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93-397: The mosque was built to replace the older Mosque of Ibn 'Addabas, built in the 9th century under Umayyad rule , since the congregation had grown larger than that modest mosque could accommodate. It was commissioned in 1171 by caliph Abu Ya'qub Yusuf . Sevillian architect Ahmad Ibn Baso, who had led other construction projects for the caliph, was in charge of designing the mosque. Construction

186-465: A 1356 earthquake, the mosque was comparable in size to the great mosque of Cordoba and its walls faced the cardinal directions with mathematical preciseness. It had a rectangular floor plan measuring approximately 113 by 135 meters. The prayer hall was symmetrical and airy, with a still-extant courtyard, the Patio de los Naranjos , or "Courtyard of Orange Trees ." Its interior had a stucco-carved dome over

279-561: A circle and are framed in an alfiz . The Córdoban style of horseshoe arch spread all over the Caliphate and adjacent areas, and was adopted by the successor Muslim emirates of the peninsula, the taifas , as well as by the architecture of the Maghreb under subsequent dynasties. Its use remained especially consistent in the form of mosque mihrabs . In the northern Iberian Peninsula, where Asturias and other Christian kingdoms ruled,

372-469: A means of transporting ground troops, such as between the Maghreb and the Iberian Peninsula. This was also seen with Alcácer do Sal 's ships in the campaign against Santiago de Compostela in 997. As in the army Almanzor recruited Berbers faithful to him. In its administration he favored the saqalibas to the detriment of native officials. The fleet was reinforced with a network of ports and

465-644: A minority but they had formed the ruling elites since the Muslim conquest in the early 8th century. Berbers, who had made up the majority of the conquering army, were a larger group, relatively powerful but less so than the Arab elites. The indigenous population were the majority, but the proportion of Christians among them decreased over time as many of them converted to Islam. The indigenous Muslim converts were known as Muwallad s (Arabic: مولد ) and became very numerous in later generations. Some of them were descended from

558-416: A model was made by Juan Bautista Vásquez "el Viejo" and then it was cast in bronze by Bartolomé Morel. The sculpture, in the form of a woman carrying a flag pole, was probably inspired by the image of Pallas Athena , adapting it to a symbol of Christian faith. It is 4 meters tall and approximately 4 meters wide, weighing 1,500 kilograms. As it is made of cast bronze sheets, the interior is mostly empty and it

651-641: A new base in the Atlantic, in Alcácer do Sal, which protected the city of Coimbra , recovered in the 980s. It served as start of a campaign against Santiago. On the Mediterranean shore, the naval defense was centered at the base of al-Mariya, now Almería . The dockyards of the fleet had been built in Tortosa in 944. The fleet also maintained a significant budget. Initially, the maritime defense of

744-418: A series of 35 ramps winding around the perimeter of seven vaulted chambers at the tower's core. These ramps were designed with enough width and height to accommodate "beasts of burden, people, and the custodians," according to one chronicler from the era. The decorated facades and windows on the tower are stepped to match the ramps in order to maximize light to the chambers inside. This exterior brick decoration

837-548: A square layout with the same width as the main shaft of the tower. It consists of a lantern -like structure with 5 openings on either side in which the bells are hung. The space above these openings features for oculi in addition to a central arch. The top edge of this section is crowned with decorative stone "urns" popularly known as " carambolas ". The upper section is narrower and consists of two square sections topped by two round sections of diminishing size. Black tiles are used alongside sculptural details for decoration throughout

930-685: Is also found in early Christian architecture in Byzantine Anatolia and became characteristic of Christian architecture in Cappadocia , though the origins of this regional feature are sometimes debated. An early example of its use in Anatolia is found at the Alahan Monastery in present-day southern Turkey , dating most likely from the 5th century CE. In Visigothic Spain , horseshoe arches are found, for example, in of

1023-466: Is held together with the help of several vertical and horizontal bars. These internal supports rest on a vertical metal axis which is inserted into the sculpture itself up to around breast height and which is anchored below to the summit of the tower. The sculpture thus rotates around this axis like a weather vane. The Giraldillo has been damaged and worn over time. Repairs were historically difficult due to its weight and its hard-to-reach location. During

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1116-646: The ulama (religious scholars) and the fuqaha (judges) played the most important social role. In the 9th century, both the Maliki and the Hanafi legal schools of thought ( maddhab s ) were common, but the Umayyads themselves promoted the former. One reason for this might be that Hanafism was seen as too closely associated with the Abbasids, whom the Umayyads considered enemies. Maliki dominance solidified under

