Misplaced Pages

#483516

115-749: The town was founded ex novo by the town charter of Alfonso X the Wise in 1270. The town is located on the English Way path of the Camino de Santiago . Farming and services are the main economic activities, though from the late 1950s, and particularly from the mid 1970s, Pontedeume has developed into a coastal resort . Pontedeume is divided into 8 parishes : Andrade (San Martiño), Boebre (Santiago), Breamo (San Miguel), Centroña (Santa María), Nogueirosa (San Cosme), Ombre (Santa María), Pontedeume (Santiago) and Vilar (San Pedro). In 1868 and from 1877 to 1890

230-505: A heliocentric understanding in astronomy. Because of this work, the lunar crater Alphonsus is named after him. One famous, but apocryphal, quote attributed to him upon his hearing an explanation of the extremely complicated mathematics required to demonstrate Ptolemy 's theory of astronomy was "If the Lord Almighty had consulted me before embarking on creation thus, I should have recommended something simpler." Gingerich (1990) says that

345-500: A compilation of chronicles , the Crónica general , completed in 1264. This chronicle sought to establish a general history and drew from older chronicles, folklore and Arabic sources. This work enjoyed renewed popularity starting in the sixteenth century, when there was a revival of interest in history; Florián de Ocampo published a new edition and Lorenzo de Sepúlveda used it as the chief source of his popular romances . Sepúlveda wrote

460-594: A daughter of Philip of Swabia, gave him a claim through the Hohenstaufen line. Alfonso's election as German king by the prince-electors misled him into complicated schemes that involved excessive expense but never succeeded. Alfonso never even traveled to Germany, and his alliance with the Italian Ghibelline Lord Ezzelino IV da Romano deprived him of the initial support of Pope Alexander IV . His rival, Richard of Cornwall , went to Germany and

575-606: A daughter, Beatrice . In 1240, he married Mayor Guillén de Guzmán, but the marriage was later annulled and their issue declared illegitimate. In the same period (1240–1250) he conquered several Muslim strongholds in Al-Andalus alongside his father, such as Murcia , Alicante and Cadiz . In 1249, Alfonso married Violant , the daughter of King James I of Aragon and Yolande of Hungary , although betrothed already in 1246. Alfonso succeeded his father as King of Castile and León in 1252. The following year he invaded Portugal, capturing

690-517: A form of this alleged quotation was mentioned (but rejected) as early as the 16th century by the historian Jerónimo de Zurita , and that Soriano Viguera (1926) states that "nothing of the sort can be found in Alfonso's writings." Nevertheless, Dean Acheson (U.S. Secretary of State, 1949–1953) used it as the basis for the title and epigraph of his memoir Present at the Creation. Alfonso also commissioned

805-564: A major influence on the intellectual life of medieval Europe. Muslims and non-Muslims often came from abroad to study at the libraries and universities of al-Andalus, and after the reconquest of Toledo, several translation institutions such as the Toledo School of Translators were established for translating books and texts from Arabic into Latin. The most noted figures in this being Gerard of Cremona and Michael Scot , who took these works to Italy. The transmission of ideas significantly affected

920-625: A military campaign in lower Andalusia. Writing in Estoria de España , Alfonso describes having seen St. James on a white horse with a white banner and a legion of knights fighting a war above the soldiers of Spain. This vision of a heavenly army fighting in Jerez and participation in military campaigns likely left Alfonso X with a high degree of knowledge and respect for military operations and chivalric knights. Alfonso's respect for chivalry can also be seen in his writing of Spanish law. Spanish Chivalric conduct

1035-531: A number of romances having Alfonso X as their hero. Alfonso's court compiled in Castilian a work titled General Estoria . This work was an attempt at a world history that drew from many sources and included translations from the Vulgate Old Testament mixed with myths and histories from the classical world, mostly Egypt, Greece, and Rome. This world history was left incomplete, however, and so it stops at

1150-526: A powerful and well-established state that had become one of the most powerful in the Mediterranean. Abd al Rahman was succeeded by Muhammad I of Córdoba , who according to legend had to wear women's clothing to sneak into the imperial palace and be crowned, since he was not the heir apparent. His reign marked a decline in the emirate, which was ended by Abd al-Rahman III . His reign was marked by multiple rebellions, which were dealt with poorly and weakened

1265-533: A pre-Roman substrate. During the caliphate of the Umayyad Caliph Al-Walid I , the commander Tariq ibn-Ziyad led an army of 7,000 that landed at Gibraltar on April 30, 711, ostensibly to intervene in a Visigothic civil war. After a decisive victory over King Roderic at the Battle of Guadalete on July 19, 711, Tariq, accompanied by his mawla , governor Musa ibn Nusayr of Ifriqiya , brought most of

SECTION 10

#1733085432484

1380-638: A punitive expedition against Seville that reached all the way to Tarifa at the southern tip of al-Andalus. In 1085, he annexed Toledo , a turning point which galvanized the remaining taifa leaders into seeking outside help. After the fall of Toledo, most of the major taifa rulers agreed to request the intervention of the Almoravids, a Berber empire based in Marrakesh that had conquered much of northwest Africa. The Almoravid leader, Yusuf Ibn Tashfin , led several campaigns into al-Andalus, initially in defense of

1495-672: A series of conquests Western historiography has traditionally characterized as the Reconquista , eventually shrinking to the south and finally to the Emirate of Granada . 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);

1610-416: A truce that would have allowed Abd al-Rahman to marry al-Fihri's daughter. After decisively defeating Yūsuf al-Fihri's army, Abd al-Rahman was able to conquer Córdoba, where he proclaimed himself emir in 756. The rest of Iberia was easily conquered, and Abd al-Rahman soon had control of all of Iberia. Abd al Rahman's rule was stable in the years after his conquest – he built major public works, most famously

