Jump to content

Moors: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Content deleted Content added
Reverted to revision 798017618 by Soupforone (talk): Restore well cited content. (TW)
Undid revision 798064344 by Pinkbeast (talk) I suggest you re-read my previous edit summery and take you concerns to talk. Etymology has no place in the introductory text per MOS:INTRO.
Line 1: Line 1:
{{About|a historical group of Muslims|other uses|Moor (disambiguation){{!}}Moor}}
{{About|a historical group of Muslims|other uses|Moor (disambiguation){{!}}Moor}}
[[File:Castillia.jpg|thumb|right|Castillian ambassadors attempting to convince Moorish Almohad king [[Abu Hafs Umar al-Murtada]] to join their alliance (contemporary depiction from the ''Cantigas de Santa María'')]]
[[File:Castillia.jpg|thumb|right|Castillian ambassadors attempting to convince Moorish Almohad king [[Abu Hafs Umar al-Murtada]] to join their alliance (contemporary depiction from the ''Cantigas de Santa María'')]]
The '''Moors''' were the [[Muslim]] inhabitants of the [[Maghreb]], the [[Iberian Peninsula]], [[Sicily]], and [[Malta]] during the [[Middle Ages]]. They initially were the [[Berbers|Berber]] autochthones of the Maghreb.<ref name="Leo"/> The name was later also applied to [[Arabs]].<ref>The Arabs called the latter ''[[Muladi|Muwalladun]]'' or ''Muladi''. [http://www.barnesandnoble.com/sample/read/9780316092791 Menocal] (2002). ''Ornament of the World'', p. 16</ref><ref>Richard A Fletcher, [https://books.google.com/books?id=wrMG-LfuU7oC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false Moorish Spain] (University of California Press, 2006), pp.1,19.</ref>
The '''Moors''' were the [[Muslim]] inhabitants of the [[Maghreb]], the [[Iberian Peninsula]], [[Sicily]], and [[Malta]] during the [[Middle Ages]], who initially were [[Arab]] and [[Berbers|Berber]] peoples from [[North Africa]].<ref>The Arabs called the latter ''[[Muladi|Muwalladun]]'' or ''Muladi''. [http://www.barnesandnoble.com/sample/read/9780316092791 Menocal] (2002). ''Ornament of the World'', p. 16</ref><ref>Richard A Fletcher, [https://books.google.com/books?id=wrMG-LfuU7oC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false Moorish Spain] (University of California Press, 2006), pp.1,19.</ref>