1209-433: The 1755 Lisbon earthquake it suffered damage but repairs were not performed until 1770, when it was completely disassembled and its internal support system replaced. In 1980 and 1981 it was partially repaired again, which allowed modern scholars and scientists to study it directly for the first time. It was determined then that the sculpture was in poor condition and needed further restoration. This process began in 1999, when

1302-638: The Almoravids (11th-12th centuries), the first pointed horseshoe arches began to appear in the region and then became more widespread during the Almohad period (12th-13th centuries). This pointed horseshoe arch is likely of North African origin. Art historian Georges Marçais attributed it in particular to Ifriqiya (present-day Tunisia ), where it was present in earlier Aghlabid and Fatimid architecture . As Muslim rule retreated in Al-Andalus,

1395-716: The Caliphate of Córdoba , was an Arab Islamic state ruled by the Umayyad dynasty from 756 to 1031. Its territory comprised most of the Iberian Peninsula (known to Muslims as al-Andalus ), the Balearic Islands , and parts of North Africa, with its capital in Córdoba (at the time Qurṭubah ). From 756 it was ruled as an emirate until Abd al-Rahman III adopted the title of caliph in 929. The state

1488-468: The Church of Santa Eulalia de Boveda near Lugo and the Church of Santa Maria de Melque near Toledo . Some tombstones from that period have been found in the north of Spain with horseshoe arches in them, eliciting speculation about a pre-Roman local Celtic tradition. In early Islamic architecture , some horseshoe arches appeared in Umayyad architecture of the 7th to 8th centuries. They are found in

1581-613: The Emirate period , used horseshoe arches prominently and ubiquitously, often enclosing them in an alfiz (rectangular frame) to accentuate the effect of its shape. This can be seen at a large scale in their major work, the Great Mosque of Córdoba . Its most distinctive form, however, was consolidated in the 10th-century during the Caliphal period , as seen at Madinat al-Zahra , where the arches consist of about three quarters of

1674-707: The Galician coast. Almanzor eliminated figures who could have opposed his reforms, such as killing Ghalib. Almanzor also replaced the governor of Zaragoza after he collaborated with his eldest son to replace him with a member of the same clan, the Banu Tujib. The admiral of the fleet was also poisoned in January 980 and replaced. Land transport routes were dotted with strongholds, and dignitaries controlled communications. Messengers were bought in and specially trained to handle Almanzor's messages and to transmit

1767-623: The Giraldillo was removed and brought to the Andalusian Historical Heritage Institute ( Instituto Andaluz de Patrimonio Histórico ) for restoration, while a replica was put in its place. The restored sculpture was reinstalled in 2005 along with instrumentation designed to monitor its condition in the future. Many towers have borrowed from the Giralda's design throughout history. Several church towers in

1860-782: The Ibn Tulun Mosque , completed in 879. Wijdan Ali also describes this as the first systematic use of the pointed variant. Horseshoe arches of a slightly pointed form were also used in Aghlabid architecture of the 9th century, including the Great Mosque of Kairouan (circa 836) and the Mosque of Ibn Khayrun (866). It was in Al-Andalus (on the Iberian Peninsula ) and western North Africa (the Maghreb ) that horseshoe arches developed their characteristic form. Prior to

1953-572: The Idrisid emir Abul-Aish Ahmad recognized the caliphate, but refused to allow them to occupy Tangier. The Umayyads besieged Tangier in 949 and defeated Abul-Aish, forcing him to retreat, and then occupied the rest of northern Morocco. Abd al-Rahman III increased diplomatic relations with the Berber tribes in North Africa, Christian kingdoms from the north, West Francia , East Francia , and

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2046-1072: The Moorish arch and the keyhole arch , is a type of arch in which the circular curve is continued below the horizontal line of its diameter, so that the opening at the bottom of the arch is narrower than the arch's full span. Evidence for the earliest uses of this form are found in Late Antique and Sasanian architecture , and it was then used in Spain by the Visigoths . But in the 19th century, perhaps when these earlier uses had not been realized, it became emblematic of Islamic architecture , especially Moorish architecture and Mozarabic art in Iberia . It also made later appearances in Moorish Revival and Art Nouveau styles. Horseshoe arches can take rounded, pointed or lobed form. The origins of

2139-657: The Mudéjar style , which developed from the 12th to the 16th centuries under Spanish Christian rule, continued the tradition of horseshoe arches in the Iberian Peninsula. Horseshoe arches also continued to be used in the Maghreb, in the architecture of Morocco , Algeria , and Tunisia . Horseshoe arches were also common in Ghurid and Ghaznavid architecture (11th-13th centuries) in Central Asia , though in this region they had sharp pointed apexes, in contrast with those of

