EXTREMADURA: HOME TO HERDSMAN, RULERS AND ANARCHY (PART 28 – Works Referenced in Assembling these Posts)

Tags

Abdallah (1022 - 1045 A.D.), Abdelwahid al-Marrakushi, Aftasid, al Mansur, al Mutawakill, Aldea, Aledo, Alfonso I of Aragon, Alfonso III of Castile, Alfonso VI, Almohad, Almoravid, ANARCHY, Averroes, Badajoz, Berber, Carthage, Cordoba, Cowdrey, Duero River, Extremadura, Fernando I, Gabriel Jackson, Garcia I, Garcia Sanchez, Guadiana River, Hammudid, Hannibal, HERDSMAN, heresy, Hisham, Iberia, Ibn Abdun, Ibn Abi Amir, Ibn Marwan al Jilliqi, Iogna-Prat, James Michener, Jundi, Maliki School of Jurisprudence, Maurice_Lord of Montboisier, Merida, Morocco, Muhammad (1045 - 1068 A.D.), Musaffa, Peter of Bruis, Peter the Venerable, Pope Innocent II, Pope Innocent III, Romans, RULERS, The Abduniyyah, The Caribbean, The Cluny, The Mesta, Umar al Aftas, Umar and Yaha (1068 A.D.), Umayyad, Variathus, Vermundo III, Yusuf ibn Tashufin

 

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Chejne, Anwar G., Muslim Spain its History and Culture, Minneapolis, MI: University of Minnesota Press, 1974

 

Fletcher, Ian, In Hell Before Daylight, New York: Hippocrene Books, Inc., 1984

 

Glick, Thomas F., Islamic and Christian Spain in the Early Middle Ages, Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press, 1979

 

Imamuddin, S. M., Some Aspects of the Socio-Economic and Cultural History of Muslim Spain, Leiden Netherlands: E. J. Brill, 1965

 

Jackson, Gabriel, The Making of Medieval Spain, New York: Harcort Brace Jovanovich, Inc., 1972

 

Michener, James A., Iberia, New York: Fawcett Crest, 1968

 

Reilly, Bernard F., The Contest of Christian and Muslim Spain, Oxford UK: Blackwell, 1992

 

Smith, Colin, Christians and Moors in Spain (Vol. 1) 711 – 1150, Warminster, Wiltshire, UK: Aris & Philips Ltd. Teddington House, 1988

     —., Christians and Moors in Spain (Vol. II) 1195 – 1614   1989

 

Watt, W. Montgomery et. al, The History of Islamic Spain, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1965

 

Oliver Leaman, Averroes and his Philosophy, Clarendon Press – Oxford, 1988

 

A Book Review of “Order and Exclusion: Cluny and Christendom Face Heresy, Judaism, and Islam. (1000-1150)”        

“English Historical Review”, Sept. 2003, by H.E.J. Cowdrey

 

Dominique Urvoy, IBN RUSHD (AVERROES), Translated by Olivia Stewart, Routledge Press – London and New York, 1991

THE END OF THE SERIES ON EXTREMADURA

 

EXTREMADURA: HOME TO HERDSMAN, RULERS AND ANARCHY (PART 27 – Genesis)

Tags

Abdallah (1022 - 1045 A.D.), Abdelwahid al-Marrakushi, Aftasid, al Mansur, al Mutawakill, Aldea, Aledo, Alfonso I of Aragon, Alfonso III of Castile, Alfonso VI, Almohad, Almoravid, ANARCHY, Averroes, Badajoz, Berber, Carthage, Cordoba, Cowdrey, Duero River, Extremadura, Fernando I, Gabriel Jackson, Garcia I, Garcia Sanchez, Guadiana River, Hammudid, Hannibal, HERDSMAN, heresy, Hisham, Iberia, Ibn Abdun, Ibn Abi Amir, Ibn Marwan al Jilliqi, Iogna-Prat, James Michener, Jundi, Maliki School of Jurisprudence, Maurice_Lord of Montboisier, Merida, Morocco, Muhammad (1045 - 1068 A.D.), Musaffa, Peter of Bruis, Peter the Venerable, Pope Innocent II, Pope Innocent III, Romans, RULERS, The Abduniyyah, The Caribbean, The Cluny, The Mesta, Umar al Aftas, Umar and Yaha (1068 A.D.), Umayyad, Variathus, Vermundo III, Yusuf ibn Tashufin

 

What was it about the Extremadura that attracted people in the first place? As previously stated the Guadianna River basin, although marginally navigable,was of sufficient flow to maintain crops. Sizable migrations of native Iberians followed this waterway inland as early as 1500 B.C.. In 711 A.D. seven million Hispano-Romans lived in al Andalus. By 912 A.D. 2.8 million indigenous Muslims existed there. By 1100 A.D. the number had risen to 5.6 million indigenous Muslims. The Moors put the Guadianna’s fair supply of water to good use in order to irrigate land that would otherwise lay useless.

