Kingdoms of Faith: A New History of Islamic Spain
A magisterial, myth-dispelling history of Islamic Spain spanning the millennium between the founding of Islam in the seventh century and the final expulsion of Spain's Muslims in the seventeenth

In Kingdoms of Faith, award-winning historian Brian A. Catlos rewrites the history of Islamic Spain from the ground up, evoking the cultural splendor of al-Andalus, while offering an authoritative new interpretation of the forces that shaped it.

Prior accounts have portrayed Islamic Spain as a paradise of enlightened tolerance or the site where civilizations clashed. Catlos taps a wide array of primary sources to paint a more complex portrait, showing how Muslims, Christians, and Jews together built a sophisticated civilization that transformed the Western world, even as they waged relentless war against each other and their coreligionists. Religion was often the language of conflict, but seldom its cause — a lesson we would do well to learn in our own time.
1127061535
Kingdoms of Faith: A New History of Islamic Spain
A magisterial, myth-dispelling history of Islamic Spain spanning the millennium between the founding of Islam in the seventh century and the final expulsion of Spain's Muslims in the seventeenth

In Kingdoms of Faith, award-winning historian Brian A. Catlos rewrites the history of Islamic Spain from the ground up, evoking the cultural splendor of al-Andalus, while offering an authoritative new interpretation of the forces that shaped it.

Prior accounts have portrayed Islamic Spain as a paradise of enlightened tolerance or the site where civilizations clashed. Catlos taps a wide array of primary sources to paint a more complex portrait, showing how Muslims, Christians, and Jews together built a sophisticated civilization that transformed the Western world, even as they waged relentless war against each other and their coreligionists. Religion was often the language of conflict, but seldom its cause — a lesson we would do well to learn in our own time.
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Kingdoms of Faith: A New History of Islamic Spain

Kingdoms of Faith: A New History of Islamic Spain

by Brian A. Catlos
Kingdoms of Faith: A New History of Islamic Spain

Kingdoms of Faith: A New History of Islamic Spain

by Brian A. Catlos

Hardcover

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Overview

A magisterial, myth-dispelling history of Islamic Spain spanning the millennium between the founding of Islam in the seventh century and the final expulsion of Spain's Muslims in the seventeenth

In Kingdoms of Faith, award-winning historian Brian A. Catlos rewrites the history of Islamic Spain from the ground up, evoking the cultural splendor of al-Andalus, while offering an authoritative new interpretation of the forces that shaped it.

Prior accounts have portrayed Islamic Spain as a paradise of enlightened tolerance or the site where civilizations clashed. Catlos taps a wide array of primary sources to paint a more complex portrait, showing how Muslims, Christians, and Jews together built a sophisticated civilization that transformed the Western world, even as they waged relentless war against each other and their coreligionists. Religion was often the language of conflict, but seldom its cause — a lesson we would do well to learn in our own time.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780465055876
Publisher: Basic Books
Publication date: 05/01/2018
Pages: 496
Sales rank: 465,392
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.80(d)

About the Author

Brian A. Catlos is a professor of religious studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder. His books have won numerous awards, including the American Historical Association's Premio del Rey Award and John E. Fagg Prize. Catlos lives in Boulder, Colorado, and Barcelona, Spain.

Table of Contents

A Note on Names, Places, and Dates ix

Introduction 1

Prelude: The Beginning of Islam and the End of Antiquity 9

Part I Conquest, 700-820

1 An Opening 21

2 Trouble in Paradise 33

3 The Falcon of the Quraysh 45

4 A New Emirate 59

Part II Transformation, 820-929

5 The Emirate on the Edge 73

6 The Invention of al-Andalus 85

7 Saints and Sinners 101

8 Kingdoms of Faith 113

Part III Triumph, 929-1030

9 A Sun Rising in the West 129

10 The Resplendent City 139

11 All the Caliph's Men 147

12 "An Ornament Bright," 159

13 The General, the Caliph, His Wife, and Her Lover 173

14 The Chamberlain, Victorious 183

15 The Fall of the House of Umayya 195

Part IV Disarray, 1030-1220

16 The Remembrance of Things Past 209

17 The Return of the King 221

18 A Soldier of Fortune in the Kingdom of Philosophy 235

19 A Terrible, Swift Sword 251

20 Faith and Power 263

21 An African Caliphate 273

22 Golden Ages 285

Part V Romance, 1220-1482

23 The Great Game 303

24 Crescent Under Cross 317

25 The Pearl in the Necklace 333

26 Prosperous by God 347

27 Tales of the Alhambra 363

Part VI Shards, 1482-1614

28 A Last Sigh 383

29 The Virgin and the Veil 399

30 On the Road with Ricote 413

Epilogue: Al-Andalus Unmoored 427

Acknowledgments 433

Umayyad Amirs and Caliphs of Córdoba 435

Nasrid Sultans and Notable Figures 437

Notes 441

Glossary 443

Works Cited 451

Index 459

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