1492 by the Catholic Monarchs put an end to the Reconquista, a process that began in the 8th century with Don Pelayo and the Battle of Covadonga. The Kingdom of Granada was annexed to the Crown of Castile.

Territorial organization

Main article: Cora (territorial division)

In the time of the Emirate and, above all, of the Caliphate, the territory was organized into six large regions (nabiya), three interior and three frontier ones, all with their respective coras. The interior demarcations or regions were: Al-Gharb, which covered the present-day province of Huelva and the south of Portugal; Al-Mawsat or lands of the center, which extended over the valleys of the Guadalquivir and the Genil, plus the mountainous areas of Andalusia and the south of the meseta, that is, the former Baetica; and Al-Sharq or land of the east, which covered the Mediterranean arc, from the present-day province of Murcia to Tortosa. Between these demarcations and the Christian kingdoms lay the three Marches: al-Thagr al-A'la or Upper March (Zaragoza); al-Thagr al-Awsat or Middle March (Toledo); and al-Thagr al-Adna or Lower March (Mérida). These Marches were maintained until the appearance of the Taifa kingdoms.

Each Cora was assigned a territory with a capital, in which a wali or governor resided, living in the fortified part of the city, or alcazaba. Each Cora also had a qadi or judge. The "Marches" or "thugur" (plural of thagr), on the other hand, were headed by a military chief called a qa'id, whose authority was superimposed on the authorities of the coras included in the march.

Some authors consider the coras to be heirs to the earlier Baetican demarcations. The demarcation entailed the exercise of certain political, administrative, military, economic and judicial powers. The Cora, as the basic demarcation, was used practically throughout the entire existence of al-Andalus, although complete information is only available for the time of the Caliphate of Córdoba. Some authors put at 40 the total number of coras that came to exist in al-Andalus, and other sources state that their number (excluding those belonging to any of the Marches) would have been around 21–23 demarcations.

The Coras, in turn, were divided into smaller demarcations, called iqlim, which were economic-administrative units, each with a village or castle as its head. In the early days of Muslim colonization, within each Cora settlements were established around castles, called "hisn" ("husûn" in the plural), which acted as organizing and defensive centers for a certain territorial area, called "Yûz" ("Ayzâ" in the plural). This administrative structure remained unchanged until the 10th century, when the districts were modified, greatly increasing in size, and were called "aqâlîm" ("iqlîm" in the singular).

At other historical moments, the organization into Coras was replaced by other types of demarcations, such as the Taha, characteristic of the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada.

State organization of the Andalusi State

In 711 the army of Berbers from North Africa under the command of Tariq ibn Ziyad crossed the Strait of Gibraltar, defeated the last Visigothic king and began the conquest of the Peninsula. By around 718 the Peninsula had been occupied. The Visigothic nobility had agreed to submission and the payment of tribute to the invaders in exchange for keeping their lands.

The different stages

Between 714 and 756 al-Andalus was an emirate dependent on Damascus, governed by a wali and beset by tensions. Stability began with the arrival of Abd al-Rahman I, of the Umayyad dynasty, who turned the Peninsula into an independent emirate. Abd al-Rahman III declared religious independence and proclaimed the Caliphate of Córdoba, the period of greatest Andalusi splendor.

At the beginning of the 11th century, the aristocracy, the army and the cities began to act in a disintegrating way. The Caliphate slowly broke apart and disappeared around 1031, divided into more than twenty-five taifa kingdoms. The fall of the Caliphate benefited the Christian kingdoms of the north. By the end of the 13th century, only the Kingdom of Granada survived, lasting until the end of the Islamic presence in 1492.

State organization

The State of al-Andalus was organized in a centralized way on the basis of the autocratic power of the caliphs, the supreme authority of the believers. The caliphs united spiritual and temporal power, and that power extended to the economic, judicial, military and foreign policy spheres. The caliph directed the administration with the help of a prime minister (hajib) and appointed the walis and the qadis. The frontier regions had a special status and the wali assumed military powers.

The territory was divided into a lower province, around Badajoz; a middle province, around Toledo; and an upper province, with its capital at Zaragoza. Military expansion and control of the borders required the organization of an army. The army commanders were mostly Arabs, and a large part of the soldiers were Berber mercenaries and slaves.

Economy

Gold dinar of the Caliphate of Córdoba minted in the time of al-Hakam II

Fortuny Vase. Hispano-Moresque ceramic from Málaga with metallic luster, 14th century. Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg.

The arrival of Islamic civilization in the Iberian Peninsula brought about important economic transformations. An essentially rural economy gave way to a markedly urban one.

One of the most important places of the Muslim city is the suq (souk) or market. Markets experienced a revival in the peninsula during the Islamic period. Trade in diverse products took place in them, mainly metal goods and other handicraft products, as well as silks, cotton and woolen fabrics. Some luxury articles produced in al-Andalus were exported to Christian Europe, to the Maghreb and even to the East. The workshops and shops where these goods were produced were owned by the State. Mālaqa, present-day Málaga, had a very important pottery industry, where ornamental tiles and amphorae were fired, the so-called Málaga golden lusterware, which came to enjoy great renown throughout the Mediterranean.

