Muslim Spain

Rapporti commerciali tra Firenze e il Regno di Granada nel XV secolo

by Raúl González Arévalo

In "Mercatura è arte". Uomini d'affari toscani in Europa e nel Mediterraneo tardomedievale, a cura di L. Tanzini e S. Tognetti. Roma, Viella, 2012, pp. 179-203.

This paper aims to study a hitherto bad known aspect, the position of the Republic of Florence in the Nasri sultanate.... more This paper aims to study a hitherto bad known aspect, the position of the Republic of Florence in the Nasri sultanate. To achieve this we shall take as reference the commercial mechanisms developed by the Tuscan merchants in their relationships with the Western Islam between the Thirteenth and the Fifteenth Centuries, underlying the particularities observed in Grenade. Last, data about the Florentine galley system’s commerce will serve to offer a provisional conclusion.

Enclosed in Ivory: The Miseducation of al-Mughira

by Francisco Prado-Vilar

"Enclosed in Ivory: The Miseducation of al-Mughira,” Journal of the David Collection 2.1 (2005): 138-63.

In response to the publication of SOPHIE MAKARIOU's rambling criticism of "Enclosed in Ivory" in her... more In response to the publication of SOPHIE MAKARIOU's rambling criticism of "Enclosed in Ivory" in her lackluster and derivative "The al-Mughira Pyxis and Spanish Umayyad Ivories: Aims and Tools of Power," in Umayyad Legacies: Medieval Memories from Syria to Spain, ed. A. Borrut and P. Cobb (Leiden: Brill, 2010), pp. 313-35, here I invite more intelligent readers to peruse "Enclosed in Ivory" again in its manifold dimensions of analysis, waging its historical, iconographic, and literary arguments, as well as its wider methodological implications. Curiously enough, this article, conceived an "ekphrasis" that mimics the structure and rhetoric of the object it describes, anticipates, as does the al-Mughira pyxis with its target audience, Makariou’s ethically and hermeneutically challenged response, beginning with the opening quote all the way through its various layers of moral commentary.
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"Informe histórico-arqueológico sobre el despoblado medieval de Nagüeles (Marbella)" = "Historic Arqueological Report about the Medieval deserted villeage of Nagüeles (Marbella)"

by Alfonso Sánchez Mairena

by Alfonso Sánchez Mairena
published in 'Cilniana. revista de la Asociación para la defensa y difusión del Patrimonio Cultural', nº 12 (1999), Marbella (Málaga, Spain), pp. 44-49.

Informe breve recopilando noticias históricas y arqueológicas sobre el despoblado medieval de Nagüeles (siglos... more Informe breve recopilando noticias históricas y arqueológicas sobre el despoblado medieval de Nagüeles (siglos XIV-XV), una antigua villa de la jurisdicción de Marbella (Málaga, España) durante el período del Reino nazarita de Granada. Se documenta la existencia de vestigios urbanos de la antigua villa, una necrópolis, una fortificación tipo torre y una cueva relacionada con el hábitat neolítico. Esta publicación sirvió para solicitar a las autoridades urbanísticas y culturales de Marbella y Málaga la excavación arqueológica y protección de los vestigios arqueológicos de esa zona que iba a ser urbanizada.

Breaf report collecting historical and archaeological notices and evidences about the Medieval deserted village of Nagüeles, located at the North of the town of Marbella (Málaga, Spain). This place was a village that belonged to the jurisdiction of the town of Marbella between the XIV-XV centuries, in the period of the muslim Kingdom of the nazari Grenade. The report documents the existence of urban traces from the old village, about one necropolis, a fortified tower and a cave with Neolithic related habitat. This publication served to claim the archeological estudy of the zone to the Cultural administration traying to preserve the most important vestiges before the zone were built.