The Guadianna River flows for 840 kilometers (about 500 miles) starting at a point just eighty miles west of the Mediterranean coastal city of Valencia. Its path cuts almost directly westward until it reaches Badajoz at which point it turns southward and empties into the Atlantic Ocean. The watershed of the Guadianna covers 69,000 square kilometers (33,000 square miles). The Extremadura principality was a basin principality not unlike Toledo or Zarragossa.

The conquering Islamic policy of allowing the conquered people to continue farming their land was a boon to agricultural Spain. Likewise, it was a boon for the urban areas due to leasing arrangements made by wealthy Muslim landholders. This practice also allowed inexpensive produce to reach city dwellers.

Badajoz had a population of about 20,000 people during the Aftasid Dynasty. The roads that the Romans had built were no longer the busy byways that they had been. However, they were still used as a trading route starting at Lisbon (modern Portugal) and followed an eastward path to Badajoz, Merida, Manzares, Albacete and finally Barcelona.

 

“Andalusi merchants circulated freely throughout the Middle East: a Jewish trader from Badajoz was active in Palestine and Syria.”

 

[“Islamic and Christian Spain in the Early Middle Ages”, Thomas F. Glick, Princeton University Press, 1979, Page 131]

 

In 1065 the taifa of Badajoz included modern Extremadura plus Portugal Algarve; Leira, Coria, Santarem, Sintra, Lisbon, Badajoz, Merida, Setabul and Evora. The products of this taifa included wheat, olives and vines; which all were more well suited than the Extremadura’s less intensive garden agriculture. Leather was a year-round supplementary product as was its source, stock raising. The mountainous area surrounding Badajoz was more suitable for a pastoral system than a purely agricultural one.

Fishing was a major component of some urban areas. Cordova imported 20,000 dinar worth of sardines per day. Badajoz’ year round fishing industry was limited to two commercial fish species called “Tunny” and “Turtata.” These were found in the waters of the Guadianna upstream to Badajoz and Merida. In the spring and fall migrations of three additional species of fish left the sea and followed the river basin inland; “al Shulah” ran upstream in the spring, “Sardines” and “Burah” ran upstream in the fall.

The heavy mining areas south of Badajoz (towards Cadiz) did not extend inland far enough to be a major product of the principality of Badajoz. However, silver was mined just west of Badajoz in the area of Beja, which was located in the Badajoz principality.

Deforestation was becoming prevalent in some areas of Christian Spain due to ship building and the need for timbers in the mining industry. The Extremadura not only escaped a majority of this lumber industry but also had a climate that allowed oak to grow.

Badajoz’ strategic location seems to presage its fate. After the several aforementioned sieges, by both Muslims and Christians, Badajoz remained relatively safe until the political strife of the nineteenth and twentieth-centuries. Badajoz’ location made it ripe for siege by the British during the Napoleonic Peninsular war (1812) and then again during the Spanish Civil War when Franco’s Nationals defeated Badajoz’ majority of Republicans (1939). Both of these more recent sieges resulted in massacre and heavy bloodshed to both the military and civilian population.

 

Tomorrow: “Citations”

EXTREMADURA: HOME TO HERDSMAN, RULERS AND ANARCHY (PART 26 – Duplicity)

Tags

Abdallah (1022 - 1045 A.D.), Abdelwahid al-Marrakushi, Aftasid, al Mansur, al Mutawakill, Aldea, Aledo, Alfonso I of Aragon, Alfonso III of Castile, Alfonso VI, Almohad, Almoravid, ANARCHY, Averroes, Badajoz, Berber, Carthage, Cordoba, Cowdrey, Duero River, Extremadura, Fernando I, Gabriel Jackson, Garcia I, Garcia Sanchez, Guadiana River, Hammudid, Hannibal, HERDSMAN, heresy, Hisham, Iberia, Ibn Abdun, Ibn Abi Amir, Ibn Marwan al Jilliqi, Iogna-Prat, James Michener, Jundi, Maliki School of Jurisprudence, Maurice_Lord of Montboisier, Merida, Morocco, Muhammad (1045 - 1068 A.D.), Musaffa, Peter of Bruis, Peter the Venerable, Pope Innocent II, Pope Innocent III, Romans, RULERS, The Abduniyyah, The Caribbean, The Cluny, The Mesta, Umar al Aftas, Umar and Yaha (1068 A.D.), Umayyad, Variathus, Vermundo III, Yusuf ibn Tashufin