1725-703: Is Alfonso's Cantigas de Santa Maria (song CLXXXVII) from XII A.C. In this depiction, three rectangular hórreos of Gothic style are illustrated. Alfonso also had the Libro de ajedrez, dados, y tablas ( "Libro de los Juegos" (The Book of Games) ) translated into Castilian from Arabic and added illustrations with the goal of perfecting the work. It was completed in 1283. The Libro de juegos contains an extensive collection of writings on chess , with over 100 chess problems and chess variants . Alfonso X commissioned or co-authored numerous works of music during his reign. These works included Cantigas d'escarnio e maldicer and

1840-458: Is al-Zahrawi, who is considered by many to be "probably the greatest physician in the entire history of Western Islam." Around the year 1000 C.E, he wrote a book with a title that roughly translates to The Arrangement of Medical Knowledge for One Who is Not Able to Compile a Book for Himself ( Kitab al-tasrif li-man 'ajiza 'an al-ta'alif )—a comprehensive medical encyclopedia with the goal of summarizing all existing medical knowledge and eliminating

1955-502: Is seen as the golden age of al-Andalus. Córdoba under the Caliphate, with a population of more than half a million, eventually overtook Constantinople as the largest and most prosperous city in Europe. Al-Andalus became a centre for the arts, medicine, science, music, literature and philosophy. The work of its most important philosophers and scientists, such as Abulcasis and Averroes , had

2070-589: The Battle of Bagdoura (in Morocco). Heartened by the victories of their North African brethren, the Berbers of al-Andalus quickly raised their own revolt. Berber garrisons in the north of the Iberian Peninsula mutinied, deposed their Arab commanders, and organized a large rebel army to march against the strongholds of Toledo, Córdoba, and Algeciras. In 741, Balj b. Bishr led a detachment of some 10,000 Arab troops across

2185-531: The Battle of Río Salado in 1340. After this, they ceased to play a major role. The subsequent internal turmoil within Castile, however, helped Nasrid Granada to enjoy a period of relative external peace and internal prosperity until the end of the 14th century, under the reigns of Yusuf I ( r.  1333–1354 ) and Muhammad V ( r.  1354–1359, 1362–1391 ). Important cultural figures, such as Ibn al-Khatib , Ibn Zamrak , and Ibn Khaldun all served in

2300-451: The Battle of Écija against the Moroccan and Granadan invasion armies, leaving two infant sons. Alfonso's second son, Sancho , claimed to be the new heir, in preference to the children of Ferdinand de la Cerda, basing his claim on an old Castilian custom, that of proximity of blood and agnatic seniority . Alfonso preferred to leave the throne to his grandsons, but Sancho had the support of

2415-581: The Book of Foods ( Kitab al-Aghdhiya )—a manual on foods and regimen which contains guidelines for a healthy life; and the Kitab al-Taysir —a book written to act as a compendium to Ibn Rushd's Colliget . In Kitab al-Taysir he provides one of the earliest clinical descriptions of the scabies mite. Three of the most notable Andalusi astronomers were Ibn Tufail (d. 1185), Ibn Rushd (Averroes; d. 1198), and Nur ad-Din al-Bitruji (Alpetragius; d. 1204). All lived around

SECTION 20

#1733085432484

2530-618: The County of Barcelona . During the eleventh century several centres of power existed among the taifas, and the political situation shifted rapidly. Before the rise of the Almoravids from Africa or the Christians from the north, the Abbadid -ruled Taifa of Seville succeeded in conquering a dozen lesser kingdoms, becoming the most powerful and renowned of the taifas, such that it could have laid claim to be

2645-595: The Frankish leader Charles Martel for assistance, offering to place himself under Carolingian sovereignty. At the Battle of Poitiers in 732, the al-Andalus raiding army was defeated by Charles Martel and Al Ghafiqi was killed. In 734, the Andalusi launched raids to the east, capturing Avignon and Arles and overran much of Provence . In 737, they traveled up the Rhône valley, reaching as far north as Burgundy . Charles Martel of

2760-523: The Languedoc-Roussillon area of Occitania . The small army Tariq led in the initial conquest consisted mostly of Berbers, while Musa's largely Arab force of over 12,000 soldiers was accompanied by a group of mawālī (Arabic, موالي), that is, non-Arab Muslims, who were clients of the Arabs. The Berber soldiers accompanying Tariq were garrisoned in the centre and the north of the peninsula, as well as in

2875-641: The Mosque of Córdoba , and helped urbanize the emirate while defending it from invaders, including the quashing of numerous rebellions, and decisively repelling the invasion by Charlemagne (which would later inspire the epic, Chanson de Roland ). By far the most important of these invasions was the attempted reconquest by the Abbasid Caliphate . In 763 Caliph Al-Mansur of the Abbasids installed al-Ala ibn-Mugith as governor of Africa (whose title gave him dominion over

2990-754: The Virgin Mary . One of the miracles Alfonso relates is his own healing in Puerto de Santa María . Violante was twelve or thirteen years old at the time of her marriage to Alfonso; she produced no children for several years and it was feared that she was barren. Alfonso almost had their marriage annulled, but they went on to have eleven children: Alfonso X also had several illegitimate children. With Mayor Guillén de Guzmán , daughter of Guillén Pérez de Guzmán and of María González Girón, he fathered: With Elvira Rodríguez de Villada, daughter of Rodrigo Fernández de Villada , he fathered: With María Alfonso de León , his aunt,

3105-562: The Visigothic Kingdom under Muslim rule in a seven-year campaign. They crossed the Pyrenees and occupied Visigothic Septimania in southern France. Most of the Iberian peninsula became part of the expanding Umayyad Empire , under the name of al-Andalus . It was organized as a province subordinate to Ifriqiya , so, for the first few decades, the governors of al-Andalus were appointed by

