Al-Andalus | History of Islamic Spain | Part 1 | الأندلس

May 10. 2009 | Muslim Spain, Muslim Iberia, or Islamic Iberia, was a medieval Muslim territory and cultural domain that in its early period occupied most of Iberia, today's Portugal and Spain. At its greatest geographical extent, it occupied the northwest of the Iberian peninsula and a part of present day southern France Septimania (8th century) and for nearly a century (9th–10th centuries) extended its control from Fraxinet over the Alpine passes which connect Italy with the remainder of Western Europe During the Islamic 'golden age' between the 8th and 14th century, al-Andalus became a hub for social and cultural exchange, while the arts, science, architecture, agriculture, medicine and mathemathics flourished.

Many attribute these achievements to religious tolerance and collaboration between Muslims, Christians and Jews, which is why that period of history is also sometimes referred to as La Convivencia, or co-existence.

The era also produced some of the most significant scholars, poets, musicians, philosophers, historians and thinkers of the medieval age - such as Ibn Arabi, Ibn Rushd (also known as Averroes), al-Zarqali (Arzachel in Latin), al-Zahrawi (Abulcasis in Latin) and Ibn Firnas, among others.