In al-Andalus slavery was also frequently resorted to as a source of labor. Slaves were usually valued differently according to their race, since a different aptitude for work was attributed to each one.

Agriculture

The Muslim State brought development to agriculture and commerce. Agricultural production improved thanks to irrigation and new horticultural practices. New products and intensive farming methods were added to the Mediterranean triad. Fruit products, vegetables and industrial crops gained importance. It was a very productive agriculture, which generated a surplus for the urban market.

In the dry areas the cultivation of wheat and barley arose. Broad beans and grains were also sown, which were the basis of the population's diet. In periods of low production, cereals were imported from North Africa. It was during this period that the cultivation of rice was introduced into the peninsula, as well as that of eggplant, artichoke and sugarcane. Fruit trees occupied a significant agricultural area; Sintra was famous for its pears and apples. The present-day Algarve stood out for its production of figs and grapes. The production of honey and wine was also notable. Although its consumption was forbidden by Islam, wine was produced and consumed in large quantities, at least until the arrival of the Almohads.

The promotion of agriculture

The prince had to be supplied with agricultural products, and the farmers had to be protected in their work. The ordinances of powerful figures could increase the fortunes of the people, so as to avoid famine.

Urbanism

The Muslim State brought development to the cities, which were the center of economic, cultural and social life. Handicrafts developed. The products of handicrafts were destined for domestic and foreign trade. Slaves and raw materials were imported from Africa, Europe and the East, and luxury manufactured goods were exported. The circulation of currency was abundant, above all because the peninsula was a meeting point of African, European and Eastern trade routes. The city of Córdoba, the most important city of al-Andalus culturally and economically, exceeded 100,000 inhabitants in the 10th century and became the largest city in Western Europe.

Livestock

Livestock farming had a smaller economic role; its importance stands out in food and transport, and less so in agricultural work. The raising of livestock was also a common practice, in particular cattle and goats. Likewise, rabbits and chickens were highly valued as food. The Muslims combined the hydraulic systems of the Romans with those of the Visigoths and with the techniques they brought from the East. Along the rivers they built water mills, and to draw water from wells they introduced the noria and the picota.

Mining

It did not have a very high technical level; during this period the exploitation of the peninsula's mining deposits continued, as had been done since Roman times. Mining revived compared with the Visigothic period: iron and copper stood out, as well as the mercury of Almadén (a toponym of Arabic origin). Gold was extracted from some rivers, such as the Segre, the Guadalquivir or at the mouth of the Tagus. Silver was found in Murcia, Beja and Córdoba, iron in Huelva and San Nicolás del Puerto. The great deposit of cinnabar was Almadén; copper came from Toledo and Granada, lead from Cabra and tin from the Algarve.

Among marble quarries, those of Macael and of Sierra Morena are cited, although al-Andalus remained deficient in luxury building materials and had to import them.

Other activities

The abundant wood of the forests was used for making furniture and for shipbuilding, and as fuel. In Alcácer do Sal this activity was intense owing to the existence of forests nearby. Also worth mentioning is the gathering of medicinal and aromatic plants and of fruits intended for food (chestnuts, hazelnuts...) or products such as cork.

Replica of a Hispano-Muslim ship of the 10th–14th centuries

Fishing and salt extraction were favored by the existence of a long coastline. As for fishing, there was both sea and river fishing, although fish probably did not play an important role in the diet. The most commonly caught species were the sardine and the tuna, a special type of net called the almadraba being used to catch the latter.

As for salt, it was obtained both from rock salt mines in the region of Zaragoza and from salt pans (the most common method) in the regions of Alicante, Almería and Cádiz. Thanks to salt, an important salting industry was able to develop, which constituted one of the export goods.

Hunting could also provide both meat (rabbits, partridges...), intended to supply the urban markets, and furs for the fur industry (fox, otter...) in sparsely inhabited areas located on the northern frontier. However, hunting as a pastime seems to stand out more; hunting was done with birds of prey, and treatises on the care and training of these birds were important.

Society

Andalusi society

The population of al-Andalus was very heterogeneous, especially at the beginning, and it varied over time. From the ethnic point of view it consisted mainly of Hispano-Goths; followed by the Berbers, who made up the bulk of the Umayyad armies; and the Arabs, who were the dominant and ruling group; other ethnic groups should also be noted, such as Slavs, Jews and a large mass of Black slaves. From the religious point of view the population was either Muslim or dhimmi (Christians and Jews). The Christian Hispano-Goths of al-Andalus who had converted to Islam are known as Muladis, while those who kept the Christian religion are called Mozarabs. Both groups adopted Muslim customs and ways of life. The dominant class was formed by Arabs, Berbers and Muladis, and the dominated class by Christians and Jews.

