Norman Roth, Jews, Visigoths, and Muslims in Medieval Spain: Cooperation and Conflict (Leiden: Brill, 1994) (original) (raw)

Coexistence in Medieval Spain: Jews, Christians, and Muslims MOOC

About this course on www.coursera.org: 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. Enrollment and offerings: Initially offered December 2017 and now continuously enrolling on a bi-monthly basis at https://www.coursera.org/learn/coexistence-in-medieval-spain

Christians, Jews, and Muslims in Medieval Iberia

Mondays, 5--6 PM Website http://huma4803.pbworks.com/ This course will explore various aspects of Christian--Jewish--Muslim relations in medieval "Spain" from the 5 th to the 17 th century. Since ancient times, the Iberian peninsula has been home to various ethnic and religious groups. The Jews inhabited the peninsula since Roman times and with the Muslim conquest of 711, Iberia became one of the most heterogeneous societies of medieval Europe. For nearly eight hundred years, Spain was the "land of the three religions". It is important to note that the area that we now refer to as Spain did not exist as a unified country but instead consisted of a variety of smaller kingdoms that were often politically, culturally and religiously distinct from one another. This diversity has shaped every aspect of life in the Iberian peninsula and has made the medieval Spanish kingdoms very difficult for non--Spaniards to understand. Growing religious tensions and concerns over cross--cultural relations has marked our early twenty--first century, making the medieval Iberian peninsula and Spain in particular a topic of great interest and the subject of many debates. The course will explore social, economic, religious, intellectual, and cultural contacts placing particular emphasis on their geographic, political, and temporal contexts. Students will have the opportunity to engage in both primary sources and to evaluate the writings of scholars. By looking at the primary sources ourselves, we will explore the difficulties faced by scholars as they assess the evidence from the past.