Reconquista 89and tolerance between the diff ering faiths, Islam, Christian,
and Judaism. In the Muslim kingdoms non-Muslims were
permitted to worship in peace as long as certain condi-
tions were met. Th ese included such concessions as openly
acknowledging the superiority of Islam, not proselytizing
to Muslims, and paying special tributes or taxes. In an ef-
fort to assimilate, some Christians learned Arabic, adopted
Muslim dress and names. Th is group was referred to as Mo-
zarabs. Non-Muslims and even those who converted may
have been tolerated, but were placed at the bottom rungs of
the societal hierarchy.
Th e later Muslim dynasties were more fundamentalist
in nature, and treatment of Jews and other Christians took
on a harsher slant. Persecution was not just practiced by
one faith. In 1478, the Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand and
Isabella were granted permission to enact the Inquisition in
Spain. With the Christian kingdoms coalescing into a uni-
fi ed whole, it was thought necessary to ferret out heretics
and monitor the activities of the Jews who had converted to
Christianity. In the early 16th century the Moriscos, Mus-
lims who had converted to Christianity, were especially sus-
pect, and eventually this resulted in a mass expulsion from
Spain of all those who had ever been followers of Islam.
Growth and development did take place in the arts and
sciences. Th e city of Córdoba became a cultural epicenter.
Population estimates are as high as half-a-million inhabit-
ants for this single city at a time when a Western Christian
city had closer to 10,000. European libraries could boast a
few hundred books, but the library at Córdova reportedly
contained several hundred thousand during the height of
Muslim rule. Th e city contained numerous schools and
universities. Muslim scholars actively translated and stud-
ied Greek works of philosophy, transmitting those ideas to
Western Europe.
Th e arts fl ourished during periods of the Muslim rule.
Ibn-Rushd, also known as Averroes, was one of the most
famous scholars produced by Muslim Spain. Averroes was
an accomplished doctor and astronomer who wrote a series
of famous commentaries on the works of Aristotle. Ali Ibn
Arabi, a religious scholar who also wrote works of infl uen-
tial poetry and prose, was educated in al-Anadlus. Ibn al-
Arab, a philosopher, was also a product of Muslim Spain.
In the fi eld of medicine, the surgeon Abulcasis wrote a
multivolume medical encyclopedia called Al-Tasrif, which
was translated into Latin and disseminated across Europe.
Th e pioneering chemistry work of Jabir Ibn Haiyan wasenough to shake off Muslim rule entirely or continue costly
multifront wars, with Islam and each other, the Christian
kings of Spain pledged homage and paid tribute to the ca-
liph at Córdoba.
Th e Caliph al-Mansur was especially aggressive, ac-
tively raiding the Christian lands for slaves and plunder. In
997, he sacked the venerated shrine of Santiago de Com-
postela. Al-Mansur died ca.1002–1008; without his forceful
leadership, the power shift ed again from Córdoba.
In 1031, the Umayyad Dynasty, long beset with inter-
nal strife, came to an end. Th is centralized authority was
replaced with a series of Tafi a kingdoms, smaller regions
ruled by individual Muslim emirs. Reunifi cation of the
fractured Muslim kingdoms was attempted by a successor
of al-Mansur. Th e gains made by al-Mansur and the Almo-
had Dynasty were reversed aft er the Battle of Las Navas
de Tolosa in 1212. Th is decisive victory paved the way for
the capture of Córdoba in 1236. By 1248, only Granada re-
mained as a Muslim outpost.
In 1469, Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand were
married. Th is union brought together the splintered Chris-
tian kingdoms, including Aragon and Castile. Th ese rulers
were dubbed “Th e Catholic Monarchs” for their devotion
to the faith. In 1492, they successfully captured Granada,
thus ending the Reconquista of Spain. Later that year,
under their patronage, Christopher Columbus sailed to the
New World.
Th e nearly eight centuries of Reconquista had a pro-
found eff ect on the identity of the Iberian Peninsula, eff ects
that rippled outward to impact Europe and even crossed
the Atlantic to the New World. One of the fi rst major ef-
fects was the rise of militarism. Numerous military orders,
such as the Order of Santiago and the Order of Calatrava,
sprung up in this time period. Orders such as these were
oft en composed of knights from noble families, whose mis-
sion was mingled with religious ideals. Th e struggle of the
Spanish Christians against Muslims was taken up by the
rest of Christian Europe. During the medieval period sev-
eral popes called for Crusaders to challenge the Muslims
in Spain, and off ered special indulgences to those who an-
swered the call. Th e Muslim world viewed its cause as just
and religious in nature as well. Many thousands of volun-
teers from Spain, North Africa, and farther abroad joined
their crusade to protect and spread in Spain.
Extended exposure to diff ering religious ideologies
had mixed eff ects. Th ere were prolonged periods of peace