La Convivencia
Encyclopedia
La Convivencia is a term used to describe a postulated situation in Spanish history
when Jews, Muslims
, and Catholic
s in Spain lived in relative peace together within the different kingdoms. It lasted from the Muslim
Umayyad conquest of Hispania
in 711 until 1492, concurrent with the Reconquista
("Reconquest"). The phrase often refers to the interplay of cultural ideas between the three groups, and ideas of religious tolerance.
James Carroll invokes this concept and indicates that it played an important role in bringing the classics of Greek philosophy to Europe, with translations from Greek to Arabic to Hebrew and Latin.
Toledo
is considered to have been a centre of la Convivencia.
History of Spain
The history of Spain involves all the other peoples and nations within the Iberian peninsula formerly known as Hispania, and includes still today the nations of Andorra, Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain...
when Jews, Muslims
Al-Andalus
Al-Andalus was the Arabic name given to a nation and territorial region also commonly referred to as Moorish Iberia. The name describes parts of the Iberian Peninsula and Septimania governed by Muslims , at various times in the period between 711 and 1492, although the territorial boundaries...
, and Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
s in Spain lived in relative peace together within the different kingdoms. It lasted from the Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
Umayyad conquest of Hispania
Umayyad conquest of Hispania
The Umayyad conquest of Hispania is the initial Islamic Ummayad Caliphate's conquest, between 711 and 718, of the Christian Visigothic Kingdom of Hispania, centered in the Iberian Peninsula, which was known to them under the Arabic name al-Andalus....
in 711 until 1492, concurrent with the Reconquista
Reconquista
The Reconquista was a period of almost 800 years in the Middle Ages during which several Christian kingdoms succeeded in retaking the Muslim-controlled areas of the Iberian Peninsula broadly known as Al-Andalus...
("Reconquest"). The phrase often refers to the interplay of cultural ideas between the three groups, and ideas of religious tolerance.
James Carroll invokes this concept and indicates that it played an important role in bringing the classics of Greek philosophy to Europe, with translations from Greek to Arabic to Hebrew and Latin.
Toledo
Toledo, Spain
Toledo's Alcázar became renowned in the 19th and 20th centuries as a military academy. At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 its garrison was famously besieged by Republican forces.-Economy:...
is considered to have been a centre of la Convivencia.
See also
- Al-AndalusAl-AndalusAl-Andalus was the Arabic name given to a nation and territorial region also commonly referred to as Moorish Iberia. The name describes parts of the Iberian Peninsula and Septimania governed by Muslims , at various times in the period between 711 and 1492, although the territorial boundaries...
(Islamic Spain) - MozarabMozarabThe Mozarabs were Iberian Christians who lived under Arab Islamic rule in Al-Andalus. Their descendants remained unconverted to Islam, but did however adopt elements of Arabic language and culture...
(Christians in Al-Andalus) - MudéjarMudéjarMudéjar is the name given to individual Moors or Muslims of Al-Andalus who remained in Iberia after the Christian Reconquista but were not converted to Christianity...
(Muslims in Christendom) - MuladiMuladiThe Muladi were Muslims of ethnic Iberian descent or of mixed Arab, Berber and European origin, who lived in Al-Andalus during the Middle Ages. They were also called "Musalima" .-Etymology:...
(Christian converts to Islam) - Sephardim (Iberian Jews)
- Pablo AlvaroPablo AlvaroPablo Álvaro was a knight of Jewish ancestry from Córdoba, Spain who converted to Catholicism.In 840, Álvaro began a correspondence with the former Bishop Bodo, a Christian convert to Judaism, wherein each tried to convince the other to return to their old faith...
(Jewish convert to Catholicism) - Bishop BodoBishop BodoBodo was the palace deacon to Frankish Emperor Louis the Pious . In early 838, Bodo intended to make a pilgrimage to Rome but instead converted to Judaism. His conversion was regarded as a rejection of the Carolingian culture and the Christian faith. Bodo left the Carolingian Kingdom for Muslim...
(Catholic convert to Judaism) - Golden age of Jewish culture in Spain
Sources and further reading
- Esperanza Alfonso, Islamic culture through Jewish eyes : al-Andalus from the tenth to twelfth century. 2007 ISBN 978-0-415-43732-5
- Vivan Mann, et al., eds. Convivencia: Jews, Muslims, and Christians in Medieval Spain. George Braziller: 1992. ISBN 0-8076-1286-3.
- Pick, Lucy. Conflict and Coexistence: Archbishop Rodrigo and the Muslims and Jews of Medieval Spain. Oxbow Books: 2004. ISBN 0-472-11387-9.
- O'Shea, Stephen. Sea of Faith: Islam and Christianity in the Medieval Mediterranean World. Walker & Company: 2006. ISBN 0-8027-1517-6.
- Maria Rosa MenocalMaría Rosa MenocalMaría Rosa Menocal is a Cuban-born scholar of medieval culture and history. Menocal earned a B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania...
. "Ornament of the World: How Muslims, Jews, and Christians Created a Culture of Tolerance in Medieval Spain." 2003. ISBN 0-316-56688-8.
Additional References
- Rageh OmaarRageh OmaarRageh Omaar , is a Somali born British journalist and writer. His latest book Only Half of Me deals with the tensions between these two sides of his identity. He used to be a BBC world affairs correspondent, where he made his name reporting from Iraq...
. An Islamic History of Europe. 90-minute video documentaryDocumentary filmDocumentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
for BBC FourBBC FourBBC Four is a British television network operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation and available to digital television viewers on Freeview, IPTV, satellite and cable....
, 2005. - Catherine BottCatherine BottCatherine Bott is a British soprano and a baroque specialist.Following her studies at The King's High School For Girls, and Guildhall School of Music and Drama, with Arthur Reckless, she began her career as a member of the English baroque-jazz crossover group, The Swingle Singers...
. Convivencia. Music CD of Spanish and Moorish songs from the period.