New Medieval Books: The Emperor and the Elephant
A book on medieval diplomacy, it is a case study of Carolingian relations with the Islamic world, particularly the Abbasids in the Middle East and the Umayyads in Iberia. It is a fascinating account of political relations revealing a more complex situation than has previously been thought.
A Messianic Uprising in Kufa: al-Mukhtar’s Revolt in 685-687
Al-Mukhtar’s two-year rebellion was an episode of a greater historical event known as the Second Civil War or Second Fitna (680-692).
The Battle of the Pass: An Umayyad Military Disaster
The Battle of the Pass, also referred to as the Battle of the Defile, was fought during the summer of 731.
Was Constantinople besieged in 674-78?
The story of the so-called First Arab Siege of Constantinople.
Abu Muslim: The Architect of the Abbasid Revolution
He lived an extraordinary life; he was a servant/slave, a partisan, a revolutionary, a soldier, and rose to be the most powerful man in the caliphate.
The Siege of Constantinople, 717-718 AD – The Use of Naval Power
The Byzantine Empire’s skilled use of naval power can be seen during the Umayyad attempt to capture Constantinople in 717-718.
Al-Hajjaj: Machiavellian or Villain?
Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf al-Thaqafi was the Umayyad caliphate’s most famous and most able governor. He administered the eastern “super province” of the caliphate which included Iraq, Khurasan, and Sijistan from 694 to 714.
The Berber Queen who defied the Caliphate: Al-Kahina and the Islamic Conquest of North Africa
Seventh-century North Africa would see the rise of a warrior queen named al-Kahina. Who was she and how was she able to wage a war against the Umayyad Caliphate?
How the Hashimite Revolution became the Abbasid Revolution
In 750 the Umayyad caliphal dynasty was overthrown by a popular revolution that had its origins in the eastern regions of the Muslim world, primarily in Khurasan.
Cultural Exchange in the Languages and Literatures of Medieval Spain
Professor David Wacks’s fascinating discussion of the Iberian Peninsula and it’s incredible linguistic heritage.
Caliph’s palace on the shores of the Sea of Galilee to be restored
The German government will be funding archaeologists to help restored an Umayyad palace dating back to the early eighth century.
Two hegemonies, one island: Cyprus as a ‘Middle Ground’ between the Byzantines and the Arabs (650-850 A.D.)
This paper aims to assess the political and cultural status of the island of Cyprus as the only place within the Mediterranean where Christian heirs of Romans and Muslims shared the local tax revenue to create a buffer zone between two empires.
Intellectual Cartographic Spaces: Alfonso X, the Wise and the Foundation of the Studium Generale of Seville
This dissertation, “Intellectual Cartographic Spaces: Alfonso X, the Wise and the Foundations of the Studium Generale of Seville,” I reevaluate Spain’s medieval history, specifically focusing on the role of Alfonso X and his court in the development of institutions of higher education in thirteenth-century Andalusia.
Asserting Political Authority in a Sacred Landscape: A Comparison of Umayyad and Israeli Jerusalem
Maintenance of authority is of course the end goal, but how does political leadership ‘build’ political authority in the first place?
The Possible Reasons for the Arab-Khazar Wars
From the middle of the 7th century until the second half of the 8th century, the Arab-Khazar wars were fought by the Umayyad, and later by the Abassid Caliphate against the regional power, the Khazar Khaganate.
The Mediterranean Muslim Navy and the Expeditions Dispatched against Constantinople
The aim of this paper is to present an account of the information we find in various Arabic sources of the early period of Arabic historiography on the preparation of a military naval force and the expeditions launched against Constantinople during the period of the early expansion of the Muslim Arabs
The Difference A King Makes: Religion And National Unity In Spain
It is the end of the Roman period, however, that interests us most. What happened then is a model for the relationship between Church and state that has had an enduring and powerful influence.
The Andalusi origins of the Berbers
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.
The continuity of Roman water supply systems in post-Roman Spain: the case of Valentia, a reliable example?
This paper will thus be structured in several sections. First it will be necessary to approach the topic of Roman water supply systems as a whole, their direct relationship with urbanism and city-dwellers, and how these monuments were a clear indicator of Romanitas, even in the post-Roman period.
Images of Civil Conflict: One Early Muslim Historian’s Representation of the Umayyad Civil War Caliphs
This thesis examines the ninth-century Baghdadi scholar al-Tabari and his narrative representation of the three civil war caliphs of the Umayyad era (661-750 CE).