Al Andalus Spain

[@sambelfer5164]

The Abbasids only ruled Spain for a short time from 750-763. The Umayyad Abd al-Rahman I fled to Spain where he established the Emir of Cordoba after the Abbasid conquered Damascus in 750. He defeated the Abbasids army in Carmona, Seville in 763. The Umayyad dynasty rule until the First Taifa period (1009-1106.)

[@RealMcDudu]

Excellent lectures! Thanks Dr. Reeves! I watched so many, and will hopefully watch them all.

[@pawstravel4514]

Here may be only merely two thousand views, but this was exciting as hell. And the fact that Spain wasn't always Spain, meaning there were diveded kingdoms occured to me only by playing Crusader Kings 2. And this explained a lot. Knowing history is a HUGE bonus in that game. Great vid !

[@garychynne1377]

THANK YOU FROM THE DEPTHS OF MY HEATHEN HEART. YOUR LESSONS ARE ENLIGHTENIN' IF NOT AT TIMES FRIGHTENIN'. A LESSON FROM YOU IS A LESSON INDEED. MUST BE FROM SOME SORT OF INTELLECTUAL BREED. FILL UP MY HEAD IT'S SO EMPTY AND STILL. LEARNING FROM YOU IS BECOMING A THRILL. YOUR BETTER THAN THE POPE--NOW I HAVE HOPE. THANKS DOC IT'S BEEN A PLEASURE. TAKE CARE GARE

[@AlanMedina314]

This was a very good narration, helped me to understand the islamic period in medival spain. Context kicks ass.

[@MiriBenii]

So Tariq burning the boats after landing in Spain and saying something like, we either conquer or die here, is just a legend?

[@franconstanza]

The author states that the Muslims moved into Spain due to internal warfare in the Islamic world, that would have pushed some of them to look into the Visigothic territories of the Iberian Peninsula. That is not true. It was the other way around. There was civil war between two pretenders to the Visigothic throne after the death of king Witiza: don Rodigo (Roderic) and Agila II. The latter would have called on the moors to aid his cause, but instead they conquered and destroyed the Kingdom of the Visigoths.

[@RyanReevesM]

+franconstanza // I actually don't make it a question of volition, as in the strife within Islamic kingdoms (not Islam itself) led to the historical reality that a band of them headed to the Iberian Peninsula. This time, though, had the kingdoms there essentially worried about other things or themselves and not particularly strong to contend with their style of rapid-fire raiding. So actually the point I'm trying to make is that it was an accident of circumstances not a strategic idea to run off to the furthest country from the East and conquer. On that we completely agree. :)

[@fartsare2023]

Ryan Reeves Thankyou for posting these lessons Dr. Reeves.! They have been so fun to watch and you do such a great job breaking it down into simple and interesting forms. I'll subscribe.

[@femertotal]

What Ryan calls "Nicene faith" is called "Catholic faith" by most historians (and the people of that age). And the faith of the barbarians is called "Arian faith" or "Arianism".

[@AzoiatheCobra]

as portuguese, i find offensive you call the iberic peninsula "spain" :p

[@RyanReevesM]

Do forgive me! Not my intention! :)

[@AzoiatheCobra]

other thing: im became addicted to your videos. from tolkiens hobbit to the "who where the borgias".... damn

[@an3z]

Thank you for sharing these. Finally something intelligent on youtube. Did you make these?

[@petrusveritas2385]

Dear Dr. Reeves, Did you came across the book " The Myth of the Andalusian Paradise by Dr. Dario Fernandez Morera? Any thoughts about it? Thank you

[@congrilla-]

Shocking that this is the video where lots of people choose to take issue with Reeves' even-handed and mostly neutral viewpoint. No wait, it's in no way shocking.

[@BikeVermont71]

Why was there no mention of the Cid?

[@acortes7771]

Dr. Reeves, I realize that you are very limited in regards to the time invested in these lecture videos. With that being said, it is very important to point out that the Reconquista/Reconquest began not only with the Spanish Marcha's but in the Iberian Peninsula itself at the famous victorious Battle of Covadonga in 722 with Don Pelayo/Pelagius of Asturias leading the Christian Army.