2232-598: The Muslim invasion of Spain , the Visigoths of the Iberian Peninsula used them in their architecture . Although it is possible that Andalusi architecture borrowed the horseshoe arch from Umayyad Syria, these local precedents make it just as likely that it developed locally instead. The "Moorish" arch, however, was of a slightly different and more sophisticated form than the Visigothic arch, being less flat and more circular. The Umayyads of Al-Andalus, starting with

2325-452: The Siege of Santarém . His son, Abu Yusuf Yaqub al-Mansur , ordered construction on the minaret to continue upon his accession in 1184, but the work stalled again soon after and did not restart until 1188. Ahmad Ibn Baso had begun the base of the tower in cut stone and his work was continued by a Maghrebi Berber architect named 'Ali al-Ghumari, who was responsible for building the main body of

2418-726: The Sultan Qalawun Complex in Cairo, built in 1285. Andalusi-style horseshoe arches are also found alongside the minaret of the Mosque of Ibn Tulun in Cairo, probably dating from 13th-century renovations ordered by Sultan Lajin to the older 9th-century mosque. In addition to their use across the Islamic world, horseshoe arches became popular in Western countries in Moorish Revival architecture, which became fashionable in

2511-587: The Umayyad Mosque of Damascus , though their horseshoe shape is not very pronounced. They are also found in the Umayyad Palace at the Amman Citadel in present-day Jordan . According to Giovanni Teresio Rivoira, an archeologist writing in the early 20th century, the pointed variant of the horseshoe arch is of Islamic origin. According to Rivoira, this type of arch was first used in

2604-426: The mihrab , as well as several matching carvings over the arched doorways. The minbar was decorated in a Cordoban style, constructed from expensive wood and embellished with sandalwood, ivory, ebony, gold, and silver. The main northern entrance to the courtyard, the present-day Puerta del Perdón , contains a bronze-plated door with geometric decoration and floral knockers. The current knockers in place are replicas of

2697-624: The province of Seville also bear a resemblance to the tower, and may have been inspired by the Giralda. These towers, most notably those in Lebrija and Carmona , are popularly known as Giraldillas . Numerous replicas of the Giralda have been built in the United States, mostly between 1890 and 1937: The building has also inspired buildings outside the US and Spain, such as: Emirate of C%C3%B3rdoba The Emirate of Córdoba , from 929,

2790-680: The saqaliba and Berbers. He also created new units, outside the regular army of the Caliphate, that were loyal to him and served to control the capital. Almanzor abolished the system of tribal units with their own commanders. This system had been in decline due to a lack of Arab recruits and the pseudo-feudalistic institutions on the frontiers. A new system of mixed units without clear loyalty under orders from Administration officials replaced it. The increase in military forces and their partial professionalization led to an increase in financial expenses, and incentivized campaigning so troops could be paid with loot and land. Lands handed over to

2883-693: The 19th century. They were widely used in Moorish Revival synagogues. They were employed in the Neo-Mudéjar style in Spain, another type of Moorish Revival style. They are used in some forms of Indo-Saracenic Revival architecture , a 19th-century style associated with the British Raj . Exaggerated horseshoe arches were also popular in some forms of Art Nouveau architecture , notably in Brussels . Among other examples, this can be seen on

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2976-437: The 9th-10th centuries in the style of Madinat al-Zahra . Leopoldo Torres Balbás counted 92 such capitals reused in the tower. The facades of the tower did contain some plaster embellishment, but they were removed during a modern restoration. The top edge of the tower's main shaft was originally crowned by stepped or sawtooth-shaped merlons, as was common with other contemporary minarets in the region. The small secondary shaft at

3069-838: The Arab-Muslim elites. Bishops often acted as administrators and political envoys and their appointment was overseen by the Umayyad state. While the Catholic Church retained its internal unity, the advent of Islamic rule weakened its monopoly on religious authority over the Christian communities in al-Andalus, resulting in many deviations from orthodox practice and the emergence of both old and new heterodoxies which co-existed alongside official church doctrine. Horseshoe arch The horseshoe arch ( Arabic : قوس حدوة الحصان ; Spanish : arco de herradura ), also called

3162-483: The Book who took on the status of dhimmi s or "protected non-Muslims". In exchange for the state's protection, they were required to pay a tax called the jizya . Their religious practices were tolerated but conspicuous displays of faith, such as bells and processions, were discouraged. The local Christian Catholic Church in al-Andalus was partially integrated with the Umayyad regime and its leaders collaborated with

3255-529: The Byzantine Empire . Abd al-Rahman III also brought the Christian kingdoms of the north under his direct influence through military force. The size of the Caliphal army under Abd al-Rahman III was between 30,000 and 50,000 troops. The caliphate became very profitable during the reign of Abd al-Rahman III, with public revenue up to 6,245,000 dinars , higher than previous administrations. Wealth

