A Historian at the Cinema: When The Moors Ruled Europe

For most of us, world history classes are really just a bad code word for European history. Most people are aware of the basic of European history (Roman Empire, then Dark Ages, then Renaissance, the fast forward to World Wars and that's the gist of it). A part of European history that is often overlooked due to an agenda or pure ignorance is the period of 700 years in which the Moors, North African Muslims, controlled and ruled Spain and Portugal between 711 to 1492 CE. What resulted from this conquest of the Iberian peninsula was a thriving, modern, and sophisticated society during a time when the rest of Europe was living through the Dark Ages.

The documentary film, When the Moors Ruled Europe, produced by the British Acorn Media company and presented by historian Bettany Hughes, guides viewers through this history that although forgotten by many but that is still visually and physically present throughout the Spanish and Portuguese countryside. Sites such as Andalucia, Granada, and Cordoba contain the physically remains of this high period in European history. Hughes takes the audience through a history that began in conquest and the creation of the kingdom of Al-Andalus (modern day Spain, Portugal, and southern France). Tariq ibn Ziyad lead the Moorish army against the Visigoths, who would eventually surrender. However, life under the new Moorish empire in southern Europe was complex. Moorish rulers allowed Christians to be governed by Visigoth law and the many willing Muslim converts, who converted despite little immigration from north Africa, to live under Moorish law. In addition, Arabic became the language of the land. These two factors help explains the large influence Islam had on Iberian (and as a result South American) culture and customs and the large amount of Arabic origins in the Spanish language. These long lasting influences of the Moors demonstrate how deep an impact the 700 years of Moorish rule had upon the people of southern Europe. More interestingly, the documentary is quick to point out that Moorish Europe experienced a Renaissance many hundreds of years before the rest of Europe. During this period, the Moors developed renowned learning centers and libraries, advanced medicine that would not be seen in Europe until the discovery of germs, and practical technology such as sewer and water systems. However, the Moorish Empire of Al-Andalus would eventually come to an end during the Reconquista which would end with Ferdinand and Isabella as king and queen of the newly re-Christian Spain in 1492. With Christian rulers in control of the region, Spain would quickly move to forget and cover up their Moorish history. This effort to forget the Muslim empire in Europe would prove successful up until current day when the majority of text books gloss over or omit any references to Moorish Europe. This documentary aims to bring back this history to the general population and to the popular record.

Alhambra: masterpiece of Moorish art and
architecture located in Granada, Spain. 

The high light of this film, aside from the clearly explained and rich history narrative, is that it draws upon the architectural heritage of Moorish Spain. Hughes explores and narrates this complex history while strolling through the regal and geometrically designed palaces such as Alhambra. Audiences are presented with the beautifully preserved remains of Moorish Spain as they learn about the civilization that built them. Instead of the typical Ken Burns style of slowing panning past antique photos of people and places, the producers of this documentary chose to film on site of each of the Moorish palaces or cities and used reconstructions or images during certain moments. This decision enriches the experience because it reveals to audiences the physical impact of this civilization. More importantly, the documentary does excellent work at explaining a complex 700 year history in only two hours. It serves as a primer, a well detailed one, for those interested in learning about this missing chapter in European and Arab history.

I found this documentary through a recommendation from my Arabic professor. My background as South American made this documentary all the more interesting. Learning about how Latin American traditions came from Arab and Muslim culture was enlightening and something that is rarely talked about. It revealed an aspect of the history of the Spanish language that I had never heard before and helped answer many of the questions I had about our deep seeded traditions. For this reason, I most definitely recommend this documentary to people of South and Central American decent. It provides an understanding of another layer in our extremely multicultural history. For others, it will also provide an enlightening re-examination of that European history you learned in high school social science class. The beauty of history is that it is constantly in a process of discovery and rediscovery, and it is this process that makes us richer as a society and as people.