Andalusi social structure was conditioned by the ethnic origin of each group and by social class. Although Islam recognizes only one type of society, the ummah or community of believers, Islamic jurists based social status on the condition of free men and slaves. The internal structure of each group followed this scheme: aristocracy (jassa), notables (ayan) and the masses (amma).

The Mozarabs and Jews enjoyed freedom of worship, but in exchange they were obliged to pay two taxes: the personal tax (yizia) and the land tax on the income from the land (jarach). These two groups had their own authorities, enjoyed freedom of movement and could be judged according to their own law. However, they were also subject to the following restrictions:

• they could not hold political office;
• the men could not marry a Muslim woman;
• they could not have Muslim servants or bury their dead with ostentation;
• they had to live in neighborhoods separate from the Muslims;
• they were obliged to give hospitality to any Muslim who needed it, without receiving payment.

Cities such as Toledo, Mérida, Valencia, Córdoba and Lisbon were important Mozarabic centers. Coexistence was not always free of conflict. In Toledo the Mozarabs even led a revolt against Arab rule. Some Mozarabs emigrated to the Christian kingdoms of the north, spreading with them architectural, onomastic and toponymic elements of Mozarabic culture. The Jews engaged in trade and in the collection of taxes. They were also physicians, ambassadors and treasurers. The Jew Hasdai ibn Shaprut (915–970) became one of the trusted men of the caliph Abd al-Rahman III. As for their numbers, it is estimated that at the end of the 15th century there were some 50,000 Jews in Granada and some 100,000 in all of Islamic Iberia.

A game of chess, from the Book of Games of Alfonso X

It is very difficult to estimate the population of al-Andalus during the period of greatest extent of Islamic rule (the 10th century), but a figure close to 10 million inhabitants has been suggested. The Arabs settled in the most fertile lands: the Guadalquivir Valley, the Levante and the Ebro Valley. The Berbers occupied the mountainous areas, such as the ranges of the Central Meseta and the Serranía de Ronda, and were also numerous in the Algarve, although after the Berber revolt of 740 many returned to North Africa. In 741 a large number of Syrians arrived in al-Andalus with the aim of helping to suppress the Berber revolt, and they ended up settling in the east and south of the peninsula. There are also sources that point to the presence of Yemeni families in cities such as Silves. The presence of two minority ethnic groups, Black people and Slavs, is also worth noting.

Black people arrived in al-Andalus as slaves or as mercenaries. They served as members of the personal guard of the sovereigns, while others worked as messengers. Black women were concubines or servants. The Slavs were initially slaves, but many progressively managed to buy their freedom. Some attained important posts in the administration, and during the period of the first taifa kingdoms (the 11th century) some Slavs would form their own kingdoms.

It is worth noting that from the beginning of the 15th century the Gitanos began to settle in the peninsular territories.

The houses of the wealthier classes were characterized by their comfort and beauty, thanks to the presence of divans, rugs, cushions and tapestries covering the walls. In these houses the evenings were enlivened by the presence of poets, musicians and dancers.

In both rural and urban areas there were public baths (hammam), which functioned not only as spaces for hygiene but also for social life. The Arab baths had a structure inherited from the Roman baths, with several rooms with pools of cold, warm and hot water. Masseurs, barbers, cloakroom attendants, make-up artists, etc. worked in them. The morning was reserved for men and the afternoon for women. With the Christian Reconquista many of these baths were closed, as they were considered places conducive to political conspiracies as well as to sexual relations.

Bread was the basis of the diet in al-Andalus, and meat, fish, legumes and fruits were also consumed. Food was cooked with aromatic herbs, such as oregano, and spices (ginger, pepper, cumin...). The fat used was oil (al-zait), that produced in the region of Coimbra being famous. Sweets were also appreciated, such as queijadas (qayyata), sweet rice with cinnamon and various pastries made with nuts and honey, which are still characteristic today of the cuisine of certain regions of the peninsula.

Poem of Yusuf, an Aljamiado manuscript

After a first stage of assimilation and emulation of the achievements of the Caliphate of Baghdad and the various Persian kingdoms (it should not be forgotten that Persia is the primordial cultural center of classical Islam), an original Andalusi culture was established, reaching a high level, above all in the 10th, 11th and 12th centuries, to the point that al-Andalus became a reference for Europe and for the rest of Islam, becoming moreover the main transmitter of the Greek, Arab, Chinese and Hindu knowledge arriving from the East. For all these reasons, many historians speak of a first European Renaissance, or Pre-Renaissance. Arabic prevailed as the learned language, although a large part of the population used Romance languages or Hebrew. This linguistic diversity was reflected in literature, specifically in the muwashshah.

Thanks to the use of paper, which allowed inexpensive copies, the library of al-Hakam II in Córdoba (one of the 70 in the city) contained 400,000 volumes, among them the treasures of Greco-Latin antiquity and original contributions of Muslim thinkers such as Avempace and Averroes.

