by snowbird 102 Replies latest social current
Burns..
Your dads family,killed off your moms family?
Moors.
My ancestors on my father's side killed a shitload of those fuckers and drove them off our land. The revolt started in the same mountains where my G Grandfather was born.
They weren't black by the way. I've probably got a good deal of Moorish from my mother's side. Her ancestry hails from the south part.
BTS
I`ll bet Thanksgiving Dinner at your house is interesting!..
................................... OUTLAW
"I got a devil in a cloud for ya Zid..
Hah! Thanks, OUTLAW!!!
Btw, you think the dinners at Burntheship's house were interesting??? My mom [sheepherder's daughter, Green Irish], married my dad [cattleman's son, Orange Irish]...
And they were BOTH Manic-Depressive!!!
Being raised in THAT household?? FuuuuuUUUUUUNnnnn.... Zid
Outlaw,
Oh mercy! I have tear in my eyes!
I`ll bet Thanksgiving Dinner at your house is interesting!..
That is ancient history. It doesn't work that way. I wrote a 2000 word paper on the Moorish influence in Spain for a humanities class I took. I was more than gracious. Cordoba was the greatest city in Europe for a time. But the Golden Age of Islamic Spain wasn't so golden. Non-Islamic Europeans, the natives, had to pay the jizyah, and the northern kingdoms that managed to push back the Moors from their mountain fastnesses nevertheless had to pay a heavy tribute, along with supplying a large amount of blondes, their sisters and daugters, for the harems down south. The Moors, by the way, became progressively more intolerant and fundamentalist over the centuries. As time went on, they pushed the Moors south little by little. The center of the country became the most fortified place in the world, hence the name Castile.
BTS
Here is my paper with personal references removed. Please don't laugh at my writing style, this was a decade ago and I had just started college. And my views have changed considerably as well. Additional information, that is not politically correct but nonetheless true, will do that to you.
The Islamic influence on Spanish culture
Abstract
Despite whatever animosity and “clash of the civilizations” mentality that
typifies Western and Spanish perspectives toward the Muslim presence in
Western Europe’s southernmost nation, Islam left indelible marks upon the
Spanish mind and priceless contributions towards the advancement of Man. The
Islamic occupation has left deep imprints in the Spanish culture that survive to
this day. Spanish art, architecture and even language bear strong influences
from the Islamic peoples known as the Moors (both Berbers and Arabs) that
conquered and lived in Spain for a period exceeding seven centuries.
On April 25th every year the Fiesta de San Jorge (feast of St George) is
celebrated in Alcoy, Spain and a mock battle is fought between two opposing
civilizations and religions: the Muslim and the Christian. Alcoy is a hillside town in
the Alicante province, about 250 miles southwest of Madrid. Up until 500 years
ago, moors from North Africa ruled here. They were good rulers. They brought
irrigation and agriculture in what would otherwise have been a barren dry land.
Moorish thought and feeling penetrated deeply into the minds and hearts of the
people here. But the Christians occupied the north of Spain, and they two groups
were like water and vinegar, they did not mix well. After the Moorish occupation
in the 8th century Christian crusaders instituted the Reconquista, or reconquest,
of Spain from the Muslim invaders. By 1492, ruling monarchs Fernando if Castile
and Ysabella of Aragon expelled the Moorish ruler Boabdil from the final
stronghold in Granada. While leaving the city, Boabdil’s mother is reputed to
have said: “Why do you weep as a woman for that which you could not defend as
a man?” (Michener, 1968) For the past five centuries the fire and iron of Christian
Europe and the silk and steel of the Moors have clashed in the souls of the
inhabitants of Alcoy as elsewhere in Spain. At the feast of St George these
forces explode in commemoration of the fall of the city to Christian forces. The
celebration has been observed since 1663. An event both humorous and
perhaps typical of the Muslim impact on Spanish culture occurred a few years
ago when, during the part of the mock battle when the Christians take the fort
and the Moors surrender, the “Moors” refused to surrender and police had to be
brought in to escort them out! (Pilot Guides n.d.) Similarly, in a sense the
Muslims have never left Spain. This observance of the feast of Saint George is, I
think, representative of the Islamic influence on Spanish culture. Spain is
historically an ardent Catholic nation and may be sometimes ambivalent about its
Muslim past, but the influence is there, in the art, language and architecture of
this ancient country.
Brief History
After the collapse of the Roman Empire in the West Spain was ruled by
Germanic invaders known as the Visigoths from the 4th to the 8th centuries A.D.
They were not many by comparison to the local population. Estimates are that
they only numbered about one-half million. (O’Neill, 1993) By the beginning of
the 8th century Arab raids from North Africa were commonplace. (Fletcher, 1992)
The Islamic rule over Spain lasted nearly 8 centuries. In 711 A.D. an Arab and
Berber Army under the control of Tariq ibn Ziyad sailed across the Strait of
Gibraltar from North Africa. He defeated the last of the Visigothic kings Roderick
of Spain in a decisive battle at Rio Barbate that same year. Instead of returning
back to North Africa Tariq pushed forward northwards and captured the
seemingly impregnable Visigothic capital of Toledo. Spain fell quickly thereafter.