Moors are not a distinct or [[ethnonym|self-defined]] people,<ref>[http://drum.lib.umd.edu/bitstream/1903/12049/1/Ramos_umd_0117E_12042.pdf Ross Brann, "The Moors?"], ''Andalusia'', New York University. Quote: "Andalusi Arabic sources, as opposed to later [[Mudéjar]] and [[Morisco]] sources in Aljamiado and medieval Spanish texts, neither refer to individuals as Moors nor recognize any such group, community or culture."</ref> and mainstream scholars observed in 1911 that "The term 'Moors' has no real ethnological value."<ref>{{cite book|title=Britannica Encyclopedia (1911) |pages=811 |url=http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Moors |deadurl=bot: unknown |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130123233237/http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Moors |archivedate=2013-01-23 |df= }}</ref> [[Medieval]] and early modern [[Europeans]] variously applied the name to Arabs, North African Berbers, and Muslim Europeans.<ref>{{cite book|last=Blackmore|first=Josiah|title=Moorings: Portuguese Expansion and the Writing of Africa|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iRNFebS_mUIC|year=2009|publisher=U of Minnesota Press|isbn=978-0-8166-4832-0|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=iRNFebS_mUIC&pg=PR16 xvi], [https://books.google.com/books?id=iRNFebS_mUIC&pg=PA18 18]}}</ref>
Moors are not a distinct or [[ethnonym|self-defined]] people,<ref>[http://drum.lib.umd.edu/bitstream/1903/12049/1/Ramos_umd_0117E_12042.pdf Ross Brann, "The Moors?"], ''Andalusia'', New York University. Quote: "Andalusi Arabic sources, as opposed to later [[Mudéjar]] and [[Morisco]] sources in Aljamiado and medieval Spanish texts, neither refer to individuals as Moors nor recognize any such group, community or culture."</ref> and mainstream scholars observed in 1911 that "The term 'Moors' has no real ethnological value."<ref>{{cite book|title=Britannica Encyclopedia (1911) |pages=811 |url=http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Moors |deadurl=bot: unknown |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130123233237/http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Moors |archivedate=2013-01-23 |df= }}</ref> [[Medieval]] and early modern [[Europeans]] variously applied the name to Arabs, North African Berbers, and Muslim Europeans.<ref>{{cite book|last=Blackmore|first=Josiah|title=Moorings: Portuguese Expansion and the Writing of Africa|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iRNFebS_mUIC|year=2009|publisher=U of Minnesota Press|isbn=978-0-8166-4832-0|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=iRNFebS_mUIC&pg=PR16 xvi], [https://books.google.com/books?id=iRNFebS_mUIC&pg=PA18 18]}}</ref>
Line 18: Line 18:
{{further|Mauri people|Mauretania}}
{{further|Mauri people|Mauretania}}
During the classical period, the [[Roman Empire|Romans]] interacted with, and later conquered, parts of [[Mauretania]], a state that covered modern northern [[Morocco]], western [[Algeria]], and the Spanish cities [[Ceuta]] and [[Melilla]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Diderot|first1=Denis|title=Ceuta|date=1752|page=871|url=http://hdl.handle.net/2027/spo.did2222.0000.555}}</ref> The [[Berbers|Berber]] tribes of the region were noted in [[Classical literature]] as ''[[Mauri people|Mauri]]'', which was subsequently rendered as "Moors" in English and in related variations in other European languages.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Moor&allowed_in_frame=0 |title=Online Etymology Dictionary |publisher=Etymonline.com |date= |accessdate=2014-05-12}}</ref> ''Mauri'' (Μαῦροι) is recorded as the native name by [[Strabo]] in the early 1st century. This appellation was also adopted into Latin, whereas the Greek name for the tribe was ''Maurusii'' (Μαυρούσιοι).<ref>{{lang|grc|οἰκοῦσι δ᾽ ἐνταῦθα Μαυρούσιοι μὲν ὑπὸ τῶν Ἑλλήνων λεγόμενοι, Μαῦροι δ᾽ ὑπὸ τῶν Ῥωμαίων καὶ τῶν ἐπιχωρίων}} "Here dwell a people called by the Greeks Maurusii, and by the Romans and the natives Mauri" Strabo, ''Geographica'' 17.3.2. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aentry%3DMauri Lewis and Short, ''Latin Dictionary'', 1879 ''s.v.'' "Mauri"]</ref> The Moors were also mentioned by [[Cornelius Tacitus|Tacitus]] as having revolted against the [[Roman Empire]] in 24 [[Anno Domini|AD]].<ref>Cornelius Tacitus, Arthur Murphy, The Historical Annals of Cornelius Tacitus: With Supplements, Volume 1 (D. Neall, 1829 ) [https://books.google.com.au/books?id=MEoWAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA113&lpg=PA113&dq=Cinithians&source=bl&ots=q_kP1ceEht&sig=ld5UHNpEEv92gvMyVat1Npyx9m8&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiDxYTvq4HVAhXHErwKHcjXCywQ6AEIMTAD#v=onepage&q=Cinithians&f=false p114].</ref>
During the classical period, the [[Roman Empire|Romans]] interacted with, and later conquered, parts of [[Mauretania]], a state that covered modern northern [[Morocco]], western [[Algeria]], and the Spanish cities [[Ceuta]] and [[Melilla]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Diderot|first1=Denis|title=Ceuta|date=1752|page=871|url=http://hdl.handle.net/2027/spo.did2222.0000.555}}</ref> The [[Berbers|Berber]] tribes of the region were noted in [[Classical literature]] as ''[[Mauri people|Mauri]]'', which was subsequently rendered as "Moors" in English and in related variations in other European languages.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Moor&allowed_in_frame=0 |title=Online Etymology Dictionary |publisher=Etymonline.com |date= |accessdate=2014-05-12}}</ref> ''Mauri'' (Μαῦροι) is recorded as the native name by [[Strabo]] in the early 1st century. This appellation was also adopted into Latin, whereas the Greek name for the tribe was ''Maurusii'' (Μαυρούσιοι).<ref>{{lang|grc|οἰκοῦσι δ᾽ ἐνταῦθα Μαυρούσιοι μὲν ὑπὸ τῶν Ἑλλήνων λεγόμενοι, Μαῦροι δ᾽ ὑπὸ τῶν Ῥωμαίων καὶ τῶν ἐπιχωρίων}} "Here dwell a people called by the Greeks Maurusii, and by the Romans and the natives Mauri" Strabo, ''Geographica'' 17.3.2. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aentry%3DMauri Lewis and Short, ''Latin Dictionary'', 1879 ''s.v.'' "Mauri"]</ref> The Moors were also mentioned by [[Cornelius Tacitus|Tacitus]] as having revolted against the [[Roman Empire]] in 24 [[Anno Domini|AD]].<ref>Cornelius Tacitus, Arthur Murphy, The Historical Annals of Cornelius Tacitus: With Supplements, Volume 1 (D. Neall, 1829 ) [https://books.google.com.au/books?id=MEoWAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA113&lpg=PA113&dq=Cinithians&source=bl&ots=q_kP1ceEht&sig=ld5UHNpEEv92gvMyVat1Npyx9m8&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiDxYTvq4HVAhXHErwKHcjXCywQ6AEIMTAD#v=onepage&q=Cinithians&f=false p114].</ref>

The 16th century scholar [[Leo Africanus]] (c. 1494–1554) of [[Al-Andalus]] identified the Moors as the native Berber inhabitants of the former [[Roman Empire|Roman]] [[Africa (Roman province)|Africa Province]] (Africans). He described Moors as one of five main population groups on the continent alongside [[Egyptians]], [[Abyssinian people|Abyssinians]] (Abassins), [[Arabs|Arabians]] and [[Kaffir (racial term)|Cafri]] (Cafates).<ref name="Leo">{{cite book|last1=Africanus|first1=Leo|title=The History and Description of Africa|date=1526|publisher=Hakluyt Society|pages=20 & 108|url=https://archive.org/stream/historyanddescr03porygoog#page/n150/|accessdate=30 August 2017}}</ref>


===Modern meanings===
===Modern meanings===

Revision as of 20:04, 30 August 2017

Castillian ambassadors attempting to convince Moorish Almohad king Abu Hafs Umar al-Murtada to join their alliance (contemporary depiction from the Cantigas de Santa María)

The Moors were the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily, and Malta during the Middle Ages, who initially were Arab and Berber peoples from North Africa.[1][2]

Moors are not a distinct or self-defined people,[3] and mainstream scholars observed in 1911 that "The term 'Moors' has no real ethnological value."[4] Medieval and early modern Europeans variously applied the name to Arabs, North African Berbers, and Muslim Europeans.[5]

The term has also been used in Europe in a broader, somewhat derogatory sense to refer to Muslims in general,[6] especially those of Arab or Berber descent, whether living in Spain or North Africa.[7] During the colonial era, the Portuguese introduced the names "Ceylon Moors" and "Indian Moors" in Sri Lanka, and the Bengali Muslims were also called Moors.[8]

In 711, troops mostly formed by Moors from North Africa led the Umayyad conquest of Hispania. The Iberian peninsula then came to be known in classical Arabic as Al-Andalus, which at its peak included most of Septimania and modern-day Spain and Portugal.

