Ruled by the Nasrid dynasty, the Nasrid kingdom of Granada managed to survive and go on to thrive for two and a half more centuries.
Residential Mobility and Dental Decoration in Early Medieval Spain: Results from the Eighth Century Site of Plaza del Castillo, Pamplona
April 8, 2012 By
While the practice of dental decoration was virtually absent in Medieval Spain, it is common in Africa and suggests that this individual was born in Africa and brought to Spain later in life.
The Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa: The Culture and Practice of Crusading in Medieval Iberia
March 1, 2012 By
This battle was both a major Christian victory over the Almohad Empire of Morocco and its Andalusian allies, and the most successful crusade of the papacy of Innocent III. As such, it serves as an ideal case study for the practice and culture of crusading in the early thirteenth century.
The Andalusi origins of the Berbers
February 20, 2012 By
How could the Berbers originate in al-Andalus when everyone knows they are the original inhabitants of North Africa? One of the goals of this article is to show that asking the question in this way is part of the problem and that it stands in the way of securing the soundness of historical interpretations of the past.
Leo Africanus: The Man with Many Names
January 16, 2012 By
Very little is known about the actual life of Leo Africanus, in spite of his well established posthumous fame. He did not leave many marks in contemporary documents.
The Search for Knowledge: Andalusi Scholars and Their Travels to the Islamic East
January 13, 2012 By
In this paper I have analyzed biographical information concerning Andalusi scholars who traveled to the East as a part of their academic training, focusing on the ages at which they undertook their journeys, which closely relates to their ages at the beginning of their studies.
Culture in the Time of Tolerance: Al-Andalus as a Model for Our Time
December 18, 2011 By
It existed in any number of different political configurations over nearly eight hundred years, and it was and has been called many names, all of them imprecise for different reasons: al-Andalus in Arabic, ha-Sefarad in Hebrew; the names of a half-dozen different cities when they were at its center; Castile at other moments.
The Vikings in Spain from Arabic (Moorish) and Spanish sources
October 23, 2011 By
Sunset in the Gardens of al-Andalus
October 2, 2011 By
Sunset in the Gardens of al-Andalus Abdu-Noor, M. Ikraam Nebula, 2.1, March (2005) Abstract The era of Muslim rule in Spain (early 8th century to 1492), the historical moment known in Arabic as al-Andalus, was an age of great poets and great patrons, when princes in cities like Seville and Cordova and Granada competed to attract […]
Battle-seeking commanders in the later Middle Ages: Phases of Generalship in the War of the Two Pedros
August 11, 2011 By
Thanks to the influence of the imperial military writer, Vegetius, it has long been understood that in the Middle Ages defense operations were much preferred to those of an offensive nature.
“The Hidden Alhambra” project to give public virtual access to historic site in Spain
August 11, 2011 By
The World Monuments Fund and American Express have announced a partnership for the conservation and improved access to the Alhambra, the famous palace and fortress of the last Muslim rulers in Spain. “The Hidden Alhambra” is a sustainable tourism project supported by American Express and World Monuments Fund in the form of a donation of […]
Cultural flourishing in tenth century Muslim Spain among Muslims, Jews, and Christians
August 9, 2011 By
Cultural flourishing in tenth century Muslim Spain among Muslims, Jews, and Christians By Marilyn Penn Allen Master’s Thesis, Georgetown University, 2008 Abstract: This thesis seeks to discover what made it possible for such an extraordinary cultural flourishing to occur among Muslims, Jews, and Christians in tenth century Muslim Spain during the reign of the Umayyad […]
Currency Change in Pre-millennial Catalonia: Coinage, Counts and Economics
August 5, 2011 By
Currency Change in Pre-millennial Catalonia: Coinage, Counts and Economics Jarrett, Jonathan Numismatic Chronicle, No.169 (2009) Abstract Barcelona in the late tenth century was on the verge of becoming a commercial as well as a political capital. The wealth of the four counties that its ruler, Count-Marquis Borrell II (945–93), controlled had been growing throughout his reign. […]
The Forested Frontier: Commentary in the Margins of the Alhambra Ceiling Paintings
August 4, 2011 By
The Forested Frontier: Commentary in the Margins of the Alhambra Ceiling Paintings By Jennifer Borland Medieval Encounters, Vol.14 (2008) Abstract: This paper argues that important notions are imbedded within the seemingly marginal backgrounds of the ceiling paintings in the Alhambra’s so-called “Hall of Justice.” The shared European and Islamic iconographies evident in the paintings’ settings, […]
Castle of Intellect, Castle of Force: The Worlds of Alfonso the Learned and James the Conqueror
August 4, 2011 By
Castle of Intellect, Castle of Force: The Worlds of Alfonso the Learned and James the Conqueror BURNS, S.J., ROBERT I. THE LIBRARY OF IBERIAN RESOURCES ONLINE The Worlds of Alfonso the Learned and James the Conqueror Princeton (1986) Abstract King alfonso and King James were born into a world of stunning change. Each was to accelerate […]
Islamic tilings of the Alhambra Palace: teaching the beauty of mathematics
August 4, 2011 By
What geometry was needed by artisans in the Middle Ages to create the beautiful symmetric tilings of the Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain?