[@kaneinkansas]

True. I have a friend from Cantabria in the far north that was never conquerred. Her last name is Tirador. The name means shooter. The name comes from that time. The native Spanish of the far north were able to repel the Moors who attempted conquest on horse back riding through narrow valleys by throwing rocks down upon them from the mountain tops, thus the name "shooter" going to the more accurate throwers of rocks. Cantabria was never conquered. Austarias, Castile, Leon and Portugal and one could assert Spain itself, all emerged out of the Cantabria infancy.

[@Depipro]

A technical matter: often your texts sound as if you've recorded words or small phrases separately and then edited them together, which is a pity. And it makes me wonder: how come it sounds like that? I don't suppose that is actually how you do it.

[@qtadosol]

I'm just a curious person, working in tourism in the Algarve province. I must say you have a great historical and concise historical documentary, it's just a pity that you left out the last rulers in the end (during the Taifa or "petty" kingdoms, and later the Almoravids and the Almohads) and that you didn´t mention how it all ended, some of the major battles, like the "Navas de Tolosa", and most of all (nation pride!) leaving kingdom of Portugal also out of the "reconquista"- without these facts, the kingdoms of Spain would't have been so easily successful... but all in all, a great piece, achieving the purpose of politically and religiously describing the Al Andalus - for more detail, there are other documentaries we can seek to complete the information about the way they lived, the way they created a big impact of knowledge in Europe - let's say Renaissance would't happen without this period of culture and civilisation, and this opinion is accepted by most scholars, I guess... :-)

[@RyanReevesM]

qtadosol // Only so much time and space. :) This is just an introduction to the material, not a complete documentary. Thanks for the expansion of the topics, though. Those reading it will have some suggestions where they can look.

[@qtadosol]

You're welcome! Thanks for responding! :-) I've just discovered your work and I still find it fascinating! Greetings from the Algarve!

[@andrewsapia]

Ryan Reeves you are so wrong about how Christians an Jews were treated. Dhimmitude was far worse than you make it sound. This is nothing but 19th century anti-Catholic anti-church bigotry. They invented this multi-cultural enlightened Andalusia out of whole cloth as a way to exaggerate the negative view of medieval Christian European society. Islam has always treated non-Muslims terribly and medieval Spain was no different. I suggest Roger Collins Caliphs and Kings. I think that now, more than ever, we need an honest realistic view of Islamic societies throughout history. It is beyond me why Europe has, over the last several decades, allowed so large a population of people to migrate into their societies. A people who have been desiring to conquer Europe since it began. Nothing has changed, the Quran still calls for the subjugation of Jews and Christians. A true Muslim can never accept to live as equals with infidels, kaffirs, unbelievers. As soon as they reach critical mass Europe will see the mistake they made but it may be too late to do much about it, short of total civil war. I am guessing it will come to partitioning parts of France, Britain, the Netherlands and Spain. In the Muslim parts as in Pakistan whatever non-Muslims still live there will over time be persecuted out of their little emirates. Meanwhile the Muslims in the non-Muslim portions will grow in numbers until they are victorious. I know, I am crazy, this will never happen, blah, blah, blah. Reply to my message in 20 years and we'll see who was right.

[@RyanReevesM]

andrew sapia // Hey Andrew. Appreciate the honest reaction and can certainly understand it. I am not one to make 21st century problems the reason I would describe anything. I would think a more charitable reading of my words in the video, though, would give the impression that I am merely being an historian, not a propagandist. When I describe Al-Andalous as progressively less violent and harsh than is expected, I am not suggesting the place is Utopia. I point out, for example, the ghettoizing of non-Islamic peoples and the penalty of death for conversion or evangelizing. The point in the lecture is really how Al-Andalous fits within the wider context of religious occupation in the middle ages. Compared to Christians in Asia Minor or Jews in Europe, Al-Andalous is significantly less violent. This is mostly due to the relatitvely small army that occupied that area and the need for the Islamic rulers to give the impression they were benevolent. There are always going to be excpetions to this sweeping portrait. Roger Collins is obviously a well-respected authority on this, and I would completely support your suggestion people read his works. Still I would offer the suggestion that what I am doing here in the lecture is not as limp as you may have found it at first. You can still disagree with the tone, but I would at least hope to convince you I am not reading modern newspaper headlines into the past. I would quit being a professor if I ever did that! :)

