abd al rahman escaped in 750
TRANSCRIPT
Abd al- Rahman escaped in 750…
He fled to the Iberian Peninsula. There he began to build a kingdom that would
match the Abbasid Empire in culture and wealth
Essential Question
• How did the Umayyads create a strong Muslim empire in Spain?
What did he find when he got to Cordoba?
• Spain was divided. – Several factions were competing for control of the
peninsula. None were strong enough to gain control.
Abd al-Rahaman takes action…
• He quickly starts to unite the warring factions– He could easily gain control for the following
reasons:• Had a loyal following • He made treaties with other Muslim groups• When he felt he had enough support he attacked ruling
factions to gain control
Abd al-Rahman Becomes Emir
• In 756 Abd al-Rahman declares himself Emir of Cordoba and Cordoba as the capital.
• Umayyad loyalists begin to move to Spain• • Challenges• Internal Revolts• External threats from Northern Africa • and Europe
Al - Andalus
125 years later…
• Abd al-Rahman III helps Al- Andalus reach the height of it’s power– Many challenges: rebels, Christian armies, Muslim
armies– Preservation of power: huge standing army,
strengthened the southern border by taking the most north western tip of Africa, put down internal revolts, protected the northern border
– Declared himself Caliph to send a message
I am Caliph!
Challenge me if you DARE
The Glory of Cordoba
• By 1000’s Cordoba was the largest city in Western Europe
• Paved streets, street lamps, public baths, water system, and beautiful gardens
The GLORY of Cordoba
Economic Center
Cultural Center
Workshops that produced in
demand goods
Advances in Agriculture
Books, books, and more books housed
in libraries
Scholars lured away from Baghdad
Advances in Math, Science,
Philosophy, Geography, and
Medicine
Golden Age in the West
• Built on or extened the work of earlier mathematicians
• Astronomers mapped the stars and built large planetariums
• Geographers wrote about various regions
• Al- Idrisi – completed an encyclopedia of geographic knowledge with maps and descriptions
Golden Age in the West
Medicine• Borrowed ideas from Baghdad• Doctor patient relationships• Wrote about ways to treat
diseases ex. Changes in diet should always be tried before medicine or other types of treatment
• Al-Zahrawi – Wrote about teeth, caring for children – became required reading for doctors throughout Europe
Philosophy• Studied the works of Plato
and Aristotle and helped reintroduce classical Greek philosophy to Europe
A Great Jewish ScholarMaimonides
• Fled Cordoba when he was young because his parents refused to give up their religion
• Wrote and taught about many subjects. • Best known work, the Guide
for the Perplexed, was published in 1190. He tried to show that religious faith could be supported by the study of philosophy
The Decline
• 1204 – al- Andalus began to fall apart
• Factions once again fought for control
• Christians in the north took advantage of the disarray and launched attackes
• By 1240 the pushed as far south as Cordoba and Seville. Christian forces slowly regained control of the Iberian Peninsula