"Aproximación histórica y arqueológica al Cerro Torrón (Marbella, Málaga)" = "Historical and Archeological approach to the Tower Hill (Marbella, Málaga)"

by Alfonso Sánchez Mairena

by Alfonso Sánchez Mairena
published in 'Cilniana. Revista de la Asociación para la defensa y difusión del Patrimonio Cultural', nº 9 (1997), Marbella (Málaga, Spain), pp. xiii-xxiv.

"El castillo de Ojén y la repoblación de Marbella en el siglo XVI" = "The Castle of Ojén and the resettlement of Marbella at the XVI century"

by Alfonso Sánchez Mairena

by Alfonso Sánchez Mairena
published in 'Cilniana. Revista Cultural de la Asociación en Defensa del Patrimonio Histórico de Marbella', nº 11 (1998), Marbella (Málaga, Spain), pp. 12-22.

Should environmental issues be securitised?

by Owais Rajput

Environmental issues
The variables that have defined national security for the most part of the World’s history... more Environmental issues
The variables that have defined national security for the most part of the World’s history have largely been military in nature. Security was primarily made up of the physical defence of the country, its people and whatever they possessed. Profound factors outside the traditional area of military operations have been realised that could affect the securities of many countries.
It is within this background that environmental issues have raised to importance, and the term ‘Environmental Security’ has entered the language of environmentalists, policy makers and security planners. With the ending of the cold war, the usual concepts of the nature of national security and the methods to achieve it have changed. The global powers at the time were engaged in military containment of each other, as in the case of America and the Soviet Union containment of each other.

Hard to Reach Communities: Living in the UK, and Issues Facing British Muslims of Kashmiri Heritage Born & Bred in the UK

by Owais Rajput

In my presentation I will focus on British Muslim Communities living in UK; my main focus will be on the British local... more In my presentation I will focus on British Muslim Communities living in UK; my main focus will be on the British local community with Kashmiri heritage, as most of the time they are labelled in the media as “Home Grown Radicalised” Muslims, even if they are the fourth & fifth generation born & bred in UK.

I will also focus on Processes to Radicalisation in UK, in local communities, again particularly in the Kashmiri community.

I will also focus on design and delivery processes so far used by authorities in de-radicalisation processes and the results so far, and why we need to change those design and delivery processes, especially when we focus on the British Diaspora with Kashmiri heritage, the fourth & fifth generation born & bred in the UK.

Circular Visions of Fertility and Punishment: Caliphal Ivory Caskets from al-Andalus

by Francisco Prado-Vilar

“Circular Visions of Fertility and Punishment: Caliphal Ivory Caskets from al-Andalus,” Muqarnas 14 (1997): 19-41.

"Corresponding Across Religious Borders: Al-Bājī Response to a Missionary Letter from France," Medieval Encounters 18 (2012) 1-35

by Diego Sarrio Cucarella

“I have examined, O monk, the letter coming from you, the friendship therein proffered, the advice which you offer,... more “I have examined, O monk, the letter coming from you, the friendship therein proffered, the advice which you offer, and the intention which you disclose.” With these words begins the reply written by the eminent Andalusian Mālikī scholar Abū l-Walīd Sulaymān al-Bājī (d. 1081) to a letter received at the Muslim court of Saragossa from an unidentified ‘monk of France’ inviting the ruler to convert to Christianity. This letter, if authentic, is the earliest extant record of a Christian mission to Muslims in the West. After introducing al-Bājī and situating him in the socio-political and religious circumstances of the time, this article offers a review of past scholarship relating to this correspondence, which has mostly focused on the authenticity of the Christian letter and the possible identification of its author. It is argued in favor of the authenticity of the exchange, offering reasons for it. The article then turns to al-Bājī’s text, seeking to draw from it what it can tell us about him and how he viewed Christians and Christianity.

