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| July 19, 711: The Arabs Conquer Spain |
| 2008-07-19 |
| And they're trying to get it back! The attack was no surprise. For many weeks, an increasing number of Berbers had been arriving in Spain from Tangiers under the command of Emir Musa. Tarik Ibn Ziyad, Governor of Tangiers, had landed a few weeks earlier in the Bay of Algeciras with around 8,000 men on the Rock of Calpe. Later, the rock was called Tarik Mountain after Djabal Tarik. Today, it is called Gibraltar. The Visigoths, with their King Roderich also being Spains sovereign, were already embroiled in a domestic dispute. So they did not respond to the impending invasion. The first bloody battle between the Arabs and the Visigoths took place on July 19, 711. It turned out to make history. Some 12,000 Arab men squared up against 100,000 Goths, who were led by King Roderich. They met at Laguna de la Janda and the battle lasted for many days. Yet even though the Goths outnumbered the Arabs, they had no chance. The Kings generals were more concerned about their personal struggles than the Arab enemy. The Visigoth era came to an end. The few thousand Arab soldiers advanced into the empire, which was already in a state of internal collapse. Historian Michael Borgholte of Humboldt University in Berlin says that the Visigoths simply did not perceive the danger that the Arabs posed. "We know that the invasion in 716 advanced almost as far as the Pyrenees," Borgholte explains. "This means that the Arabs had moved at an incredibly fast pace. They had already proven their battle skills in the Middle East during the seventh century. The 716 advance came to an abrupt halt only when the Christians had recovered somewhat and were in a position to take countermeasures." In only seven years, the Arabs managed to march from the South to the North and to establish themselves as the new rulers. The Caliph Empire now extended from Damascus in Syria to the Coimbra and Pamplona in Spain. The battle against Islam in Europe began with the Arabs' crossing of the Pyrenees in 718. Although they established base camps in Toulouse and Narbonne, they were not able to repeat their initial prompt victory in Spain. In 732, the advance of the Arabs to the north-west frontier near Poitiers and Tours was brought to a decisive halt by Karl Martell, and the Moors retreated to Spain. A culture emerged in Spain that enriched Europe with gold-woven fabrics, glass, porcelain, carpets, silk and magnificent ornamental architecture. It was a culture which brought forgotten European knowledge back to Europe. For the Jews in particular, the Muslim age was the "Golden Diaspora." "We know about Jewish physicians who worked at the Caliph court, not only as physicians, but also as advisors to the Caliphs," Borgholte says. "We also know about Jewish translators, who translated Greek philosophers, such as Aristotle and Euclid, from Arabic into the national language. This enabled Christian authors to translate the texts into Latin." Numerous academics from England, France and Germany came to Toledo. In this "City of Knowledge," they studied the translations of ancient works. "It was, in fact, the beginning of the late Medieval period in the western world, based on the acceptance of ancient philosophy and science rendered by the translations from Arabic," Borgholte explains. Yet the cultural climax is associated with the "Reconquista" that was slowly beginning to take shape, the re-conquering of Spain by the Christians. The Muslims withdrew from the regions they inhabited after battles in which many lives were lost. In 1493, they were finally conquered and the country was radically converted to Catholicism. Nevertheless, the palaces in Granada and churches that were once mosques in Cordoba and Seville bear witness to the Arab age in Spain, which started on July 19, 711. |
| Posted by:Sherry |
| #1 What a load of crock. EVERY prominent Muslim scientist was persecuted at some time during the so-called "golden era." As for a revival of learning, academies were active during the dark ages. Avicenna and Averroes both corresponded with Greek and Roman scholars. And, in order to write on pure science, Averroes was coerced to write on Islamic subjects, one being his "Book of Jihad." So-called "islamic science" was unknown to the general public. The "ornamental" culture is only indicative of elite centrism. Peasants constructed elaborate housing and mosques for earlier day Donald Trumps. Today, Wahabis prohibit ornament on their mosques. After Clinton allowed formation of the Bosnia terror base, the Sauds shelled out $30 million for demolition of the Ottoman mosques. A recent survey of specialization in products, found that the only thing claimable in the entire Muslim cess pool, was: Persian carpets. Muslims are now and have always been global parasites. They need to be colonized and civilized, that is: excised of their numerous malignancies. |
| Posted by: McZoid 2008-07-19 14:35 |