In 827, the Moors occupied Mazara on Sicily, developing it as a port.[9] They eventually consolidated the rest of the island and some of southern Italy. Differences in religion and culture led to a centuries-long conflict with the Christian kingdoms of Europe, which tried to reclaim control of Muslim areas; this conflict was referred to as the Reconquista. In 1224 the Muslims were expelled from Sicily to the settlement of Lucera, which was destroyed by European Christians in 1300.

The fall of Granada in 1492 marked the end of Muslim rule in Iberia, although a Muslim minority persisted until their expulsion in 1609.[10]

Name

Etymology

During the classical period, the Romans interacted with, and later conquered, parts of Mauretania, a state that covered modern northern Morocco, western Algeria, and the Spanish cities Ceuta and Melilla.[11] The Berber tribes of the region were noted in Classical literature as Mauri, which was subsequently rendered as "Moors" in English and in related variations in other European languages.[12] Mauri (Μαῦροι) is recorded as the native name by Strabo in the early 1st century. This appellation was also adopted into Latin, whereas the Greek name for the tribe was Maurusii (Μαυρούσιοι).[13] The Moors were also mentioned by Tacitus as having revolted against the Roman Empire in 24 AD.[14]

Modern meanings

In medieval Romance languages, variations of the Latin word for the Moors (for instance, Italian and Spanish: moro, French: maure, Portuguese: mouro, Romanian: maur) developed different applications and connotations. The term initially denoted a specific Berber people in western Libya, but the name acquired more general meaning during the medieval period, associated with "Muslim", similar to associations with "Saracens". During the context of the Crusades and the Reconquista, the term Moors included the derogatory suggestion of "infidels".

Apart from these historic associations and context, Moor and Moorish designate a specific ethnic group speaking Hassaniya Arabic. They inhabit Mauritania and parts of Algeria, Western Sahara, Tunisia, Morocco, Niger, and Mali. In Niger and Mali, these peoples are also known as the Azawagh Arabs, after the Azawagh region of the Sahara.[15]

The authoritative dictionary of the Spanish language does not list any derogatory meaning for the word moro, a term generally referring to people of Maghrebian origin in particular or Muslims in general.[16] Some authors have pointed out that in modern colloquial Spanish use of the term moro is derogatory for Moroccans in particular[17][18][19][20][21] and Muslims in general.

In modern, colloquial Portuguese, the term Mouro was primarily used as a designation for North Africans and secondarily as a derogatory and ironic term by northern Portuguese to refer to the inhabitants of the southern parts of the country (Lisbon, Alentejo, and Algarve). However, this designation has gained more acceptance in the south.

In the Philippines, a former Spanish colony, many modern Filipinos call the large, local Muslim minority concentrated in Mindanao and other southern islands Moros. The word is a catch-all term, as Moro may come from several distinct ethno-linguistic groups such as the Maranao people. The term was introduced by Spanish colonisers, and has since been appropriated by Filipino Muslims as an endonym, with many self-identifying as members of the Bangsamoro "Moro Nation".

Moreno can mean dark-skinned in Spain, Portugal, Brazil, and the Philippines. Also in Spanish, morapio is a humorous name for "wine", especially that which has not been "baptized" or mixed with water, i.e., pure unadulterated wine. Among Spanish speakers, moro came to have a broader meaning, applied to both Filipino Moros from Mindanao, and the moriscos of Granada. Moro refers to all things dark, as in "Moor", moreno, etc. It was also used as a nickname; for instance, the Milanese Duke Ludovico Sforza was called Il Moro because of his dark complexion.[22]

In Portugal, mouro (feminine, moura) may refer to supernatural beings known as enchanted moura, where "moor" implies 'alien' and 'non-Christian'. These beings were siren-like fairies with golden or reddish hair and a fair face. They were believed to have magical properties.[23] From this root, the name moor is applied to unbaptized children, meaning not Christian.[24][25] In Basque, mairu means moor and also refers to a mythical people.[26]

Within the context of Portuguese colonization, in Sri Lanka (Portuguese Ceylon), Muslims of Arab origin are called Ceylon Moors, not to be confused with "Indian Moors" of Sri Lanka (see Sri Lankan Moors). Sri Lankan Moors (a combination of "Ceylon Moors" and "Indian Moors") make up 12% of the population. The Ceylon Moors (unlike the Indian Moors) are descendants of Arab traders who settled there in the mid-6th century. When the Portuguese arrived in the early 16th century, they labelled all the Muslims in the island as Moors as they saw some of them resembling the Moors in North Africa. The Sri Lankan government continues to identify the Muslims in Sri Lanka as "Sri Lankan Moors", sub-categorised into "Ceylon Moors" and "Indian Moors".[27]

The Goan Muslims — a minority community who follow Islam in the western Indian coastal state of Goa — are commonly referred as Moir (Konkani: मैर) by Goan Catholics and Hindus.[a] Moir is derived from the Portuguese word mouro (Moor).

Moors of the Maghreb

The Great Mosque of Kairouan was founded by the Arab general Uqba ibn Nafi in 670 during the Islamic conquest, to provide a place of worship for recently converted or immigrating Muslims.

