Abd al- Rahman escaped in 750…

He fled to the Iberian Peninsula. There he began to build a kingdom that would

match the Abbasid Empire in culture and wealth

Essential Question

• How did the Umayyads create a strong Muslim empire in Spain?

What did he find when he got to Cordoba?

• Spain was divided. – Several factions were competing for control of the

peninsula. None were strong enough to gain control.

Abd al-Rahaman takes action…

• He quickly starts to unite the warring factions– He could easily gain control for the following

reasons:• Had a loyal following • He made treaties with other Muslim groups• When he felt he had enough support he attacked ruling

factions to gain control

Abd al-Rahman Becomes Emir

• In 756 Abd al-Rahman declares himself Emir of Cordoba and Cordoba as the capital.

• Umayyad loyalists begin to move to Spain• • Challenges• Internal Revolts• External threats from Northern Africa • and Europe

Al - Andalus

125 years later…

• Abd al-Rahman III helps Al- Andalus reach the height of it’s power– Many challenges: rebels, Christian armies, Muslim

armies– Preservation of power: huge standing army,

strengthened the southern border by taking the most north western tip of Africa, put down internal revolts, protected the northern border

– Declared himself Caliph to send a message

I am Caliph!

Challenge me if you DARE

The Glory of Cordoba

• By 1000’s Cordoba was the largest city in Western Europe

• Paved streets, street lamps, public baths, water system, and beautiful gardens

The GLORY of Cordoba

Economic Center

Cultural Center

Workshops that produced in

demand goods

Advances in Agriculture

Books, books, and more books housed

in libraries

Scholars lured away from Baghdad

Advances in Math, Science,

Philosophy, Geography, and

Medicine

Golden Age in the West

• Built on or extened the work of earlier mathematicians

• Astronomers mapped the stars and built large planetariums

• Geographers wrote about various regions

• Al- Idrisi – completed an encyclopedia of geographic knowledge with maps and descriptions

Golden Age in the West

Medicine• Borrowed ideas from Baghdad• Doctor patient relationships• Wrote about ways to treat

diseases ex. Changes in diet should always be tried before medicine or other types of treatment

• Al-Zahrawi – Wrote about teeth, caring for children – became required reading for doctors throughout Europe

Philosophy• Studied the works of Plato

and Aristotle and helped reintroduce classical Greek philosophy to Europe

A Great Jewish ScholarMaimonides

• Fled Cordoba when he was young because his parents refused to give up their religion

• Wrote and taught about many subjects. • Best known work, the Guide

for the Perplexed, was published in 1190. He tried to show that religious faith could be supported by the study of philosophy

The Decline

• 1204 – al- Andalus began to fall apart

• Factions once again fought for control

• Christians in the north took advantage of the disarray and launched attackes

• By 1240 the pushed as far south as Cordoba and Seville. Christian forces slowly regained control of the Iberian Peninsula