Islamic Spain 1250-1500

Abstract

This book presents a remarkable account of the political history of Andalusia (Muslim Spain) during the last phase of its existence. The author adopts a cyclical approach in the sense that he traces the creation of the Banu Nasr kingdom in Granada, its development, and its decline and fall. He studies the period of each ruler in chronological order from the establishment of the kingdom of Granada to its collapse. Instead of limiting himself to description or repetition, he chooses to adopt an analytical approach which permits him to deepen our insight regarding the period of each ruler. He reproduces a clear picture which combines internal political developments and external relations with the Christians. The author studies the history of the Muslims of Granada as well as those in Christian Spain up to the Christian conquest of Granada. He is correct in including these two categories, for the religious, cultural, and linguistic criteria unite these two groups, and also because their fates became similar after the fall of Granada in 1492. Thus both groups can be considered “Moriscos,” a topic which Harvey started working on over thirty years ago. The book is not easy to read, because it reflects many years of research and has tremendous cultural weight. To the author’s obvious strenuous intellectual effort, one may add his intellectual integrity as a distinguished scholar who is credible in the West and in the East alike, somethmg which not all orientalists can claim. He is critical of the history which he studies and its sources without being offensive; the distorting influence of a personal dimension found in other historians is here minimized. The author criticizes himself before being critical of others. His manner of presenting and interpreting history is convincing, as his intentions are exclusively scholarly. The author is a member of a breed that is not very common in the politically oriented European and North American universities with regards to anything related to Islam and Muslims. This is not to say that he is beyond criticism, however, as the book could be faulted for not having relied directly on some of the fundamental and primary Andalusian sources. We could disagree with his approach and suggest other approaches. Fortunately for his readers, the author is perhaps more conscious of his limitations than anybody else, which is also why he did what he proposed to do so admirably ...