Caliphs and Kings: Islamic Spain, 796-1031

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Caliphs and Kings by Roger Collins

Roger Collins, a leading historian, investigates a time in Spanish history known for its multi-religious society - when Christians, Jews and Muslims lived in apparent harmony - revealing a fuller, more complex picture of this fascinating period.

Presents new ideas and interpretations of a fascinating yet much misunderstood period of Spanish and Islamic history
A broad and complex treatment of the tenure of the Umayyad dynasty in Spain
Debunks myths and investigates the historiography of existing scholarship of the period

Review
“A blessing for faculty, but also a very useful introduction for students.” (H-Soz-u-Kult, March 2014)

“Caliphs and Kings: Spain, 796–1031is a book for readers who seek interesting stories culled from Christian historical sources from the period from 796–1031, rather than for those who seek a book on the caliphal aspects of the same period.” (Project Muse, 1 June 2014)

“Supported by useful royal genealogies and a vast bibliography. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries.” (Choice, 1 November 2012)

Review
‘Dr Collins has provided a commendably clear, insightful and scholarly guide to the Umayyad period in Iberia. This latest volume maintains the high standard of Wiley-Blackwell's distinguished History of Spain series.’ —Simon Barton, University of Exeter --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Al-Andalus (Arabic: الأنْدَلُس‎‎, trans. al-ʼAndalus; Spanish: al-Ándalus; Portuguese: al-Ândalus; Catalan: al-Àndalus; Berber: Andalus), also known as Muslim Spain or Islamic Iberia, was a medieval Muslim territory and cultural domain occupying at its peak most of what are today Spain and Portugal. At its greatest geographical extent in the eighth century, southern France—Septimania—was briefly under its control. The name more generally describes parts of the Iberian Peninsula governed by Muslims (given the generic name of Moors) at various times between 711 and 1492, though the boundaries changed constantly as the Christian Reconquista progressed.[1][2][3]

Following the Umayyad conquest of Hispania, al-Andalus, then at its greatest extent, was divided into five administrative units, corresponding roughly to modern Andalusia, Portugal and Galicia, Castile and León, Navarre, Aragon, the County of Barcelona, and Septimania.[4] As a political domain, it successively constituted a province of the Umayyad Caliphate, initiated by the Caliph Al-Walid I (711–750); the Emirate of Córdoba (c. 750–929); the Caliphate of Córdoba (929–1031); and the Caliphate of Córdoba's taifa (successor) kingdoms. Rule under these kingdoms led to a rise in cultural exchange and cooperation between Muslims and Christians. Christians and Jews were subject to a special tax called Jizya, to the state, which in return provided internal autonomy in practicing their religion and offered the same level of protections by the Muslim rulers.[5] Under the Caliphate of Córdoba, al-Andalus was a beacon of learning, and the city of Córdoba became one of the leading cultural and economic centres in Europe and throughout the Mediterranean Basin and the Islamic world. A number of achievements that advanced Islamic and Western science came from al-Andalus including major advances in trigonometry (Geber), astronomy (Arzachel), surgery (Abulcasis), pharmacology (Avenzoar), and other fields. Al-Andalus became a major educational center for Europe and the lands around the Mediterranean Sea as well as a conduit for culture and science between the Islamic and Christian worlds.

For much of its history, al-Andalus existed in conflict with Christian kingdoms to the north. After the fall of the Umayyad caliphate, al-Andalus was fragmented into a number of minor states and principalities. Attacks from the Christians intensified, led by the Castilians under Alfonso VI. The Almoravid empire intervened and repelled the Christian attacks on the region, deposing the weak Andalusi Muslim princes and included al-Andalus under direct Berber rule. In the next century and a half, al-Andalus became a province of the Berber Muslim empires of the Almoravids and Almohads, both based in Marrakesh.