REQUIRED CORE: Islamic al-Andalus: The Umayyad Dynasty (756 – 1061 CE)

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Coexistence in Medieval Spain: Jews, Christians, and Muslims

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University of Colorado System

Coexistence in Medieval Spain: Jews, Christians, and Muslims

25 ratings

This course explores Jewish, Christian, and Muslim intercultural relations in Iberia from the Visigothic era (6th century CE) until the creation of Queen Isabel I and King Ferdinand II Catholic Spain (late 15th century). We evaluate the many identities of the peninsula known as Christian Hispania, Jewish Sefarad, and Islamic al-Andalus. We trace the origins and trajectory of conflict between these communities (the Muslim conquest of Spain, Christian Reconquista, prohibitions blocking intermixing of peoples, and expulsions). We aim to understand conflicts within communities as well, such as the tensions between Christian Arian Visigoths and native Catholic Iberians or the fundamentalist North African Almohad Dynasty that rejected the Spanish Umayyad Caliphate’s preference for religious tolerance. We delve into an appreciation of collaboration and coexistence among these communities. We explore the unique role of the Jewish community who Muslims and Christians depended upon as political and cultural intermediaries as well as their intellectual collaborators. We find the history of how peoples attempted to create and manage viable diverse communities. As we study this history, the Honors Track will employ an investigative process (“The Historian’s Craft”) that involves viewing, reading, analyzing, and reflecting on events, peoples, places, and artifacts.

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DEVELOPING DYNAMIC CULTURES: ISLAMIC AL-ANDALUS AND JEWISH SEFARAD (711-1212 CE)

In this section of the course, we advance our investigation of medieval Spain to learn about Islamic al-Andalus (Islamic Spain) and Jewish Sefarad (Jewish Spain). This includes a study of the Islamic conquest of Visigothic Spain and the subsequent development of the Umayyad Dynasty. We evaluate the complexities of conflicts between religious groups and within religious groups. We witness interfaith collaboration. Islamic sciences are presented as is the Golden Age of the Spanish Jews. We view Islamic art and architecture. Lastly, in our honors section we continue with our study of the Historian's Craft and the task of "reading".

REQUIRED CORE: Islamic al-Andalus: The Umayyad Dynasty (756 – 1061 CE)7:50

REQUIRED CORE: Museo de Santa Cruz (Toledo) - Welcome to the Museum7:45

REQUIRED CORE: Museo de Santa Cruz (Toledo): Islamic Art and Architecture - Part 15:08

REQUIRED CORE: Museo de Santa Cruz (Toledo): Islamic Art and Architecture - Part 24:18

REQUIRED CORE: Museo de Santa Cruz (Toledo): Islamic Art and Architecture - Part 33:51

SUPPLEMENTAL: Museo de Burgos: Muslim Artifacts Become Christian (11th Century CE)8:12

Meet the Instructors

Dr. Roger Louis Martínez-Dávila
Associate Professor
History

It was consequential Islamic state inside of medieval barrier, was that of the Umayyads.

And their story is a bit

complicated because it begins all the way back in Damascus, Syria.

In 661, Mu'awiya, at the Umayya clan, originally from Mecca,

established this first caliphate,

a religious and political entity to cover all the Islamic clans.

It was under the aegis of the Umayyads that

Spain would come into the orbit of Islamic civilization.

As we remember, Spain was conquered by the Muslims in 711 CE,

and roughly within 10 years,

most of the Peninsula was dominated by their political leadership.

However, in 750, momentous events transformed the Islamic world.

When the Abbasids finally overthrew the Ummayad caliphate with Damascus,

the elite ruling family.

The consequence of this affair was the creation of a new Umayyad dynasty,

but this time in Spain and in the city of Cordoba.

One surviving Umayyad prince, Abd al-Rahman I,

would take the title of emir or commander of the

faithful and establish a new emirate in Spain.

And from this emirate,

slowly would evolve the most consequential of the Spanish Islamic kingdoms.

It would become known as the Umayyad Caliphate of Cordoba,

which would rule from 929-1061 CE.

This is what we all refer to as the Golden Age of Islamic Spain,

and in many respects it was a Golden Age for the Jewish community of Spain.

In 929, Abd al-Rahman III,

declared Al-Andalus to be its own politically and religiously autonomous entity.

The positive forces of coexistence for convivencia and Islamic Al-Andalus,

is first observed in the 10th century under his rule.

Abd al-Rahman III, like his father before him,

pursued an ethnically and religiously inclusive policy

dedicated to the pacification and unification of Al-Andalus.

He showered support on the arts and

sciences and sparked a general cultural efflorescence.

In addition, he encouraged minorities to pursue their own intellectual interests,

providing them with a model of how to proceed.

The German nun, Roswitha,

who visited the city of Cordoba in the second half at the 10th century,

would call the city,

The ornament of the world,

because of its incredible arts,

sciences, architecture, libraries, and mixtures of people.

And for the Jewish community,

Cordoba and the Caliphate was

a particularly welcoming and vital place to be during the middle ages.

Specifically, Professor Jane Gerber,

the author of The Jews of Spain,

describes it in this way.

The Muslim problems of Abdulla's reached the zenith of its power in

10th century under the able and unusually long and stable rule of Abd al-Rahman III.

As an Imperial City,

Cordoba reached zenith in power and affluence in the mid 10th century,

and towns from all over the Muslim world streamed into the new capital.

The new comers include Jewish poets and scholars from North Africa,

Italy, and the Far East.

One of those persons who was invited to the court was the physician Hasdai ibn Shaprut,

who lived from roughly 915-970.

He patronize the Jewish literati and for the time otter pattern

a patronage up culture customarily exercised by Muslim courtiers.

Hasdai also set up a school of Talmudic learning in Cordoba.

Enterprising Jewish parents would bring their talented sons to Cordoba

to take advantage of the new opportunities to attain a quote, unquote,

modern education in the capital,

also hoping that their sons might succeed in

finding employment at the Muslim Imperial Court.

Jewish facility in Arabic also need them to gain access to a vast world of

thought embodied the age of classics which had recently been translated into Arabic.

Direct exposure to Arabic learning and science and

philosophy provided a powerful impetus to the expansion of Jewish knowledge.

And before long, the Jews of Spain excelled and surpassed other important Jewish centers.

Professor Gerber concludes with this observation.

Perhaps the best way to appreciate

the stimulation that Jews experience from their cultural surroundings in Al-Andalus,

is to glance at the surviving curriculum of

a Jewish Academy of learning in

12th century Toledo that was based upon the medieval Arab model.

The Jewish school offered the standard fare of [inaudible] ,

Hebrew language, Torah and Talmud,

a great course of study in philosophical observations

on religion, logic, mathematics, optics,

astronomy, astrology, music, mechanics,

metaphysics, Greek and Arabic,

as well as medicine.

Special emphasis was placed on fine calligraphy.

The model for the educated Jewish male was also in the Muslim adib,

a man of humanistic culture.

This was Islamic Spain at its best.

A place where many communities could cohabit together and work together.

The splendor at the Umayyad caliphate of Cordoba was not to survive.

And by 1031, adib reached its end.

What came next was the success at the Spanish Christian reconquista,

internal political fragmentation within

the Islamic community and North African intervention by the Almoravids.

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