3220-553: The straits . The Arab governor of al-Andalus, joined by this force, crushed the Berber rebels in a series of ferocious battles in 742. However, a quarrel immediately erupted between the Syrian commanders and the Andalusi, the so-called "original Arabs" of the earlier contingents. The Syrians defeated them at the hard-fought Battle of Aqua Portora in August 742 but were too few to impose themselves on

3335-451: The taifa kingdoms. At the Battle of Sagrajas (or Battle of Zallaqa in Arabic), a Muslim army led by the Almoravids soundly defeated Alfonso VI. By 1090, however, Yusuf ibn Tashfin was disillusioned with the disunity of the taifa leaders and he returned on a campaign to conquer al-Andalus instead. Most of the taifas , except for Zaragoza, were annexed by 1094. Valencia, which had come under

3450-822: The taifas were generally too weak to defend themselves against repeated raids and demands for tribute from the Christian states to the north and west, which were known to the Muslims as "the Galician nations", and which had spread from their initial strongholds in Galicia , Asturias , Cantabria , the Basque country, and the Carolingian Marca Hispanica to become the Kingdoms of Navarre , León , Portugal , Castile and Aragon , and

3565-478: The 1260s. Only the region of Granada remained unconquered. From the mid 13th to the late 15th century, the only remaining domain of al-Andalus was the Emirate of Granada , the last Muslim stronghold in the Iberian Peninsula. The emirate was established by Muhammad ibn al-Ahmar in 1230 and was ruled by the Nasrid dynasty , the longest reigning dynasty in the history of al-Andalus. Although surrounded by Castilian lands,

Pontedeume - Misplaced Pages Continue

3680-559: The 15th century in terms of population. The most visible legacy of the Nasrids is the Alhambra , their fortified palace complex, partly preserved today. The independent Nasrid kingdom was also a trade hub between the Atlantic and Mediterranean, and was frequented especially by Genoese merchants. The Marinids intervened in the south of the Iberian Peninsula multiple times up until their defeat at

3795-508: The 720s, the al-Andalus governors launched several sa'ifa raids into Aquitaine but were decisively defeated by Duke Odo the Great of Aquitaine at the Battle of Toulouse (721) . However, after crushing Odo's Berber ally Uthman ibn Naissa on the eastern Pyrenees, Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi led an expedition north across the western Pyrenees and defeated the Aquitanian duke, who in turn appealed to

3910-616: The Abbasid government in North Africa, and declared themselves a caliphate. Inspired by this action, Abd al Rahman joined the rebellion and declared himself caliph in 929. For nearly 100 years under the Córdoban Umayyad period, from the 9th century to the 10th, al-Andalus also extended its presence from Fraxinetum into the Alps with a series of organized raids. The period of the Caliphate

4025-478: The Castilian kings. Along with this political status, its favorable geographic location, with the Sierra Nevada as a natural barrier, helped to prolong Nasrid rule. Granada also accommodated a large number of Muslim refugees fleeing the Reconquista or expelled from Christian-controlled territories, which grew the city and the emirate's population. The city even became one of the largest in Europe throughout

4140-515: The Christian advance captured new cities and fortresses until the last Nasrid ruler, Muhammad XII (known as Boabdil to the Christians), formally surrendered Granada to the Catholic Monarchs on 2 January 1492. By this time Muslims in Castile numbered half a million. After the fall, "100,000 had died or been enslaved, 200,000 emigrated, and 200,000 remained as the residual population. Many of

4255-541: The Christian kingdoms expanded southward again. From 1146 onward, the Almohads intervened and took control of al-Andalus. One of Abd al-Mu'min's successors, Ya'qub al-Mansur , won a major victory over the Castilian Alfonso VIII at the Battle of Alarcos in 1195. In 1212, a coalition of Christian kings under the leadership of Alfonso VIII defeated the Almohads at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa . Almohad rule

4370-575: The Emirate of Granada, that was to become a tributary state of the Crown of Castile, as the remaining Muslim state on the Iberian Peninsula, and was surrendered in 1492 to the Catholic Monarchs . The toponym al-Andalus is first attested by inscriptions on coins minted in 716 by the new Muslim government of Iberia. These coins, called dinars , were inscribed in both Latin and Arabic . The etymology of

4485-630: The Franks, with the assistance of Liutprand of the Lombards , invaded Burgundy and Provence and expelled the raiders by 739. In 740, a Berber Revolt erupted in the Maghreb (North Africa). To put down the rebellion, the Umayyad Caliph Hisham dispatched a large Arab army, composed of regiments ( Junds ) of Bilad Ash-Sham , to North Africa. But the great Umayyad army was crushed by the Berber rebels at

4600-671: The Islamic south. Between this frontier and its heartland in the south, the al-Andalus state had three large march territories ( thughur ): the Lower March (capital initially at Mérida , later Badajoz ), the Middle March (centred at Toledo), and the Upper March (centred at Zaragoza ). These disturbances and disorder also allowed the Franks, now under the leadership of Pepin the Short , to invade

4715-488: The Islamic world. Achievements that advanced Islamic and Western science came from al-Andalus, including major advances in trigonometry ( Jabir ibn Aflah ), astronomy ( Al-Zarqali ), surgery ( Al-Zahrawi ), pharmacology ( Ibn Zuhr ), and agronomy ( Ibn Bassal and Abū l-Khayr al-Ishbīlī ). Al-Andalus became a conduit for cultural and scientific exchange between the Islamic and Christian worlds. For much of its history, al-Andalus existed in conflict with Christian kingdoms to

Pontedeume - Misplaced Pages Continue

4830-607: The Moriscos ). The last mass prosecution against Moriscos for crypto-Islamic practices occurred in Granada in 1727, with most of those convicted receiving relatively light sentences. The Morisco community including these final convicts kept their identity alive at least through the late eighteenth century. There was much scientific activity in Al-Andalus, especially in the fields of medicine , astronomy , mathematics , and agronomy . At