[@andrewsapia]

Ryan Reeves I appreciate your very quick reply. I do not concur with your view that Islamic Spain was in any way less violent. In fact it was 500 years of almost constant warfare. To say it was significantly less violent, compared to what? Cordoba may have been a center of learning, however this is often presented by Islamic apologists as if there was a free public school on every corner for all citizens, when the fact is that not even the water supply was for all citizens. The Roman aqueducts were used to supply water to the palace at that was it. One time a Jew was appointed to a position of authority and the Muslims rioted and 5000 Jews were slaughtered. This was because the Muslims knew it was not permissible for a Jew to have a position of authority over the Muslims. I get so sick and tired of hearing of this Utopia (meaning no island) of Islamic Spain. It's a compete fantasy. tens of thousands of Christian girls filled the harams of their Muslim overlords and that alone is enough to banish this absurd idea of Muslim tolerance. Islam is a cancer on this earth and always has been. Whatever supposed enlightened ideas they supposedly imparted to the west, they took from the Greeks, and only preserved some mathematics and medical stuff. They burned far more than they preserved. Much of what later came into western Europe came from Byzantium. I say thank god for the crusades and thank god we took the fight to the enemy as Christians hesitated far too long simply because they had no doctrine of warfare as a holy thing. It took near total defeat before they finally realized that turn the other cheek doesn't work with Muhammadans, they simply use it to subjugate you. Thank god we finally grew some gonads and fought back. Thank god for Charles Martel, thank God for Sobiesky. Had only France and Britain not been so set against Russia, Russia would have retaken Constantinople and the world would look very different today. I'm sorry but we treat Muslims 1000 times better in the west than Christians were ever treated in Muslim lands. In fact most of what we call Muslim lands were formerly Christian lands. Now, we would love to simply live in peace with these people but they will not have it. They are going to cause a 3rd world war and it will not be pretty. I just hope we win, because for all of our faults and short comings, Christian European, Humanist culture is far superior to the Islamic alternative. But the west seems bent on hating its self into oblivion.

[@kevinmcfarley156]

Tolerance causes a flowering of humanity.

[@CESSKAR]

I enjoy deeply your videos.

[@zackhartley4718]

Really love your videos sir!

[@moreredmeat7729]

Jews and Christians lived as dhimmis in muslim Spain.

[@MUJAHID56787]

moreREDmeat they were allowed to live at least soon as Christian Spanish comes in we get the inquisition and all those famous torture stories. Flaying "witches and heratics"

[@mitzvahgolem8366]

Visigoths were Arian s (non trinitarians). Church conducted genocide against against them as well. Funny how so many skip that part. The RCC purged lands of all Arians and Muslims as well as Jews of course...

[@shahzad1k]

AL-Andalus a.k.a Muslim Spain , where Muslim made brilliant contributions towards, Mathematics, Astronomy, Medicine, Pharmacology, Trigonometry, Navigation. It was a center of education where europeans came and learn many areas of studies. Christians and Jews lived among Muslims rulers in peace. Beautiful part of history. 711-1500 A.D

[@andrewsapia]

Shahzad Ahmed they all lived in peace, bullshit. They lived as dhimmis, Islamic Spain sucked for all non-Muslims. Today in the west the way we treat Muslims is truly with equality. This did not and never did and never can be the case in a Muslim majority country. In Egypt today Christians are still discriminated against, still treated as infidels. I am so sick of your false Islamic propaganda.

[@shahzad1k]

andrew sapia Hi , I am sorry about your negative reaction to my post, that you expressed intolerant and it clearly displayed your hatred towards muslims, this is the kind of behavior that society is dealing with today and the same behavior and demeanor brought hate among muslims and christians all over the world. The entire world knows how muslims are being persecuted all around the world. Every media outlet is bashing muslims for no just cause.I have many educated christians friends who agree to the fact that christians and jews were treated fairly when living in AL-ANDALUS. Until isabellas and ferdinand took over and destroy the most beautiful landscape that the world ever witnessed built by muslims. I think its about time we need to stop playing blaming games and stop hatred towards eachother and grow up a little and fear the Almighty God.