3348-439: The Caliphate was led by Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn Rumahis, a veteran admiral who had served Al-Hakam II and was Qadi of Elvira and Pechina . He repulsed raids by al-Magus (idolaters) or al-Urdumaniyun ('men of the north', Vikings ), in the west of al-Andalus in mid-971. When there was another invasion later that year, the admiral left Almería and defeated them off the coast of Algarve . In April 973, he transported

3441-500: The Christian north of the peninsula, which lacked large urban centers. The adoption of the Arabic language was a wide-reaching phenomenon of long-term importance. It was spearheaded by the promotion of Classical Arabic as an administrative and literary language, followed by the development of a native vernacular Andalusi Arabic . In the 9th century, Romance languages continued to be spoken in rural lower classes but Arabic had become

3534-539: The Fatimids. The Umayyads sent their general, Ghalib, to invade Idrisid Morocco in 973. By 974, Al-Hassan II was taken to Córdoba, and the remaining Idrisids recognized Umayyad rule. The death of Al-Hakam II in 976 marked the beginning of the end of Caliphal power. Al-Hakam was succeeded by his only son, Hisham II . Al-Hakam's top advisor, Almanzor , pronounced the 10-year-old boy caliph and swore an oath of obedience to him. Almanzor had great influence over Subh ,

3627-539: The Iberian Peninsula as a province ( wilāya ) of their empire. The rulers of this province established their capital in Córdoba and received the administrative titles wāli or emīr . In 756, Abd al-Rahman I , a prince of the deposed Umayyad royal family , refused to recognize the authority of the Abbasid Caliphate and became an independent emir of Córdoba. He had been on the run for six years after

3720-486: The Saracen armies amount to 30, 40, 50 or 60,000 men, even when in serious occasions they reach 100, 160, 300 and even 600,000 fighters" in the time of Almanzor. In the campaign that swept Astorga and León , chroniclers record Almanzor leading 12,000 African horsemen, five thousand al-Andalusi horsemen, and 40,000 infantry. Stories of Almanzor's last campaign record forty-six thousand horsemen, six hundred forces guarding

3813-503: The Umayyads had lost the position of caliph in Damascus in 750 to the Abbasids. Intent on regaining a position of power, he defeated the existing Muslim rulers of the area who had defied Umayyad and Abbasid rule. Abd al-Rahman I united various local fiefdoms into an independent emirate . The campaigns to unify al-Andalus went into Toledo , Zaragoza , Pamplona , and Barcelona and took over twenty-five years to complete. Despite

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3906-532: The army of Ghalib from Algeciras to subdue the rebellious tribes of the Maghreb and end Fatimid ambitions in that area. In 985, the fleet ravaged the Catalans . During the Catalan campaign, Gausfred I , Count of Empurias and Roussillon tried to raise an army to help but several flotillas of Berber pirates threatened their coasts, forcing them to stay to defend their lands. In 997 the al-Andalusi fleet hit

3999-650: The army reached 35,000 to 40,000 combatants, half of them Syrian military contingents. An Umayyad expedition helmed by ʿIṣām al-Ḫawlānī occupied the Balearic Islands (the 'Eastern Islands') and incorporated them to Cordobese rule under emir Abdullah circa 902–903. Abd al-Rahman III ascended to the throne in 912, and faced the Fatimid Caliphate , a rival North African Shiʿite Islamic empire based in Tunis . The Fatimid's claim of Caliph challenged

4092-470: The belfry. The top of the square sections also features the inscription "TURRIS FORTISSIMA NOMEN DNI PROBERBI8", a reference to a passage of the 18th Proverb : "The name of the Lord is a fortified tower." The finishing touch added to the summit of the belfry in 1568 is the rotating sculpture known as the Giraldillo ( weather vane ), from which the name "Giralda" is derived. It was designed by Luis de Vargas ,

4185-479: The caliphate collapsed and fractured into a number of independent Muslim taifa (kingdoms). The period was characterized by an expansion of trade and culture, including the construction of well-known pieces of Andalusi architecture . The Visigothic Kingdom had ruled Iberia for over two centuries when it was overthrown by the Umayyad Caliphate . The Umayyads had previously conducted small raids on

4278-448: The chronicles exaggerated tenfold the real numbers – these speak of eight hundred thousand soldiers – the caliphate could have had eight million inhabitants. Those who use more bullish criteria estimate between seven and 10 million. Under Almanzor, the realm also had other large cities like Toledo , Almería and Granada , which were all around 30,000; and Zaragoza, Valencia and Málaga , all above 15,000. This contrasted sharply with