4945-584: The Muslim elite, including Muhammad XII, who had been given the area of the Alpujarras mountains as a principality, found life under Christian rule intolerable and passed over into North Africa." Under the conditions of the Capitulations of 1492, the Muslims in Granada were to be allowed to continue to practice their religion. Mass forced conversions of Muslims in 1499 led to a revolt that spread to Alpujarras and

5060-415: The Muslims of southern Iberia and north Africa—was a Castilian version of the animal fable Kalila wa-Dimna , a book that belongs to the genre of wisdom literature labeled Mirrors for Princes : stories and sayings meant to instruct the monarch in proper and effective governance. The primary intellectual work of these scholars centered on astronomy and astrology. The early period of Alfonso's reign saw

5175-549: The Nasrid court during this period. In 1468, Isabella , the only child of Henry IV of Castile , married Ferdinand , the son of John II of Aragon , and by 1479 they were rulers of a united Castile and Aragon. This development meant that Granada could no longer exploit divisions between the two kingdoms and the new royal couple, also known as the Catholic Monarchs , were united in their intention to conquer it. The final war to conquer Granada began in earnest in 1482. Year by year,

5290-713: The Pyrenees, while the Berber colonists who followed settled in all parts of the country – north, east, south and west. Visigothic lords who agreed to recognize Muslim suzerainty were allowed to retain their fiefs (notably, in Murcia, Galicia, and the Ebro valley). Resistant Visigoths took refuge in the Cantabrian highlands, where they carved out a rump state, the Kingdom of Asturias . In

5405-426: The Qinnasrin jund in Jaén . The Egypt jund was divided between Beja ( Alentejo ) in the west and Tudmir ( Murcia ) in the east. The arrival of the Syrians substantially increased the Arab element in the Iberian peninsula and helped strengthen the Muslim hold on the south. However, at the same time, unwilling to be governed, the Syrian junds carried on an existence of autonomous feudal anarchy, severely destabilizing

5520-483: The Umayyad Caliphs distracted by the challenge of the Abbasids in the east, the western provinces of the Maghreb and al-Andalus spun out of their control. From around 745, the Fihrids , an illustrious local Arab clan descended from Oqba ibn Nafi al-Fihri , seized power in the western provinces and ruled them almost as a private family empire of their own – Abd al-Rahman ibn Habib al-Fihri in Ifriqiya and Yūsuf al-Fihri in al-Andalus. The Fihrids welcomed

5635-478: The Umayyads in Damascus and were slaughtering members of that family, and then he spent four years in exile in North Africa, assessing the political situation in al-Andalus across the Straits of Gibraltar, before he landed at Almuñécar . News of his arrival spread across al-Andalus, and when word reached its governor, Yūsuf al-Fihri , he was not pleased. During this time, Abd al-Rahman and his supporters quickly conquered Málaga and then Seville , finally besieging

5750-416: The Umayyads, the sons and grandsons of caliphs, had a more legitimate claim to rule than the Fihrids themselves. Rebellious-minded local lords, disenchanted with the autocratic rule of the Fihrids, conspired with the arriving Umayyad exiles. In 755, the exiled Umayyad prince Abd al-Rahman I (also called al-Dākhil , the 'Immigrant') arrived on the coast of Spain. He had fled the Abbasids, who had overthrown

5865-403: The authority of the governor of al-Andalus. A second significant consequence of the revolt was the expansion of the Kingdom of the Asturias , hitherto confined to enclaves in the Cantabrian highlands. After the rebellious Berber garrisons evacuated the northern frontier fortresses, the Christian king Alfonso I of Asturias set about immediately seizing the empty forts for himself, quickly adding

SECTION 50

#1733085432484

5980-464: The birth of Christ. The main significance of this work lies in the translations from Latin into Castilian. Much like his chronicles, the ability of Alfonso's court to compile writings from a variety of cultures and translate them into Castilian left a historic impact on Spain. Alfonso X is credited with the first depiction of an hórreo , a typical granary from the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula. The oldest document containing an image of an hórreo

6095-426: The bureaucracy's loyalty towards him. Around this time several local Arab lords began to revolt, including one Kurayb ibn Khaldun, who was able to conquer Seville. Some loyalists tried to quell the rebellion, but without proper material support, their efforts were in vain. He declared that the next emir would be his grandson Abd al-Rahman III , ignoring the claims of his four living children. Abdullah died in 912, and

6210-451: The capital of al-Andalus, Córdoba . Abd al-Rahman's army was exhausted after their conquest, meanwhile Governor Yūsuf al-Fihri had returned from quashing another rebellion with his army. The siege of Córdoba began, and noticing the starving state of Abd al-Rahman's army, al-Fihri began throwing lavish feasts every day as the siege went on, to tempt Abd al Rahman's supporters to defect to his side. However, Abd al-Rahman persisted, even rejecting

6325-436: The coinage to finance his claim to the German crown. He fought a successful war with Portugal , but a less successful one with Granada . The end of his reign was marred by a civil war with his eldest surviving son, the future Sancho IV , which continued after his death. Born 23 November 1221 in Toledo, Kingdom of Castile, Alfonso was the eldest son of Ferdinand III and Elizabeth (Beatrice) of Swabia . His mother

6440-413: The control of El Cid at the end of its taifa period , was eventually occupied in 1102, after El Cid's death. Zaragoza was annexed in 1110. Modern scholarship has sometimes admitted originality in North African architecture, but according to Yasser Tabbaa, historian of Islamic art and architecture, the Iberocentric viewpoint is anachronistic when considering the political and cultural environment during

6555-403: The country (as wool became Castile's first major exportable commodity and reported a trade surplus, called "white gold", as the wool amount was critical to the health of the population during the winter), and eventually its privileges were to prove a deadly wound in the Castilian economy. One side effect of the quickly expanding sheep herds was the decimation to the Castilian farmland through which

