Al-Andalus Culture and the Christian Resistance in Medieval Iberia
Al-Andalus: Thought and Lyrics
The culture became important among Muslims with the contribution of Asian books. Medical knowledge, astronomy, and philosophy were a foretaste of what the 10th-century Muslim culture would become. During this century, there was a soaring cultural index in the Peninsula. Hispano-Muslim culture was the basis of all medieval European culture, with the exception of religion. Emphasized: mathematics, especially algebra; medicine, with the most important work being a compendium of surgery including chapters on eyes, ears, teeth, and obstetrics; medical students studied by going to a doctor to visit the sick; astronomy, which boosted stargazing; botany; and agriculture. In the field of letters, poetry, history, and philosophy were highlighted.
The Iberian Peninsula in the Middle Ages: The First Centers of Christian Resistance
From the eighth to the tenth centuries, Christian resistance nuclei formed on the two northern ridges: the Asturian-Leonese kingdom in the Cantabrian Mountains and the nuclei of Pamplona-Navarra, Aragon, and Catalonia in the Pyrenees. These nuclei were sparsely populated lands, with Neolithic socio-economic forms, which were not established or entered into the domain of Hispanic-Visigoth culture. These Christian nuclei were limited to a policy of survival.
The Astur-Leonese nucleus was the most important until the tenth century because of its size, economic strength, and political structure. The first independent movement was the work of the mountain tribes who wanted to escape Muslim tax control. Alfonso I (739-757) made the first division of the kingdom, which spread to Galicia and the upper Ebro, creating a no man’s land between the Douro and the Cantabrian Mountains. Alfonso III (886-910) set the boundary in the Douro by a repopulation process. To better control the new land, he moved the capital to León, and the kingdom was renamed the Kingdom of León. Its eastern boundary was the most dangerous because of Muslim attacks, so the castle was reinforced with a count in front. This ended up becoming an independent territory, resulting in the County of Castile (10th century), which later became the Kingdom of Castile. Charlemagne, the Frankish emperor, to protect his empire from the Muslims, fortified the southern Pyrenees, called the Marca Hispanica. During the 9th century, Navarre and Aragon became independent of the Franks. The Kingdom of Navarre was created with Pamplona as the original nucleus of the future Kingdom of Navarre. Jaca created the County of Aragon, home of the future Kingdom of Aragon. The Carolingian domain over Catalan land was more durable. In the 10th century, they did not renew the pledge of allegiance to the Frankish king. Thus, the Catalan counties were born.
Main Stages of Renewal
The Reconquista is known as the process of military occupation that the Christian kingdoms made to the south of the peninsula on Muslim territory, especially during the 11th-13th centuries. In a first stage (11th century to the mid-12th century), the western kingdoms consolidated the southern valley of the Douro and occupied the Tagus valley. Alfonso VI, king of Castile and León, conquered Toledo (1085), and Alfonso VII consolidated the border of the Tagus and conquered Almería. In the eastern realms, they conquered the valley of the Ebro. Alfonso I the Battler, King of Navarre and Aragon, conquered Zaragoza, and Ramon Berenguer IV of Catalonia held Tortosa and Lleida. They fought on both fronts against the Almoravids. In a second stage, which took place between 1150 and 1212, they occupied the upper Guadiana and the upper courses of the Turia and Jucar. The Christian kingdoms defeated the Almohads in the battle of the Navas de Tolosa (1212). During this phase, boundaries between the Christian states were established. In Cazorla (1179), Castile and Aragon delineated their borders and future areas of influence. In the third stage, and as a result of that victory, Fernando III, the Saint, and Alfonso X el Sabio (king of Castile) conquered the main cities of the Guadalquivir valley (Seville, Cordoba, Jaen, and Murcia). James I the Conqueror, King of Aragon, occupied the Balearic Islands and Valencia, reaching their limit of Reconquista. Castile kept its border with Al-Andalus for another 200 years until the Catholic Monarchs conquered the Kingdom of Granada.