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ISLAM
a) Conquest (711-718).
In 711 a small Muslim army led by Tariq landed on the peninsula and
participated in the Battle of Guadalete, where he was defeated and killed
the last Visigoth king named Rodrigo. Very soon Muslims conquered most of
the peninsula because many cities and many Visigoths nobles preferred to
agree particular negotiated treaties. The governor of Tunisia, Muzza,
landed with a larger army and soon dominated all cities and penetrated in
southern Gaul.
On the peninsula there were mountainous northern areas (Lugo, Asturias,
Cantabria, Basque Country, northern Navarre and the Pyrenees) who
resisted Islamic domination.
b) Dependent Emirate of Damascus (718-756).
After the conquest of Damascus the Umayyad caliph appointed the
governors (emirs) who ran Al- Andalus. During this period it took place the
legendary Battle of Covadonga (718 or 724) that marks the beginning of
the Christian reconquest of the peninsula. The emir of Cordoba troops
began their conquest of France, but were defeated by the Franks at
Poitiers (732).
c) Independent Emirate of Cordoba (756-920).
In 750 the last Umayyad caliph was defeated and died. Abul Abbas will be
the new caliph, the whole Umayyad family was murdered except for Abd-alRahman and his mother. They fled from Middle East and took refuge in AlAndalus. He dominated all cities and proclaimed Independent Emir of
Cordoba breaking all political ties with the new Abbasid dynasty.
He created a powerful permanent mercenary army, organized a centralized
administration in Cordoba, founded the mint and set up a ministry of
finance for the collection of taxes.
During the emirate irrigation was developed in the area of Andalusia,
Levante and the Ebro Valley, he also created a powerful merchant fleet
based in Algeciras, promoted the development of luxury handicrafts to be
exported and domestic trade flourished.
Most of the population converted to Islam (mulades), but in the cities it
continued to exist a large group of Christians (Mozarabic) who adopted
Muslim customs and fashions. The Jews kept their own neighborhoods and
synagogues and achieved great social importance due to the development of
medicine and banking.
The Independent Emirate was politically a turbulent period, there were
frequent uprisings of cities, religious minorities, rulers and nobles.
with stucco and plaster covering walls, vaulted and ceilings. They also used
the Arabic script (Kufic) to decorate capitals and friezes.
On the peninsula important monuments stand out as the Mosque of
Cordoba, the Giralda and the Torre del Oro in Seville, the citadel palace of
Aljaferia in Zaragoza and the Alhambra in Granada.
The Alhambra in Granada is a set consisting of a fortress and several
palaces built along 14th and 15th centuries. It is a complex of buildings where
the courtyards, gardens and fountains are combined with the most
elaborated and profuse decoration of the entire Muslim art.
ACTIVITIES.
Coloring the map of the spread of Islam in its different phases.
Coloring a map of Al- Andalus during the caliphate and another one during
the eleventh century.
Define concepts :
Muslim
Sharia
caliph
emir
Patio of ablutions
muezzin
crusade
Make biographies of Abdal-Rahman III and Boabdil "El Chico".
Make a summary of the Muhammads life comic.
Comment an Andalusian artwork.