Decline of Rome and Rise of Al-Andalus: Causes and Consequences
The Third Century Crisis Affecting Rome
Causes:
- External: The attack of the barbarians on the limits of the empire.
- Internal: Inside the Roman Empire, a plague leads to a decrease in population. The poorest die (who are the labor force), and this affects the economic fabric, leading to a decrease in the tax system. The state faces tremendous difficulties and uses systems to make money, such as:
- Tax burden on citizens.
- Forced recruitment to defend the border.
- Binding adscription: cities continue working, even though no benefits were given, to give the image that there is no crisis.
These situations sink the empire further, leading to a general crisis that ends with its collapse. This crisis is in all areas:
Economy:
It produces less, leading to *charistia* (high prices). In the field, this occurs soon, and very little food reaches the cities, so the urban world disappears, and people take refuge in the countryside, where they can eat. Large landowners (estates) seek a return on their land and hire the *colonus* (the owner gives you land for you to pay a percentage of what is grown). Slaves do not work and disappear. Large landowners get richer.
Social:
Social groups disappear. There are two groups: large landowners who have much land and money, and poor people who work for the owners, creating a dependency of the poor on large landowners.
Politics:
The barbarians are moving from outside to the center, so border landowners make decisions fast (not counting Rome) to defend the province. Each time, these provinces have more autonomy, and the governors become very powerful, ruling unfairly, so people flee the cities and take refuge in the large estates. The large landowners begin to assume legal rights, make the laws in their territory, and guard their territory physically by recruiting an army, becoming the master.
Ideology:
The church takes a crucial and decisive role. As everyone is poor, the number of Christians increases, and power christianizes (because the majority are Christians). The church begins to hierarchize, leading to an adherence to the power groups and the appearance of church domains. A group of Christians question the ecclesiastical hierarchy, saying it is not the foundation of the church, causing riots and are eliminated.
Al-Andalus
Causes of the Entry of Muslims:
- The need for land to feed its population. They go through North Africa and arrive in the Iberian Peninsula (where there were many resources).
- Supporting King Witiza. The Visigoth kingdom was completely divided and disintegrated. Muslims use this situation to enter the mainland and get to the north, and they stayed. They entered by fare.
Emirate (711-929): The Umayyads (the Umayyad dynasty, descended from Muhammad) master Al-Andalus. Al-Andalus was a province of northern Africa (Damascus, Syria), and the population that comes mixes with the population here. The first political and economic institutions were established.
Caliphate (929-1031): Proclaimed by Abd-ar-Rahman III. Cordoba, the capital of the caliphate, means religious independence from Baghdad. The foremost authority rests with the caliph. From the economic point of view, Al-Andalus goes through its best moment:
- Agriculture: a large agricultural water system settles in the Guadalquivir and Ebro valleys.
- Great craftsmanship.
- Bicommercial with gold and silver.
From the political point of view, it is divided into provinces, large and very rich cities culturally.
Taifa Kingdoms (1031-1212): Almanzor, a minister in the Caliphate, was a soldier who wanted to control everything, and it begins to weaken the economic system. The northern provinces take advantage of the situation and pay Christians so they do not attack. In 1212, the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa occurred in the south, and Christians are coming to the region of Andalusia. The only kingdom left was Granada.