The Myth of the Andalusian Paradise: Muslims, Christians, and Jews under Islamic Rule in Medieval Spain

Description

Scholars, journalists, and even politicians uphold Muslim-ruled medieval Spain—“al-Andalus”—as a multicultural paradise, a place where Muslims, Christians, and Jews lived in harmony. There is only one problem with this widely accepted account: it is a myth. In this book, Northwestern University scholar Darío Fernández-Morera tells the full story of Islamic Spain. The Myth of the Andalusian Paradise shines light on hidden history by drawing on an abundance of primary sources that scholars have ignored, as well as archaeological evidence only recently unearthed. This supposed beacon of peaceful coexistence began, of course, with the Islamic Caliphate’s conquest of Spain. Far from a land of religious tolerance, Islamic Spain was marked by religious and therefore cultural repression in all areas of life and the marginalization of Christians and other groups—all this in the service of social control by autocratic rulers and a class of religious authorities. Title page Contents Introduction 1 CONQUEST AND RECONQUEST 2 THE EFFECTS OF THE JIHAD 3 THE DAILY REALITIES OF AL-ANDALUS 4 THE MYTH OF UMAYYAD TOLERANCE 5 WOMEN IN ISLAMIC SPAIN 6 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE JEWISH COMMUNITY’S “GOLDEN AGE” 7 THE CHRISTIAN CONDITION Epilogue Notes Select Bibliography Acknowledgments Index About the Author