(Carr, 2000) Ibn Ziyad was joined by more Berber reinforcements and, by 714
A.D., they had captured most of the Iberian Peninsula with the exception of the
stronghold of the Asturian mountain people in the Cantabrian Mountains. During
most of the Muslim period any traveler crossing from Europe or Northern Spain
would have been in for a rude culture shock. Instead of the rude minimalist
existence that typified most of Europe during the Dark Ages, Islamic Spain
enjoyed a high society and an advanced polyethnic culture. The tolerant Muslim
rulers allowed Jews and unconverted Christians to live side by side with them
during this golden period. Cordoba was the greatest city in the Europe and was
rivaled on a worldwide basis only by Baghdad in Mesopotamia. The Islamic
occupation has left deep imprints in the Spanish culture that survive to this day.
Let us examine some of these influences.
Architecture
The Islamic architecture in Spain is elaborate and decorative with intricate
designs. Religious strictures against the representation of human or animal forms
led Islamic artists to express themselves in beautiful flowing geometric patterns.
Moorish architecture was typically composed of a stone structure, dressed over
with stucco or plaster for the exterior walls. Later stages of Moorish construction
went over to brick as the main building material. The Alhambra palace fortress
and gardens in Granada and “Mezquita” or the Great Mosque of Cordoba are two
famous Islamic monuments that utilize this design. They are still a great tourist
attraction in Spain and have inspired many musicians, artists and authors. For
example, the renowned author and diplomat Washington Irving took up residence
in the Alhambra and wrote Tales of the Alhambra. (Michener, 1968) The
Alhambra in Granada is one of the finest examples of Islamic art and architecture
anywhere in the world. The Arabic word “Alhambra” comes from the Arabic “Al
Qal’a al-Hamra” translated as either “Red fort” , “Red palace” or “Red One” and it
has received this name because of the reddish color of its hillside environs.
(McCauley, 1995) This magnificent palace was built in the 14th century during the
time of Muhammad II. As James A. Michener (1968) describes it:
“…the Alhambra was much lovelier and much more Muslim than I had
anticipated. I think what pleased me most in the buildings was the subtle manner in which
one room or hall led into the next, as if an intricate musical composition were unfolding
with always the right notes appearing when they were needed. One moves through this
extensive collection of architectural highlights as if he were in a dream, in which one
gentle surprise lures him on to the next.”
The Great Mosque at Cordóba was constructed during the period of Abdur-
Rehman when he became the Caliph of Al-Andalus (Islamic Spain) in 756. It was
at one time the second largest mosque in the Muslim world. It followed the
customary Arab architectural plan, a large courtyard with a prayer hall on the
south side. Unlike a Christian structure of similar purpose, there is no “holy of
holies”: the entire structure is a holy place. This is because a Muslim does not
need the intercession of another such as a priest at an altar to worship:
anywhere that a devotee can face Mecca and recite prayer is sufficient to satisfy
religious requirements in the structure. The Great Mosque is an impressive
building, having over 800 columns with two-tier horseshoe arches. (Fletcher,
1992) Many other examples of the Moorish architecture in Spain were destroyed
after the persecution of the Muslims at the end of their rule when all Muslims
were killed, deported or forcibly converted to Christianity. However, the
architecture of Muslim Spain is reflected in the Spanish architecture even today.
The consecration of fortresses and cathedrals from surviving mosques and
palaces after the Christian conquest of Muslim territories gave way over time to
the construction of new palaces and churches that had a mixed character based
on the two great traditions. The Mudéjar style of art and architecture that
developed in Spain is very characteristic of this fusion.
The development in the 12th century of Mudéjar art and architecture in
Aragon resulted from the particular political, social and cultural conditions that
prevailed in Spain after the Reconquista. The term “mudéjar” comes from the
Arabic word mudayyan and it can be translated as “he who was allowed to
remain”, a reference to those Muslims that were not expelled from a territory after
its reconquest by the Catholic forces. The word mudéjar not only alludes to the
remaining Muslim people left in the land but also to the cultural, artistic,
architectural and social-economic aspects created by the fusion of Moorish and
Christian traditions. (Gobierno de Aragón, n.d.) During the early Mudéjar period
the style incorporated a great deal of Gothic and Romanesque influence from the
north. Later styles were more Renaissance or Baroque in execution. A Mudéjar
structure typically was Gothic or Romanesque in base and layout but with
considerable Islamo-Moorish elements present in the capitals, arches and
especially the belfries. These last strongly imitated the minarets characteristic of
Muslim mosques. This style of architecture was present until the early 17th
century, especially in the province of Aragón, and it is characterized by an
extremely refined and inventive use of brick and glazed tiles in architecture. The
Mudéjar style also strongly incorporated the geometric and abstract patterns
typical of the purely Moorish style. (Gobierno de Aragón, n.d.) An excellent
example of the Mudéjar style can be found at the UNESCO World Heritage site
located in Aragónese town of Teruel, with its multiple towers and cathedral.
