History
Al-Andalus
Muslim Spain, 711 to 1492
4 min, Intro
For nearly eight hundred years, Muslims ruled much of what is now Spain and Portugal. Cordoba became one of Europe's greatest cities. Muslim, Jewish and Christian scholars learned from one another there, though not always in peace.
Draft written with AI help: awaiting scholar review
The thread
In 711 an army crosses from North Africa. For nearly eight hundred years Muslims rule much of Spain and Portugal. Cordoba becomes one of Europe's greatest cities, where scholars of three faiths learn from one another. Then the Christian kingdoms push south. In 1492 Granada, the last Muslim kingdom, surrenders.
Crossing the strait, 711
Picture the year 711. A mostly Berber army, led by Tariq ibn Ziyad, crosses from North Africa into Spain. It defeats the Visigothic king.
The rock where they landed still bears Tariq's name. Gibraltar comes from Jabal Tariq, the Mount of Tariq.
Within a few years, most of the Iberian peninsula was under Muslim rule. The Muslims called it al-Andalus.
Gibraltar, from Jabal Tariq, is named after Tariq ibn Ziyad.
A prince escapes to Cordoba
Now a prince on the run. In 750 the Abbasids massacred the Umayyads. One Umayyad prince, 'Abd al-Rahman, escaped to Spain. There he founded a new Umayyad state, in Cordoba.
In 929 his descendant, 'Abd al-Rahman III, declared himself caliph.
Cordoba grew into one of Europe's largest and richest cities. Its streets were paved and lit. Its royal library was said to hold hundreds of thousands of books.
Its Great Mosque, with its red and white arches, still stands. It has been a cathedral since 1236.
Cordoba's Great Mosque still stands, a cathedral since 1236.
Three faiths, shared learning
Two scholars of al-Andalus. Ibn Rushd, known in Europe as Averroes, was a Muslim judge. His commentaries on Aristotle shaped European philosophy.
Maimonides, the greatest medieval Jewish thinker, was born in Cordoba. He wrote mostly in Arabic.
Ideas also crossed into Latin. In Toledo, Arabic works were translated into Latin. They fed Europe's later renaissance.
So was this an age of harmony? Some call it convivencia, living together. Historians debate it. There were long periods of tolerance. There were also persecutions, especially under the later Almohads.
In al-Andalus, coexistence was real, and so were its limits.
The last kingdom: Granada, 1492
Over centuries, the Christian kingdoms of the north pushed south.
The last Muslim kingdom was Granada. It left behind the Alhambra palace. In January 1492 Granada surrendered to Ferdinand and Isabella.
That same year, Spain expelled its Jews. Muslims were promised freedom of religion. But within a decade they were forced to convert. Their descendants, the Moriscos, were expelled between 1609 and 1614.
1492 ended Muslim Spain and expelled Spain's Jews.