Religious minorities: Christians and Jews

Main article: Christians and Jews in al-Andalus

Non-Muslims were granted the status of Dhimmi (protected persons), with adult men paying a "Jizya" tax, equivalent to one dinar per year, with exemptions for the elderly and the disabled. Those who were neither Christians nor Jews, such as pagans, were given the status of Majus. The treatment of non-Muslims in the Caliphate has been a subject of considerable debate among scholars and commentators, especially those interested in drawing parallels with the coexistence of Muslims and non-Muslims in the modern world.

Jews made up more than five percent of the population. Al-Andalus was a key center of Jewish life during the early Middle Ages, producing important scholars and one of the most stable and wealthy Jewish communities. The longest period of relative tolerance began after 912 with the reign of Abd al-Rahman III and his son, al-Hakam II, when the Jews of al-Andalus prospered, devoting themselves to the service of the Caliphate of Córdoba, to the study of the sciences, to commerce and to industry, especially the trade in silk and slaves, thus promoting the prosperity of the country. Southern Iberia became an asylum for the oppressed Jews of other countries.

Under the Almoravids and the Almohads there was intermittent persecution of Jews, but the sources are extremely scarce and do not give a clear picture, although the situation seems to have deteriorated after 1160. There were Muslim pogroms against Jews in al-Andalus, which occurred in Córdoba (1011) and in Granada (1066). However, massacres of dhimmis are rare in Islamic history.

The Almohads, who had taken control of the Maghrebi and Andalusian territories of the Almoravids in 1147, far surpassed the Almoravids in fundamentalist outlook, and treated non-Muslims harshly. Faced with the choice of death or conversion, many Jews and Christians emigrated. Some, such as the family of Maimonides, fled east to more tolerant Muslim lands.

Culture

Cultural splendor

Prayer hall of the Mosque of Córdoba, built between the 8th and the 10th centuries

Muslim Spain had a remarkable cultural development. The creation of networks of schools and universities contributed to the attraction that Andalusi culture exerted on the Christian kingdoms.

Islam left its most characteristic mark on architecture. The Mosque of Córdoba and the Alhambra of Granada are two examples of it, from which Hispano-Arabic art was able to emerge, adding specific elements to the Islamic architectural tradition: the horseshoe arch, polychrome arches, mosaics and ornamentation in reliefs of plasterwork.

Science

Main article: Science in al-Andalus

Arabic treatise on medicinal plants

As happened in the artistic domain, the Arabs and Berbers who settled in the Iberian Peninsula in the 8th century began by drawing on the knowledge bequeathed by Visigothic civilization. Progressively, as a result of contacts with the East (in the context, for example, of the pilgrimage to Mecca) and of the desire of some sovereigns of al-Andalus to make their courts centers of learning rivaling the cities of the Middle East, a science developed in al-Andalus that displayed aspects of great originality. Thus, while the rest of Europe remained in the Dark Age of knowledge, al-Andalus flourished. The City of Córdoba was one of the most important cultural centers of the classical Islamic Empire (and of all Europe); the other was Baghdad.

All the scientific disciplines were taught in madrasas (from the Arabic madrasa), in which the exchange of students with the Islamic world on the other side of the Mediterranean was significant.

Abd al-Rahman II was one of the first rulers who strove to turn the Cordoban court into a center of culture and learning, recruiting several scholars from the Islamic world for this purpose. One of them was Abbas ibn Firnas, who, although hired to teach music in Córdoba, soon became interested in other fields of knowledge, such as flight; he would be the author of a flying apparatus made of wood, with feathers and wings of large birds (a kind of hang glider). Determined to test his work, he threw himself from a high point of the city and, according to the accounts, managed to fly for some time, but ended up crashing, suffering some injuries. In his house, Ibn Firnas built a planetarium, in which not only the movement of the planets was reproduced, but also phenomena such as rain and hail.

In the field of astronomy, the works of Al-Zarqali should be highlighted; he lived in Toledo and in Córdoba in the 11th century and is known in the West by his Latin name, Arzachel. He became notable for building instruments of astronomical observation, having invented the azafea, a type of astrolabe that was used by navigators until the 16th century. He also argued that the orbit of the planets was not circular but elliptical, anticipating Johannes Kepler in this field.

Al-Zahrawi (936–1013), better known as Abulcasis, court physician to the caliph al-Hakam, was an important surgeon of al-Andalus. He is known as the author of the encyclopedia al-Tasrif, in which he presented his surgical procedures (amputations, dental treatments, eye surgeries...). This work would be translated into Latin and used in Europe in the teaching of medicine during the Middle Ages.

In botany and pharmacology, Ibn al-Baitar (born in Málaga at the end of the 13th century) studied the plants of the Iberian Peninsula, North Africa and the East thanks to the journeys he made through these regions. He was the author of the work Kitāb al-Jāmiʻ li-mufradāt al-adwiya wa-l-aghdhiya, in which he listed 1,400 plants with their respective medicinal uses; although he relied on the ancient Greek treatises on botany, Ibn Baitar presented the medicinal use of some 200 previously unknown plants. Ibn al-'Awwam, a resident of 12th-century Seville, wrote an agricultural treatise titled Kitab al-fila-hah, one of the most important medieval works in this area. In it he listed 585 species of plants and 50 of fruit trees, indicating how they should be cultivated.