4371-464: The city of Mérida . Ethnic Arabs were (at least during the early Emirate period) sparse here and the Muslim population consisted mostly of Berbers, probably semi-nomadic or transhumant , and of Muwallad s. The region along the central frontier, near Toledo, also known as the Middle March, was again only sparsely inhabited by Arabs. The city and local politics were dominated by Muwallad s, while

4464-470: The civil war by contingents of Christian mercenaries. Beset by factionalism, the caliphate crumbled in 1031 into a number of independent taifas , including the Taifa of Córdoba , Taifa of Seville and Taifa of Zaragoza . The last Córdoban Caliph was Hisham III (1027–1031). Under Umayyad rule, Arabization and Islamization progressed significantly in al-Andalus. In the long-term, these were to comprise

4557-471: The empire". Évariste Lévi-Provençal argues the Almanzor's armies were between 35,000 and 70–75,000 soldiers. It is likely that the leader's armies may not have exceeded twenty thousand men. Until the eleventh century no Muslim army on campaign exceeded thirty thousand troops, while during the eighth century the trans-Pyrenean expeditions totaled ten thousand men and those carried out against Christians in

4650-520: The figure of the homes of paratge who obtained privileged military status by fighting against the Córdobans armed on horseback – after losing their capital in the fall of 985. Military industry flourished in factories around Córdoba. The city was said to produce 1,000 bows and 20,000 arrows monthly, and 1,300 shields and 3,000 campaign stores annually. In contrast to the role the navy played under Abd al-Rahman III, under Almanzor, it served as

4743-458: The former Visigothic and Hispano-Roman landholding elites that existed prior to the Muslim conquest and who had retained much of their status after the conquest. Jews were present in smaller numbers relative to the other groups. According to Thomas Glick , "Despite the withdrawal of substantial numbers during the drought and famine of the 750s, fresh Berber migration from North Africa was a constant feature of Andalusi history, increasing in tempo in

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4836-563: The gates of the city were opened. Almanzor continued the military reforms by Al-Hakam and his predecessors. He professionalized the regular army, which guaranteed his military power in the capital and ensured the availability of forces for numerous campaigns. Professionalization de-emphasized levies and other non-professional troops, which were replaced with taxes to support the professional troops – often saqaliba or Maghrebis – and freed Córdoban subjects from military service. Almanzor expanded recruitment of

4929-823: The horseshoe arch are complicated. It appeared in pre-Islamic Sasanian architecture such as the Taq-i Kasra in present-day Iraq and the Palace of Ardashir in southwestern Iran (3rd century CE). It also appeared in Late Roman or Byzantine architecture , as well as in Roman Spain . In Byzantine Syria , the form was used in the Baptistery of Saint Jacob at Nusaybin (4th century CE) and in Qasr Ibn Wardan (564 CE). Another possible origin of

5022-442: The horseshoe arch motif is India, where rock-cut temples with mildly incurved horseshoe arches survive from early periods, though these were sculpted in rock rather than constructed, and probably imitate earlier forms in wood. For example, horseshoe arch shapes are found in parts of the Ajanta Caves and Karla Caves dating from around the 1st century BCE to 1st century CE. Horseshoe arches made of baked brick have been found in

5115-417: The language of the middle and upper classes. By the end of the century, even the Christian population was so widely Arabized that their clergy were required to translate religious texts into Arabic. The early population of al-Andalus at the outset of Umayyad rule had several main constituents: Arabs , Berbers , indigenous converts to Islam, indigenous Christians, and Jews. The Andalusis of Arab origin were

5208-542: The legitmacy of the Abbasids' religious authority. Abd al-Rahman III took the title of caliph in 929, challenging the Fatimids in their claim to religious authority. Internally, the Spanish Umayyads considered themselves as closer to Muhammad and more legitimate than the Abbasids, even though the Caliphate of Córdoba's legitimacy was not accepted outside of al-Andalus and its North African affiliates. Fatimid invasions were thwarted when Abd al-Rahman III secured Melilla in 927, Ceuta in 931, and Tangier in 951. In 948,

5301-412: The marches along the Christian border, where power depended on the competence of the individual emir. For example, the power of emir Abdullah ibn Muhammad al-Umawi ( c.  900 ) did not extend beyond Córdoba itself. Raids increased the emirate's size such as one to Corsica in 806. In 818, the inhabitants of the al-Rabad suburb of Córdoba rose against  [ es ] Al-Hakam I . After