6670-429: The creation of the Alfonsine tables , and the Alphonsus crater on the Moon is named after him. He also sponsored the work of historians who, for the first time since Isidore of Seville in c600CE, placed Spain in the context of world history. As a lawmaker he introduced the first vernacular law code in Castile, the Siete Partidas . He created the Mesta , an association of sheep farmers in the central plain, but debased

6785-509: The embalmed head of al-Ala ibn-Mugith, it is said Al Mansur exclaimed "Praise be to God who has put the sea between me and this devil!". Abd al Rahman I died in 788 after a lengthy and prosperous reign. He was succeeded by his son, Hisham I , who secured power by exiling his brother who had tried to rebel against him. Hisham enjoyed a stable reign of eight years and was succeeded by his son Al-Hakam I . The next few decades were relatively uneventful, with only occasional minor rebellions, and saw

6900-432: The emir of Kairouan , rather than the Caliph in Damascus . The regional capital was set at Córdoba , and the first influx of Muslim settlers was widely distributed. Following the Muslim conquest of Spain, al-Andalus, then at its greatest extent, was divided into five administrative units, corresponding roughly to: modern Andalusia ; Castile and León ; Navarre , Aragon , and Catalonia ; Portugal and Galicia ; and

7015-491: The emirate was wealthy through being tightly integrated in Mediterranean trade networks and enjoyed a period of considerable cultural and economic prosperity. Despite internal conflicts, the Nasrids of Granada were able to survive in part by playing the Christian kingdoms of the north against each other, while at other times soliciting aid from the Marinids , a new Berber dynasty ruling in North Africa from their capital in Fez . For much of its existence, Granada paid tribute to

SECTION 60

#1733085432484

7130-411: The emirate, most disastrously following the rebellion of Umar ibn Hafsun . When Muhammad died, he was succeeded by emir Abdullah ibn Muhammad al-Umawi whose power barely reached outside of the city of Córdoba. As Ibn Hafsun ravaged the south, Abdullah did almost nothing, and slowly became more and more isolated, barely speaking to anyone. Abdullah purged his administration of his brothers, which lessened

7245-414: The end, after Richard's death, the German princes elected Rudolph I of Habsburg (1273), Alfonso being declared deposed by Pope Gregory X . In 1275 Alfonso tried to meet with his imperial vicar in Italy, William VII of Montferrat (who had succeeded Ezzelino) and his Ghibelline allies in Piedmont and Lombardy to celebrate the victory against the Guelph Charles I of Anjou and be crowned in Lombardy; he

7360-487: The extensive written use of the Castilian language instead of Latin as the language used in courts, churches, and in books and official documents (although his father, Ferdinand III , had begun to use it for some documents). This translation of Arabic and Classic documents into vernacular encouraged the development of Spanish sciences, literature, and philosophy. From the beginning of his reign, Alfonso employed Jewish, Christian and Muslim scholars at his court, primarily for

7475-451: The faith. A reaction in his favor was beginning in his later days, but he died defeated and deserted at Seville in 1284, leaving a will, by which he endeavored to exclude Sancho, and a heritage of civil war. In 1273, he created the Mesta , an association of some 3,000 petty and great sheep holders in Castile, in reaction to less wool being exported from the traditional sites in England. This organization later became exceedingly powerful in

7590-440: The fall of the Umayyads in the east, in 750, and sought to reach an understanding with the Abbasids , hoping they might be allowed to continue their autonomous existence. But when the Abbasids rejected the offer and demanded submission, the Fihrids declared independence and, probably out of spite, invited the deposed remnants of the Umayyad clan to take refuge in their dominions. It was a fateful decision that they soon regretted, for

7705-409: The first taifa kingdoms (1009–1110); the Almoravid Empire (1085–1145); the second taifa period (1140–1203); the Almohad Caliphate (1147–1238); the third taifa period (1232–1287); and ultimately the Nasrid Emirate of Granada (1238–1492). Under the Caliphate of Córdoba, the city of Córdoba became one of the leading cultural and economic centres throughout the Mediterranean Basin , Europe, and

7820-568: The following centuries, though certain fields and subjects thrived more depending on the period. Scholars often worked in many different and overlapping subjects, so it is difficult to place those discussed here into a single scientific field each. There were many notable surgeons, physicians, and medical scholars from al-Andalus including Ibn al-Baytar (d. 1248), Abu al-Qasim al-Zahrawi (Albucasis; d. 1013), Muhammad al-Shafrah (d. 1360), Abu Marwan 'Abd al-Malik ibn Habib (d. 853), and Abu Marwan ibn Zuhr (Avenzoar; d. 1162). And of particular note

7935-501: The formation of the European Renaissance . The Caliphate of Córdoba also had extensive trade with other parts of the Mediterranean, including Christian parts. Trade goods included luxury items (silk, ceramics, gold), essential foodstuffs (grain, olive oil, wine), and containers (such as ceramics for storing perishables). In the tenth century, Amalfitans were already trading Fatimid and Byzantine silks in Córdoba. Later references to Amalfitan merchants were sometimes used to emphasize

8050-425: The foundations of the new Spanish language . This evolved version of the Castilian language also acquired significant relevance in the royal chancery, where it came to replace Latin, which until then had been the language commonly used for royal diplomacy in Castile and León. The very first translation, commissioned by his brother, Fernando de la Cerda—who had extensive experience, both diplomatic and military, among

8165-502: The illegitimate daughter of the King Alfonso IX of León and Teresa Gil de Soverosa he had: Al-Andalus Al-Andalus ( Arabic : الأَنْدَلُس ) was the Muslim -ruled area of the Iberian Peninsula . The name describes the different Muslim states that controlled these territories at various times between 711 and 1492. At its greatest geographical extent, it occupied most of the peninsula as well as Septimania under Umayyad rule. These boundaries changed constantly through