In the period extending from the 10th century to the 12th century the great geographers of the peninsula emerged, among whom Al Bakri, Ibn Yubair and Al Idrisi stand out. Al-Bakri worked essentially with written and oral sources, never leaving al-Andalus. He was the author of the Book of Roads and Kingdoms, in which he listed all the countries known at the time. The book was organized into entries, each one recounting the geography, history, climate and people of the country in question. Ibn Yubair, secretary to the governor of Seville, made the pilgrimage to Mecca in 1183, taking the opportunity to describe the eastern Mediterranean, referring to the political events that region of the world was experiencing, namely the Crusades. Al-Idrisi, born in Sabtah (Ceuta), received his education in the Córdoba of the Almoravids, but had to leave the city for reasons of political and religious persecution, settling in the Sicily of the Normans. On this island he wrote the Book of Roger (so titled after al-Idrisi's patron, King Roger II of Sicily), in which he described the world known up to then. The information in the work would be rendered on a silver planisphere.

Philosophy

Al-Andalus served as a bridge between the East and Europe for the dissemination of the works of the classical Greek philosophers, especially Aristotle, which would surely have been lost had it not been for the translations made in al-Andalus.

The principal thinker of al-Andalus was Ibn Rushd (Averroes) (12th century). Among his works are the commentaries on the work of Aristotle, whose translator he was, and of Plato, and a medical encyclopedia. His ideas had a notable influence on Renaissance thought. At the University of Paris, the thought of Aristotle would arrive in the 13th century fundamentally thanks to Averroes. The most radical followers of this thought, which revolutionized earlier ideas, would be known as "Latin Averroists"; their best-known figure was Siger of Brabant. In 1270 and in 1277 the theses of the "Latin Averroists" were condemned by the Bishop of Paris, and their followers persecuted.

Other important philosophers, besides Ibn Rushd (Averroes), were Ibn Bajja (Avempace) and Ibn Tufayl, Maimonides (a Jew from Córdoba) and Ibn Arabi.

Mysticism

Mysticism occupied a key place in Andalusi intellectual production and enjoyed great prestige in the Islamic world, especially Sufism, whose greatest representative was Ibn Arabi, who wrote a history of the Andalusi holy men that is fundamental for understanding the spiritual atmosphere and society of the time.

Hermits and mystics leading an ascetic life abounded, such as Ibn Masarra, founder of the first school of Andalusi spirituality, the Masarri school, which triumphed among the Cordoban aristocracy.

But Andalusi spirituality from the 13th to the 15th centuries is dominated by the Shadhiliyya tariqa, created by several philosophers such as Ibn Mashish, al-Shadhili, ibn Ata, Abu-l-Abbas or Ibn Abbad, which preaches the renunciation of charismas and personal love for Allah.

Other important figures were Ibn Khaldun, Ibn Gabirol, Abenalsid, Abenalarif and Abraham ben Meir ibn Ezra.

Art

Main articles: Hispano-Moresque art and Art of al-Andalus

Emiral and caliphal art

Main article: Emiral and caliphal art

Interior of the Mosque of Córdoba

From the artistic point of view, the Andalusi emirate employed a style that did not differ greatly from the rest of the Umayyad Caliphate. That is, the adaptation of formulas and elements from the cultures that had preceded them, in this case from the Roman and Visigothic world. At no point was there a literal repetition of motifs and forms; on the contrary, their intelligent incorporation and assimilation resulted in a true creative blossoming, giving rise to the high point of caliphal art. In it, elements of the local Hispano-Roman-Visigothic tradition merge with Eastern elements, Byzantine as well as Umayyad or Abbasid.

From the very beginning, artistic buildings were concentrated around the capital, Córdoba, where a congregational mosque was built that was destined to become the most important monument of the Islamic West. Notable among others are the works carried out during the reign of Abd al-Rahman II, a court that welcomed numerous artists and Eastern fashions and customs; he promoted, among others, the construction of the Alcazaba of Mérida as well as that of the minaret of the church of San Juan in Córdoba, and had its walls and those of Seville improved. The caliph Abd al-Rahman III, following the Eastern tradition according to which each monarch, as a sign of prestige, should possess his own palatial residence, decided to found the palatine city of Medina Azahara (Madinat al-Zahra).

In the rest of the peninsular territory the artistic flourishing promoted by the caliphate is also evident. Among religious buildings are mosques, medersas or madrasas, and mausoleums. In the city of Toledo remains of its fortifications can still be seen, as well as some vestiges that define its alcazaba, medina, suburbs and surroundings, among which the small mosque of Bab al-Mardum stands out. Other equally significant works are the ribat of Guardamar del Segura (Alicante), the Castle of Gormaz (Soria) and the Ciudad de Vascos (Toledo).

