Al Andalus

Who were the Muslims?

Islam is a religion that began on the Arabian Peninsula in the 7th century A.D. The followers of Islam are called Muslims. They follow the teachings of the prophet Mohammed. Muslims believe in one god, Allah, and their sacred book is the Koran.

In the Middle Ages, there was a great Muslim civilisation with its own laws, customs and art. This Muslim empire was called the caliphate and it was ruled by the caliph. The caliphate expanded rapidly through the Middle East, North Africa and up to the Iberian Peninsula.

The Rise of Muslim Spain

Muslim expansionism reached Spain in 711 A.D. when Moorish troops (mainly Berbers from Morocco) invaded a nearly defenceless Hispania at Gibraltar. There was little resistance and they quickly took the Spanish capital of Toledo and within a few years had control of nearly the entire Iberian Peninsula.

The battle of Guadalete

The Battle of Guadalete was fought in 711 at an unidentified location between the Christian Visigoths of Hispania under their king, Roderic, and the invading forces of the Muslim Umayyad Caliphate, composed mainly of Berbers and a few Arabs under the commander Tariq ibn Ziyad. Watch this video which explains the battle of Guadalete:

The battle was significant as the culmination of a series of Berber attacks and the beginning of the Umayyad conquest of Hispania. In the battle Roderic lost his life, along with many members of the Visigothic nobility, opening the way for the capture of the Visigothic capital of Toledo.

Tariq ibn Ziyad

A few years later it was a Visigoth Noble (Pelayo) who in 718 A.D founded the Christian Kingdom of Asturias after beating the Umayyads in the battle of Covadonga which was the start of the Christian Reconquest of Spain.

Don Pelayo

In al-Andalus, most people were farmers and agriculture was the most important economic activity. However, there were also artisans in the towns and cities like blacksmiths and millers. Merchants sold the products made by the artisans. As a result of growing trade, there were more towns and cities in al-Andalus than in the Christian kingdoms.

Artisans made products such as textiles, leather goods and pottery. There were many merchants. They bought and sold these products in the souk.

Cities were ruled by a governor. He lived in the alcazaba. This was a fortress.

Alcazaba

A very important building was the mosque.

Some people in al-Andalus were Christian or Jewish. Muslims, Christian and Jews lived in peaceful coexistence together in al-Andalus. The combination of these cultures made al-Andalus one of the most advanced states in the world at that time. The Muslims didn’t consider non-Muslims to be equals, but they gave them some basic rights.

• Christians and Jews could live where they wanted to and practise their religion.
• They could also do any job, but they couldn’t have authority over a Muslim.
• They had to pay special taxes, wear a special badge and obey Muslim laws. They couldn’t carry weapons.

Al-Andalus was a vibrant centre of art, culture and learning. Scholars made advances in medicine, geography, literature and philosophy. The Muslims also built many beautiful buildings, such as the Alhambra in Granada and the Great Mosque in Córdoba.

Life in al Andalus

The Muslim conquest created a new society, which was slowly evolving over time. It was made up of different population groups.

At the top was the Arab aristocracy, descendant of the Arabs who had been part of the invading armies and who had settled in al-Andalus later. Among them, tribal rivalries were frequent.

Next were the Berbers, people from North Africa who had played a major role in the invasion. They were not Arabs. At the time of the invasion they had just converted to Islam. They settled in al-Andalus grouped in tribes. At times they staged uprisings because they felt discriminated against the Arabs.

If you want to learn more about the Al Andalus, watch this video:

Then there were the Hispanics who converted to Islam: the muladíes. From the beginning the conversions were very numerous, because being a Muslim gave great social and fiscal advantages. Over time they became the largest group and fully assimilated the Arab culture. His social promotion was promoted by the emirs and the caliphs. That does not mean that they also frequently protested for feeling socially discriminated against by the Arabs.

On the other hand, there were the "protegidos", that is, Hispanics who professed one of the "book religions", that is, Christianity and Judaism, and to whom Islam offered protection in exchange for certain taxes.

Christians who lived in a Muslim state were called Mozárabes. Over the years, their rites and customs were separating from those of Christians who lived in Christian kingdoms. They even spoke a different language, the result of the evolution of Latin in contact with Arabic. As time passed, their numbers declined due to conversions and migration to the Christian kingdoms.

The Jewish community gave
al-Andalus great intellectuals

This process was accentuated by periods of persecution and conflict with the Muslim majority, which alternated with other periods of coexistence. In the Christian kingdoms the Mozarabic population had a great cultural and artistic influence, serving as a bridge between the Christian and Muslim cultures.

The Jews were very numerous especially in the cities. Under Muslim rule they generally found greater tolerance than they had received from the Visigoths. So the Jewish communities flourished. Most Jews were engaged in non-agrarian activities, such as crafts, commerce, and finance. In addition, the Jewish community gave al-Andalus great intellectuals.

Finally there were the slaves. Most of the slaves came from sub-Saharan Africa, Christian Europe, and Eastern Europe. Slaves could convert to Islam and be freed, as in ancient Rome. This allowed many freedmen of powerful Muslims, especially of the emirs and caliphs, to acquire a high social position.

Over time, the Islamization and orientalization of Hispanic society and the combination of different ethnic elements in it led to the development of a very particular culture, the Andalusian culture. It was a rich and complex culture, in which Christians, Muslims and Jews adopted Arabic as a cultural vehicle. Curiously, in al-Andalus the classical Arab tradition maintained a force that in many other places of Islam was lost over time. In this cultural medium, the arts, scientific and humanistic disciplines flourished, supported by the emirs and caliphs.

The Christian Kingdoms

When the Muslims created al-Andalus, many Christians moved to the mountains in the north. In 722 A.D. the Battle of Covadonga took place between the Christians and the Muslims. A Visigoth noble called Don Pelayo was the leader of the Christians. He defeated the Muslims in the battle.

Watch this video that explains very well the Battle of Covadonga:

Aſter that, Don Pelayo established the Kingdom of Asturias. Later on this became the Kingdom of León. There were other Christian kingdoms too, such as the Kingdoms of Castilla, Navarra and Aragón.

During the Middle Ages, these kingdoms were constantly changing. For example, the Kingdom of León became part of the Kingdom of Castilla. Other new kingdoms emerged, such as the Kingdom of Portugal. At the end of the 15th century, there were five kingdoms in the Iberian Peninsula: the Kingdom of Portugal, the Kingdom of Castilla, the Kingdom of Navarra, the Kingdom of Aragón and the Muslim Kingdom of Granada.

Society was divided into three groups: the clergy, nobles and peasants.

Most people were Christians. Priests and monks were important members of society. In the monasteries monks copied and translated important books.

Most people were peasants and they lived in the countryside. There weren’t many big cities. Peasants grew crops and raised animals. People produced what they needed, so there wasn’t much trade.
The king ruled the country, but the countryside was divided into small areas. Each area was ruled by a noble who was called the lord.

Each kingdom had its own language, but all the languages were similar to Latin. Galician, Spanish, Portuguese and Catalan began to develop.

There were also some artisans, such as blacksmiths and millers. There were soldiers to defend the lands too.

Architecture

The Christians built many religious buildings that we can still see today, such as churches and monasteries. There were two main styles of architecture in the Middle Ages: Romanesque and Gothic.

San Martin de Fromista (Romanesque)

Romanesque architecture combined aspects of Roman architecture with local styles. Its churches have thick walls, round arches and small windows.

Gothic architecture came later on. Gothic churches have thinner walls, pointed arches and large windows.