Cordoba, Spain

1
Cordoba, Spain

• What effects did the Moorish invasion have on the
  city of Cordoba, Spain?

2
Cordoban Culture

• What effects did the Moorish invasion have on
  Cordoban culture?

3
Cordoba-The capital of Moorish Spain
4
Religion

• Moors predominantly Islamic
• Moors set up high culture in defiance of the
  Koran
  
• One Khalif enacted that there be a mosque built
  with every twelve houses that were built
  
• Cordoba had 1600 minarets

5
Religion

• Jews (over 5 of population) and Christians
  (nominal population) paid a tax to receive
  protection of laws
  
• Christians (Mozarabs) permitted to keep cathedral

6
Economy

• Currency based economy
• Gold Cordobes central currency splendor
• 1st urban/ commercial economy since the
  dissolution of Roman Empire
  
• Probably 100,000 inhabitants Europes principal
  urban concentration
  

7
Cordoba Education

• What affect did the Moorish invasion have on
  education in Cordoba?

8
Pre-Moorish Education

• The Moorish Invasion Sparked a Mini Renaissance
  in the Spanish city of Cordoba.
  
• This city had never seen a solid education system
  prior to the invasion.
  
• Pre-Moors, there was little intellectual
  existence in the city.
  
• Europe was in the Dark Ages and Cordoba would
  soon emerge from this dark state to a place of
  great intellectual life.

9
Post-Moorish Influence

• The Moors brought a new sense of learning
• The Moors brought books from the eastern
  empires.
  
• Cordoba had over 70 libraries and a book store on
  nearly every street.
  
• The Moors created the first university in Spain.
• Poets, historians and philosophers migrated to
  Spain to study in their respective fields.

10
New Subjects

• The Moors reintroduced a set of subjects that
  Cordoba and the rest of Europe hadnt seen for
  some time.
  
• Art
• Philosophy
• Physics
• Mathematics
• Science
• Astronomy

11
Cordoban Architecture

• What effects did the Moorish invasion have on
  Cordoban architecture?

12
Cordoban Architecture

• The city of Cordoba was a major center for the
  arts.
  
• Focused on architecture
• Islams legacy of science, mathematics, and art
  (architecture) stuck around through Europe
  today.
  

13
Cordoban Architecture

• In the early 900s Cordoba was the biggest city
  in western Europe with a population of nearly
  half a million.
  
• Center of Cordoban life is the Mezquita (or the
  citys mosque)
  
• Has a forest of 850 pillars

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The Mezquita

• The Mezquita initiated the Califal style of
  architecture
  
• This architecture included
• Roman, Gothic, Byzantine, Syrian and Persian
  elements
  
• This was the starting point of ALL
  Arabian-Hispanic architecture of the centuries to
  come
  
• This lasted until Spain was reconquered by the
  Christians.

15
Cordoban Architecture

• The full horseshoe arch was introduced by the
  Moors and used in Cordoba in the 8th-10th
  centuries.
  
• For 600 years, even the biggest cities in Europe
  didnt have a sewer system. To prevent health
  problems in Cordoba, a sewer system was developed
  under the paved and lighted streets.
• Many of those streets remain today.

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The Mezquita
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The End

• Thank you!