Painting Politics in the Alhambra

by Ana Echevarria

AL-ANDALUSIAN PROSE ON NATURE IN THE PERIODS OF MULUK AL-TAWACIF AND AL-MURABITIN

by HISHOMUDIN BIN AHMAD

Phd dissertation completed in 2010 at Islamic International  University Malaysia

This study discusses al-Andalusian prose on nature in the periods of Muluk al-Tawacif and al-Murabitin in order to... more This study discusses al-Andalusian prose on nature in the periods of Muluk al-Tawacif and al-Murabitin in order to fill a gap in literature studies that focus solely on the poetical part of nature. The Arab Andalusian literature (verses and prose) had achieved an outstanding achievement in these two periods. Therefore, the researcher tries to examine the prose texts on nature that were produced by the writers of those periods, study the genres of prose on nature, highlight the backgrounds of the writers, clarify literary styles and, expose the creativity and ingenuity in these texts. This study relies on two main methods, inductive and analytical. It is concluded from this study that the Andalusian prose was at its climax in the hands of great writers in those two periods. Nature was mostly described in all genres of prose; the most famous are the letters. These literary genres have good quality in the structure of the prose, expression and composition, imagination and literary images, and rhythm .All these elements made those prose distinguished literature. In addition, the emergence of new topics also shows the outstanding talent of the Andalusian writers in describing nature in their prose texts.

The Nature in Poem of Abu Bakr al-Sanawbari (A.H 334) and Ibn Khafajah al- Andalusi (A.H 533) : A Comparison Study

by HISHOMUDIN BIN AHMAD

Master dissertation completed in 2003 at Islamic International University Malaysia

This study is based on a popular assumption that there is a similarity between Abu Bakr al-Sanawbari (A.H 334) and Ibn... more This study is based on a popular assumption that there is a similarity between Abu Bakr al-Sanawbari (A.H 334) and Ibn Khafajah al- Andalusi (A.H 533) in their poetry about nature. Therefore, the researcher tries to make a comparative study on the nature of their poetry, particularly, examining the beauty, the ingenuity and the skills of the two poets, as well as tracing the influence al-Sanawbari had on Ibn Khafajah and attempting to highlight the similarities and differences between the two personalities. To complete this study, an analytical method is adopted based on references related to the topic. It is concluded from this study that poetry about nature was at its climax in the hands of Abu Bakr al-Sanawbari and Ibn Khafajah al- Andalusi. Both of them shared the same methods and approaches in poetry writing, especially in the poetical structures, meanings and language styles due to the influence of the environment that they lived in. Nevertheless, they differ from each other in terms of imaginations, emotions, literary styles, as well as the rhythm of the poetry, which deny the possibility of imitations of each other. In addition, each of these characteristics refers to the unique qualities of each poet.

The future of postcolonial approaches to medieval Iberian studies

by Nadia R. Altschul

You may email me for a copy if you do not have access to the Journal of Medieval Iberian Studies

This article delineates some of the historical characteristics of medieval Iberia that make postcolonial studies... more This article delineates some of the historical characteristics of medieval Iberia that make postcolonial studies especially appealing for a renovation of this multi‐disciplinary field, and it suggests specific openings for future research inflected by postcolonial studies. By discussing in particular the concepts of mimicry and transculturation, this piece exemplifies avenues for nuancing the notion of cultural contact, for rethinking the overused reliance on medieval Iberia’s “three cultures,” and it redirects attention to the fields of Latin American and colonial studies as sources of crucial theoretical debates.

The Coinage of Spain Under the Umayyad Caliphs of the East, 711-750

by Michael L Bates

from Actas III Jarique de Numismática Hispano-árabe, Museo Arqueológico Nacional, Madrid, 13-16 diciembre 1990 (Madrid, 1992), pp. 271-89.

2004 - Conference Presentation - Beyond a rhetoric of intolerance: the Córdoba martyrs, religious and cultural exchange in ninth century al-Andalus

by Jamie Wood

Handout from paper at EASR (European Association for the Study of Religions) Conference: Religious Tolerance and Intolerance, University of Santander, September 2004

Granada: Crescent and Crown

by Alan Cordova