 

The Prince of the Faithful, Abu Yaqub Yusuf, was Averroes patron in supporting his translations of Aristotle.

Yet, the following was written in the year 1224 AD by Abdelwahid al-Marrakushi in his writing of “The Pleasant Book in Summarizing the History of the Maghreb.”

“And in this – – – -[Averroes] faced his severe ordeal and there were two causes for this; one is known and the other is secret. The secret cause, which was the major reason, is that [Averroes] —may God have mercy on his soul— when summarizing, commenting and expending upon Aristotle’s book “History of Animals” wrote: “And I saw the Giraffe at the garden of the king of the Berbers”.

“They took one phrase out of context that said: ‘and it was shown that Venus is one of the Gods’ and presented it to [The Prince of the Faithful, Abu Yaqub Yusuf] who then summoned the chiefs and noblemen of Córdoba and said to [Averroes] in front of them ‘Is this your handwriting?’. [Averroes] then denied and [The Prince of the Faithful, Abu Yaqub Yusuf] said ‘May God curse the one who wrote this’ and ordered that [Averroes] be exiled and all the philosophy books to be gathered and burned…And I saw, when I was in Fes, these books being carried on horses in great quantities and burned.”

In truth what had happened was that the king was troubled by political upheaval. He needed a scapegoat – – – and what better scapegoat could be had than a philosopher? Ignoring the fact that Averroes was his personal physician, The Prince of the Faithful, Abu Yaqub Yusuf, banished Averroes in 1195 and ordered his writings burned. Averroes was not allowed to return to Marrakesh until 1197.

Averroes died in the year 1198 AD. His body was returned to Cordoba for burial.

However, copies of Averroes’ writings had been spirited away, northward across the Pyrenees Mountains. They have been translated from Arabic into Hebrew by Jacob Anatoli, and then from Hebrew into Latin by Jacob Mantino and Abraham de Balmes. Michael Scot translated other works of Averroes directly from Arabic into Latin.

Those works, initially written in Greek by Aristotle, and translated by Averroes into Arabic, became fuel for the 12^th Century Renaissance.

 

Tomorrow: “Genisis“

EXTREMADURA: HOME TO HERDSMAN, RULERS AND ANARCHY (PART 25 – The Translations)

Tags

Abdallah (1022 - 1045 A.D.), Aftasid, al Mansur, al Mutawakill, Aldea, Aledo, Alfonso I of Aragon, Alfonso III of Castile, Alfonso VI, Almohad, Almoravid, ANARCHY, Averroes, Badajoz, Berber, Carthage, Cordoba, Cowdrey, Duero River, Extremadura, Fernando I, Gabriel Jackson, Garcia I, Garcia Sanchez, Guadiana River, Hammudid, Hannibal, HERDSMAN, heresy, Hisham, Iberia, Ibn Abdun, Ibn Abi Amir, Ibn Marwan al Jilliqi, Iogna-Prat, James Michener, Jundi, Maliki School of Jurisprudence, Maurice_Lord of Montboisier, Merida, Morocco, Muhammad (1045 - 1068 A.D.), Musaffa, Peter of Bruis, Peter the Venerable, Pope Innocent II, Pope Innocent III, Romans, RULERS, The Abduniyyah, The Caribbean, The Cluny, The Mesta, Umar al Aftas, Umar and Yaha (1068 A.D.), Umayyad, Variathus, Vermundo III, Yusuf ibn Tashufin

Averroes’ work for the Aristotelian revival in the 12th and 13th centuries. Averroes wrote short commentaries on Aristotle’s work in logic, physics, and psychology. Averroes long commentaries provided an in depth line by line analysis of Aristotle’s:

“Posterior Analytics,” (production of scientific knowledge and the statement of a thing’s nature),

“De Anima,” (the nature of living things, different kinds of living things, distinguished by their different operations)

 

 

“Physics,” (philosophical principles of natural or moving things, living and non-living, rather than physical theories in the modern sense)

“De Caelo,” (on the heavenly bodies most perfect realities whose motions are ruled by principles other than those of bodies in the sublunary sphere; such as the four classical elements; earth, water, air, fire)

And “Metaphysics” (examines what can be asserted about anything that exists just because of its existence and not because of any special qualities it has).

