Crusades and Jihads: A Long-Run Economic Perspective Heston, Alan Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 588, Islam: Enduring Myths and Changing Realities. (Jul., 2003) Abstract Crusades and jihads have been a part of the histories of Christianity and Islam for more than a century. This article examines this often-violent history […]
Crusades on the Water: A New (Integrated) View
May 29, 2011 By
Crusades on the Water: A New (Integrated) View By Dana Cushing Paper given at the 46th International Congress on Medieval Studies (2011) Introduction: My paper today seeks to integrate sources from across time, cultures, and disciplines to achieve a better understanding of the Crusades, and to change our focus from land to sea. To answer Tyerman’s […]
Jews and Christians in Almoravid Seville as Portrayed by the Islamic Jurist Ibn ʿAbdūn
May 25, 2011 By
Jews and Christians in Almoravid Seville as Portrayed by the Islamic Jurist Ibn ʿAbdūn By Alejandro García-Sanjuán Medieval Encounters, Vol. 14 (2008) Abstract: This article examines the way in which Jews and Christians are portrayed in the ḥisba treatise by the Andalusian Islamic jurist from Seville, Ibn ʿAbdūn (12th century). The first part is devoted […]
Whom did al-Ghazal meet? An Exchange of Embassies Between the Arabs From al-Andalus and the Vikings
May 22, 2011 By
Whom did al-Ghazal meet? An Exchange of Embassies Between the Arabs From al-Andalus and the Vikings Pons-Sanchez, Sara M. Saga Book, Vol.28 (2004) Abstract The Vikings terrorised most of western Europe from the end of the eighth century to approximately the middle of the eleventh century. The Iberian Peninsula was no exception, though the Viking raids […]
Out of Many, One?: the voice(s) in the crusade ideology of Las Navas de Tolosa
May 18, 2011 By
Out of Many, One?: the voice(s) in the crusade ideology of Las Navas de Tolosa By Edward Lawrence Holt Honor’s Thesis, Duke University, 2010 Introduction: July 16, 1212. Poised on the plains near the city of Las Navas de Tolosa, two armies prepared to engage in battle. On one side stood three kings of Spain, […]
APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF MUSLIM AND JEWISH WOMEN IN MEDIEVAL IBERIAN PENINSULA: THE POETESS QASMUNA BAT ISMA`IL
March 20, 2011 By
APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF MUSLIM AND JEWISH WOMEN IN MEDIEVALIBERIAN PENINSULA: THE POETESS QASMUNA BAT ISMA`IL Planteamientos metodológicos en el estudio de las mujeres musulmanas y judías en la Edad Media hispana: La poetisa Qasmuna bat Isma`il. GALLEGO, MARÍA ÁNGELES (Universidad de Cambridge (R.U.)) MEAH, sección Hebreo 48 (1999) Abstract This article gives a general overview […]
The Bride Unveiled: Influences on and Interpretations of the Alhambra
February 7, 2011 By
The Bride Unveiled: Influences on and Interpretations of the Alhambra By Iram Ahmad Published online by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community (2008) Introduction: Few buildings from the Middle Ages have increasingly captured the imagination of visitors throughout time like the Alhambra. According to Lonely Planet, 6,000 tourists visit the Alhambra in Granada, Spain, per day to […]
A social analysis of irrigation in Al-Andalus: Nazari Granada (13th-15th centuries)
December 9, 2010 By
A social analysis of irrigation in Al-Andalus: Nazari Granada (13th-15th centuries) By Carmen Trillo San Jose Journal of Medieval History, Vol. 31 (2005) Abstract: This paper concerns the outer urban area of the town of Granada in the Nasrid period (13th-15th centuries). Most agricultural land was irrigated because of the characteristic drought of the Mediterranean climate, […]
A Forgotten Crusade: Alfonso VII of Leon-Castile and the Campaign for Jaen (1148)
December 2, 2010 By
A Forgotten Crusade: Alfonso VII of Leon-Castile and the Campaign for Jaen (1148) By Simon Barton Historical Research, Vol.73, No.182 (2000) Abstract: Between 1147 and 1149 the rulers of the realms of Christian Iberia conducted a series of victorious campaigns against the Muslims of the peninsula. Although it has been widely assumed that Alfonso VII […]
Hybridity and collage : the Christianization of the Great Mosque of Cordoba
November 14, 2010 By
Hybridity and collage : the Christianization of the Great Mosque of Cordoba By Pablita Santos BA Thesis, Williams College, 2007 Contents Introduction Chapter One: The Church of St. Vincent and the Transition into Muslim Rule The Early Site The Cordoban Emirate The Second Umayyad Caliphate Chapter Two: The Flourishing of the Great Mosque of Cordoba Mosque […]
Biblical and Koranic Quotations in Hebrew and Arabic Andalusian Poetry
November 10, 2010 By
Biblical and Koranic Quotations in Hebrew and Arabic Andalusian Poetry By Arie Schippers Ever and ‘Arav, Contacts between Arabic Literature and Jewish Literature in the Middle Ages and Modern Times, Vol. 2, edited by Joseph Tobi (Tel Aviv: Afikim, 1998) In this article I deal with the relation between Holy Writ and poetry in Arabic and Hebrew […]
Islamic Castles In Iberia
October 13, 2010 By
Islamic Castles In Iberia By Peter Burton The Castle Studies Group Journal, No 21 (2007-8) Introduction: When the invading Muslim army arrived in the Iberian Peninsula (modern day Spain and Portugal) in AD 711 they found a country largely ruled by Visigoths who had themselves occupied the area after the fall of the Roman Empire. […]
The relations of King Sancho VII of Navarre with the Almohads
September 23, 2010 By
The relations of King Sancho VII of Navarre with the Almohads By Nevill Barbour Revue de l’Occident musulman, Vol. 4 (1967) Introduction: The purpose of this paper is to discuss the relations between Sancho VII of Navarre and the Almohad rulers of Muslim Spain, with special reference to the story told by the English chronicler, […]