8280-473: The important Book of the Medicine of the Arabs , Ibn Habib also wrote the Book on Stars ( Kirab fi l-nujim ). This book included important "teachings on the lunar mansions, the signs of the zodiac, [and] the division of the seasons." In these teachings, Ibn-Habib calculated the phases of the moon and dates of the annual solstices and equinoxes with relative accuracy. Another important astronomer from al-Andalus

8395-400: The kingdoms of Castile and León . He began his career as a soldier, under the command of his father, when he was sixteen years old. After the accession of King Theobald I of Navarre , Ferdinand tried to arrange a marriage for Alfonso with Theobald's daughter, Blanche , but the move was unsuccessful. At the same time, he had a romantic relationship with Mayor Guillén de Guzmán , who bore him

8510-490: The medical uses of over 1400 plants and other types of medicine—and ibn Habib's Book of the Medicine of the Arabs ( Kitab tibb al-'arab )—a historical summary of Arabic medicine until the 9th century. Ibn Habib's work is significant because it is one of the oldest known writings in the field of prophetic medicine , which uses hadiths to create Islamic-based medicinal guidelines. His book is also significant because it uses principles of Galenic medicine , such as humorism and

8625-436: The mountains of Ronda ; after this uprising the capitulations were revoked. In 1502 the Catholic Monarchs decreed the forced conversion of all Muslims living under the rule of the Crown of Castile, although in the kingdoms of Aragon and Valencia (both now part of Spain) the open practice of Islam was allowed until 1526. Descendants of the Muslims were subject to expulsions from Spain between 1609 and 1614 (see Expulsion of

8740-595: The name al-Andalus has traditionally been derived from the name of the Vandals ( vándalos in Spanish, vândalos in Portuguese). Since the 1980s, several alternative etymologies have challenged this tradition. In 1986, Joaquín Vallvé proposed that al-Andalus was a corruption of the name Atlantis . Heinz Halm in 1989 derived the name from a Gothic term, *landahlauts , and in 2002, Georg Bossong suggested its derivation from

8855-427: The need for students and practitioners to rely on multiple medical texts. The book is renowned for its chapter on surgery which included important illustrations of surgical instruments, as well as sections "on cauterization , on incisions, venesection and wounds, and on bone-setting." For hundreds of years after its publication it was one of the most widely used medical texts for students and medical practitioners and

8970-604: The next century and a half, al-Andalus became a province of the Muslim empires of the Almoravids and their successors, the Almohads , both based in Marrakesh . Ultimately, the northern Christian kingdoms overpowered the Muslim states to the south. In the 13th century, most of the south quickly fell under Christian rule, with Gharb al-Andalus , the Guadalquivir Valley and Eastern al-Andalus  [ es ] falling to Portuguese, Castilian, and Aragonese conquests. This left

9085-625: The nobility of Castile, was only promulgated by his great-grandson. Because of this, and because the Partidas remain fundamental law in the American Southwest, he is one of the 23 lawmakers depicted in the House of Representatives chamber of the United States Capitol . From a young age Alfonso X showed an interest in military life and chivalry. In 1231 Alfonso traveled with Pérez de Castron on

9200-491: The nobility. A bitter civil war broke out resulting in Alfonso's being forced in 1282 to accept Sancho as his heir instead of his young grandsons; only the cities of Seville , Murcia and Badajoz remained faithful to him. Son and nobles alike supported the Moors when he tried to unite the nation in a crusade; and when he allied himself with Abu Yusuf Yakub , the ruling Marinid sultan of Morocco , they denounced him as an enemy of

9315-603: The north. After the fall of the Umayyad caliphate, al-Andalus was fragmented into taifa states and principalities, some of which (such as the Taifa of Toledo , the Taifa of Zaragoza , the Taifa of Seville and the Taifa of Badajoz ) reached considerable territorial extent. After the Christian capture of Toledo in 1085, the Almoravid empire intervened and repelled attacks on the region, then brought al-Andalus under direct Almoravid rule. For

9430-566: The northwestern provinces of Galicia and León to his fledgling kingdom. The Asturians evacuated the Christian populations from the towns and villages of the Galician-Leonese lowlands, creating an empty buffer zone in the Douro River valley (the " Desert of the Duero "). This newly emptied frontier remained roughly in place for the next few centuries as the boundary between the Christian north and

9545-488: The previous golden age of Córdoba. Fatimid Egypt was a supplier of many luxury goods, including elephant tusks, and raw or carved crystals. The Fatimids were traditionally thought to be the only supplier of such goods, and control over these trade routes would be a cause for conflict between the Umayyads and Fatimids. The Caliphate of Córdoba effectively collapsed during a ruinous civil war between 1009 and 1013, although it

9660-470: The province of al-Andalus). He planned to invade and destroy the Emirate of Córdoba, so in response Abd al Rahman fortified himself within the fortress of Carmona with a tenth as many soldiers as al-Ala ibn-Mugith. After a long siege, it appeared that Abd al Rahman would be defeated, but in a last stand Abd al Rahman with his outnumbered forces opened the gates of the fortress and charged at the resting Abbasid army, and decisively defeated them. After being sent

9775-857: The province. The quarrel was settled in 743 when Abū l-Khaṭṭār al-Ḥusām , the new governor of al-Andalus, assigned the Syrians to regimental fiefs across al-Andalus  – the Damascus jund was established in Elvira ( Granada ), the Jordan jund in Rayyu ( Málaga and Archidona ), the Jund Filastin in Medina-Sidonia and Jerez , the Emesa (Hims) jund in Seville and Niebla , and

