History
Muslim Spain, 711 to 1492
An army crossed the strait in 711. Muslim Spain lasted eight centuries.
4 min, Intro, Draft written with AI help: awaiting scholar review
Part 1 of 4
In 711 Tariq ibn Ziyad crossed from North Africa with a mostly Berber army. Gibraltar is named after him: Jabal Tariq, the Mount of Tariq. Within a few years most of the peninsula was under Muslim rule.
Lesson
Gibraltar, from Jabal Tariq, is named after Tariq ibn Ziyad.
Part 2 of 4
An Umayyad prince who escaped the Abbasids founded a dynasty in Cordoba. By the 900s it was among Europe's largest cities, with street lighting, libraries and the Great Mosque, still standing today as a cathedral.
Lesson
Cordoba's Great Mosque still stands, a cathedral since 1236.
Part 3 of 4
Two famous scholars were born in Cordoba: Ibn Rushd (Averroes), the Muslim judge and philosopher, and Maimonides, the Jewish scholar. Translations from Arabic in Toledo helped spark learning in Europe. Historians debate how peaceful coexistence really was.
Lesson
In al-Andalus, coexistence was real, and so were its limits.
Part 4 of 4
Over centuries, the Christian kingdoms slowly pushed south. Granada, the last Muslim state, built the Alhambra and fell in 1492. Within decades, Muslims and Jews were forced to convert or leave.
Lesson
1492 ended Muslim Spain and expelled Spain's Jews.
Reflect, just for you
Seen by lamplight. It gives more each time.
An army crossed the strait in 711. Muslim Spain lasted eight centuries.