[@schtooch4049]

andrew sapia Andrew Sapia, You sound like a hateful bigot. You think everything was so wonderful in Christian-dominated lands? Ever heard of the Inquisition? Ever heard of the Holocaust? Who do you think were responsible for that? EUROPEAN CHRISTIANS. Ever heard of the mass killings and subjugation of natives in north and south America by European Christians? Or of natives in Asia? Or of natives in Africa? Ever heard of the slave trade? European Christians abducted native people from their own lands and bought and sold them like property -- abusing those native people, whipping and raping them, violating them in all manners of cruelty and wickedness. Utterly CRIMINAL. European Christians have a long history of bloodshed and inhuman abuse. Who are you trying to fool with your bullshit, Andrew Sapia? Even in recent times -- even TODAY! -- European Christians are invading other peoples' lands, killing and destroying, grabbing natural resources, fomenting violence and instability in order to keep those other people weak and dependent so that European Christians can exploit them. That's the true foreign policy of European Christians and those of European Christian origin in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. It has always been that way. Christian, Jew, Muslim, Buddhist -- none is any better or any worse than the other. Do you realize, Andrew Sapia, that humankind has evolved over millenia upon millenia from more base creatures on a planet that spins on its axis around a star in a vast galaxy that itself extends out in a void? Keep things -- including religion -- in perspective. The good Professor Ryan Reeves is trying to give us an unbiased, factual (to the extent that is possible) analysis of history in these wonderful videos. And I thank the good Professor Ryan Reeves for that.

[@schtooch4049]

Shahzad Ahmed andrew sapia Andrew Sapia, You sound like a hateful bigot. You think everything was so wonderful in Christian-dominated lands? Ever heard of the Inquisition? Ever heard of the Holocaust? Who do you think were responsible for that? EUROPEAN CHRISTIANS. Ever heard of the mass killings and subjugation of natives in north and south America by European Christians? Or of natives in Asia? Or of natives in Africa? Ever heard of the slave trade? European Christians abducted native people from their own lands and bought and sold them like property -- abusing those native people, whipping and raping them, violating them in all manners of cruelty and wickedness. Utterly CRIMINAL. European Christians have a long history of bloodshed and inhuman abuse. Who are you trying to fool with your bullshit, Andrew Sapia? Even in recent times -- even TODAY! -- European Christians are invading other peoples' lands, killing and destroying, grabbing natural resources, fomenting violence and instability in order to keep those other people weak and dependent so that European Christians can exploit them. That's the true foreign policy of European Christians and those of European Christian origin in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. It has always been that way. Christian, Jew, Muslim, Buddhist -- none is any better or any worse than the other. Do you realize, Andrew Sapia, that humankind has evolved over millenia upon millenia from more base creatures on a planet that spins on its axis around a star in a vast galaxy that itself extends out in a void? Keep things -- including religion -- in perspective. The good Professor Ryan Reeves is trying to give us an unbiased, factual (to the extent that is possible) analysis of history in these wonderful videos. And I thank the good Professor Ryan Reeves for that.

[@RyanReevesM]

+I hope u remember me // The study of math yes, but not the first explorations of Algebra.

[@petrusveritas2385]

Hi Dr. Reeves, I did mentioned the book has many good points to be explored in relation to this period of time of been the Great Golden Era of Islam which is not true at all. I make my efforts to be bios and not to take sides but the idea of Andalusia of been the great Center of multi faith environment is not true at all. To have a quick grasp of understanding in few lines we have to understand the so-called peaceful relation of the Muslims, The so-called Golden Era are all myths easily to be deconstruct not only from western sources but even directly from the Islamic sources... Please read the book if you have a chance. It will be great to have your thoughts. Thank you

[@StephenWebb1980]

Something jumped out at me @10:55 you said that Recared is in favor of the Nicene faith, converts and comes to the conclusion that "Christ is equal with the Father in some way"...are you saying that there are ways in which the Son is not equal to the Father that is still in keeping with the Nicene Creed, or that he really wasn't full on Nicene (which kind would be odd if he had some sort of revelation leading him to convert)?

