"Islamic Spain: 1250 To 1500" by L.P. Harvey

Posted by J

http://www.amazon.com/Islamic-Spain-1250-1500-Harvey/dp/0226319628/sr=8-1/qid=1164162817/ref=sr_1_1/002-0670725-0807254?ie=UTF8&s=books

Wow, wow, and WOW! What a fantastic book. This is basically two books in one. The first is a survey of the "Mudejar" or Islamic communities living in the Christian kingdoms of Spain (primarily Castille, Aragon, and Navar), the other is the history of the last Islamic kingdom of Spain, Granada. Both cover the period 1250-1500, or from the time of the decline of the Almohad empire and the main wave of Christian Reconquista that occurred at the time (resulting in the loss of the fabled cities of Seville and Cordoba from Muslim hands) until shortly after the final fall of Granada in 1492.

I'll quickly point out a few minor complaints: there are only two maps in the book and they're not very complete, so they left me frequently guessing or dealing with geographical ambiguity. Also I do wish there had been greater discussion of the cultural and everyday life of folks in these worlds (particularly in Granada), the cultural richness of the Granadan kingdom is certainly mentioned, but not at all fleshed out. I presume that scope of the book was the main limiting factor.

Those points aside, did I say WOW?! Here is an author who has written a comprehensive survey of the two topics listed above and in an amazingly engaging manner. Here are what I felt were some of the real strong points of the book:

• Heavy use of primary sources. Harvey quotes extensively from the original sources, selecting relevant and engaging sections in very readable translations. Moreover, while Spanish (particularly Castilian) sources are much more readily available, he has brought in a large number of original Arabic sources which (unlike the weakness I felt in Fletcher's "Moorish Spain") left me feeling like I had seen many of these events through Granadan/Moorish eyes and not just European eyes.
• Vivid descriptions of the military campaigns and technology. Those not interested in military history may not be as interested on these points, but I really loved the sense of "being there" Harvey gives (again often through his use of primary sources) of sieges, battles, and frontier raids. I felt I got a true sense of the suffering, chivalry, treason, and honor that people back then felt they were living through. And just as crucially, of what military technology of the era did and did not mean. All of a sudden those battle scenes from the Lord of the Rings movies seemed a little more believable and real :) Though sadder as well.
• The mood of the era. Harvey's ability to convey the mood and air of the era is phenomenonal. Not just of Moorish loss and Castillian triumphalism, but the back and forth of personal loyalty and betrayal, and the consequences these actions of a few had on the lives of so many ordinary people.
• Even-handedness. I felt Harvey did quite a good job of trying within his abilities to balance his sources and judgements (which he keeps reasonably limited) between sides. He can see the pain of the losses of the Moors and the bravery of the Castilians, along with the foolishness of Granada internecine violence and follies of Christian knights.
• Religious insight. No, this is not a religious book nor attempt to pass judgement on religions, but Harvey raises extremely interesting points about how the Mudajer communities weren't even supposed to exist under traditional Islamic law (and indeed, North African and even Spanish Islamic clerics encouraged emmigration out of lands that came under Christian rule) and how this created very interesting dynamics and strains of both religious co-existence and the need for Muslims to define a new set of rules for living. Sometimes Orthodox, sometimes bending the rules a bit. Also, some interesting discussion of how Granda as the surviving rump-state of the past glories of Al-Andalus became instead of the old Andalusian melting pot, a last bastion of Orthodoxy and purist thought. While Granada's survival allowed in many ways the Convivencia experiments of other Mudajer communities to go on (i.e., toleration of Moors in Christian kingdoms was more important when a Muslim community fairly nearby could press for their fair treatment), its final collapse was part of the death knell of co-existence. I felt more and more as I read that there was less of what today we'd call "tolerance" and more mere side-by-side existence. As time went on, even that faded away, with disastrous consequences for Jews and Muslims.
• A sense of the changing times. Great coverage of how military technology and tactics were changing with the introduction of the cannon for example and what that meant for the relative effectiveness of Granadan versus Castilian military strategy. Also at the end how the weakness of North African Islamic states combined with the rising strength of Castille and the discovery of the Americas to preclude any Islamic attempts to recover al-Andalus. And many others.
• Discussions of the weaknesses of the various societies. I felt I gained a good sense of the economic, social, political, and other factors which steadily weakened Granada

I could literally go on and on (and already have to some extent), but I highly, highly recommend this book. He has a follow-up book I hope to read soon on the final era of Islam in Spain covering the 1500s until the final expulsion of all the Moors in the early 1600s.

On a final note: the book felt alive, real, like something happening today. Perhaps this is part of why Arabs have such an attachment to the idea of Granada and Al-Andalus: the destruction of Palestine is before them today and there is a historical precedent. I wish I could say that folks in the Arab world really understood what the loss of Granada was all about and the lessons it gives for Palestine. The truth I think is that many of the same weaknesses are at play, and many Arabs see this in the corruption of their leaders today and merciless foreign conquerors as occurred in the past, but over-zealousness internally is also an ongoing weakness. It seems the answers then were no easier than the answers today, but it does seem clear that Christians, Jews and Muslims all have a thing or two to learn about the importance of valuing the fruits of cooperation over those of conquest.