The Almohads: The Rise of an Islamic Empire
September 22, 2010 By
The Almohads: The Rise of an Islamic Empire By Allen J. Fromherz IB Tauris, 2010 ISBN: 9781845116514 How did an obscure Islamic visionary found an empire? The Almohad Empire at its zenith in the 12th century was the major power in the Mediterranean and North Africa, ruling a huge region from the Atlas Mountains to […]
Medieval Projects earn grants from NEH
August 17, 2010 By
Two medieval projects have been awarded grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). One project will develop an interactive jousting computer game for a museum, while the other will create a seminar for high school and college teachers about Islamic civilization in Iberia during the Middle Ages. Over $31.5 million in grants for […]
Tolerance’s End: Religious Minorities, Philosophers, Free-Thinkers and the Rise of Fundamentalism in 12th and 13th Century Islamic Spain
July 24, 2010 By
Tolerance’s End: Religious Minorities, Philosophers, Free-Thinkers and the Rise of Fundamentalism in 12th and 13th Century Islamic Spain Lecture by Lourdes Maria Alvarez, Acting Director of Medieval and Byzantine Studies at the Catholic University of America Given on April 23, 2009 at the Catholic University of America Explorations (and celebrations) of the so-called convivencia between […]
The Water Palace : Alhambra, Generalife and Albayzin, Granada
April 18, 2010 By
The city of Granada in southern Spain is where the 800-year-long Muslim occupation of the Iberian peninsula finally ended. Palace construction started during the 13th century to protect the city from Christian attacks. It took some 170 years to complete. The Alhambra castle was a showcase of Islamic art and seen as a realization of […]
Multicultural City: The Historic Centre of Cordoba
April 17, 2010 By
Cordoba lies in Andalusia, in southern Spain. It is a city rich in history, and dates back to Roman times. There is a Roman bridge over the Guadalquivir River. For 2000 years, people from diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds have set foot on it. After the end of the Roman Empire, Cordoba was ruled by […]
Muslims, Jews and Christians in medieval Muslim Seville: (711-1248 CE) : perceiving artistic expressions as signs of acculturation
April 12, 2010 By
Muslims, Jews and Christians in medieval Muslim Seville: (711-1248 CE) : perceiving artistic expressions as signs of acculturation By Laura E. Vaughan Bachelors of Music Thesis, University of Oregon, 2006 Abstract: In the past few centuries, scholars have begun to reevaluate the Euro-centrism of western history. Spain in the Middle Ages presents fertile research ground […]
How to End a Crusade: Techniques for Making Peace in the Thirteenth-Century Kingdom of Valencia
March 17, 2010 By
How to End a Crusade: Techniques for Making Peace in the Thirteenth-Century Kingdom of Valencia By Robert I. Burns Military Affairs, Vol.35 (1971) Introduction: James the Conqueror, king of confederated Arago-Catalonia, waged a stubborn piecemeal crusade from 1232 to 1245 against the Islamic regions of Eastern Spain. He spent much of the next 30 years […]
Viking raids on the Spanish Peninsula
January 11, 2010 By
The Muslims described «heathens» as Majus. The name Majus – Magians was originally used of the Zoroastrians. It was then extended to other unbelievers, together with the associations of the term — e. g. incest and fire-worship.
The Christian Companion: A rhetorical trope in the narration of intra-Muslim conflict during the Almohad epoch
September 10, 2009 By
“The Christian Companion”: A rhetorical trope in the narration of intra-Muslim conflict during the Almohad epoch By Linda G. Jones Anuario de Estudios Medievales, Vol.38:2 (2008) Abstract: This paper will explore representations of intra-Muslim conflict between the Almohads and Andalusi Muslim chieftains as reflected in the Almohad chronicle al-Mann bi l-imama by Ibn Sahib al-Sala. Following Foucault’s […]
An Intercultural Dialogue between the Muslim Taifa of Denia and the Christian County of Barcelona in the Eleventh Century
September 5, 2009 By
An Intercultural Dialogue between the Muslim Taifa of Denia and the Christian County of Barcelona in the Eleventh Century By Travis Bruce Medieval Encounters, Vol.15: (2009 ) Abstract: Points of dialogue increased across the Muslim-Christian Iberian frontier over the course of the eleventh century. Rulers on both sides pursued policies of active communication, through violent and […]
Islamic archaeology in the Iberian peninsula and Morocco
August 5, 2009 By
Islamic archaeology in the Iberian peninsula and Morocco By Johnny De Meulemeester Antiquity, Vol.79:306 (2005) Abstract: The author reviews the development of Islamic archaeology in Spain, Portugal and Morocco through its publications and fieldwork, identifying research themes such as ceramic studies, fortified settlement and landscape archaeology, irrigation and urban archaeology. Features excavated in Spain or Portugal can […]
Early Islamic Spain: The History of Ibn al-Qutiyah
June 7, 2009 By
Early Islamic Spain: The History of Ibn al-Qutiyah By David James Routledge, 2009 ISBN: 978-0-415-47552-5 This book is the first published English-language translation of the significant History of Islamic Spain by Ibn al-Qutiya (d. Cordova 367 / 977). Including extensive notes and comments, a genealogical table and relevant maps, the text is preceded by a […]
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