REQUIRED CORE: Roman Hispania (201 BCE – 418 CE)

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Coexistence in Medieval Spain: Jews, Christians, and Muslims

16 ratings

University of Colorado System

Coexistence in Medieval Spain: Jews, Christians, and Muslims

16 ratings

This course explores Jewish, Christian, and Muslim intercultural relations in Iberia from the Visigothic era (6th century CE) until the creation of Queen Isabel I and King Ferdinand II Catholic Spain (late 15th century). We evaluate the many identities of the peninsula known as Christian Hispania, Jewish Sefarad, and Islamic al-Andalus. We trace the origins and trajectory of conflict between these communities (the Muslim conquest of Spain, Christian Reconquista, prohibitions blocking intermixing of peoples, and expulsions). We aim to understand conflicts within communities as well, such as the tensions between Christian Arian Visigoths and native Catholic Iberians or the fundamentalist North African Almohad Dynasty that rejected the Spanish Umayyad Caliphate’s preference for religious tolerance. We delve into an appreciation of collaboration and coexistence among these communities. We explore the unique role of the Jewish community who Muslims and Christians depended upon as political and cultural intermediaries as well as their intellectual collaborators. We find the history of how peoples attempted to create and manage viable diverse communities. As we study this history, the Honors Track will employ an investigative process (“The Historian’s Craft”) that involves viewing, reading, analyzing, and reflecting on events, peoples, places, and artifacts.

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Introduction to Medieval Spain and Coexistence (418-711 CE)

This week introduces the idea of co-existence in medieval Spain. We begin our study of medieval Spain by briefly viewing Roman Spain and then learning about the Visigoths. Supplemental information places medieval Iberia within the contexts of European, Byzantine, and Islamic civilizations. The honors section of the course introduces "The Historian's Craft" and the task of "viewing".

REQUIRED CORE: Roman Hispania (201 BCE – 418 CE)5:44

REQUIRED CORE: Visigothic Spain (418 – 711 CE)8:02

Conheça os instrutores

Dr. Roger Louis Martínez-Dávila
Associate Professor
History

To explore the history of medieval Spain,

we first need to go back in time to tell the story.

We'll move back from the 2000s,

passing through the early modern age to the medieval age

and on into late antiquity and we'll be arriving in the Roman era.

The Roman Empire began as a city on the Italian peninsula.

The city of Rome was founded approximately in 753 BCE and reached

the further extent as an empire in 117 CE under Emperor Trajan.

It was already an ancient civilization by the time of Julius Caesar in 45 BCE.

Spain did not begin to gravitate into

the Roman orbit until the first Punic war which ran from

264-241 BCE and the second Punic war from 218-201 BCE,

that pitted the Roman empire against the North African Carthaginian empire.

It was during the second Punic war that Hannibal led his army, Calvary,

and a collection of elephants across

the Iberian Peninsula and through the Alps to invade the Italic Peninsula.

Ultimately, the Romans would be successful.

And by the end of the Second Punic war in 201 BCE,

Rome would dominate the Iberian peninsula until the invasions of the Visigoths.

During this Roman era,

Iberia became known for its growth of cities,

the development of its water systems and aqueducts,

and the Roman theater in intellectual life.

Roman citizenship, which included tax exemptions,

was extinent to the elite,

whereas the commoners received a lesser form of citizenship.

Known as Hispani under Roman rule,

the Iberian peninsula became an important province to the Roman Empire

because of its production of exportable goods and future Roman emperors.

Although Hispania was the principal name of the region,

over the time, the peninsula further subdivided into three other regions.

Hispania functioned as a breadbasket for the empire over centuries producing olives,

wheat, grapes and wine.

They also mentioned the ore for welfare and tool making and precious metals.

As the most romanized of the empire's provinces,

Hispania was the birthplace of many legionnaires and

intellectuals and even emperors like Trajan,

Hadrian, Theodosias, as well as another well-known emperor, Marcus Aurelius.

Marcus Aurelius, born in Rome,

was of Spanish descent.

He ruled from 161-180 CE and he was among the last of the great emperors.

It was at the latter part of the Roman empire,

during these first few centuries of the new millennium,

that the Romans encountered the crisis of the third century,

as historians call it.

Among the main pressure were Barbarians or Germanic peoples pushing

into the empire from the North and Persians increasing pressure from the East,

the demand for staining provincial armies and military units,

as well as a political crisis that led to

a bewildering succession of 20 emperors from 235-284 CE.

All of this required a stronger army and more taxation.

Fundamental changes were afoot in the Roman Empire.

Christianity began to be adopted,

as well as new persecutions against religious minorities increased,

Christians among them, as well as Jews.

Further, the Visigothic threat never abated.

And in 378, the Visigoth sacked Rome,

permanently altering the Roman Empire.

For those persons who resided in Hispania,

it was a new time and a new culture would take hold, the Visigoths.

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