 

Tomorrow: “Duplicity“

EXTREMADURA: HOME TO HERDSMAN, RULERS AND ANARCHY (PART 24 – Averroes’ Princely Patron)

Tags

Abdallah (1022 - 1045 A.D.), Aftasid, al Mansur, al Mutawakill, Aldea, Aledo, Alfonso I of Aragon, Alfonso III of Castile, Alfonso VI, Almohad, Almoravid, ANARCHY, Averroes, Badajoz, Berber, Carthage, Cordoba, Cowdrey, Duero River, Extremadura, Fernando I, Gabriel Jackson, Garcia I, Garcia Sanchez, Guadiana River, Hammudid, Hannibal, HERDSMAN, heresy, Hisham, Iberia, Ibn Abdun, Ibn Abi Amir, Ibn Marwan al Jilliqi, Iogna-Prat, James Michener, Jundi, Maliki School of Jurisprudence, Maurice_Lord of Montboisier, Merida, Morocco, Muhammad (1045 - 1068 A.D.), Musaffa, Peter of Bruis, Peter the Venerable, Pope Innocent II, Pope Innocent III, Romans, RULERS, The Abduniyyah, The Caribbean, The Cluny, The Mesta, Umar al Aftas, Umar and Yaha (1068 A.D.), Umayyad, Variathus, Vermundo III, Yusuf ibn Tashufin

Pieces of Aristotle’s work had started to become translated from Greek into Arabic. Averroes read some of these pieces and realized that they were incomplete and that the translation was poor. The more he read the more his interest grew. However, other duties kept him from attacking the problem in a diligent manner.

Averroes was 42 years old when a friend, ibn Tufayl, realized that The Prince of the Faithful, Abu Yaqub Yusuf, might prove helpful in Averroes’ Aristotelian endeavors.

Abu Yaqub Yusuf was the son of the first caliph of the Almohad dynasty. Yusuf and his bloodline were descended from the Berbers that controlled North Africa; Morocco, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria.

It was in 1169 AD that Averroes’ friend, ibn Tufayl, set up a meeting with Yusuf, Prince of the Faithful. Ibn Tufayl knew that Yusuf had an interest in philosophy. Because philosophy was not a subject discussed in public the meeting got off to a slow start.

Yusuf, Prince of the Faithful, did have an interest in philosophy. Ibn Tufayl praised Averroes’ abilities in the philosophy of Aristotle. When the prince looked at Averroes and asked him a question about his interest Averroes gave a rather indirect answer. The Prince of the Faithful realized that Averroes was hesitant and prudent about becoming involved in a discussion on philosophy; especially with the Prince of the Faithful.

The prince turned to ibn Tufayl and engaged him in a rather lengthy discussion on philosophy. This made Averroes feel more comfortable and he gradually opened up about his efforts in translating Aristotle’s works.

The prince told Averroes that nothing would make him more pleased than to help support Averroes’ efforts in completing those translations.

 

 

Tomorrow: “The Translations“

EXTREMADURA: HOME TO HERDSMAN, RULERS AND ANARCHY (PART 23 – The Maliki School of Jurisprudence)

Tags

Abdallah (1022 - 1045 A.D.), Aftasid, al Mansur, al Mutawakill, Aldea, Aledo, Alfonso I of Aragon, Alfonso III of Castile, Alfonso VI, Almohad, Almoravid, ANARCHY, Averroes, Badajoz, Berber, Carthage, Cordoba, Cowdrey, Duero River, Extremadura, Fernando I, Gabriel Jackson, Garcia I, Garcia Sanchez, Guadiana River, Hammudid, Hannibal, HERDSMAN, heresy, Hisham, Iberia, Ibn Abdun, Ibn Abi Amir, Ibn Marwan al Jilliqi, Iogna-Prat, James Michener, Jundi, Maliki School of Jurisprudence, Maurice_Lord of Montboisier, Merida, Morocco, Muhammad (1045 - 1068 A.D.), Musaffa, Peter of Bruis, Peter the Venerable, Pope Innocent II, Pope Innocent III, Romans, RULERS, The Abduniyyah, The Caribbean, The Cluny, The Mesta, Umar al Aftas, Umar and Yaha (1068 A.D.), Umayyad, Variathus, Vermundo III, Yusuf ibn Tashufin

The Christians and Jews who lived in southern Spain (Andalusia) at the period of Islamic control were treated fairly under these legal concepts.