The refinement prevailing at the caliphal court fostered the creation of all kinds of decorative objects which, under royal patronage, took the form of the most varied artistic expressions. Special mention should be made of the works in ivory, among which are all kinds of meticulously carved everyday objects: pyxides and caskets intended to hold jewels, ointments and perfumes; mortars, censers, ataifors, jugs and washbasins of glazed ceramic, etc. In the National Archaeological Museum one can see the Pyxis of Zamora, intended for the wife of al-Hakam II; another example is the Casket of Leyre, in the Museum of Navarre.

The monarchs, as in Baghdad and Cairo, created their own factory of textiles or bands, which marked the beginning of the history of the production of embroidered silk textiles in al-Andalus. Geometrized plant and figurative motifs are inscribed in medallions forming bands, just as they appear on the veil or almejí of Hisham II which, like a turban, covered his head and hung down to his arms.

There were likewise workshops in which bronze was worked, carved with figures representing lions and deer with their bodies covered in tangent circles evoking textiles, which were used as spouts in fountains. Their formal and stylistic parallels with pieces of the Fatimids have led to controversy over the authenticity of some of these pieces.

Ceramics include the type of production known as green and manganese. Its decoration, based on epigraphic and geometric motifs and a notable presence of figurative motifs, is achieved through the application of copper oxide (green) and manganese oxide (purple).

Taifa art

Night view of the rooms of the Aljafería of Zaragoza

Main article: Taifa art

The destruction of political unity led to the abolition of the Cordoban caliphate in 1031 and to the creation of a mosaic of independent kingdoms that were called taifas (from tawaifs, parties, factions). The rivalries among them, each claiming the inheritance of the prestige and authority of the Caliphate, were the dominant note of the period. In the artistic field this situation translated into the emulation of Cordoban models.

Palatine architecture sponsored by each of the monarchs fits into this context. One of the best examples is, without doubt, the Aljafería of Zaragoza, typologically related to the Umayyad palace of Mushatta (Jordan). It has a tripartite organization in which each of the sectors was devoted to different functions. The central sector, for ceremonial use, is dominated by a rectangular courtyard whose shorter sides were occupied by pools, porticoes and elongated rooms bounded at the ends by alcoves. This scheme undoubtedly derives from the Cordoban palatine models. The repertoire of arches displayed in the building also responds to this same tradition, ranging from lobed, mixtilinear, semicircular and pointed horseshoe arches to complex arrangements of interlaced, superimposed and opposed arches. All of them are made with poor materials, but faced with plasterwork with plant, geometric and epigraphic motifs, seeking an effect of sumptuousness and apparent richness.

The old alcazabas of the various kingdoms also underwent major remodeling. In that of Málaga a double walled enclosure with square towers was added, along with a palace to which the remains of the so-called Cuartos de Granada belong. The old alcazaba of Muslim Granada, known as Qadima (old), located on the hill of the Albaicín, was fortified with square and round towers, and some bent-entrance gates were added, such as the Puerta Monaita and the Puerta Nueva. The city likewise preserves some baths known as El Bañuelo, on the Carrera del Darro, organized into three rooms, of which the central or warm room is larger for reasons of use. Very similar baths are preserved in Toledo, Baza and Palma de Mallorca. The alcazaba of Almería was fortified with rammed-earth walls, and a palace, al-Sumadihiyya, surrounded by gardens, was built inside it. In the cases of Toledo and Seville, the kingdoms that competed most strongly for the Cordoban inheritance, dazzling testimonies from the Arab chronicles about their palaces are preserved, as well as scarce fragments, generally out of context.

As with architecture, the sumptuary arts followed the Cordoban tradition, although other centers took the leading role. Thus ivory production moved to the workshop of Cuenca, while prestige in textiles was acquired by the workshop of Almería. As for ceramics, a technique that had appeared during the caliphate but now underwent great development became consolidated. This is the "cuerda seca" ceramic, whose pieces are decorated with lines of manganese oxide forming different motifs that are filled with glaze of different colors.

Almoravid art

Main article: Almoravid art

The works carried out during the reign of the Monarch Yusuf ibn Tashfin still showed the austerity and lack of ornamentation imposed by his religious fervor. This formal rigor was not maintained by his son Ali ibn Yusuf who, dazzled by the courtly refinement of the Andalusi taifas, sponsored the construction of several buildings decorated with the most beautiful elements.

