A couple of library books I just read about the three religions during Medieval times in Spain. They are both similar and give the history with fascinating stories of some of the people, such as Maimonides, Averroes, Moses of Leon (scholars, writers, philosophers), Heloise, Don Quixote, El Cid, etc. They are mostly focus on Southern Spain-- Cordoba, Seville, Toledo, Granada but would apply to Barcelona.
A Vanished World: Medieval Spain's Golden Age of Enlightenment by Chris Lowney, 2005
The Ornament of the World: How Muslims, Jews and Christians Created a Culture of Tolerance in Medieval Spain by Maria Rosa Menoca, 2002.
Another book I will bring to next meeting is: Convivencia: Jews, Muslims, and Christians in Medieval Spain, edited with essays by Vivian Mann, Thomas Glick and Jerrilynn Dodds, 1992. This is a beautiful book with many color plates about an exhibit at The Jewish Museum in New York. Excellent essay on Convivencia. People did coexist and often worked together but there were still issues.
Can we please say the three "Abrahamic" or "Biblical" religions so as not to leave out non-European religions? I'm just a stickler on this. There are always issues, but a great part of what made Spain what it is was the 700 years of religious cultural mixing. There were certain divisions of society but 700 years? Really, we could aim for ten and see if we succeed.
A couple of library books I just read about the three religions during Medieval times in Spain. They are both similar and give the history with fascinating stories of some of the people, such as Maimonides, Averroes, Moses of Leon (scholars, writers, philosophers), Heloise, Don Quixote, El Cid, etc. They are mostly focus on Southern Spain-- Cordoba, Seville, Toledo, Granada but would apply to Barcelona.
ReplyDeleteA Vanished World: Medieval Spain's Golden Age of Enlightenment by Chris Lowney, 2005
The Ornament of the World: How Muslims, Jews and Christians Created a Culture of Tolerance in Medieval Spain by Maria Rosa Menoca, 2002.
Another book I will bring to next meeting is: Convivencia: Jews, Muslims, and Christians in Medieval Spain, edited with essays by Vivian Mann, Thomas Glick and Jerrilynn Dodds, 1992. This is a beautiful book with many color plates about an exhibit at The Jewish Museum in New York. Excellent essay on Convivencia. People did coexist and often worked together but there were still issues.
Can we please say the three "Abrahamic" or "Biblical" religions so as not to leave out non-European religions? I'm just a stickler on this.
ReplyDeleteThere are always issues, but a great part of what made Spain what it is was the 700 years of religious cultural mixing. There were certain divisions of society but 700 years? Really, we could aim for ten and see if we succeed.