In the late 7th and early 8th centuries CE, the Islamic Umayyad Caliphate, established after the death of Muhammad, underwent a period of rapid growth. In 647 CE, 40,000 Arabs forced the Byzantine governor of North Africa to submit and pay tribute, but failed to permanently occupy the region.[28] After an interlude, during which the Muslims fought a civil war, the invasions resumed in 665, seizing Byzantine North Africa up to Bugia over the course of a series of campaigns, lasting until 689. A Byzantine counterattack largely expelled the Arabs but left the region vulnerable. Intermittent war over the inland provinces of North Africa continued for the next two decades. Further civil war delayed the continuation of further conquest, but an Arab assault took Carthage and held it against a Byzantine counterattack.

Although a Christian and pagan Berber rebellion pushed out the Arabs temporarily, the Romanized urban population preferred the Arabs to the Berbers and welcomed a renewed and final conquest that left North Africa in Muslim hands by 698. Over the next decades, the Berber and urban populations of North Africa gradually converted to Islam, although for separate reasons.[29] The Arabic language was also adopted. Initially, the Arabs required only vassalage from the local inhabitants rather than assimilation, a process which took a considerable time.[29] The groups that inhabited the Maghreb following this process became known collectively as Moors. Although the Berbers would later expel the Arabs from the Maghreb and form temporarily independent states, that effort failed to dislodge the usage of the collective term.

Moors of Iberia

Depiction of the Moors in Iberia, from The Cantigas de Santa Maria

In 711 the Islamic Moors of Arab and Berber descent in North Africa crossed the Strait of Gibraltar onto the Iberian Peninsula, and in a series of raids they conquered Visigothic Christian Hispania.[30] Their general, Tariq ibn Ziyad, brought most of Iberia under Islamic rule in an eight-year campaign. They continued northeast across the Pyrenees Mountains but were defeated by the Franks under Charles Martel at the Battle of Tours in 732.

The Maghreb fell into a civil war in 739 that lasted until 743 known as the Berber Revolt. The Berbers revolted against the Umayyads, putting an end to Eastern dominion over the Maghreb. Despite racial tensions, Arabs and Berbers intermarried frequently. A few years later, the Eastern branch of the Umayyad dynasty was dethroned by the Abbasids and the Umayyad Caliphate overthrown in the Abbasid revolution (746-750). Abd al-Rahman I, who was of Arab-Berber lineage, managed to evade the Abbasids and flee to the Maghreb and then Iberia, where he founded the Emirate of Córdoba and the Andalusian branch of the Umayyad dynasty. The Moors ruled North Africa and Al-Andalus for several centuries thereafter.[31] Ibn Hazm, the polymath, mentions that many of the Caliphs in the Umayyad Caliphate and the Caliphate of Córdoba were blond and had light eyes.[32] Ibn Hazm mentions that he preferred blondes, and notes that there was much interest in blondes in al-Andalus amongst the rulers and regular Muslims:

All the Caliphs of the Banu Marwan (God have mercy on their souls!), and especially the sons of al-Nasir, were without variation or exception disposed by nature to prefer blondes. I have myself seen them, and known others who had seen their forebears, from the days of al-Nasir's reign down to the present day; every one of them has been fair-haired, taking after their mothers, so that this has become a hereditary trait with them; all but Sulaiman al-Zafir (God have mercy on him!), whom I remember to have had black ringlets and a black beard. As for al-Nasir and al-Hakam al-Mustansir (may God be pleased with them!), I have been informed by my late father, the vizier, as well as by others, that both of them were blond and blue-eyed. The same is true of Hisham al-Mu'aiyad, Muhammad al-Mahdi, and `Abd al-Rahman al-Murtada (may God be merciful to them all!); I saw them myself many times, and had the honour of being received by them, and I remarked that they all had fair hair and blue eyes.[33]

Moorish army (right) of Almanzor during the Reconquista Battle of San Esteban de Gormaz, from Cantigas de Alfonso X el Sabio

The language spoken in the parts of the Iberian Peninsula under Muslim rule was Andalusian Arabic; it became extinct after the expulsion of the Moriscos, but Arabic language influence on the Spanish language can still be found today. The Muslims were resisted in parts of the Iberian Peninsula in areas of the northwest (such as Asturias, where they were defeated at the battle of Covadonga) and the largely Basque Country in the Pyrenees. Though the number of Moorish colonists was small, many native Iberian inhabitants converted to Islam. By 1000, according to Ronald Segal, some 5,000,000 of Iberia's 7,000,000 inhabitants, most of them descended from indigenous Iberian converts, were Muslim. There were also Sub-Saharan Africans who had been absorbed into al-Andalus to be used as soldiers and slaves. The Berber and Sub-Saharan African soldiers were known as "tangerines" because they were imported through Tangier.[34][35]

The Caliphate of Córdoba collapsed in 1031 and the Islamic territory in Iberia fell under the rule of the Almohad Caliphate in 1153. This second stage was guided by a version of Islam that left behind the more tolerant practices of the past.[36] Al-Andalus broke up into a number of taifas (fiefs), which were partly consolidated under the Caliphate of Córdoba.