[@amdturion123]

Sorry Reeves "thumbs down" on this one. You sugar coated or glossed over too much on Islamic Spain. The Christians there lived as Dhimmi's and were enslaved in their own homeland. It wasn't some multi-cultural utopia.

[@RyanReevesM]

Understandable, though I think my intention was to juxtapose this reality with other harsher realities for those living under Islamic rule in history. Compared to some of those, this is easier. But I can totally understand an aversion to anything that sounds like it underplays things. Not my intention, of course. :)

[@kaneinkansas]

I tip my hat to you for even venturing into this. It is a hot topic these days. I very much enjoy and appreciate the presence of your videos. I taught a comparative law class overseas, with a unit on Islamic Jurisprudence, and it is very difficult to approach the subject with academic discipline and stay on topic. My lectures were always neutral - simply describing how Islamic Jurisprudence works. Every semester and every year I always pushed more and more into my research on Islam and Islamic jurisprudence, impelled in part by the light of current events to get to the bottom of things. I will say, the more I researched, the worse things got as far as understanding how Islam as a system or a set of ideas works. As a Catholic (culturally) Christian (with certain agnostic tendencies, as I am not theologically intense), I do not believe that Mohammed was a prophet. Of course, the possibility exist that Mohammed was everything he said he was: my understanding of physics says that almost everything is possible, but almost nothing is probable (perhaps 1 in a trillion). My belief that Mohammed was not a prophet imposed upon me a duty to try to understand an alternative theory for why he did the things he did -- all of which would have to be far more probable than what Muslims believe, at least to myself. I did determined an alternative theory, which I will not bother with here, but that is far more probable (modern stats would suggest about a 1:25). For Muslims it is by definition, inflammatory. Once I had that figured out, it took even greater discipline to stay neutral and mechanical on the topic while teaching it but it was necessary, as an academic. I've spent time in Spain, and I like it as much or more as any place in Europe. This lead me to devour a couple of histories. It is not easy in these times to approach this topic. As a person who is currently up on Spain, I appreciate your wading into the subject. I loved what you did with it. I wish I could take some of your classes and participate in discussion groups afterwards.

[@salmanel-farsi3744]

Very enjoyable. Just a historic point that needs to be exposed. Muhammed (pbuh) did indeed declare his successor in Ali at the Ghadir e Khum. This event has been acknowledged by all muslims who were present when this declaration was made including Abu Bakr who even pledged allegiance to Ali. The disagreement among the observers (including Abu Bakr) is that was Ali the successor of the spiritual or the temporal domain of muslims. Abu Bakr, clearly thought the former since after the death, he sought the temporal leadership (Calipate).

[@maxsterling9908]

Btw.. Jews were actually happy to see Muslims arrive in Spain. Even Maimonides wanted to live in Cordoba. Also, I like your ethnic cleansing part, at least you mentioned it. I think that is now known as April fools. Genocide of unarmed Muslims and Jews on Iberian beaches on April 1, 1492 by the conquistador.

[@aaronmosa8015]

Rayn thanks for all videos.. invasion of Muslims to current Spain was due to invitations of a Prince to musa bin nussair the boss of Tariq . This is due to existing friction among groups in the peninsula as you said .. The friction came as result of nicea between trinity and monotheistic faith. Arians share the same belief with Muslims that God is one and Jesus is prophet like Moses and Muhammad and others. This is why muslim ruled andullas for 781 years. Arians revert or convert to Islam. The Prince help tariq army with ships and navigation.. Roman roads.. in the land.Tariq bin ziad army was between 7000 and 12000 but Rederc army 100000 at jabal tariq . Tariq didn't rule andallus. ummayyad dynasty had the an important role in Islamic history ..

