AL-ANDALUS

1.MOORISH CONQUEST

Before the arrival of the Moors to Spain, the Visigoths were who lived there from 507. By then, Catholicism was the official religion.

Meanwhile, the Moors was dominating North Africa. When they got it, they continued invading new territories. The new goal was the invasion of the Iberian Peninsula.

In 711, the Moors fought against the Visigothic King at the Battle of Guadalate, which they won.

Moorish invasion was very quick, they occupied almost all of the Peninsula within seven years. Then, they founded Al-Andalus.

2. DEVELOPMENT OF AL-ANDALUS

At first, Al-Andalus was part of the powerful Islamic Empire, whose capital was Damascus. Córdoba was the capital of the Moorish’s territory.

Later, Al-Andalus separated from the Islamic Empire and became an independent emirate.

In the 10^th century, Al-Andalus got its period of maximum splendour when Emir Abd-al-Rahman III proclaimed himself as the spiritual leader of Muslims in Córdoba (caliph). This made Córdoba a caliphate.

In this period, Córdoba become the most populated city in Europe (100 000 habitants) and it was a centre for trade and culture in the Mediterranean.

 

A century later, in 11^th, the Caliphate of Córdoba fell and Al-Andalus broke up into several independent taifa kingdoms.

Now, you can see  the evolution of Al-Andalus there:

This video will help you to understand better the evolution of Moorish's invasion:

3. SOCIETY IN AL-ANDALUS

Cultural diversity is the main characteristic of Al-Andalus society. People of many different origins lived side by side. We can identify 3 large groups:

   o Muslims: They were the conquerers and also Visigoths that converted to Islam. 

   o Mozarabs: Hispano-Visigothic followers of Christianity.

   o    Jews: Followers of Judaism of Middle Eastern origin.

If you want learn more about DIVERSITY, you can look our section about it! 😊