9890-436: The purpose of translating books from Arabic and Hebrew into Latin and Castilian, although he always insisted on personally supervising the translations. This group of scholars formed his royal scriptorium , continuing the tradition of the twelfth-century Escuela de Traductores de Toledo ( Toledo School of Translators ). Their final output promoted Castilian as a learning language both in science and literature, and established

10005-597: The region of the Algarve . King Afonso III of Portugal had to surrender, but he gained an agreement by which, after he consented to marry Alfonso X's daughter Beatrice of Castile , the land would be returned to their heirs. In 1261 he captured Jerez . In 1263 he returned Algarve to the King of Portugal and signed the Treaty of Badajoz (1267) . In 1254 Alfonso X signed a treaty of alliance with King Henry III of England , supporting him in

10120-560: The rise of the emirate. In 822 Al Hakam died and was succeeded by Abd al-Rahman II , the first great emir of Córdoba. He rose to power with no opposition and sought to reform the emirate. He quickly reorganized the bureaucracy to be more efficient and built many mosques across the emirate. During his reign science and art flourished, as many scholars fled the Abbasid caliphate due to the disastrous Fourth Fitna . The scholar Abbas ibn Firnas made an attempt to fly, though accounts vary on his success. In 852 Abd al Rahman II died, leaving behind him

10235-399: The rule of the Almoravid dynasty. The rise and fall of the Almoravids is sometimes seen as an expression of Ibn Khaldun 's asabiyyah paradigm. By 1147, the Almoravids were overthrown in North Africa by the Almohads , another Berber dynasty, under the leadership of Abd al-Mu'min . As Almoravid rule collapsed, another brief period of taifa kingdoms followed in al-Andalus, during which

10350-466: The same time and focused their astronomical works on critiquing and revising Ptolemaic astronomy and the problem of the equant in his astronomical model. Instead, they accepted Aristotle 's model and promoted the theory of homocentric spheres. Al-Bitruji is believed to have studied under Ibn Tufail and Bitruji's Book on Cosmology ( Kitab fi al-hay'a ) built on Ibn Tufail's work, as well as that of Ibn Rushd, Ibn Bajja, and Maimonides. The book's goal

10465-401: The same time, Andalusi scholars were also highly active in philosophy (see below), especially in the field of logic . The earliest evidence of such activities in al-Andalus dates to the reign of Abd ar-Rahman II ( r.  822–852 ), when developments were spurred by exposure to older works translated from, Greek, Persian and other languages. Scientific studies continued to be pursued in

10580-552: The sheep grazed. The original function of the Mesta was to separate the fields from the sheep-ways linking grazing areas. As a ruler, Alfonso showed legislative capacity, and a wish to provide the kingdoms expanded under his father with a code of laws and a consistent judicial system. The Fuero Real was undoubtedly his work. He began medieval Europe's most comprehensive code of law, the Siete Partidas , which, however, thwarted by

10695-427: The singleness of purpose required by a ruler who would devote himself to organization and also the combination of firmness with temper needed for dealing with his nobles although this is not a view taken by all. Others have argued that his efforts were too singularly focused on the diplomatic and financial arrangements surrounding his bid to become Holy Roman Emperor. Alfonso's eldest son, Ferdinand , died in 1275 at

10810-480: The strategic strip of Septimania in 752, hoping to deprive al-Andalus of an easy launching pad for raids into Francia . After a lengthy siege, the last Arab stronghold, the citadel of Narbonne , finally fell to the Franks in 759 . Al-Andalus was sealed off at the Pyrenees. The third consequence of the Berber revolt was the collapse of the authority of the Damascus Caliphate over the western provinces. With

10925-470: The territory of Vilarmaior was a part of the municipality of Pontedeume. This explains the pronounced fall in the population between 1877 and 1900. This article about a location in the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Alfonso X the Wise Alfonso X (also known as the Wise , Spanish : el Sabio ; 23 November 1221 – 4 April 1284)

11040-445: The theory of four temperaments , as the basis of its medical recommendations. The ibn Zuhr family played a very important role in the production of Andalusi medical knowledge, as they produced five generations of medical experts, particularly in the fields of dietary sciences and medicaments . Abu Marwan ibn Zuhr (d. 1162) is particularly notable, as he wrote the Book of Moderation ( Kitab al-Iqtisad )—a treatise on general therapy;

11155-452: The throne passed to Abd al Rahman III. Through force of arms and diplomacy, he put down the rebellions that had disrupted his grandfather's reign, obliterating Ibn Hafsun and hunting down his sons. After this he led several sieges against the Christians, sacking the city of Pamplona , and restoring some prestige to the emirate. Meanwhile, across the sea the Fatimids had risen up in force, ousted

11270-557: The time and the Ptolemaic cosmology as known to him through the Arabs . He surrounded himself with mostly Jewish translators who rendered Arabic scientific texts into Castilian at Toledo. His fame extends to the preparation of the Alfonsine tables , based on calculations of al-Zarqali, "Arzachel" . Alexander Bogdanov maintained that these tables formed the basis for Copernicus 's development of

11385-576: The translation of selected works of magic ( Lapidario , Picatrix , Libro de las formas et las ymagenes ) all translated by a Jewish scholar named Yehuda ben Moshe (Yhuda Mosca, in the Old Spanish source texts). These were all highly ornate manuscripts (only the Lapidario survives in its entirety) containing what was believed to be secret knowledge on the magical properties of stones and talismans . In addition to these books of astral magic, Alfonso ordered

11500-573: The translation of well-known Arabic astrological compendia, including the Libro de las cruzes and Libro conplido en los iudizios de las estrellas . The first of these was, ironically, translated from Latin (it was used among the Visigoths ), into Arabic , and then back into Castilian and Latin. Most of the texts first translated at this time survive in only one manuscript each. As an intellectual he gained considerable scientific fame based on his encouragement of astronomy , which included astrology at

