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The Moors
The Visigoths had ruled Spain until 711, when the Moors crossed into Spain from North Africa. For the next three centuries, the Moors controlled most of Spain by establishing a “caliphate,” or religious center, in Cordoba. Spain enjoyed a “golden age.” The Moors were able administrators who built Spain into a thriving center of culture and scholarship. The Moors were Muslims, but they were generally tolerant of the Christians and Jews who lived in Spain. Spanish Jews benefited from the tolerant policies of the Moors. This enabled them to have one of the most prosperous periods in their history. Christian kingdoms in northern Spain and France slowly
began the Reconquista (or reconquest) of Spain, a struggle that
lasted almost 500 years. Quarrels among the Moors led to the overthrow
of the caliphate of Cordoba in 1031. The Moors remained in Spain until
King Ferdinand of Aragon, and Queen Isabella of Castille merged their
kingdoms and forced the Muslims and Jews to leave Spain. |
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To cite this page: |
In
AD622, an Arab
named Muhammad preached that an angel had visited him. The angel told
Muhammad that he was the last of a long line of prophets that included
Moses and Jesus. Muhammad called on people to renounce all other faiths
and to submit to the will of Allah. Allah is an Arabic word that means
God. He called the new faith Islam, which means “submission to Allah”;
the people who practice Islam are called Muslims (sometimes spelled Moslems).
The faith spread quickly through the Middle East and across North Africa,
eventually reaching people in northwest Africa that the Romans called
Moors.