Language
Not only has the Muslim influence been strong on Spanish architecture,
but it has had a powerful influence on the language as well. More than 4,000
words of the Spanish language are taken from Arabic. A reader that looks at a
modern Spanish dictionary at words beginning with “al” will notice that almost all
of them have Arabic origins. (Fletcher, 1992) There are many common Spanish
words that have an Arabic origin: words like alcalde (qadi’ juez) which means
mayor, almohada (al-mohtasub) for pillow, guitarra (qitar) for guitar, aceituna
(zaytuna) for olive and its derivative aceite for oil. The major agricultural
products of Muslim Spain included rice, cotton (algodón), oranges (naranjás)
olives, sugar (azúcar), olives and almonds (almendra): the Spanish words
describing these products are almost exact copies of the Arabic ones. Most
people have heard the Spanish encore and cheer of “Ole'! Ole'!” shouted at
bullfights and Flamenco dances, some say that it is a reference to the Arabic
name for God: Allah. If you tell a Spanish speaking person “I hope that my
business does well”, he will likely respond “Oj'ala'” (may it be so). That wellwisher
likely doesn’t know that he is pronouncing a modified version of the Arabic
phrase “in shá’ Allah” (If Allah wills it).
Most Spanish names starting with Al-, Ar-, Cala-, Guad- and Medina in the
Spanish language are corrupted forms of Arabic names originally given to places,
rivers, mountains and other natural features during the Muslim rule in Spain and
Portugal. After the Spanish conquest of and migration to much of the New World
these names have even been adopted in places as diverse as Florida, California,
Mexico, Central and South America (Zahoor, 1999) A great many Spanish family
names are of Arabic origin as well. Names having a suffix of “ez” have the
meaning of “son of”. For example the name Gonzalez along with tis variants
means “son of Gonzalo”. Another common name, Martinez, means “son of
Martin”.
Other Influences
Most of Western Europe fell into a period of anarchy and decline
collectively know as the “Dark Ages” after the fall of the Western Roman Empire.
While most of Europe apparently forgot a large part of its legacy of learning in
many fields, the Islamic empire, including its western rampart in Spain, preserved
the scientific and philosophical learning of the Greeks and other ancients. These
works were preserved, translated, codified and commented on by Arab scholars
until rediscovered by the Christian West, where the rediscovery of these classics
laid the foundation for the renaissance. (Fletcher, 1992) The Spanish-Muslim
philosopher Averroes not only played a major role in codifying Islamic thought but
also brought Aristotle to the attention of Europe. The works of Aristotle, when
rediscovered in Muslim Spain by the Christians, changed the course of Western
thought. The tolerant Islamic occupation provided safe haven to Jewish
communities, much persecuted in Christian lands. This produced great Jewish
minds, such as Moisés de Maimón (Maimonides). He helped advance medicine
in that he postulated that something must be quantitatively measurable to be
treatable. He was also famous as a religious philosopher. The religious principles
he set down when codifying Judaism influenced other great minds such as
Thomas Aquinas and Gottfried von Leibniz. With reference to the original Moses
of Biblical mention and Maimonides it was said, “Between Moses and Moses,
there is no one like unto Moses.” (Michener, 1968)
In conclusion, despite whatever animosity and “clash of the civilizations”
mentality that typifies Western and Spanish perspectives toward the Muslim
presence in Western Europe’s southernmost nation, Islam left indelible marks
upon the Spanish mind and priceless contributions towards the advancement of
Man. The study of it, therefore, is fascinating and relevent from a humanistic
perspective.
Thats a Cool bit of History..
Thanks Burns!..
........................... ...OUTLAW
Ferdinand and Isabella were the parents of Catherine of Aragon.
We all know her story, don't we?
Impressive paper, BTS.
Sylvia
Ooooh, goody! More reading material!
"Additional information, that is not politically correct but nonetheless true, will do that to you..."
So, BurnTheShips, do you feel like publishing the further information you've come up with???
Zid
"No, Agonus, you are not. I once had a White man tell me that I"m the smartest Black woman he's ever known."
Thanks Sylvia. I have no doubt you are (smart that is). Smart people tend to know they're smart simply because they've been told that all their lives by other people who say they wish they were as smart as you.
Speaking of the Moors, how many of you remember "Othello?" One of the few Shakespeare plays that really stuck in my mind from high school. Didn't appreciate it at the time, but it was actually a classical interracial romance. Makes me wonder if ol' Will had the jungle fever...
I KEED! I KEED!