The preferred support is the pillar, in place of the column. They adopted the horseshoe and lobed arch, to which they added horseshoe or tumid arches, trefoil lobed arches, mixtilinear arches and lambrequin arches, the latter formed by small curves, right angles and pendant keystones. In relation to the development of the arches, they applied from the springer an S-shaped motif called serpentiform, already used earlier in the Aljafería of Zaragoza. The preferred roofing system is the gable roof; they built wooden ceilings, which reached great development in Mudéjar art, and at the same time made extraordinary domed coverings. Some, represented by the dome of the mihrab of the mosque of Tlemcen, follow the Cordoban model: interlaced arches leaving the crown free, although in this case they spring from angular squinches of muqarnas and use complements of openwork stucco decorated with exuberant floral motifs. From this work, in which the introduction into the Maghreb of the muqarnas or mocárabe is documented, other types of domes called muqarnas domes appear, such as the one that can be seen in the mosque of Qarawiyyin in Fez.

Artistic works continued to be linked to earlier traditions. The textile workshop of Almería reached its zenith producing the famous attabi. These textiles are characterized by the use of softer colors with touches of gold forming double, tangent or interlaced circles, arranged in rows, inside which pairs of animals are embroidered. The similarity with Sicilian textiles means that the two workshops are confused. A similar problem is posed by the ivories, which contain ambiguous inscriptions that do not fully clarify to which of the two workshops they belong. Ceramics, for their part, continued to develop the technique of "partial" or "total cuerda seca", depending on whether the decoration covers the whole surface or part of it. At the same time two new techniques applied to unglazed ceramics appeared: sgraffito and stamping, which would become widespread in the Almohad period.

Almohad art

Alcazaba of Badajoz. A clear example of Almohad military architecture. It is the largest alcazaba in Europe.

Torre del Oro (Seville). Almohad architecture. First third of the 13th century

Main article: Almohad art

The return to the most extreme austerity led, even more quickly than in the case of their predecessors, the Almoravids, to one of the artistic moments of greatest splendor, particularly as regards architecture. Almohad art continued in the wake of the Almoravids, consolidating and deepening their typologies and ornamental motifs. They built with the same materials: tiles, plaster, mortar and wood. And they kept, as supports, the pillars and arches used in the previous period.

Their mosques followed the model of the mosque of Tlemcen, with naves perpendicular to the qibla wall. Palace architecture introduced the crossed courtyards that had already appeared in Madinat al-Zahra, but it is at this time that they acquired their greatest prominence. Their best example is found in the Alcázar of Seville. This scheme would also be applied in Nasrid and Mudéjar courtyards. Another novelty consists of the placement of small openings or windows covered with stucco lattices giving onto a room, thus allowing its lighting and ventilation.

Military architecture underwent a typological enrichment and its defensive effectiveness was perfected, which would have great significance, even for the Christian sphere. Complex bent-entrance gates appeared so that attackers, as they advanced, would leave one of their flanks exposed; polygonal towers to deflect the angle of fire; albarrana towers separated from the walled enclosure but joined to it at the top by an arch, which made it possible to increase their defensive effectiveness compared with a normal tower, such as the Torre del Oro of Seville; reinforced walls running perpendicular to the walled enclosure in order to protect a water intake or a gate, or to prevent complete encirclement; barbicans or outer walls, and crenellated parapets.

In the decorative field they applied a repertoire characterized by sobriety, order and rationalism, which resulted in the appearance of broad motifs that leave open spaces in which geometric interlacing, smooth plant forms and, most novel of all, the sebka prevail. Another architectural decoration that appears in this minaret and in the Koutoubia mosque is ceramic, in which the alicatado technique is applied, that is, cut pieces which, combined with one another, form a decorative motif. On other occasions these artistic manifestations combine the ornamental character with the functional.

The works of art of this period are less well represented because of the confusion existing between the different artistic periods. This is what happens, for example, with textiles, which are not easily distinguished from Mudéjar ones: they show a virtual absence of figurative motifs, while geometric and epigraphic decoration increases, based on the insistent repetition of Arabic words such as "blessing" and "happiness". As for metal objects, the aquamaniles representing animal figures decorated with chiseled plant incisions stand out.

Nasrid art

Main article: Nasrid art

Court of the Lions in the Alhambra of Granada

Nasrid art is the style that arose in the late period of al-Andalus in the Nasrid kingdom of Granada. Its two paradigms are the palaces of the Alhambra and the Generalife.

Military architecture developed the same systems generated in the previous period, giving them greater complexity. Palace architecture employed two types of courtyard organization: one, the single-axis courtyard, the Court of the Myrtles or of the Pool, and the other, the crossed courtyard, the Court of the Lions. The rooms linked to them again respond to two typologies: one elongated with alcoves at its ends, and another square, surrounded by rooms, for example the Hall of the Boat and the Hall of the Two Sisters. The scarce remains of religious architecture suggest mosques following the Almohad model, with naves perpendicular to the qibla wall. Perhaps the only noteworthy novelty comes from the use of marble columns when the building is of some importance.