5394-540: The minaret in brick, and completed by Sicilian architect Abu Layth Al-Siqilli, who built the small secondary shaft at the top of the tower. The minaret was built using both local bricks and recycled marble from old Umayyad monuments. On 10 March 1198, the tower was completed with the addition of the finial ( jāmūr ) of four precious metal spheres (either gold or bronze) at the tower's peak to commemorate al-Mansur's victory over Alfonso VIII of Castile , which had taken place four years prior. Before its partial destruction in

5487-527: The mother and regent of Hisham II. Almanzor isolated Hisham in Córdoba, eradicated opposition, and allowed Berbers from Africa to migrate to al-Andalus to increase his base of support. While Hisham II was caliph, he was merely a figurehead. In 996, Almanzor sent an invasion force to Morocco. After three months of struggle, his forces retreated to Tangier . Almanzor then sent out a powerful reinforcement under his son Abd al-Malik, whose armies clashed near Tangier. The Umayyads entered Fes on 13 October 998 once

5580-435: The nearby walls of the former Abbadid palace and from the Roman city walls. The tower consists of two sections: the main shaft and a much smaller second shaft, superimposed on top of it, which is enveloped today by the Renaissance-era belfry. The main shaft is 50.51 m (165.7 ft) tall and the second shaft is 14.39 m (47.2 ft) tall and has a square base measuring 6.83 m (22.4 ft). The tower contains

5673-430: The north of the peninsula were even smaller. The main weapon of the peninsular campaigns, which required speed and surprise, was the light cavalry. To try to counteract them, the Castilians created the role of "villain knights" by ennobling those free men who were willing to keep a horse to increase the mounted units through the Fuero de Castrojeriz of 974. For similar reasons, the Barcelonan count Borrell II created

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5766-403: The official reports that his foreign ministries wrote about the annual campaigns. The title of caliph became symbolic, without power or influence. Almanzor's temporal power increased the importance of the military, both as a symbol of the power of Almanzor and an instrument to guarantee the payment of taxes. The chamberlain's court also rivaled that of the caliph. Almanzor's reforms also divided

5859-409: The originals which are on display inside the Giralda tower. The minaret of the mosque still stands as the Giralda. The base at street level is a square of 13.6 m (45 ft) on the side and which sits on a solid foundation which is a bit wider, 15–16 m (49.21–52.49 ft) and about 5 m (16 ft) deep. The foundation is built with solid, rectangular stones, some taken and reused from

5952-680: The peninsula. At that time al-Andalus was known as Dar Jihad , or "country of jihad". It attracted many zealous volunteers, who made up a small but important portion of the total army. Almanzor's personal guard was made up of Christian mercenaries who also participated in his campaigns in Christian territories. Contemporary figures on the size of the army are contradictory. Some accounts claim that their armies numbered two hundred thousand horsemen and six hundred thousand foot soldiers, while others talk about twelve thousand horsemen, three thousand mounted Berbers and two thousand sūdān , African light infantry. Christian chroniclers record that "ordinarily

6045-518: The population into two unequal groups: a large mass of civilian taxpayers and a small professional military caste, generally from outside the peninsula and not particularally loyal to the polity. Following Almanzor's death in 1002, the institutions he created stagnated under internal divisions from military and political factions competing for power. The power of the chamberlain was retained by Almanzor's sons, Abd al-Malik al-Muzaffar , who died in 1008, and Abd al-Rahman Sanchuelo . While Abd al-Rahman

6138-415: The realm's independence from Baghdad, the emirate's rulers used the title " emir " or " sultan " until the mid-10th century and recognized the religious authority of the Abbasid Caliphs. For the next century and a half, his descendants continued as emirs of Córdoba, with nominal control over the rest of al-Andalus and sometimes parts of western Maghreb . Real control was always in question, particularly over

6231-407: The region. The northern limit of Muslim settlement generally extended along a frontier that ran to the north of the Tagus River in the west, around the Cordillera Central in the center, and before the foothills of the Pyrenees in the east. The region along the western frontier, known as the Lower March and including the modern-day province of Extremadura , was largely rural with the exception of

6324-405: The reign of Abd ar-Rahman II in the 9th century, though during the reign of his son, Muhammad I, the Shafi'i and Zahiri schools were also introduced. Malikism eventually became another core characteristic of Andalusi identity and its spread contributed to the Islamization of the country. As elsewhere in the historic Islamic world, Jews and Christians were considered by Muslims to be People of

6417-448: The revolt's suppression, the inhabitants were expelled. Some settled in Fez or Alexandria, while others ended forming the Emirate of Crete in the 820s. Emir Abd al-Rahman I had used Berbers and the saqaliba for a permanent army of 40,000 to end the conflicts that had plagued the emirate. In the time of Emir Al-Hakam I , a palatine guard of 3,000 riders and 2,000 infantry was created made up of Slavic slaves. Under Emir Muhammad I ,

