Explanation: While much of Christian Europe was splintered and only beginning to recover from the immense civilizational collapse of the Roman Empire, the Islamic Golden Age was flourishing, bringing new organizational and material technologies to Muslim-ruled societies. It was not all sunshine and rainbows, but the writings of contemporaries show that it was more than just abstract academic knowledge - a broader culture of public works and public good managed to take root and improve the living conditions of many, especially in the cities.
Much of antiquity, even, was transferred to Western Europe by Arabic translations of Greek and Latin works - scholarship of the Islamic golden age had become much more developed than the still-recovering societies of Western Europe, which only began to regain some measure of parity with the Muslim world in the 1300s.
The spanish catholics, known as the castillanos, broght al-Andalus to its feet during the reconquista. They were the ones who founded the spanish inquisition.
Internal and external divisions (Al-Andalus was only a province in the wider Almohad Caliphate) made it vulnerable to Christian invasion, and a member of the royal family/local governor decided to ally with Christians to get his way. Basically ye olde "I will invite foreign powers to help me in this civil war. There is no way this could ever go wrong".
The Muslims basically let the Christians and Jews carry on with their lives, albeit extracting taxes.
Historically, in countries and regions following Islamic law, the religious communities that Muslims recognized as People of the Book were subject to a legal status known as dhimmi, meaning that they had the option to pay a special head tax called jizya in exchange for being granted the privilege to practice their faith and govern their community according to the rules and norms of their own religion. (Wikipedia).
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Explanation: While much of Christian Europe was splintered and only beginning to recover from the immense civilizational collapse of the Roman Empire, the Islamic Golden Age was flourishing, bringing new organizational and material technologies to Muslim-ruled societies. It was not all sunshine and rainbows, but the writings of contemporaries show that it was more than just abstract academic knowledge - a broader culture of public works and public good managed to take root and improve the living conditions of many, especially in the cities.
Much of antiquity, even, was transferred to Western Europe by Arabic translations of Greek and Latin works - scholarship of the Islamic golden age had become much more developed than the still-recovering societies of Western Europe, which only began to regain some measure of parity with the Muslim world in the 1300s.
I solely blame coffee for all this progress.
How did Al-Andalus fall?
The spanish catholics, known as the castillanos, broght al-Andalus to its feet during the reconquista. They were the ones who founded the spanish inquisition.
Well, I didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition..
No one ever does
Internal and external divisions (Al-Andalus was only a province in the wider Almohad Caliphate) made it vulnerable to Christian invasion, and a member of the royal family/local governor decided to ally with Christians to get his way. Basically ye olde "I will invite foreign powers to help me in this civil war. There is no way this could ever go wrong".
The Muslims basically let the Christians and Jews carry on with their lives, albeit extracting taxes.
Historically, in countries and regions following Islamic law, the religious communities that Muslims recognized as People of the Book were subject to a legal status known as dhimmi, meaning that they had the option to pay a special head tax called jizya in exchange for being granted the privilege to practice their faith and govern their community according to the rules and norms of their own religion. (Wikipedia).
So the people outside the book weren't protected? Thats how the paganism of the middle east went dormant
They were. The Caliphates' eastern territories had a bunch of Zoroastrians and Buddhists.
Blessed be spain