Christianity and Islam in Spain, A.D. 756-1031

What It's About

This is a scholarly study of the relationship between Christianity and Islam in Spain during the period of Moorish rule, from the consolidation of Umayyad power in 756 to the collapse of the Caliphate of Córdoba in 1031. Haines examines how the two faiths coexisted, clashed, and influenced each other across nearly three centuries, covering topics ranging from the Visigothic kingdom that preceded the Arab conquest to the religious controversies and social conditions of Christian communities living under Muslim rule. Particular attention is paid to the Mozarabs — Christians who adopted Arab customs and language while retaining their faith — and to the dramatic martyrdom movement at Córdoba in the ninth century, in which Christian clerics and laypeople deliberately provoked execution by publicly denouncing Islam. The book also explores the theological ignorance that kept the two religions largely closed to one another, the internal heresies that troubled the Spanish church, and the ways in which Islamic culture subtly shaped Christian practice and thought.

Key Concepts

The Mozarabs and their cultural accommodation under Moorish rule; the Córdoba martyrs and the controversy surrounding their voluntary self-sacrifice; the Muwallads (Christians who converted to Islam); the reign of Abd al-Rahman III and the height of Umayyad power in Spain; the mutual ignorance between Christian and Muslim theologians; the social influence of Christianity and the reciprocal influence of Islam on Christian practice.

About the Author

Charles Reginald Haines was a late nineteenth-century British classical and medieval scholar. He studied at Winchester and Oxford, and combined a career in teaching with serious historical and philological research.