Home / Summaries / A Short History of the Middle Ages, Sixth Edition / al-andalus-christians-cordoba

Creating New Identities (750-900) - The Shift to the East in the Islamic World - Societies on the Fringe

Q: What examples of cultural mix were there in al-Andalus?

The Christians who lived in al-Andalus were called 'Mozarabs' - 'would-be Arabs' - by Christians elsewhere. It is likely that Christians and Muslims got along fairly well on the whole. Christians dressed like Muslims, worked side-by-side with them in government posts, and used Arabic in many aspects of their life. No doubt there were synagogues as well, but our sources for Jewish life in Islamic Iberia are very fragmentary until the tenth century.

7 important questions on Creating New Identities (750-900) - The Shift to the East in the Islamic World - Societies on the Fringe

What did Idris's compound feature?

Idris's compound featured a domestic complex fit for perhaps twenty to twenty-five people, large silos for storing grain, and an elaborate bath house - a feature of Byzantine civilization adopted by the Arabs.

What did the new rulers of al-Andalus (Islamic Spain) do?

In the mid-eighth century Abd al-Rahman I, an Umayyad prince on the run from the Abbasids, managed to gather an army, make his way to Iberia, and defeat the provincial governor at Cordoba.
In 756 he proclaimed himself "emir" (commander) of al-Andalus. His dynasty governed for two and a half centuries, and in 929, emboldened by his growing power and the depletion of caliphal power at Baghdad, Abd al-Rahman III (r.912-961) took the title caliph.

Of what religions and people did al-Andalus consist of?

The al-Andalus under the emirs was not entirely Muslim, and it was even less Arab.
As the caliphs came to rely on Mamluks, so the emirs relied on a professional standing army of non-Arabs, the al-khurs, the "silent ones" - men who could not speak Arabic.
They lived among a largely Christian - and partly Jewish - population; even by 900, only about 25 per cent of the people in al-Andalus were Muslim.

What was the city Cordoba used for?

The emirs drew some of their revenues from Muslims around their capital at Cordoba.
Furthermore, Cordoba was a major entrepot for enslaved men and women. Some were the victims of the trans-Saharan trade; others came from Slavic Central and Eastern Europe.

What did Andalusian rulers have the money for?

Andalusian rulers had the money to pay salaries to their civil servants and to preside over an artistic and literary efflorescence that reflected the region's unique ethnic and religious mix.

What examples of cultural mix were there in al-Andalus?

The Christians who lived in al-Andalus were called "Mozarabs" - "would-be Arabs" - by Christians elsewhere. It is likely that Christians and Muslims got along fairly well on the whole.
Christians dressed like Muslims, worked side-by-side with them in government posts, and used Arabic in many aspects of their life.
No doubt there were synagogues as well, but our sources for Jewish life in Islamic Iberia are very fragmentary until the tenth century.

Who was Alfonso I and what did he do?

He donned the mantle of the Visigoths, claiming to be the legitimate rulers of Spain. "Killing all the Arabs with the sword, he led the Christians back with him to his country."
The hero here was Alfonso I (r.739-757) whose kingdom of Asturias partook in the general demographic and economic growth of the period.
Alfonso and his successors built churches, encouraged monastic foundations, collected relics, patronized literary efforts, and welcomed Mozarabs from the south.

The question on the page originate from the summary of the following study material:

A Short History of the Middle Ages, Sixth Edition | 9781487541019 | Barbara H Rosenwein

View summary