File:Mohammed I ibn Nasr.jpg
Mohammed I ibn Nasr, the Nasrid Moorish ruler of the Emirate of Granada embracing his Castilian ally, taken from The Cantigas de Santa María

The Kingdom of Asturias, a small northwestern Christian Iberian kingdom, initiated the Reconquista ("Reconquest") soon after the Islamic conquest in the 8th century. Christian states based in the north and west slowly extended their power over the rest of Iberia. The Kingdom of Navarre, the Kingdom of Galicia, the Kingdom of León, the Kingdom of Portugal, the Kingdom of Aragon, the Marca Hispánica, and the Crown of Castile began a process of expansion and internal consolidation during the next several centuries under the flag of Reconquista. In 1212, a coalition of Christian kings under the leadership of Alfonso VIII of Castile drove the Muslims from Central Iberia. The Portuguese side of the Reconquista ended in 1249 with the conquest of the Algarve (Arabic: الغربal-Gharb) under Afonso III. He was the first Portuguese monarch to claim the title "King of Portugal and the Algarve".

The Moorish Kingdom of Granada continued for three more centuries in southern Iberia. On 2 January 1492, the leader of the last Muslim stronghold in Granada surrendered to the armies of a recently united Christian Spain (after the marriage of Ferdinand II of Aragón and Isabella I of Castile, the "Catholic Monarchs"). The Moorish inhabitants received no military aid or rescue from other Muslim nations.[37] The remaining Jews were also forced to leave Spain, convert to Roman Catholic Christianity, or be killed for refusing to do so. In 1480, to exert social and religious control, Isabella and Ferdinand agreed to allow the Inquisition in Spain. The Muslim population of Granada rebelled in 1499. The revolt lasted until early 1501, giving the Castilian authorities an excuse to void the terms of the Treaty of Granada (1491). In 1501, Castilian authorities delivered an ultimatum to the Muslims of Granada: they could either convert to Christianity or be expelled.

Court of the lions in the Alhambra, a Moorish palace built in the 14th century in Granada, Spain

The Inquisition was aimed mostly at Jews and Muslims who had overtly converted to Christianity but were thought to be practicing their faiths secretly. They were respectively called marranos and moriscos. However, in 1567 King Philip II directed Moriscos to give up their Arabic names and traditional dress, and prohibited the use of Arabic. In reaction, there was a Morisco uprising in the Alpujarras from 1568 to 1571. In the years from 1609 to 1614, the government expelled Moriscos. The historian Henri Lapeyre estimated that this affected 300,000 out of an estimated total of 8 million inhabitants.[38]

Some Muslims converted to Christianity and remained permanently in Iberia. This is indicated by a "high mean proportion of ancestry from North African (10.6%)" that "attests to a high level of religious conversion (whether voluntary or enforced), driven by historical episodes of social and religious intolerance, that ultimately led to the integration of descendants."[39][40] According to historian Richard A. Fletcher,[41] "the number of Arabs who settled in Iberia was very small. 'Moorish' Iberia does at least have the merit of reminding us that the bulk of the invaders and settlers were Moors, i.e., Berbers from Algeria and Morocco."

In the meantime, Spanish and Portuguese expeditions westward from the New World spread Christianity to India, the Malay peninsula, Indonesia, and the Philippines. By 1521, the ships of Magellan had reached that island archipelago, which they named Las Islas Filipinas, after Philip II of Spain. In Mindanao, the Spaniards named the kris-bearing people as Moros or 'Moors'. Today this ethnic group in Mindanao, who are generally Filipino Muslim, are called "Moros".

Moors of Sicily

Muslim musicians at the court of the Norman King Roger II of Sicily

The first Muslim conquest of Sicily began in 827, though it was not until 902 that almost the entire island was in the control of the Aghlabids, with the exception of some minor strongholds in the rugged interior. During that period some parts of southern Italy fell under Muslim control, most notably the port city of Bari, which formed the Emirate of Bari from 847-871. In 909 the Aghlabid dynasty was replaced by Shiite Fatimids.[citation needed] Four years later, the Fatimid governor was ousted from Palermo when the island declared its independence under Emir Ahmed ibn-Kohrob. The language spoken in Sicily under Muslim rule was Siculo-Arabic.

In 1038, a Byzantine army under George Maniaces crossed the strait of Messina. This army included a corps of Normans that saved the situation in the first clash against the Muslims from Messina. After another decisive victory in the summer of 1040, Maniaces halted his march to lay siege to Syracuse. Despite his success, Maniaces was removed from his position, and the subsequent Muslim counter-offensive reconquered all the cities captured by the Byzantines.

The Norman Robert Guiscard, son of Tancred, invaded Sicily in 1060. The island was split between three Arab emirs, and the Christian population in many parts of the island rose up against the ruling Muslims. One year later, Messina fell, and in 1072 Palermo was taken by the Normans. The loss of the cities, each with a splendid harbor, dealt a severe blow to Muslim power on the island. Eventually all of Sicily was taken. In 1091, Noto in the southern tip of Sicily and the island of Malta, the last Arab strongholds, fell to the Christians. Islamic authors noted the tolerance of the Norman kings of Sicily. Ibn al-Athir wrote: "They [the Muslims] were treated kindly, and they were protected, even against the Franks. Because of that, they had great love for King Roger."[42]

The Muslim problem characterized Hohenstaufen rule in Sicily under Holy Roman Emperors Henry VI and his son Frederick II. Many repressive measures were introduced by Frederick II to please the popes, who were intolerant of Islam in the heart of Christendom. This resulted in a rebellion by Sicilian Muslims, which in turn triggered organized resistance and systematic reprisals and marked the final chapter of Islam in Sicily. The complete eviction of Muslims and the annihilation of Islam in Sicily was completed by the late 1240s when the final deportations to Lucera took place.

