Islamic Spain

Where is Spain?

Important Cities There are two important cities in Muslim Spain. These were called Cordoba and Granada. Where are the cities? CORDOBA is located to the south of the centre of Spain. GRANADA is located south of Cordoba, slightly to the east.

Did you get it right?

711 – An army of 10,00 Muslims invades Spain. 929 - The Umayyad dynasty in Spain has grown more independent. On the 16th January Abd al Rahmen III declares himself as Caliph of Spain. 710 – The Arabs have conquered all of North Africa. A Spanish noble called Julian asks the Arabs if they will help him attack his King, Roderick. 700- Spain is ruled by the Visigoths who were Christians. They were very unpopular with Roman Spanish Farmers and persecuted the large Jewish population of Spain. 950 – The Christian kingdoms in the North of Spain begin to attack Al-Andalus. 1340 – The Christians finally conquer all of Spain and make the Muslims leave. 1086 – The Muslims fight back, but the Christians start attacking again, gradually gaining more land. 750 – Abd al Rahman escapes the meal time massacre of the Umayyad’s by the Abbasids. He flees to Spain and establishes himself as ruler. 712 – More Arab armies invade Spain. Roderick is killed. Spain is conquered and renamed An Andalus. The Muslims invade France but are defeated in 732.

Pictures of Giant Churches of Islamic Spain

Plaza de Colon, Madrid

Cathedral of Seville

Royal Cathedral of Granada

Alcazar of Toledo

Great Mosque of Córdoba

Essential Questions Where was Al-Andalus? Who were the Moors? How were they able to conquer Christian Iberia in the 7th century CE? How were Christian knights and Monarchs able to re-take the Iberian Peninsula from their Moorish neighbors?

What role did Ferdinand and Isabella play in the Reconquista? Is there anything left of Moorish culture in modern Spain? What was the Reconquista?

The War Against Islam Soon, in 1480, Ferdinand and Isabella decided to institute the Spanish Inquisition. This was one of the many changes of the role of the church that were put into place by the monarchs. The Spanish Inquisition was aimed mostly at Jews and Muslims, who on their exterior and social standpoint had converted to Catholicism and Christianity, but were suspected to be secretly practicing their own singular religions of Judaism and Islam secretly and out from under the public eye. The Inquisition was, overall, a court that tried nonbelievers of Christianity and practice’s of other religions, and often tortured and  mutilated them in the process, so that this would scare the others into accepting Christianity instead of their native beliefs

Video – The Spanish Reconquista (5 min) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9ntz5t07UQ   Video – Moorish Spain (5 min) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AS07hDVoJcM