These doctrines emanated from the Maliki School of jurisprudence. Both Averroes’ father and grandfather were Maliki judges.

The following is summarized text from Wikipedia.

The Maliki school enjoyed success in the Muslim west (Andalusia and The Maghreb). Under the Umayyad, the Maliki School was promoted as the official state code of law, and Maliki judges had free rein over religious practice. In return, the Maliki jurists were expected to support and legitimize the government’s right to power. This dominance in Andalus from the Umayyads, and then the Almoravids continued, with Islamic law in the region dominated by the opinions of Malik and his students. The stricter prophetic tradition in Islam, played a lesser role; few were well versed in it. The Almoravids eventually gave way to the Almohads, at which point Malikis were tolerated at times but lost official favor.

Averroes, while still in his youth, looked unfavorably on the logic that the Maliki School was offering. It was not a matter of ignorance of the school; for Averroes was known as a highly regarded legal scholar on Maliki law. In 1160, Averroes was made judge of Seville. In the following years he served as a jurist in Seville, Cordoba, and Morocco.

MOROCCO

So, how is it that such a man would foster the birth of the 12^th Century Renaissance in Europe?

We will need to look a little deeper.

Tomorrow: “Averroes’ Princely Patron“

JOHN BESSAC’S GREAT ADVENTURE

Tags

abbe secular, Africa, Algiers, Barbary Coast, Bey of Tunis, Carthage, Emperor of Morocco, Fez, French Army, French Hostages, Hammuda ibn Ali, Hussainid Dynasty, John Bessac, King Louis XVI, Mediterranian Sea, Morocco, priest candidate, Tangier, Tripoli, Tunisia, University of Cahors

John Bessac was properly schooled in the basics. Now it was time for his father’s plan to be initiated.

That plan was for young John to become an “abbe secular” or a candidate for priesthood. This allowed John to wear a habit of the order he was destined for. As his studies progressed, he would then be allowed to take on the vows of priesthood.

At that period of time a new, and very young, King Louis XVI was crowned.

Louis XVI courtesy of Wikipedia

One of the king’s first actions was to raise a “headcount” tax on the major cities within his kingdom. The purpose of this tax was to have enough money to bargain with the “Bey of Tunis”, Hammuda ibn Ali, who was the Emperor of Morocco. The bargaining was for the release of French hostages who had been languishing in captivity. This was not an uncommon practice during the Hussainid Dynasty.

Bey of Tunis, Hammuda ibn Ali (Monarch of Morroco in 1774)

This all occurred during John’s term of studies in the University of Cahors. John during that same period established a close and lasting friendship with a young man named “Barte.” John, at times, received assistance from Barte whose father was a distinguished merchant in Cahors. John never requested any assistance and therefore felt a great kinship towards Barte.

John’s uncle Louis had been selected to travel to Tangier and Fez to complete the negotiating for the French Hostages held in Morocco. Then, if needs warranted, to continue on to Tunisia, Algiers and Tripoli.

John’s uncle requested that he travel with him to Northern Africa. What a wonderful day it must have been for a young man fifteen years of age.

The voyage commenced from Bordeaux to the Bay of Biscay. From there into the Mediterranean Sea and then along the Barbary Coast of Africa.

MOROCCO

The mission of obtaining release of the hostages was successful. John saw more or the world than he ever imagined. However, his studies had made him aware of Carthage. Ever since the end of this trip he had been saddened that he had not visited Carthage.

One of the few quotes attributed to John Bessac was “I have often regretted that I did not visit the ruins of this ancient city, made memorable by the writings of eminent historians, and the no less memorable poets of Greece and Rome.”

CARTHAGE

John’s life, up to this point, had been almost total exclusion due to the demands of his studies. The African excursion opened up his eyes to the evils of despotic power. He thought about the cold formalities of his future monastic life. Doubts crept into his mind.

Upon his return home he implored his mother to speak to his father about a change of careers. He wanted to seek fame and fortune in the French Army.

John’s mother honored his request.

John’s father, a staunch Catholic, would have none of it.