[@mitzvahgolem8366]

Muslims protected and welcomed( us) Jews in Iberia. The Moors were tolerant educated people . It was not until the RCC took over persecution and genocide of marranos took place. In fact up until 1967 Judaism was illegal in Spain. Ignore criticism Mr Reeves. I enjoy your lectures which are objective. Shalom.

[@shahzad1k]

The Scottish-Muslim convert and apologist Maryam N. Beig regard this period to have been a “Golden Age of freedom and tolerance” for Jews and Christians living under Muslim rule.

[@Montyweb]

Muslims have contributed much to modern world. But if you believe that Muslim rule was peace & harmony you are simply ignorant of the truth. When you look at history without emotion you can see that NOBODY was innocent certainly not Christians or Muslims.

[@kaneinkansas]

I read a brief history of Spain. The Islamic conquest of Spain was not enlightened. There may have been brief moments that are noted for their enlightenment but they were brief and note worthy because of the overall record. In that history, after one battle lost by the Christians, 8,000 knights were given a choice of beheading or conversion to Islam. All but a few chose beheading. Of course, the Muslims did this out of following the example laid down by Mohammed (and the Koran tells Muslims to follow the prophet's advice, 91 times). This was the culture of warfare that Islam brought to Spain. At times the Christians returned the favor. This means battles were all or nothing struggles between the parties, or at least one had to assume so, going in. Some times the norms were moderated, but that was not the rule. The assumption of freedom and tolerance would be ill placed. The windows of tolerance was narrow. Even during periods of relative tollerance, Islam always insists upon ascendency over the non-Islamic communities. There was no equality. The tolerance, to the extent it existed, was smart policy because non-muslims had to pay higher taxes. So too draconian imposition ultimately lead to conversion, and conversion then lead to declining tax revenues. I actually think this is why so many Islamic dynasties lasted for such a very short period of time. I also think this was why there was always sectarian feuds in Islam. It justifies treating the non-ruling people as infidels. A new group declares itsself the true religion, that means all others are infidels, that means they can be conquered, enslaved &/or forced to pay higher taxes. Eventually they convert, and revenue's fall. Falling revenues shrinks the army and that leads to political instability and invites the process to happen all over again. I think, if memory serves, the only one of the early Caliph's that died of natural causes was Abu Bakr. Everyone else was assassinated, including Mohammed whose death is attributed to being poisoned.

[@andrewsapia]

such a shame, the Visigoths were actually in the process of reviving Roman culture and civil society. Imagine had they just been a bit more prepared when the Moors came. How the history of Christian Spain would have been different. Everyone is taught that it was these Germanic tribes that destroyed Rome when actually they never wanted to destroy Rome, they wanted to be Roman. And as the dust of the fall began to settle a renaissance was set to happen. Then came Islam and brought about an end to western Europe's connection to the greater Roman world and the wealth and economy of North Africa, Egypt, and the Levant. Also the take over of what had been known as the Roman lake, the Mediterranean. This caused an economic disaster for Western Europe and is far more responsible for the so-called Dark Ages than the barbarian invasions. I believe had Islam not cut of the economic lifeline of the west that the history of the west would have been so different, we may have never heard of the Dark Ages. Islam caused the Dark Ages not the Visigoths. In fact from the defeat of the Vandals right up through Roderick there was a determined effort to reestablish and maintain the Roman order. The Muslims wanted to defeat, destroy, and replace the Roman way with the Islamic way. Christianity was much more pliable and much more compatible with the Roman way whereas Islam sees every other way as kaffar, infidel, unbeliever way.

[@maxben3391]

+andrew sapia Which is patently untrue considering that the Muslim world was knee-deep in gerco-roman culture and thought.

[@marcianopadilla3404]

Im sure it is an accurate account, but it is too confusing.

[@messi3666]

Vamos mi sevillaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

[@YUSKHAN]

Christianity is eastern

[@jessec2138]

more like the belly button

[@deckiedeckie]

The jews helped the moors ....jejeje

[@luiscortes2765]

Do you know a country called Portugal? Or it's all Spain after the Reconquista? Come on dr you can do better then this ... is. Shame you don't know the history behind this small but great country !