The Islamic Empire expanded rapidly as far east as India in its first century of growth and reached the northwestern shores of Africa in 684. An army of Arab and Berber Muslims crossed the Strait of Gibraltar to the Iberian Peninsula in 711. From that point they went as far north as France.
They established a state, known as Al-Andalus in Arabic, in most of the Iberian Peninsula with Cordoba as its capital. They created a new flourishing society that had a great amount of religious tolerance. While the rest of Europe relatively stagnated during this period known as the Dark Ages, Al-Andalus flourished as a place of learning, dialogue, and artistic and scientific achievement. This flourishing included Al-Andalus’ Muslim, Christian, and Jewish populations. The court of Cordoba, like the court of Baghdad, was open to people of all faiths. Arabic was the language of science and commonly learned among religious scholars. Paper became available from China in the 700’s and made books vastly cheaper and more accessible. The court of Cordoba had over 500,000, in comparison to Europe’s largest collection consisting of 36 volumes housed in a monastery. Books became a major part of culture in Al-Andalus, which greatly influenced Europe and planted the seeds for the renaissance.
Many Latin scholars came to Al-Andalus’ libraries and universities to study, often bringing back texts with them like those written by Ibn Sina (Avicenna) and Ibn Khalduna. Ibn Sina wrote the most important medical text and encyclopedia of philosophy for hundreds of years. Scholars in Andalusia often worked in multiple fields just like the famed Renaissance men of Europe. For example, Ibn Khaldun, who spent much of his life in Granada, was an astronomer, economist, historian, Islamic jurist, Islamic lawyer, Islamic scholar, Islamic theologian, hafiz, mathematician, military strategist, nutritionist, philosopher, social scientist and statesman.
Cordoba, known as the City of Lights, was the center of intellectual development in Al-Andalus, and was distinguished as the most advanced city in Europe. Dwellers enjoyed running water in private homes, paved streets, streetlights, lush gardens, and a rich bounty of foods, medicines, clothing, and crafts. With a population of 500,000 in the 10th century, Cordoba exceeded the 38,000 residents of Paris at that time; while Baghdad, the cultural and intellectual center of the Arab world had a population of 1.2 million. Much of the intellectual work and translations of Greek, Persian, and Indian texts moved into Al-Andalus region from Baghdad. With these translations came the return of Greek thought and philosophy. In addition to the sciences, the arts and architecture flourished in Andalusia. The Alhambra is a prime example of this. It was a palace fortress built in Granada on a hilltop for added protection. The architecture of the palace included large arches typical in Islamic architecture, intricate geometrics designs, calligraphy, beautiful tapestries and large courtyards with formal gardens. Granada was eventually the last Muslim stronghold in Andalusia to fall to Christian forces in the late 15th century.
More information about Al-Andalus can be found in these references:
Lunde, Paul. Science in Al-Andalus. Saudi Aramco World, 2004.
Patricia, Countess Jellicoe. The Art of Islamic Spain. Saudi Aramco World, 1992.
http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/
http://islamicspain.tv/