COURSE INFORMATION

History of al-Andalus

Code number: 101010308 Degree in History Academic Year: 2019-2020 Elective course. 4th year First semester: 3 hours a week, 2 days a week 6 credits

TEACHING STAFF

Prof.: Alejandro García-Sanjuán Department: History, Geography and Anthropology Office: Building 12, high, right Phone: +34 959 219151 E-mail: [email protected] Office hours: First Semester: Thursday and Friday, 9,00-12,00 h

PROGRAMME

1. DESCRIPTION

Study of the history of al-Andalus, an Arab and Islamic country in Iberia during the Middle Ages, from the Muslim conquest (711) to the fall of Granada (1492).

2. PREREQUISITES

History of al-Andalus is an open course, suitable for students with different academic backgrounds and profiles. Especially recommended for students of History, Religious Studies, or Arabic and Islamic Studies.

3. OBJECTIVES/LEARNING OUTCOMES

The main subjects will be addressed following the different periods in which the history of al-Andalus is usually divided. These subjects range from historiographical issues (the problematic insertion of al-Andalus into the modern notion of history of Spain) to specific issues of particular significance to each period: the development of Islamization and Arabization, the establishment of the Umayyad State, the Caliphate of Córdoba, the production and transmission of knowledge, the war against the Christians, the urbanization process, the dependence of foreign Islamic powers (Almoravids and Almohads), the affirmation of an Andalusi identity, etc.

4. TEACHING METHODOLOGY

Five classes of 1.5 hours (7.5 hours) will be devoted to each one of the five units. The classes are taught through Ppoint presentations aimed at supporting the class explanations, and intended to acquaint the student with historical sources through the use of images (maps, graphics, numismatics, epigraphy) and texts. Ppoint presentations are essential to follow the course successfully and will be available for the students at the Moodle Virtual Platform.

5. CONTENTS

Unit 1. Modern perceptions of al-Andalus Unit 2. The origins of al-Andalus (711-756) Unit 3. The rule of the Umayyad dynasty of Córdoba (756-1031) Unit 4. From the Taifa Kingdoms to the Berber dynasties (11th-13th centuries) Unit 5. The Nasrid Emirate (13th-15th centuries)

6. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Most of the academic literature about al-Andalus is written in Spanish. The main reference works in English are mentioned below, along with others in Spanish. The specific bibliography of each topic will be provided in due time during classes.

Boone, J. L. Lost Civilization. The Contested Islamic Past in Spain and Portugal, London: Duckworth, 2009.

Catlos, B. A. Kingdoms of Faith. A New History of Islamic Spain, New York, Basic Books, 2018.

Fierro, M. ‛Abd al-Rahman III. The First Cordoban Caliph. Oxford: OneWorld Publications, 2005.

Fierro, M. The Almohad Revolution: Politics and Religion in the Islamic West during the twelfth-thirteenth centuries, Routledge, 2012.

Fierro, M. (ed.), The New Cambridge History of Islam. Volume 2: The Western Islamic World, Eleventh to Eighteenth Centuries, Cambridge UP, 2010.

Glick, Th. F. Islamic and Christian Spain in the Early Middle Ages, Leiden: Brill, 2005.

Guichard, P. From the Arab Conquest to the Reconquest: The Splendour and Fragility of Al-Andalus, Granada: El Legado Andalusí, 2006.

Hitchcock, R. Muslim Spain reconsidered: from 711 to 1502, Edinburgh UP, 2014.

Kennedy, H. Muslim Spain and Portugal: a political history of al-Andalus, London- New York, 1996.

Manzano Moreno, E. Conquistadores, emires y califas: los Omeyas y la formación de al-Andalus, Barcelone: Crítica, 2006.

Manzano, E. ‘The Iberian Peninsula and North Africa’, The New Cambridge History of Islam. Volume 1: The Formation of the Islamic World, Sixth to Eleventh Centuries, Cambridge UP, 2010, 581-622.

Marín, M. (ed.), The Formation of al-Andalus, Routledge, 1998.

O’Callaghan, J. A History of Medieval Spain. Cornell UP, 1975.

Safran, J. M. Defining Boundaries in al-Andalus. Muslims, Christians and Jews in Islamic Iberia, Cornell UP, 2013.

Wasserstein, D. The Rise and Fall of the Party-Kings: Politics and Society in Islamic Spain, 1002-1086, Princeton UP, 1985.

Wasserstein, D. The Caliphate in the West: An Islamic Political Institution in the Iberian Peninsula. Oxford UP, 1993.

7. ASSESSMENT SYSTEM

The assessment system is based in two tests of 25 questions each, one for the units and another one for the required readings. Questions have three response options and both tests should be finished in a maximum time of 1 hour and 30 minutes.

A maximum of 10 mistaken answers is allowed in each test. Passing the course requires having less than 10 mistaken answers in each test. Thus passing the course having more than 20 wrong answers in total is not possible.

In accordance with the Spanish Academic assessment system, the final marks will be as follows: Less than 10 mistaken answers: Sobresaliente 10 to 14 mistaken answers: Notable 15 to 20 mistaken answers: Aprobado More than 20 mistaken answers: Suspenso

Required readings

1.Catlos, B. ‘Christian-Muslim-Jewish Relations, Medieval “Spain”, and the Mediterranean: An Historiographical Op-Ed’, Hamilton, M. H. and Silleras-Fernández, N. (eds.). In and Of the Mediterranean. Medieval and Early Modern Iberian Studies. Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press: 2015: 1-16.

2. García-Sanjuán, A. ‘Rejecting al-Andalus, exalting the Reconquista: historical memory in contemporary Spain’, Journal of Medieval Iberian Studies, 10-1 (2018): 127-145.