6510-474: The rural highlands were generally the domain of Berber tribes. To the northeast, the Upper March, centered around Zaragoza and the Ebro River valley, contained more cities and a more diverse population, including Arabs, Berbers, and Muwallad s. Among the latter were powerful families who dominated the area's politics throughout the Islamic period. The hills and mountains to the north were generally still inhabited by Christians. In matters of Islamic religion,

6603-451: The sides and arabesque carvings in the spandrels . The two other vertical zones of the facades feature large panels of sebka motifs, each of which springs from a blind arcade of polylobed arches supported on marble columns. The top of the main shaft is decorated by another blind arcade forming a horizontal band of intersecting polylobed arches. The marble columns used throughout these areas feature spoliated Umayyad-era capitals from

6696-692: The so-called Tomb of the Brick Arches in Aksum (present-day Ethiopia ), built during the Kingdom of Aksum and tentatively dated to the 4th century CE. In a 1991 publication, archeologist Stuart C. Munro-Hay suggests that these could be evidence that transmission of architectural ideas took place via routes not previously considered by scholars. He suggests that the brick-built horseshoe arches could have been an Aksumite innovation based on ideas transmitted via trade with India. Further evidence of their use

6789-475: The soldiers were subject to tribute and ceased to operate under a system of border colonization. The nucleus of the new army was formed by Maghrebi Berber forces. Arabs, Berbers, and Slavs within the army were played off against one another by Almanzor to maintain his power. The massive incorporation of North African horsemen relegated the infantry to sieges and fortress garrisons. This reform led to entire tribes, particularly Berber riders, being moved to

6882-593: The southern tip of Iberia against the Visigoths, but full-scale conquest did not begin until April of 711. An army led by Tariq ibn Ziyad crossed into Southern Hispania from North Africa across the Strait of Gibraltar . After the crossing, Tariq's troops defeated Visigothic forces at the Battle of Guadalete . Roderic , the last king of the Visigoths, was killed, leaving an open path into Hispania. The Umayyads established

6975-480: The tenth century. Hispano-Romans who converted to Islam, numbering six or seven millions, comprised the majority of the population and also occupied the lowest rungs on the social ladder." While the indigenous Jews, Christians, and Muwallad s were largely organized into family-based social structures, the Arabs and Berbers were organized into a more complex mix of family and tribe loyalties. "Arab" identity in general

7068-551: The top of the minaret also features sebka and blind arch decoration, though this is only visible from inside the belfry today. After Seville was taken by the Christians in 1248 during the Reconquista , the city's mosque was symbolically converted into a cathedral. This involved changing the liturgical orientation , closing and screening off exits and archways, and creating several small family chapels. The former mosque

7161-429: The train, 26,000 infantry, two hundred scouts or 'police', and one hundred and thirty drummers. The garrison of Córdoba was recorded at 10,500 horsemen, while other forces kept the northern border in dispersed detachments. Other modern studies found the army was between 50,000 and 90,000 under Almanzor. Scholars have argued Almanzor's armies could muster 600,000 laborers and 200,000 horses "drawn from all provinces of

7254-488: The two major aspects of Andalusi identity and eventually characterized most of the population. The population of the capital city, Córdoba, most likely surpassed 100,000 in the 10th century, making it the largest city in Europe alongside Constantinople . Tertius Chandler estimated that circa 1000 CE, Córdoba held around 450,000 people. Around the same year, the caliphate occupied four hundred thousand square kilometers and

7347-636: The use of horseshoe arches continued under the influence of previous Visigothic architecture and of contemporary Islamic architecture. The addition of an alfiz around horseshoe arches was one detail more specifically borrowed from Islamic styles. Starting in the 9th century, some Mozarabs (Christians living under Muslim rule) left al-Andalus and settled in the northern Christian territories, where they contributed to popularizing this form locally, as exemplified by San Miguel de Escalada (10th century). The Mozarabs also incorporated horseshoe arches into their art, such as in illuminated manuscripts . Under

7440-955: The western Islamic world. Sometimes they were cusped or given multifoil flourishes. Around the same time or not long afterward, they begin to appear as far east as India , in Indo-Islamic architecture , such as in the Alai Darwaza gatehouse (dating from 1311) at the Qutb Complex in Delhi , though they were not a consistent feature in India. Some pointed arches with a slightly horseshoe shape appear in Ayyubid architecture in Syria. It appears, exceptionally, in some instances of Mamluk architecture . For example, it appears in some details of

