Al-Andalus Flashcards
Governed under Damascus
711-56
Independent emirate
756
Caliphate in itself
929
Collapse of caliphate of Córdoba
1031
Most tangible evidence of importance of Muslim invasion
Irrigation, crop rotation
Islamic water wheels
Córdoba highly sophisticated - Mezquita of Córdoba, The Mirhab
Example of Arab leadership in science and medicine
Pedanius Dioscorides, De Materia Medica, sent to Al-raman III, caliph of Córdoba, and translated by a Jew
Attempt to introduce elements of monastic tradition into Islam. Opening up to sainthood doctrine
Sufism
Beautiful exposition, in poetic form, of the Unity of being, single and indivisible reality which simultaneously transcends and is manifested in all images of the world
Ibn Arabi (1165-1240), Tarjumân al-Ashwâq
Emphasis on striving for union with God through emptying oneself of everything and transcending
Pseudo-Dionysius, Mystical Theology
Main Taifa Kingdoms
Berbers = south coast. Cádiz-Granada Arabs = main cities e.g. Córdoba, Seville, Toledo
Pelayo
Covadonga 732
Alvarus, Life of Eulogius, 859
Eulogius martyred but only when he broke the rules by trying to rescue Christian Leocritia from parent beating her for her religion and then trying to preach the gospel to the ruler’s councillors when brought before them
Symbolism - dove flew and sat on martyr’s body - God on Christians’ side
Muslims described like animals, violent - King’s eunuch slapped Eulogius but he simply turned the other cheek
Bishop Reccafred of Córdoba very anti-martyr
he ‘descended upon churches and clergy like a violent whirlwind, and threw as many priests as he could into jail’
Alvarus, Life of Eulogius, 859
John of Gorze on mission to Spain 953-6
‘I will not for the sake of life… run away from the task of witnessing to the truth’
Converted into church
Mosque of Córdoba, after 1085 conquest by Alfonso VI
Cluniac monk blamed by Christian source for converting the mosque to a church was then…
Made archbishop of Toledo after important church council in Burgos in favour of Roman right to replace Mozarabic right - 1080
Tax paid by Muslim Taifa states to Christian states
Parias
Reconquista key gains 13th Century
Córdoba, 1236
Valencia, 1238
Murcia, 1243
Seville, 1247
‘Poem of my Cid’
El Cid battles Moorish armies and conquers Valencia to impress Alfonso VI of Castile and regain honour lost through exile
Reality of El Cid, as told in an earlier biography
Converted back and forth between religions. Offered services to Muslim dynasty that ruled Zaragoza, loyally served al-Mu’tamin and successor al-Mustan’in II for nearly a decade
Limitations of Christians living in Muslim Spain
Payed jizyah
Koran said should ‘be brought low’
No publicity of worship, bell-ringing, processions, blaspheming of Prophet or Book of Islam
Positives of Christian life in Muslim Spain
Protection
Own bishops, priests, churches, monasteries
Many bishops in responsible positions in service of Emirs of Córdoba
Christians of Spain isolated
E.g. Alvarus, Life of Eulogius, 859:
Eulogius, leading scholar, visited Navarre 848. Got Augustine’s City of God, Virgil, Horace, Juvenal - unobtainable in Córdoba
Christians love to read poems and romances of Arabs. They study Arab theology and philosophy not to refute it but to form correct and elegant Arabic. They have forgotten their language. One can write letter in Latin for every 1000 who could express himself in Arabic
Alvarus
Attacked Christians who counselled moderation
Idea rule of Islam = preparation for the final appearance of the Antichrist
Imminent
Necessity of prepping followers
Alvarus, Indiculus Luminosus
Influence on Alvarus and Eulogius
Life of Mahomet, which Eulogius says in his Liber Apologeticus Martyrum that he found in Navarre
Clearly Spanish, as symbolism depends on use of the chronological era of Spain
Life of Mahomet said he died in the year 666 of the Era of Spain - number of the beast of Revelation, figure of the antichrist
Reversal of West’s philosophical isolation
largely result of devoted translators in Toledo in 3rd quarter of 12th Century
Introduced works of great Muslim philosophers like Avicenna to the West
Put West in possession of tradition of Greek philosophical and scientific thought which was formative influence 1st centuries of Islam
Influence of Avicenna
Switching, for some, the accepted view in Christian theology that the blessed will enjoy the direct vision of God in Paradise, to the view that the Creator could never be known directly by any created being
University of Paris Jan 1241 thus found it necessary to condemn this
Influence of Averroës
Thomas Aquinas used language and formulae of Muslim philosopher Averroës (in the latter’s One the Harmony of Religion and Philosophy), in his defense of the idea that the souls of the blessed enjoy the direct vision of God
Averroës is quoted more frequently by Aquinas than any other non-Christian thinker
Dante’s Divine Comedy, 1320
Influenced by a work translated into French from Latin, giving an account of Muhammad’s journey through the heavens
Avicenna, Averroës and Saladin are the only moderns in Limbo - acknowledging debt of Christendom to Islam
New translation of Koran
Plans for solving problem of Islam
Criticised Peter the Venerable’s translation for introducing into text ideas of the Latins, using Christian words and notions not those of Islam - concerns not to misrepresent
John of Segovia
Evidence of decline in serious interest in Islam during the previous century and a half
Took John of Segovia 2 years to secure both an Arabic text of the Koran and a Muslim from Salamanca willing to help translate it
War could never solve issue between Christendom and Islam - it is contrary to the essence of Christianity, whereas Islam feeds off this
Only by peaceful means can Christians win
Preaching and missions to convert are futile
New approach - ‘conference’. Useful even if failed
John of Segovia, Letter to Nicholas of Cusa, 1st half of 15th Century
Brought more strict observance of Islam and more aggressive attitude to Christianity
Almoravids 11th C, Almohads mid-12th C
Influence of Cluniac monks in Spain
Served as important advisors to Spanish kings and monopolise important ecclesiastical offices
E.g. Christian monk Bernard, 1st archbishop of reconquered Toledo and advisor to King Alfonso VI
Turned tables in reconquista
Christian victory at Las Navas de Tolosa, 1212
Amount paid annually by Jewish community to Castilian monarchy in head tax and service
930 000 maravedís
Amount paid by Jews and Muslims to Crown of Aragon
Jews, 60 000 sólidos, Mudejars 40 000 sólidos
Income for whole of Castile by 1474
450 000 maravedís - less than Jews had provided most of 14th Century
Restrictive measures against Jews and Muslims and attempts to segregate
e.g. Canons 68: Jews and Muslims shall wear a special dress to enable them to be distinguished from Christians so that no Christian shall come to marry them ignorant of who they are.