Architecture

Interior of the Mezquita, Córdoba

Moorish architecture is the articulated Islamic architecture of North Africa and parts of Spain and Portugal, where the Moors were dominant between 711 and 1492. The best surviving examples are La Mezquita in Córdoba and the Alhambra palace in Granada (mainly 1338–1390),[43] as well as the Giralda in Seville (1184).[44] Other notable examples include the ruined palace city of Medina Azahara (936–1010), the church (former mosque) San Cristo de la Luz in Toledo, the Aljafería in Saragossa and baths at for example Ronda and Alhama de Granada.

Moors in heraldry

Arms of the great Bristol merchant and shipper William II Canynges (d.1474), as depicted on his canopied tomb in St Mary Redcliffe Church, showing the couped heads of three Moors wreathed at the temples

Moors—or more frequently their heads, often crowned—appear with some frequency in medieval European heraldry, though less so since the Middle Ages. The term ascribed to them in Anglo-Norman blazon (the language of English heraldry) is maure, though they are also sometimes called moore, blackmoor, blackamoor or negro.[45] Maures appear in European heraldry from at least as early as the 13th century,[46] and some have been attested as early as the 11th century in Italy,[46] where they have persisted in the local heraldry and vexillology well into modern times in Corsica and Sardinia.

Coat of arms of the Nasrid dynasty, the last Muslim dynasty of al-Andalus

Armigers bearing moors or moors' heads may have adopted them for any of several reasons, to include symbolizing military victories in the Crusades, as a pun on the bearer's name in the canting arms of Morese, Negri, Saraceni, etc., or in the case of Frederick II, possibly to demonstrate the reach of his empire.[46] The arms of Pope Benedict XVI feature a moor's head, crowned and collared red, in reference to the arms of Freising, Germany.[47] In the case of Corsica and Sardinia, the blindfolded moors' heads in the four quarters have long been said to represent the four Moorish emirs who were defeated by Peter I of Aragon in the 11th century, the four moors' heads around a cross having been adopted to the arms of Aragon around 1281–1387, and Corsica and Sardinia having come under the dominion of the king of Aragon in 1297.[48] In Corsica, the blindfolds were lifted to the brow in the 18th century as a way of expressing the island's newfound independence.[49]

The use of Moors (and particularly their heads) as a heraldic symbol has been deprecated in modern North America.[50] For example, the College of Arms of the Society for Creative Anachronism urges applicants to use them delicately to avoid causing offence.[51]

Population

Moors on the North African coast, as depicted in Britain in 1739

Populations in Carthage circa 200 BC and northern Algeria 1500 BC were diverse.[citation needed] As a group, they plotted closest to the populations of Northern Egypt and intermediate to Northern Europeans and tropical Africans: "the data supported the comments from ancient authors observed by classicists: everything from fair-skinned blonds to peoples who were dark-skinned 'Ethiopian' or part Ethiopian in appearance."[52] Modern evidence shows a similar diversity among present North Africans. Moreover, this diversity of phenotypes and peoples was probably due to in situ differentiation, not foreign influxes.[citation needed] Foreign influxes are thought to have affected population make-up, but did not replace the indigenous Berber population.[53]

  • The title character in William Shakespeare's play Othello, and the derived title character in Verdi's opera Otello, is a Moor. The character has been played by various thespians in different forms of entertainment. A less well-known Moorish character, Aaron, appears in Shakespeare’s earlier tragedy Titus Andronicus.
  • Morgan Freeman's character Azeem in the 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves is a Moor who Robin Hood saves from prison.
  • The 2009 documentary film Journey to Mecca follows the travels of the Moorish explorer Ibn Battuta from his native country of Morocco to Mecca for the Hajj in 1325.
  • The international bestseller The Alchemist mentions the Moors several times while describing the setting of southern Spain.
  • Moors are also mentioned very frequently in Don Quixote novel.

Notable Moors

Averroes, a Moorish polymath, was the founder of the Averroism school of philosophy, and influential in the rise of secular thought in Western Europe

See also

Column-generating template families

The templates listed here are not interchangeable. For example, using {{col-float}} with {{col-end}} instead of {{col-float-end}} would leave a <div>...</div> open, potentially harming any subsequent formatting.

Column templates
Type Family
Handles wiki
table code?
Responsive/
mobile suited
Start template Column divider End template
Float "col-float" Yes Yes {{col-float}} {{col-float-break}} {{col-float-end}}
"columns-start" Yes Yes {{columns-start}} {{column}} {{columns-end}}
Columns "div col" Yes Yes {{div col}} {{div col end}}
"columns-list" No Yes {{columns-list}} (wraps div col)
Flexbox "flex columns" No Yes {{flex columns}}
Table "col" Yes No {{col-begin}},
{{col-begin-fixed}} or
{{col-begin-small}}
{{col-break}} or
{{col-2}} .. {{col-5}}
{{col-end}}

Can template handle the basic wiki markup {| | || |- |} used to create tables? If not, special templates that produce these elements (such as {{(!}}, {{!}}, {{!!}}, {{!-}}, {{!)}})—or HTML tags (<table>...</table>, <tr>...</tr>, etc.)—need to be used instead.

