What was the Caliphate of Córdoba, and when did it begin?
The Caliphate of Córdoba
El califato de Córdoba
16 January 929. On 16 January 929 Abd al-Rahman III, emir of al-Andalus, declared himself caliph, a title that made him the equal of the rival caliphs in Baghdad and North…
Where: Spain, Córdoba
What happened
On 16 January 929 Abd al-Rahman III, emir of al-Andalus, declared himself caliph, a title that made him the equal of the rival caliphs in Baghdad and North Africa. Córdoba became one of the largest and richest cities in Europe, with its Great Mosque, begun in the 780s, the palace city of Madinat al-Zahra, and a famous library gathered by his son al-Hakam II. Christians and Jews kept their faith under Muslim rule but paid a special tax. The caliphate broke up in civil war in the early eleventh century, and by 1031 al-Andalus had split into small rival kingdoms, the taifas.
Say it
Hace mil años, Córdoba era una de las ciudades más grandes de Europa.
A thousand years ago, Córdoba was one of the biggest cities in Europe.
Why it matters
Caliphal Córdoba was the high point of al-Andalus and of medieval learning in Western Europe; the Arabic science and poetry of this age reached Castilian through Toledo's translators.
Read about it
Connected
- Arabic words in Spanish (711–1500)
- Convivencia: living together, and apart (711–1492)
- Abd al-Rahman I founds the emirate of Córdoba (14 May 756)
- Abd al-Rahman I founds the emirate of Córdoba (14 May 756)
- The Great Mosque of Córdoba is begun (c. 780s)
- Alfonso VI takes Toledo (25 May 1085)
- Alfonso VI takes Toledo (25 May 1085)
Sources
- Abd al-Rahman III — World History Encyclopedia
- The history — Mezquita-Catedral de Córdoba (Cabildo Catedral)
- Alfonso VI y la toma de Toledo – Ricardo Izquierdo Benito (1986) — Real Academia de Bellas Artes y Ciencias Históricas de Toledo