7533-466: The world and an example of the Gothic and Baroque architectural styles. When the mosque was converted into a cathedral, the minaret was reused as a bell tower. Its structure remained largely the same during this period. The metal spheres that originally topped the tower fell during the 1356 earthquake, and the spheres were replaced in 1400 with a cross and bell. The first public striking clock in Spain

7626-477: Was added here around the same time. In the 16th century Hernán Ruiz the Younger , who was commissioned to work on cathedral, constructed a new Renaissance-style belfry extension at the top of the tower, which houses the bells today. The new belfry was constructed between 1558 and 1568. It brings the height of the tower to approximately 95 or 96 meters. It consists of several sections or tiers. The lower section has

7719-404: Was budgeted into three parts: the payment of the salaries and maintenance of the army, the preservation of public buildings, and the needs of the caliph. Abd al-Rahman III was succeeded by his 46-year-old son, Al-Hakam II , in 961. Al-Hakam II continued his father's policy toward Christian kings and North African rebels. Al-Hakam's relied on his advisers more than his father because the caliphate

7812-567: Was founded by Abd al-Rahman I , an Umayyad prince who fled the defeat and persecution of the Umayyad clan amid the Abbasid Revolution . The polity then flourished for the best part of three centuries, before disintegrating in the early 11th century during the Fitna of al-Andalus , a civil war between the descendants of caliph Hisham II and the successors of his hajib (court official), Al-Mansur . In 1031, after years of infighting,

7905-402: Was largely tied to the assertion of Arab ancestry. This lineage was perceived as inherited through the father, meaning that children of Arab men and non-Arab women were still considered Arabs, although the lineage of the mother, if she came from another noble or elite background, could still be seen as prestigious. Beyond the heartland of Cordoba, the makeup of the population varied depending on

7998-474: Was leading a raid on the Christian north, a revolt tore through Córdoba and deposed him, and he was killed when he tried to restore himself to power. The death of Abd al-Rahman Sanchuelo in 1009 marked the beginning of the Fitna of al-Andalus , with rivals claiming to be the new caliph, violence sweeping the caliphate, and intermittent invasions by the Hammudid dynasty . Córdoban forces were also joined in

8091-404: Was less prosperous, and there was less money to go around. This style of rulership suited Al-Hakam II since he was more interested in his scholarly and intellectual pursuits than ruling the caliphate. The caliphate reached an intellectual and scholarly peak under Al-Hakam II. Another Fatimid invasion of Morocco occurred in 958, led by the general, Jawhar , and Al-Hassan II had to recognise

8184-474: Was mainly done by 'Ali al-Ghumari, who also did repair work on the mosque. The decoration of the façades is divided into three equal vertical zones. The middle zone is occupied by the windows that provide light to the interior ramp passage. These windows vary in form from single horseshoe-arch openings to double-arched openings with polylobed (multifoil) profiles and a central marble column. They are generally framed by an ornate blind arch with marble columns on

8277-406: Was not well-maintained by any of the groups inhabiting their own sections of the building during this period, and most of the records from the 13th and early 14th centuries describe its neglect, damage, and consequent destruction to make way for a new cathedral. This structure was badly damaged in a 1356 earthquake , and by 1433 the city began building the current cathedral. Local stone to build with

8370-439: Was populated by around three million people. The Iberian Christian states comprised 160,000 square kilometers and 500,000 people. By comparison, at the time of the Muslim invasion, Iberia had an estimated four million inhabitants. Other historians estimate higher at around seven or eight million. Colmeiro estimated in a pre-industrial society, for every million inhabitants, ten thousand soldiers could be mustered. Even assuming

8463-421: Was said to have visited the site daily. By 1176, the mosque was complete, save for the minaret; however, Friday prayer was not held there until 1182. Upon returning to al-Andalus in 1184 for a new military campaign, Aby Ya'qub Yusuf ordered the construction of the minaret. However, construction halted that same year with the death of the architect and, a month and a half later, the caliph, who died while commanding

8556-477: Was scarce, and there were few skilled stonemasons in the area, so timber and stone had to be shipped from overseas, and like its earlier incarnation, the construction of the cathedral brought together artisans from all over its respective empire, this time as far away as Germany and the Netherlands. Construction took 73 years and was completed in 1506. Today, the cathedral stands as one of the largest churches in

8649-407: Was slowed down by the redirection of an existing city sewer that needed to be moved to accommodate the broad foundation for the building, an engineering obstacle that slowed progress by four years. From the beginning, craftsmen from all over Al-Andalus and the Maghreb were enlisted in the mosque's planning, construction, and decoration, and the caliph himself was highly invested in the process and

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