Notes

  • ^ ...Hindu Kristao Moir sogle bhau- Hindus, Christians and Muslims are all brothers...[54]

References

  1. ^ The Arabs called the latter Muwalladun or Muladi. Menocal (2002). Ornament of the World, p. 16
  2. ^ Richard A Fletcher, Moorish Spain (University of California Press, 2006), pp.1,19.
  3. ^ Ross Brann, "The Moors?", Andalusia, New York University. Quote: "Andalusi Arabic sources, as opposed to later Mudéjar and Morisco sources in Aljamiado and medieval Spanish texts, neither refer to individuals as Moors nor recognize any such group, community or culture."
  4. ^ Britannica Encyclopedia (1911). p. 811. Archived from the original on 2013-01-23. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ Blackmore, Josiah (2009). Moorings: Portuguese Expansion and the Writing of Africa. U of Minnesota Press. pp. xvi, 18. ISBN 978-0-8166-4832-0.
  6. ^ Menocal, María Rosa (2002). Ornament of the World: How Muslims, Jews and Christians Created a Culture of Tolerance in Medieval Spain. Little, Brown, & Co. ISBN 0-316-16871-8, p. 241
  7. ^ John Randall Baker. "Race". Oxford University Press: 226. Retrieved March 12, 2014. In one sense the word 'Moor' means Mohammedan Berbers and Arabs of North-western Africa, with some Syrians, who conquered most of Spain in the 8th century and dominated the country for hundreds of years. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  8. ^ Pieris, P.E. Ceylon and the Hollanders 1658-1796. American Ceylon Mission Press, Tellippalai Ceylon 1918
  9. ^ "Assessment of the status, development and diversification of fisheries-dependent communities: Mazara del Vallo Case study report" (PDF). European Commission. 2010. p. 2. Retrieved 28 September 2012. In the year 827, Mazara was occupied by the Arabs, who made the city an important commercial harbour. That period was probably the most prosperous in the history of Mazara.
  10. ^ Hillgarth, J. N. (2000). The Mirror of Spain, 1500-1700: The Formation of a Myth. University of Michigan Press. p. 67. ISBN 0472110926.
  11. ^ Diderot, Denis (1752). Ceuta. p. 871.
  12. ^ "Online Etymology Dictionary". Etymonline.com. Retrieved 2014-05-12.
  13. ^ οἰκοῦσι δ᾽ ἐνταῦθα Μαυρούσιοι μὲν ὑπὸ τῶν Ἑλλήνων λεγόμενοι, Μαῦροι δ᾽ ὑπὸ τῶν Ῥωμαίων καὶ τῶν ἐπιχωρίων "Here dwell a people called by the Greeks Maurusii, and by the Romans and the natives Mauri" Strabo, Geographica 17.3.2. Lewis and Short, Latin Dictionary, 1879 s.v. "Mauri"
  14. ^ Cornelius Tacitus, Arthur Murphy, The Historical Annals of Cornelius Tacitus: With Supplements, Volume 1 (D. Neall, 1829 ) p114.
  15. ^ For an introduction to the culture of the Azawagh Arabs, see Rebecca Popenoe, Feeding Desire — Fatness, Beauty and Sexuality among a Saharan People. Routledge, London (2003) ISBN 0-415-28096-6
  16. ^ DRAE
  17. ^ Simms, Karl (1997). Translating sensitive texts: linguistic aspects. Rodopi. p. 144. ISBN 978-90-420-0260-9.
  18. ^ Warwick Armstrong, James Anderson (2007). Geopolitics of European Union enlargement: the fortress empire. Routledge. p. 83. ISBN 978-0-415-33939-1.
  19. ^ Wessendorf, Susanne (2010). The multiculturalism backlash: European discourses, policies and practices. Taylor & Francis. p. 171. ISBN 978-0-415-55649-1.
  20. ^ Tariq Modood, Anna Triandafyllidou, Ricard Zapata-Barrero (2006). Multiculturalism, Muslims and citizenship: a European approach. Routledge. p. 143. ISBN 978-0-415-35515-5. {{cite book}}: Check |first= value (help)
  21. ^ Bekers, Elisabeth (2009). Transcultural modernities: narrating Africa in Europe. Rodopi. p. 14. ISBN 978-90-420-2538-7.
  22. ^ Lodovico Sforza, in: Thomas Gale, Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2005–2006
  23. ^ Xosé Manuel González Reboredo, Leyendas Gallegas de Tradición Oral (Galician Legends of the Oral Tradition), Galicia: Editorial Galaxia, 2004, p. 18, Googlebooks, accessed 12 Jul 2010 Template:Es icon
  24. ^ Rodney Gallop, Portugal: A Book of Folkways, Cambridge University Press (CUP), 1936; reprint CUP Archives, 1961, Googlebooks, accessed 12 Jul 2010.
  25. ^ Francisco Martins Sarmento, "A Mourama", in Revista de Guimaraes, No. 100, 1990, Centro de Estudos de Património, Universidade do Minho, accessed 12 Jul 2010 Template:Pt icon
  26. ^ Euskadi.net Template:Es icon Archived November 4, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
  27. ^ A. Hussein 'From where did the moors come from? [unreliable source?]
  28. ^ Rodd, Francis. "Kahena, Queen of the Berbers: "A Sketch of the Arab Invasion of Ifriqiya in the First Century of the Hijra" Bulletin of the School of Oriental Studies, University of London, Vol. 3, No. 4, (1925), 731-2
  29. ^ a b Lapidus, 200-201
  30. ^ Fletcher, Richard A. (2006). Moorish Spain. University of California Press. p. 1. ISBN 978-0-520-24840-3. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  31. ^ Richard A. Fletcher. Moorish Spain. University of California Press. p. 20.
  32. ^ Salma Khadra Jayyusi, Manuela Marín (April 14, 2014). The Legacy of Muslim Spain. Brill Publishers. pp. 125, 365, and 463. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  33. ^ Ibn Hazm, طوق الحمامة
  34. ^ Richard A. Fletcher. Moorish Spain. University of California Press. p. 61.
  35. ^ Ronald Segal, Islam's Black Slaves (2003), Atlantic Books, ISBN 1-903809-81-9
  36. ^ Granada by Richard Gottheil, Meyer Kayserling, Jewish Encyclopedia. 1906 ed.
  37. ^ Maalouf, Amin (1992). Leo Africanus (first ed.). Lanham, MD: New Amsterdam Books. p. 45. ISBN 1-56131-022-0. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  38. ^ See History of Al-Andalus.
  39. ^ Adams et al., "The Genetic Legacy of Religious Diversity and Intolerance: Paternal Lineages of Christians, Jews, and Muslims in the Iberian Peninsula", Cell, 2008. Quote: "Admixture analysis based on binary and Y-STR haplotypes indicates a high mean proportion of ancestry from North African (10.6%) ranging from zero in Gascony to 21.7% in Northwest Castile."
  40. ^ Elena Bosch, "The religious conversions of Jews and Muslims have had a profound impact on the population of the Iberian Peninsula", Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 2008, Quote: "The study shows that religious conversions and the subsequent marriages between people of different lineage had a relevant impact on modern populations both in Spain, especially in the Balearic Islands, and in Portugal."
  41. ^ Richard Fletcher. Moorish Spain p. 10. University of California Press, 1993. ISBN 978-0-520-08496-4
  42. ^ Aubé, Pierre (2006). Les empires normands d’Orient. Editions Perrin. p. 168. ISBN 2-262-02297-6.
  43. ^ Curl p. 502.
  44. ^ Pevsner, The Penguin Dictionary of Architecture.
  45. ^ Parker, James. "Man". A Glossary of Terms Used in Heraldry. Retrieved 2012-01-23.
  46. ^ a b c "Africans in medieval & Renaissance art: the Moor's head". Victoria and Albert Museum. Retrieved 2012-01-23.
  47. ^ Mons. Andrea Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo. "Coat of Arms of His Holiness Benedict XVI". The Holy See. Retrieved 2013-01-25.
  48. ^ Sache, Ivan (2009-06-14). "Corsica (France, Traditional province)". Flags of the World. Retrieved 2013-01-25.
  49. ^ Curry, Ian (2012-03-18). "Blindfolded Moors - The Flags of Corsica and Sardinia". Vaguely Interesting. Retrieved 2013-01-25.
  50. ^ In his July 15, 2005 blog article "Is that a Moor's head?", Mathew N. Schmalz refers to a discussion on the American Heraldry Society's website where at least one participant described the moor's head as a "potentially explosive image".
  51. ^ "Part IX: Offensive Armory". Rules for Submissions of the College of Arms of the Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc. 2008-04-02. Retrieved 2012-01-23.
  52. ^ G. Mokhtar. General History of Africa: Ancient Civilizations of Africa, p. 427.
  53. ^ Keita, S. O. Y. (1990). "Studies of ancient crania from northern Africa". American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 83 (1): 35–48. doi:10.1002/ajpa.1330830105. PMID 2221029.
  54. ^ Furtado, A. D. (1981). Goa, yesterday, to-day, tomorrow: an approach to various socio-economic and political issues in Goan life & re-interpretation of historical facts. Furtado's Enterprises. pp. 254 pages(page xviii).

