Al-Andalus: Political, Social, Economic, and Cultural History
Political Developments: Conquest, Emirate, and Caliphate of Córdoba
Building disputes among the Visigoths weakened the kingdom, allowing the Muslims to land in Gibraltar in 711. They defeated the army of Don Rodrigo at the Battle of Guadalete. In two years, they conquered the entire peninsula except for some areas of the Cantabrian coast and the Pyrenees. They usually signed contracts that allowed the conquered to keep their land in exchange for paying taxes. The speed of the conquest was partly due to Muslim tolerance towards Christians and Jews and the disinterest of the majority of the population in defending a monarchy with which they did not identify.
After the Muslim conquest, the peninsula became a province or emirate of the Caliphate of Damascus, ruled by an emir who acted on behalf of the caliph. In 756, Abd-al-Rahman I came to power and proclaimed the peninsula an independent emirate—politically independent but not religiously. This was a phase of consolidation of Muslim power, stimulating economic and urban development. In 929, Abd-al-Rahman III proclaimed himself caliph, both political and spiritual leader. The Caliphate period represented the era of cultural splendor in Al-Andalus. In 976, Al-Mansur, minister of Hisham II, took power and turned the caliphate into a military dictatorship supported by the victories of his army against the Christian kingdoms in the north. After Al-Mansur’s death, fighting between rival factions led to the final phase of the Caliphate, which ended in 1031 when a rebellion overthrew the last caliph, Hisham III, and Al-Andalus fragmented into numerous Taifa kingdoms.
The Crisis of the Eleventh Century: Taifa Kingdoms and North African Empires
In 1031, a rebellion overthrew the last caliph, Hisham III, and Al-Andalus fragmented into numerous Taifa kingdoms. These were gradually reduced, mainly by the incorporation of smaller ones into larger ones. They remained economically prosperous and, in some cases, had great cultural significance, but their survival often depended on paying tributes (parias) to the Christian kingdoms. At the end of the eleventh century, faced with the advance of the Christian kingdoms, the Taifas requested the support of the Almoravids, ultra-orthodox Muslims who had formed a large empire in North Africa. Their leader, Yusuf ibn Tashfin, came to the peninsula in 1086 and defeated Alfonso VI at the Battle of Sagrajas (Badajoz) before returning to Africa. However, in 1090, he returned to the peninsula with the aim of conquering the Taifa kingdoms. Although this power was never fully consolidated and would fall to the second Taifa kingdoms established in 1145, the Almoravids did establish their rule for a time. At the same time that the Almoravids were defeated in al-Andalus, their African empire disappeared, and a new empire, the Almohad, emerged and defeated them in Africa. Almohad rule of the peninsula began in 1147 with the occupation of Seville but was not complete until 1172. Having achieved the unification of Al-Andalus, the Almohads increased their attacks against the Christian kingdoms. In 1195, the caliph Yusuf II crushed the Castilian army led by Alfonso VIII at the Battle of Alarcos. The gravity of the situation forced the Christian kings to put aside their internal differences and form a common front against the Almohads. In 1212, the Christian troops destroyed the Almohad army at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa. This defeat practically annihilated Almohad power in the peninsula.
Economic and Social Organization in Al-Andalus
The economic base of Al-Andalus was agriculture. Irrigation techniques were improved, and crops such as cotton, rice, and saffron were introduced. Large estates continued to predominate, but the owners lived in large cities that became centers of consumption, stimulating crafts and trade. Foreign trade, especially the export of olive oil, was boosted, leading to increased monetary circulation.
Socially, different groups were distinguished by ethnic origin, religion, wealth, and power. Among Muslims, there was an aristocracy of Arab origin and one of Syrian origin, between which there were many tensions. The Berbers, established in poorer lands, staged rebellions, such as the one in 741. The Renegades were Christians who converted to Islam, which provided them with social inclusion and exempted them from special tributes. Non-Muslim minorities were able to maintain their laws and authorities in exchange for paying taxes. Among them were the Jews, who enjoyed a policy of tolerance and collaborated with the Muslims at the beginning of the conquest, and the Mozarabic Christians, whose numbers declined due to conversion and migration to the Christian kingdoms. The basis of the social structure were the slaves: Slavs, prisoners of war from Europe, and black Africans of Sudanese origin.
The Cultural Heritage of Al-Andalus
Muslim Spain was the western route of transmission of Greek science and much of Hindu knowledge. Al-Andalus was the avenue through which the Indian numbering system spread to the rest of Europe, eventually replacing Roman numerals. Although intellectual development was initially limited by the imposition of the Maliki doctrine, one of the emerging trends in Islam, a climate of intellectual freedom during the Caliphate, led by Caliphs Abd al-Rahman III and Al-Hakam II, fostered the development of scientific disciplines such as mathematics, astronomy, botany, medicine, history, and geography. There was also great literary development, especially in poetry. During the Taifa kingdoms, the cultural splendor continued. The Taifa of Seville, with King Almotamid and Ibn Hazam and his work “The Necklace of the Dove,” a treatise on love, stands out. In the twelfth century, despite the limitations imposed on thought by the Almoravids and Almohads, great figures in medicine and philosophy emerged, such as the Muslim Averroes, who spread Aristotle’s thought in Europe, and the Jew Maimonides. In the Nasrid kingdom of Granada, science and literature were very active, with Ibn Zamrak being a prominent figure.