Nasrid sword

As for the ornamental repertoire, they used a decorative profusion that masks the poverty of the materials, employing everything from alicatado dadoes and stucco plasterwork to painted decoration such as that preserved in the vault of the Hall of the Kings. Characteristic are the column with a cylindrical shaft and the two-part capital, one cylindrical part decorated with bands and another cubic one with ataurique. The preferred arches are the stilted semicircular and the engrailed ones. Wooden ceilings alternate with muqarnas vaults made of stucco, such as those of the Hall of the Two Sisters or that of the Abencerrajes. Likewise, to the usual ornamental motifs (geometric, plant and epigraphic) is added the Nasrid coat of arms, which would be made widespread by Muhammad V.

In the sumptuary arts, lusterware ceramics and silk textiles stand out, to which bronzes, marquetry and weapons can be added. The luxury ceramic known as "metallic luster" or "golden ware" is characterized by subjecting the last firing to a very low "oxygen" fire and lower temperature. With this procedure, the mixture of gold and copper sulfide used in the decoration reaches oxidation, reducing the metallic sheen. It was also common to add cobalt oxide, with which blue and golden tones were obtained. The textiles were characterized by their intense coloring as well as by their motifs, identical to those used in architectural decoration.

Literature

Main article: Arabic poetry in the taifa kingdoms

The Islamic culture of Spain could be called Arab because of the importance of the language of the Quran, although the native rural population had retained its Romance dialect. Among the different literary currents of medieval Arabic, poetry acquired special relevance, not only in the artistic field but also socially. In an Arabic poem what matters is not so much what is said but how; the subject matter was very conservative and left little room for inventiveness. The more sedentary and urban Spanish Muslims tended to use the short poem of the zajal type, arranged in stanzas, each with its own final rhyme. The oldest form was the muwashshah. The Arabist Julián Ribera, in his address on admission to the Royal Spanish Academy (1912), considered that the creator of these poems was Muhammad Ibn Mahmud, the blind man of Cabra, around the 10th century.

The influence of Arabic poetry on Provençal poems is notable. The first known troubadour, William of Aquitaine, who lived at the beginning of the 12th century, is known to have spoken Arabic. Thus, we can state that troubadour poetry has its origin in Andalusi poetry. Authors such as Dámaso Alonso, building on the studies of Emilio García Gómez, have also highlighted the importance of Arabic poetry in the origin of the Romance languages, by showing the parallels between the kharjas, Romance songs that close the muwashshahs, and the cantigas de amigo of Galician-Portuguese lyric poetry and the Castilian villancico.

In poetry, Ibn Hazm, Ibn Khafaja, Al-Mutamid, who was also King of the Taifa of Seville, Wallada (10th century) and Zaynab (12th century) stood out.

Music

Main article: Andalusi music

See also

• History of al-Andalus
• Sharq al-Andalus
• Art of al-Andalus
• Science in al-Andalus
• Umayyad Caliphate
• Muwallad
• Islamic contributions to Medieval Europe
• Joan Vernet
• Serafín Fanjul

Bibliography

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• Álvarez Rey, L.; Aróstegui Sánchez, J.; García Sebastián, M.; Gatell Arimont, C.; Palafox Gamir, J.; Risques Corbella, M. (2013). "Las raíces históricas de España". Historia de España (in español). Spain: Vicens Vives. ISBN 9788431692582. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Invalid |display-authors=6 (help)
• Catarino, Helena - "A ocupação islâmica" in História de Portugal dos tempos pré-históricos aos nossos dias, ed. João Medina, vol. 3. Amadora: Ediclube, 1994.
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• García Sanjuán, Alejandro. "El significado geográfico del topónimo al-Andalus", Anuario de Estudios Medievales, 33/1 (2003), 3–36.
• González Ferrín, Emilio. Historia general de Al Ándalus. Ed. Almuzara, 2006. ISBN 978-84-85586-81-7
• Juri, Amira, El Multiculturalismo en el arte hispanomusulmán: La Alhambra, Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, Universidad Nacional de Tucumán, (2007), ISBN 978-950-554-539-1.
• Manzano Moreno, Eduardo (2018) [2010]. Épocas medievales. Vol. 2 de la Historia de España, dirigida por Josep Fontana y Ramón Villares (in español). Second paperback reprint. Barcelona-Madrid: Crítica/Marcial Pons. ISBN 978-84-9892-808-2.
• Saraiva, José Hermano - História de Portugal, volume I: Origens-1245. Lisbon: Edições Alfa.
• Tavares, Maria José Ferro - História de Portugal Medievo: Economia e Sociedade. Lisbon: Universidade Aberta, 1992. ISBN 972-674-100-9.
• Torres, Cláudio - "O Garb Al-Andalus" in História de Portugal, volume I: Antes de Portugal, ed. José Mattoso. Lisbon: Editorial Estampa. ISBN 972-33-1262-X.
• Viguera Molins, María Jesús (2007). Los reinos de Taifas y las invasiones magrebíes: Al-Andalus del XI al XIII (in español). RBA. ISBN 9788447348152.

External links

• "The Myth of the Andalusian Paradise", in The Intercollegiate Review, 2006, pp. 23-31
• Saudi Aramco World: Science in Al-Andalus (in English)