Bibliography

This section's bibliographical information is not fully provided. If you know these sources and can provide full information, you can help Wikipedia by completing it.
  • Jan R. Carew. Rape of Paradise: Columbus and the birth of racism in America. Brooklyn, NY: A&B Books, c. 1994.
  • David Brion Davis, "Slavery: White, Black, Muslim, Christian." New York Review of Books, vol. 48, #11 July 5, 2001. Do not have exact pages.
  • Herodotus, The Histories
  • Shomark O. Y. Keita, "Genetic Haplotypes in North Africa"
  • Shomarka O. Y. Keita, "Studies of ancient crania from northern Africa." American Journal of Physical Anthropology 83:35-48 1990.
  • Shomarka O. Y. Keita, "Further studies of crania from ancient northern Africa: an analysis of crania from First Dynasty Egyptian tombs, using multiple discriminant functions." American Journal of Physical Anthropology 87: 345-54, 1992.
  • Shomarka O. Y. Keita, "Black Athena: race, Bernal and Snowden." Arethusa 26: 295-314, 1993.
  • Bernard Lewis, "The Middle East".
  • Bernard Lewis. The Muslim Discovery of Europe. NY: Norton, 1982. Also an article with the same title published in Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London 20(1/3): 409-16, 1957.
  • Bernard Lewis, "Race and Slavery in Islam".
  • Stanley Lane-Poole, assisted by E. J. W. Gibb and Arthur Gilman. The Story of Turkey. NY: Putnam, 1888.
  • Stanley Lane-Poole. The Story of the Barbary Corsairs. NY: Putnam,1890.
  • Stanley Lane-Poole, The History of the Moors in Spain.
  • J. A. (Joel Augustus) Rogers. Nature Knows No Color Line: research into the Negro ancestry in the white race. New York: 1952.
  • Ronald Segal. Islam's Black Slaves: the other Black diaspora. NY: Farrar Straus Giroux, 2001.
  • Ivan Van Sertima, ed. The Golden Age of the Moor. New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers, 1992. (Journal of African civilizations, vol. 11).
  • Frank Snowden. Before Color Prejudice: the ancient view of blacks. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press, 1983.
  • Frank Snowden. Blacks in antiquity: Ethiopians in the Greco-Roman experience. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1970.
  • David M. Goldenberg. The Curse of Ham: race and slavery in early Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, c2003.
  • Lucotte and Mercier, various genetic studies
  • Eva Borreguero. "The Moors Are Coming, the Moors Are Coming! Encounters with Muslims in Contemporary Spain." p. 417-32 in Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, 2006, vol. 17, no. 4, pp. 417–32.

Template:Europe Hegemony