The+Arabs+and+Moors+of+Spain

=**The Arab and Moor Influence on Spain**=
 * by Fayine Hussien**


 * __Contents__**

__Islamic Influence__
In the beginning of the seventh century the Arab prophet, Muhammad, began to preach the word of Islam. Arabs sought to spread Islam and conquer the world. The spread of islam began in the Arabian Peninsula. The followers would conquer territory and oftentimes the conquered had to either accept Islam or pay tax ([|jizyah]) for protection if they chose to not convert. The tax permitted the non-Muslim citizens to practice their faith, and ensure protection from outside aggressors. When Ferdinand II of Aragon was ruler he forced all Muslims in Castile and Aragon to convert to Catholicism or else be expelled. Under the Muslim rule the people were not persecuted for not following the chosen religion. Moors in large numbers accepted Arabic as the national language and converted to Islam.

__The Arab-Moor Conquest__
On April 30, 711 AD, General Tariq ibn-Ziyad landed on the Spanish Coast with 7,000 troops. His troops consisted of 300 Arabs and 6,700 native Africans (Moors). The Visgoths surrender and the Muslims take over Iberia. Tariq brought most of Iberia under Islamic rule in an eight-year campaign. They moved northeast across the Pyrenees Mountains, but were defeated by the Frank Charles Martel at the Battle of Poitiers in 732 CE. This Timeline displays the Arab and Moorish conquest by its specific dates. In 1492 the reign of the Muslims in Spain finally ends after almost 800 years power.



__T____he Reconquista__
The Asturias, a small northwestern Christian Iberian kingdom, initiated the Reconquista (the "reconquest") soon after the Islamic conquest in the 8th century.The Catholic Kingdoms of northern Spain eventually managed to succeed in defeating and conquering the southern Muslim states of the Iberian Peninsula. In 1469 Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castille married with an agreement to share power and take over the country including Al Andalus which was still under Islamic rule at the time, and in 1492 after years of battle and wins and losses on both sides the Granada surrenders to New Spain and the reign of [|Al Andalus] is over.

__Lasting Affects__
Moorish Spain was a center of culture, science, and trade. They brought to the dry Spanish plains irrigation systems imported from Syria, transforming the area into a rich agricultural place. Communal sharing form the same dish was introduced by the Moors, there were also many [|foods] introduced by the Moors like desserts and spices. The Moors in Spain were also famous as astronomers and mathematicians. Spanish also has some lexical footprints of the Arabic language so there was also an Arabic imprint on their linguistics.The Something the Moors left behind was their amazing Architecture spread out all around Spain in Seville, the Granada, and Cordoba.

===__Arab and Moor Architecture__===

//__-Mezquita-Catedral__//
One of the most famous works of islamic architecture is the Mezquita Cathedral also known as Great Mosque of Córdoba and Cathedral of Córdoba. The site was orginally a Visgothic Christian Church before the Islamic Conquest when the Umayyad prince [|Abd ar-Rahman I] and his descendants reworked it for over two centuries to refashion it as a mosque, starting in 784. In 1236, Córdoba was captured by King Ferdinand III of Castile in the Reconquista, and the mosque was turned back into a Christian church. In recent day, Muslims across Spain are lobbying the Roman Catholic church to allow them to pray in the complex, but Spanish church authorities and the Vatican oppose this move.

//-__The Alhambra__//
Alhambra comes from an Arabic root which means "red or crimson castle", due to the hue of the towers and walls. Created originally for military purposes, the Alhambra was an "//alcazaba//" (fortress), an "//alcázar//" (palace) and a small "//medina//" (city), all in one. The Alhambra was constructed during the mid 14th century by the Moorish rulers of Granada in al-Andalus, on the southeastern border of the city of Granada. After the Reconquista in 1492, some portions were used by the Christian rulers. The Palace of Charles V, built by Charles V Roman Emperor in 1527, was inserted in the Alhambra. After being allowed to fall into disrepair for centuries, the Alhambra was "discovered" in the 19th century by European scholars and travelers, and the rrestoration process began. It is now one of Spain's major tourist attractions, exhibiting the country's most significant and well known Islamic architecture. The Alhambra is a [|UNESCO World Heritage Site].

__Interview__
I did an Interview with David Wacks Assosiate Professor of Spanish at the University of Oregon, Professor Wacks has an extensive background in the medieval period of Iberian history and literature. So I asked him about his view of the Moorish Conquest of Spain and how it came about and what he felt was their largest lasting impression on Spain.

__Sources__
[] [] [] [] [] http://lilianaintegratedproject09.wikispaces.com/Moorish+Spain [] [] Coppee, Henry. //History of the Conquest of Spain by the Arab-Moors//. Vol. 1. Boston: University, 1881. Print.