Christian-Muslim Frontiers in Early Medieval Spain
August 3, 2011 By
Christian-Muslim Frontiers in Early Medieval Spain By Ann Christys Bulletin of International Medieval Research, Vol.5 (1999) Introduction: Most histories of medieval Spain include a series of maps showing the position of the frontier between the Christian north and al-Andalus at a given moment in the Reconquest of the peninsula from the Muslims. The Christians who […]
Cities of Light: The Rise and Fall of Islamic Spain
August 3, 2011 By
Two-hour documentary by PBS first aired in 2007 Synopsis: Over a thousand years ago, the sun-washed lands of Southern Spain were home to Muslims, Christians, and Jews living together and flourishing. Their culture and beliefs intertwined and the knowledge of the ancients was gathered and reborn. Here were the very seeds of the Renaissance. But […]
Aragonese exarici in the twelfth century: their status and conditions
August 3, 2011 By
Aragonese exarici in the twelfth century: their status and conditions of landholding Stall, William C. Sharq Al-Andalus, No. 4 (1987) Abstract In the late eleventh and twelfth centuries, as the Aragonese fitfully expanded from their hardy Pyrenean kingdom ¡nto the Upper Ebro River Basin, they subdued and subsequently ruled Muslim lands with well-developed urban and […]
Hispanic Hebrew Poetry: a Bridge between the Bible and Medieval
August 2, 2011 By
Hispanic Hebrew Poetry: a Bridge between the Bible and Medieval Iberian Literatures Doron, Aviva (University of Haifa) eHumanista: Volume 14, (2010) Abstract While literature tends to reflect historic, religious and social processes, intercultural contacts are reflected mainly in the works of poets from minority groups, as they speak the languages of their environment and are […]
From Islam to Christianity: Urban Changes in Medieval Portuguese Cities
August 2, 2011 By
From Islam to Christianity: Urban Changes in Medieval Portuguese Cities Trindade,Luísa Religion and Power in Europe : Conflict and Convergence (Pisa, 2007) Abstract Abstract Focusing on the Islamic urban pattern in the actual Portuguese territory, the present study underlines the confrontation with the Christian urban model in the period post- Reconquista. Emphasizing both the complexity […]
The Kingdom of Castile (1157–1212): Towards a Geography of the Southern Frontier
August 1, 2011 By
Here we shall try to understand the geography of the southern frontier of the Kingdom of Castile between 1157 and 1212, specifically that territory bordered by the Almohad Empire.
Representing and Remembering al-Andalus: Some Historical Considerations Regarding the End of Time and the Making of Nostalgia
August 1, 2011 By
Representing and Remembering al-Andalus: Some Historical Considerations Regarding the End of Time and the Making of Nostalgia By Justin Stearns Medieval Encounters, Vol. 15 (2009) Abstract: The place that al-Andalus occupies in contemporary popular and academic discourses is characterized by an ill-defined but heartfelt nostalgia. This essay returns to the historical texts written during and […]
Marriage across frontiers: sexual mixing, power and identity in medieval Iberia
August 1, 2011 By
Marriage across frontiers: sexual mixing, power and identity in medieval Iberia Barton, Simon Journal of Medieval Iberian Studies, Vol. 3, No. 1, March (2011) Abstract This article explores the functions that interfaith marriages and other sexual liaisons fulfilled within the overall dynamic of Christian–Muslim relations in the medieval Iberian Peninsula. While in the aftermath of the […]
Two passages in Ibn al-Khaṭīb’s account of the kings of Christian Iberia
August 1, 2011 By
Two passages in Ibn al-Khaṭīb’s account of the kings of Christian Iberia By Justin Stearns Al-Qantara: Revista de Estudios Arabes, Vol.25:1 (2004) Introduction: This article offers a reading of a fourteenth century account of the Christian kings of Iberia as found at the end of Kitàb a ‘mal a-la ‘lam, a history written in the […]
How you can Follow Us!