Misplaced Pages

Convivencia: Difference between revisions

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
Browse history interactively← Previous editNext edit →Content deleted Content addedVisualWikitext
Revision as of 12:19, 30 August 2012 editGun Powder Ma (talk | contribs)Autopatrolled, Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers16,796 edits Undid revision 509882604 by Altetendekrabbe (talk) restore sourced views of three experts per talk← Previous edit Revision as of 12:40, 30 August 2012 edit undoKhestwol (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users25,401 editsm Undid revision 509924968 by Gun Powder Ma (talk) per consensusNext edit →
Line 1: Line 1:
'''''La Convivencia''''' ("the Coexistence") is the period of ] from the ] ] in the early eighth century until the completion of the ] ] in the late fifteenth century, when ], ] and ] in ] lived in relative peace together within the different kingdoms (during the same time, however, the Christian reclaiming of land conquered by the Moors was ongoing). The phrase often refers to the interplay of cultural ideas between the three groups, and ideas of ]. ] invokes this concept and indicates that it played an important role in bringing the classics of Greek philosophy to Europe, with translations from Greek to Arabic to Hebrew and Latin.<ref>Carroll, James (2001), ''Constantine's Sword: The Church and the Jews'', Chapter 33. Houghton Mifflin, Co., Boston.</ref> '''''La Convivencia''''' ("the Coexistence") is the period of ] from the ] ] in the early eighth century until the completion of the ] ] in the late fifteenth century, when ], ] and ] in ] lived in relative peace together within the different kingdoms (during the same time, however, the Christian reclaiming of land conquered by the Moors was ongoing). The phrase often refers to the interplay of cultural ideas between the three groups, and ideas of ]. ] invokes this concept and indicates that it played an important role in bringing the classics of Greek philosophy to Europe, with translations from Greek to Arabic to Hebrew and Latin.<ref>Carroll, James (2001), ''Constantine's Sword: The Church and the Jews'', Chapter 33. Houghton Mifflin, Co., Boston.</ref>


], Professor of Near Eastern Studies at ], in his ''Under Crescent and Cross'', calls the ''idealized'' interfaith utopia a "myth" that was first promulgated by Jewish historians such as ] in the 19th century as a rebuke to Christian countries for their treatment of Jews.<ref name = cohen>{{cite book |last= Cohen |first= Mark R. |title= Under Crescent and Cross |publisher= ] |year= 1995 |month= October |isbn= 0-691-01082-X}}</ref> This myth was met with the "counter-myth" of the "neo-lachrymose conception of Jewish-Arab history" by ] and others<ref name = cohen />, which also "cannot be maintained in the light of historical reality".<ref>{{cite journal |journal= The Jewish Quarterly Review |year=1997 |volume=88 |issue=1/2 |pages=76–78 |title= Review of Under Crescent and Cross. The Jews in the Middle Ages by Mark R. Cohen |author= Daniel J. Lasker}}</ref>
The concept is critized as a modern myth bolstered by 'wishful thinking' of ] and a failure to understand Al-Andalus in its proper historical context.<ref name="Fernández-Morera, 2006, 29">Darío Fernández-Morera: , '']'', Fall 2006, pp.&nbsp;23–31 (30)</ref>

== Criticism of the concept ==
The modern ] interpretation of the ''Convivencia'' as a time of tolerance and peaceful and harmonious relations between the Muslim rulers and their Christian and Jew subjects is criticized as "the myth of the Andalusian paradise".<ref>Darío Fernández-Morera, 2006, p.&nbsp;29</ref> According to this view, "Andalusia was beset by religious, political, and racial conflicts controlled
in the best of times only by the application of tyrannical force".<ref>Darío Fernández-Morera, 2006, p.&nbsp;30</ref> The Catholic majority and, to a lesser extent, the Jewish minority were kept in a state of ] as groups subjected to and serving the interests of the Muslim ruling class.<ref>Darío Fernández-Morera, 2006, p.&nbsp;24</ref> Catholics suffered under various Muslim rulers from repression, including high taxation, confiscation of their property and enslavement, and religious persecution.<ref>Darío Fernández-Morera, 2006, p.&nbsp;24</ref> ] (852–886) ordered to destroy all churches newly built since the Muslim conquest of Spain in 711,<ref>Darío Fernández-Morera, 2006, p.&nbsp;24</ref> and his successors seldomly authorized the erection of new churches or the maintenance of existing ones.<ref>Darío Fernández-Morera, 2006, p.&nbsp;29</ref> In Muhammad's reign, ], along with the other ], was executed for religious blasphemy.<ref>Darío Fernández-Morera, 2006, p.&nbsp;24</ref>

Throughout the existence of Al-Andalus, its emirs and caliphs were champions of Islamic orthodoxy.<ref>Darío Fernández-Morera, 2006, p.&nbsp;26f.</ref> The role of Muslim women was confined, like elsewhere in the Islamic world, to serving the household and staying in the house away from the men.<ref>Darío Fernández-Morera, 2006, p.&nbsp;27f.</ref> Muslim jurists like Ibn Abdun (fl. 1100 in Seville) argued for racial segregation between Muslims and their Christian and Jewish ]s.<ref>Darío Fernández-Morera, 2006, p.&nbsp;26f.</ref>