11615-506: The true heir to the Caliphate of Córdoba. The taifas were vulnerable and divided but had immense wealth. During its prominence the Taifa of Seville produced technically complex lusterware and exerted significant influence on ceramic production across al-Andalus. In the 1080s, the taifa kingdoms began to face an existential threat from the Christian kingdoms to the north, as Alfonso VI of Castile escalated attacks against them. In 1083, he led

11730-465: The use of violence for only just (state-sponsored) usage . King Alfonso X developed a court culture that encouraged cosmopolitan learning. Alfonso had many works previously written in Arabic and Latin translated into vernacular Castilian in his court. Alfonso "turned to the vernacular for the kind of intellectual commitments that formerly were inconceivable outside Latin ." He is credited with encouraging

11845-583: The vast compilation Cantigas de Santa Maria ("Songs to the Virgin Mary"), which was written in Galician-Portuguese and figures among the most important of his works. The Cantigas de Santa Maria form one of the largest collections of vernacular monophonic songs to survive from the Middle Ages . They consist of 420 poems with musical notation. The poems are for the most part on miracles attributed to

11960-527: The war against King Louis IX of France . In the same year Alfonso's half-sister, Eleanor , married Henry's son Edward : with this act Alfonso renounced forever all claim to the Duchy of Gascony , to which Castile had been a pretender since the marriage of Alfonso VIII of Castile with Eleanor of England . In 1256, at the death of William II of Holland , Alfonso's descent from the Hohenstaufen through his mother,

12075-502: Was King of Castile , León and Galicia from 1 June 1252 until his death in 1284. During the election of 1257 , a dissident faction chose him to be king of Germany on 1 April. He renounced his claim to Germany in 1275, and in creating an alliance with the Kingdom of England in 1254, his claim on the Duchy of Gascony as well. Alfonso's scientific interests—he is sometimes nicknamed the Astrologer ( el Astrólogo )—led him to sponsor

12190-437: Was Maslama al-Majriti (d. 1007), who played a role in translating and writing about Ptolemy's Planisphaerium and Almagest . He built on the work of older astronomers, like Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi , whose astronomical tables he wrote a discussion on and subsequently improved. Abu Ishaq Ibrahim al-Zarqali (d. 1087) had many influential astronomical successes, as shown by Copernicus 's recognition of him in his On

12305-456: Was "to overcome the physical difficulties inherent in the geometrical models of Ptolemy 's Almagest and to describe the cosmos in agreement with Aristotelian or Neoplatonic physics," which it succeeded in doing to an extent. Bitruji's book set a precedent of criticizing the Almagest in future works in the field of astronomy. Although Ibn Rushd originally trained and practiced as a jurist, he

12420-512: Was codified in the Siete Partidas (2,21) where he wrote that knights should be, "of good linage and distinguished by gentility, wisdom, understanding, loyalty, courage, moderation, justice, prowess, and the practical knowledge necessary to assess the quality of horse and arms ( Siete Partidas , 21,1–10)." These efforts to make a codified standard of chivalric conduct were likely meant to both encourage strength of arms (prowess) and to restrain

12535-411: Was crowned in 1257 at Aachen . To obtain money, Alfonso debased the coinage and then endeavored to prevent a rise in prices by an arbitrary tariff . The little trade of his dominions was ruined, and the burghers and peasants were deeply offended. His nobles, whom he tried to cow by sporadic acts of violence, rebelled against him in 1272. Reconciliation was bought by Alfonso's son Ferdinand in 1273. In

12650-463: Was diminished in prestige and in 1228 the Almohad caliph al-Ma'mun withdrew from al-Andalus altogether. In this political vacuum, a new wave of taifa kingdoms emerged, which were progressively conquered by Portugal, Castile, and Aragon. Córdoba was conquered in 1236 and Seville was conquered in 1248 . Some Muslim city-states, such as Murcia and Niebla , survived as vassal kingdoms of Castile until

12765-457: Was exposed to astronomy—possibly through Ibn Tufail—and became a renowned scientist in the field. His most popular work was his Summary of the Almagest , but he also published shorter works discussing Aristotle's planetary theories . Ibn Rushd published writings on philosophy, theology, and medicine throughout his life too, including commentaries on the works of Ibn Sina. In addition to writing

12880-668: Was however halted in his imperial ambitions in Provence by the Pope who, after a long negotiation, obtained Alfonso's oral renunciation of any claims to the Holy Roman Empire. Throughout his reign, Alfonso contended with the nobles, particularly the families of Nuño González de Lara , Diego López de Haro and Esteban Fernández de Castro , all of whom were formidable soldiers and instrumental in maintaining Castile's military strength in frontier territories. According to some scholars Alfonso lacked

12995-445: Was not finally abolished until 1031 when al-Andalus broke up into a number of mostly independent mini-states and principalities called taifas . In 1013, invading Berbers sacked Córdoba , massacring its inhabitants, pillaging the city, and burning the palace complex to the ground. The largest of the taifas to emerge were Badajoz ( Batalyaws ), Toledo ( Ṭulayṭulah ), Zaragoza ( Saraqusta ), and Granada ( Ġarnāṭah ). After 1031,

13110-460: Was the paternal cousin of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II , to whom Alfonso is often compared. His maternal grandparents were Philip of Swabia and Irene Angelina . Little is known about his upbringing, but he was most likely raised in Toledo. For the first nine years of his life Alfonso was only heir to Castile until his paternal grandfather king Alfonso IX of León died and his father united

13225-485: Was translated into Hebrew, Latin, and Castilian. This encyclopedia is also significant for its inclusion of al-Zahrawi's personal experiences as a surgeon, which provided important case studies for aspiring surgeons. This distinguishes it from other strictly factual medical works of the time, most notably Ibn Sina's Canon of Medicine . Other important medical texts include al-Baytar's Comprehensive Book on Simple Drugs and Foodstuffs —an encyclopedia with descriptions of

#483516