Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rcrh6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T21:45:31.315Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

(c) - The Nasrid kingdom of Granada

from 19 - Islam and the Mediterranean

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 March 2008

David Abulafia
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
Get access

Summary

NO account of Islam in the west, nor indeed of the history of thirteenth-century Europe, would be complete that did not take into account the origins of the one Islamic state in Spain to survive throughout the fourteenth and nearly all the fifteenth century, the Nasrid kingdom of Granada. In the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries, prior to the coming of the Turks, it was, indeed, the only Islamic political entity of any size in Europe. In the early thirteenth century the increasingly apparent weakness of the once formidable Almohad empire resulted in a process of fission familiar from earlier centuries of Islamic history in Spain; but the new generation of taifa or party kingdoms that emerged in the early thirteenth century was even more prone to interference by ever more confident Christian kings than had been the case in the earlier taifa periods, during the eleventh and mid-twelfth centuries. The battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212 ensured an end to Almohad dreams of further expansion in Spain; more than that, it revealed fundamental weaknesses in the management of the Almohad army by a less than careful caliph, an-Nasir, and an increasing dependence on hired soldiers. Following his defeat, an-Nasir retired to live at Marrakesh, and (though reports vary) he is said to have died after being bitten by a mad dog or after being hacked to death by black slaves; in any case, the point the Arabic writers wanted to make was that he met the ignominious end he deserved. This was not the spirit of the conquering armies that had overwhelmed North Africa and al-Andalus in the twelfth century.

The reluctance of the Almohad rulers to insist on the full force of Almohad doctrine was apparent by about 1230; indeed, their uncompromising rejection of anything that had the slightest suspicion of anthropomorphism had not won as many supporters in Spain as the movement’s founders may have expected. Andalusi Muslims tended to see the Almohads as outsiders, an impression reinforced by the widespread hostility in Spain to newly arrived Berbers.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 1999

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abulafia, D. (1994), A Mediterranean emporium: the Catalan kingdom of Majorca, Cambridge
al-Maqqari, , History of the Mohammedan dynasties in Spain, trans. de Gayangos, P., 2 vols., London (1840)
Arié, R. (1990), Etudes sur la civilisation de lEspagne musulmane, Leiden
Arié, R. (1992), El reino nasri de Granada (1232–1492), Madrid
Arié, R. (1973), L’Espagne musulmane au temps des Nasrides (1232–1492), Paris
Bolens, L. (1991), L’Andalousie du quotidien au sacré (XIe–XIIIe siècles), Aldershot
Burns, R.I. (1984), Muslims, Christians and Jews in the crusader kingdom of Valencia: societies in symbiosis, Cambridge
Constable, O.R. (1994), Trade and traders in Muslim Spain: the commercial realignment of the Iberian peninsula, 900–1500, Cambridge
Corcos, D. (1967), ‘The attitude of the Almohad rulers towards the Jews’, Zion 25: ; repr. in Corcos, D., Studies in the history of the Jews of Morocco, ed. Ashtor, E., Jerusalem (1976) (in Hebrew)Google Scholar
Dufourcq, C.E. (1966), L’Espagne catalane et le Maghrib au XIIIe et XIV siècles, Paris
Glick, T.F. (1995), From Muslim fortress to Christian castle: social and cultural change in medieval Spain, Manchester
Guichard, P. (19901991) Les musulmans de Valence et la reconquête, XIe–XIIIe siècles, 2 vols., Damascus
Guichard, P. (1973), ‘Un seigneur musulman dans l’Espagne chrétienne: le ra is de Crevillente (1243–1318)’, Mélanges de la Casa de Velázquezcy Google Scholar
Harvey, L.P. (1991), Islamic Spain, 1250–1500), Chicago
Hillgarth, J.N. (1976), The Spanish kingdoms, 1250–1410, I: Precarious balance, 1250–1410, Oxford
Huici Miranda, A. (19561957) Historia politica del Imperio almohade, 2 vols., Tetuán
Kennedy, H. (1996), Muslim Spain and Portugal: a political history of al-Andalus, London
Khaldun, Ibn , ‘Histoire des Benou l Ahmar rois de Grenade’, trans. Gaudefroy-Demombynes, M., Journal asiatique 9th series 12 (1898)Google Scholar
Khaldun, Ibn , Histoire des Berbères et des dynasties musulmanes de lAfrique septentrionale, trans. de Slane, Macguckin, ed. Casenove, P., Paris (1956)
LaderoQuesada, M.A. (1969), Granada: historia de un país islámico (1232–1571). Madrid
Lomax, D.W. (1989), ‘Heresy and Orthodoxy in the fall of Almohad Spain’, in Lomax, D.W. and Mackenzie, D. (eds.), God and man in medieval Spain: essays in honour of J.R.L. Highfield, Warminster Google Scholar
Lourie, E. (1990) Crusade and colonisation: Muslims, Christians and Jews under the crown of Aragon, Aldershot
Manzano Rodriguez, M.A. (1992), La intervención de los Benimerines en la Península Iberica, Madrid
Powell, J.M. (ed.) (1990), Mulims under Latin rule, 1100–1300, Princeton, NJ
Spivakovsky, E. (1976), ‘The Jewish presence in Granada’, Journal of Medieval History 2:Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×