Canon 69: Declares Jews disqualified from holding public offices, incorporating into ecclesiastical law a decree of the Holy Christian Empire.
Fourth Lateran Council 1215
At this time Seville is said to have contained 7,000 Jewish families. Of the three large synagogues existing in the city two were transformed into churches. In all the towns throughout the archbishopric, as in Alcalá de Guadeira, Écija, Cazalla, and in Fregenal, the Jews were robbed and slain. In Córdoba this butchery was repeated in a horrible manner; the entire Judería was burned down; factories and warehouses were destroyed by the flames. Before the authorities could come to the aid of the defenseless people, every one of them — children, young women, old men — had been ruthlessly slain; 2,000 corpses lay in heaps in the streets
Mass violence against Jews 1391
Spanish inquisition
1478
Expulsion of Mudejars from Western Andalusia
1260s
Forced conversion of Mudejars and 1st revolt of the Alpujarras
Early 16th Century
Second Revolt of the Alpujarras
1568-70§
Final Expulsion of Moriscos
1st 2 decades of 17th Century
Failed to block accession of brother to throne of Portugal, 1211
Had to flee native land to the court of Alfonso IX of León, who didn’t join Crusade - rumoured to have been bribed by Almohad ruler of Al-Andalus and Morocco
León-Morroco relationship warm
Commanded foreign legion in the service of the Almohads, 1216-28
Able to return to Spain. Helped King James of Aragon with matrimonial affairs and was rewarded lordship of Majorca
Dom Pedro
Arab arrivals referred to exclusively in ethnic terms. No hint that it was an entirely new religious culture
Chronicle of 754
Koran, 29:45
Muslims should respect the Ahl al-Kitah ‘People of the Book’
‘Dispute not with the People of the Book save in fairer manner, except for those of them that do wrong’
Recounting events of 723AD
English pilgrims arrested in Syria as spies and imprisoned
Spaniard with brother who was the Caliph’s chamberlain
Spaniards spoke to Caliph
Caliph said of prisoners:
Why should we punish them? They have done us no harm?
Saint Willibald, Hodoeporicon, 2nd quarter of the 8th Century
Deplored the disruptions of the Arab conquest, but seems to have accepted legitimacy of new masters
Chronicle of 754
Religious tract sensitively answering objections of Christianity to Islam
Al-Tabari
Regarded Christian community of his own day as dissemblers
‘they hide their faith, and they divulge to them [Muslims] what suits them’
Abū Qurrah, Palestinian monk
John, bishop of Córdoba in 953, to john of Gorze
We have been subjected to pagan rule because of our sins
One solace in the depths of great calamity - they do not forbid us to practice our own faith…
We obey them in all besides religion
Vita Iohannis abbatis Gorziensis c. 978-84
John of Gorze, angered at John, bishop of Córdoba:
Never could I approve that the divine laws should be transgressed out of fear or for friendship
I will not for the sake of life run away from witnessing the truth
Vita Iohannis abbatis Gorziensis c. 978-84
Alvar Fanez (one of King’s generals) at 1st sent a message to me on his own account threatening to enter Guadiz and adding that only the payment of a ransom would deter him
I decided to placate Alvar by making small payment to him and concluded agreement promising he wouldn’t come near any of my towns after payment
On receiving money - you’re quite safe as far as I’m concerned - more imperative that you placate Alfonso
Memoirs of ‘Abd Allah ibn Buluggin, last Zirid Amir of Granada, late 11th C
12th C/ 13th C, translation of Arabic corpus into Latin
Adelard, 1080-1150, travelled widely in Sicily and Syria
Acquired Arabic books
Translation of Arabic version of Euclid’s Elements introduced Latin Christendom to very important handbook of geometry
Irish scholar Michael Scot translated Aristotle’s writings On Animals in Toledo in about 1216 together with the commentry on them of Ibn Sina. Patronised by archbishop of Toledo and Emperor Frederick II
Gerard of Cremona was the most prolific translator, 1140-1187 in Toledo. Translated at least 88 works from Arabic into Latin. Seems also to have been patronised by the archbishop of Toledo
Refuted claims of Christians. Demonstrated detailed knowledge of Christian sacred texts. Hazm needed to know of Christianity for sole purpose of refuting it. Judged this accomplished by demonstrating textual inconsistency:
Matthew, John the Baptist neither ate nor drank
Mark, he lived off locusts and wild honey.
Thus, Christian community is altogether vile
Ibn Hazm, ‘The Book of the Distinction in the Religious Heresies and Sects’, 11th C