The situation even deteriorated with the invasions of the Northern African fundamentalist warrior tribes of the ] and ] in the 11th century and 12th century respectively.<ref>Darío Fernández-Morera, 2006, p.&nbsp;24f.</ref> In the early 12th century, the Catholic inhabitants of Malaga and Granada were expelled to Morocco.<ref>Darío Fernández-Morera, 2006, p.&nbsp;29</ref> The Jewish philosopher ] (1135–1204) was forced to flee from Al-Andalus to avoid conversion by the Almohads,<ref>Darío Fernández-Morera, 2006, p.&nbsp;30</ref> just as his progressive Muslim collegue ] was persecuted and finally banned by the authorities from the country.<ref>Darío Fernández-Morera, 2006, p.&nbsp;28</ref> Relations between the Christian and Jewish subjects were also strained and mutual ressentments frequent.<ref>Darío Fernández-Morera, 2006, p.&nbsp;29f.</ref>

Bursts of ethnic violence include the events around the ] and the ] of the entire Jewish population of the city. While it has been said that such clashes were a "rare occurrence" of the era,<ref>{{cite book|last= Lewis|first= Bernard|authorlink= Bernard Lewis|title= ''The Jews of Islam''|origyear= 1984|year= 1987|publisher=]|location=]|isbn=978-0-691-00807-3|oclc=17588445|pages=44–45|lccn= 8442575}}</ref> the Jewish death toll in Granada was higher than in the well-known Christian pogroms in the ] slightly later.<ref>Darío Fernández-Morera, 2006, p.&nbsp;25</ref>

Fernández-Morera concludes that the modern idea of Al-Andalus as a tolerant and enlightened society owns much to a dislike of ], having "the double advantage of surreptitiously favoring multiculturalism and deprecating ]".<ref>Darío Fernández-Morera, 2006, p.&nbsp;30</ref> ], in his ''Jews of Islam'', holds the view that the very concept of tolerance was neither much valued nor much practiced in both Islam and Christianity. Only very recently, commentators began to project this modern idea onto past societies. He maintains that the idea of equality between Muslims and non-Muslims was foreign to traditional Islam.<ref name="Bernard Lewis 1987, 3f.">]: ''The Jews of Islam'', Princeton University Press, 1987, ISBN 978-0-691-00807-3, p. 3f.</ref>

According to ], the "myth of an interfaith utopia" between Jewish subjects and their Muslim ruler, already lingering in late medieval Jewish thought, was forcefully advanced only in the 19th century by the leading German Jewish historian ]. By portraying Jewish life as peaceful and prosperous under medieval Muslim rule as opposed to their oppression in the Christian realm, Graetz argued for a better integration of Jews into contemporary European societies to the benefit of both Jews and Christians. This view of comparative tolerance by Muslims remained largely unchallenged until the idea of benevolent Muslim leadership of the Jews was usurped in the Israeli-Palestine conflict by Arab thinkers in their struggle against ].<ref>]: ''Under Crescent and Cross: The Jews in the Middle Ages'', Princeton University Press, 1995, ISBN 978-0-691-01082-3, pp. 6–9</ref>


==See also== ==See also==

Revision as of 12:40, 30 August 2012

La Convivencia ("the Coexistence") is the period of Spanish history from the Muslim Umayyad conquest of Hispania in the early eighth century until the completion of the Christian Reconquista in the late fifteenth century, when Muslims, Christians and Jews in Moorish Iberia lived in relative peace together within the different kingdoms (during the same time, however, the Christian reclaiming of land conquered by the Moors was ongoing). The phrase often refers to the interplay of cultural ideas between the three groups, and ideas of religious tolerance. James Carroll invokes this concept and indicates that it played an important role in bringing the classics of Greek philosophy to Europe, with translations from Greek to Arabic to Hebrew and Latin.

Mark Cohen, Professor of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University, in his Under Crescent and Cross, calls the idealized interfaith utopia a "myth" that was first promulgated by Jewish historians such as Heinrich Graetz in the 19th century as a rebuke to Christian countries for their treatment of Jews. This myth was met with the "counter-myth" of the "neo-lachrymose conception of Jewish-Arab history" by Bat Yeor and others, which also "cannot be maintained in the light of historical reality".

See also

Sources and further reading

  • Catlos, Brian. The Victors and the Vanquished: Christians and Muslims of Catalonia and Aragon, 1050-1300. 2004. ISBN 0-521-82234-3
  • Esperanza Alfonso, Islamic culture through Jewish eyes : al-Andalus from the tenth to twelfth century. 2007 ISBN 978-0-415-43732-5
  • Fernández-Morera, Darío : "The Myth of the Andalusian Paradise", in: The Intercollegiate Review, Fall 2006, pp. 23–31
  • O'Shea, Stephen. Sea of Faith: Islam and Christianity in the Medieval Mediterranean World. Walker & Company: 2006. ISBN 0-8027-1517-6.
  • Pick, Lucy. Conflict and Coexistence: Archbishop Rodrigo and the Muslims and Jews of Medieval Spain. Oxbow Books: 2004. ISBN 0-472-11387-9.
  • Vivan Mann, et al., eds. Convivencia: Jews, Muslims, and Christians in Medieval Spain. George Braziller: 1992. ISBN 0-8076-1286-3.
  • Maria Rosa Menocal. "Ornament of the World: How Muslims, Jews, and Christians Created a Culture of Tolerance in Medieval Spain." 2003. ISBN 0-316-56688-8.

Additional References

References

  1. Carroll, James (2001), Constantine's Sword: The Church and the Jews, Chapter 33. Houghton Mifflin, Co., Boston.
  2. ^ Cohen, Mark R. (1995). Under Crescent and Cross. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-01082-X. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  3. Daniel J. Lasker (1997). "Review of Under Crescent and Cross. The Jews in the Middle Ages by Mark R. Cohen". The Jewish Quarterly Review. 88 (1/2): 76–78.

External links


Flag of SpainHourglass icon  

This Spanish history–related article is a stub. You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it.

Categories: