Product Description

Widely hailed as a revelation of a "lost" golden age, this history brings to vivid life the rich and thriving culture of medieval Spain where, for more than seven centuries, Muslims, Jews, and Christians lived together in an atmosphere of tolerance, and literature, science, and the arts flourished. of photos. 3 maps.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #75582 in Books
• Published on: 2003-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780316168717
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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Amazon.com Review
María Rosa Menocal's wafting, ineffably sad The Ornament of the World tells of a time and place--from 786 to 1492, in Andalucía, Spain--that is largely and unjustly overshadowed in most historical chronicles. It was a time when three cultures--Judaic, Islamic, and Christian--forged a relatively stable (though occasionally contentious) coexistence. Such was this period that there remains in Toledo a church with an "homage to Arabic writing on its walls [and] a sumptuous 14th-century synagogue built to look like Granada's Alhambra." Long gone, however, is the Córdoba library--a thousand times larger than any other in Christian Europe. Menocal's history is one of palatine cities, of philosophers, of poets whose work inspired Chaucer and Boccaccio, of weeping fountains, breezy courtyards, and a long-running tolerance "profoundly rooted in the cultivation of the complexities, charms and challenges of contradictions," which ended with the repression of Judaism and Islam the same year Columbus sailed to the New World. --H. O'Billovich

From Library Journal
Menocal (R. Selden Rose Professor of Spanish and Portuguese and director of Special Programs in the Humanities, Yale Univ.) has previously published The Arabic Role in Medieval Literary History: A Forgotten Heritage, as well as other books on the role of the vernacular in medieval cultures. This book certainly reflects her deep scholarship. Menocal offers persuasive evidence that the Renaissance was strongly foreshadowed by the intellectual climate of Spain in the preceding centuries, starting in 783 with the founding of Andalusia by Abd al-Rahman, an Umayyad from Syria. The culture created was receptive to intellectual pursuits not allowed in the rest of Europe for several centuries, including the creation of impressive libraries and the study and translation of Classical authors. Menocal claims that this environment was largely a result of the tolerance shown by this ruler and his successors toward Christians and Jews and their cultures. Menocal has not given us a history book so much as a demonstration that puritanical cultures of any ilk are detrimental to the development of science, art, and literature. Her arguments are convincing even without the dark background of September 11. Recommended for all libraries.
Clay Williams, Hunter Coll. Lib., New York
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
In the eighth century, the Abbasids took control of the Islamic empire from the once-powerful Umayyads. Abd al-Rahman, an Umayyad, fled to Spain and founded al-Andalus. There Jews, Christians, and Muslims lived together in relative peace and equality for centuries. The Andalusian kingdom has been largely ignored by Western and Eastern historians alike, but Menocal argues persuasively that to see the Middle Ages through an Andalusian lens reveals no dark ages among them but instead "a whole series of golden ages." Indeed, from the rediscovery of Hebrew by Jews to translations of Plato and Aristotle, the Andalusians laid the groundwork for the Renaissance. The culture of tolerance slowly fell apart, of course, and has never really returned. Menocal displays a lavish sense of place that should be the envy of many novelists, telling an engaging story in detail without ever alienating the general reader. Her seductively written history serves as both a testament to past tolerance and the hope of a peaceful future. The lessons of Andalusian history surely have never been more timely. John Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

This 'Ornament' More Romantic Than True; Better Alternatives
My wife and I have a home in Andalusia. We also are enthusiastic but 'minor' league students of Moorish & Jewish history in Spain. So I bought this book as a easy-to-please, generalist and wanna-be fan.

Unfortunately, this book comes up light on two levels: the lack of new insights and the lack of sharp writing spoils the book for me. For example, Menocal provides few new relevations about the role of Moors and Jews in Medieval Spain. Her book also lacks good story telling on the major figures and thought leaders of this 700-year period. I found Menocal's analysis sharp and able, but sometimes overdone. And like too many academics, Menocal is neither a good storyteller nor writer.

More broadly, the fundamental premise of the book: That Arabs, Jews and Christians lived peacefully under Moorish rule, is more romantic than true. Except for a very brief period of 50 or so years around 900 AD, there was more persecution than tolerance over the 700 year Moorish period. Ask the Jews of Granada that were slaughered in 1066, or the thousands of Christians who were deported by the Almoravid dynasty to Morocco as slaves in 1126. During the same period, it is well known the Berbers of Northern Africa would frequently pillage Spain, robbing Andalusian Arabs and Christians alike. Later, of course, a united Christian Spain would deport the heavily taxed and persecuted Moors in 1492; some authorities report Muslims were forced to leave their children behind as slaves for the Christian Monarchs to work in various trades.

I believe the book's only bright light is an interesting and original tale about how the enlightened Arabs and Jews of the period translated and preserved some of the world's best literature and science thought lost after the fall of Rome and Greece. The works of Aristotle, for example, were translated from Greek to Arab, then several hundred years later by the Christian clergy from Arab to Latin and other romance languages.

An alternative book about Islamic and Jewish influences in Andalusia is Richard Fletcher's "Moorish Spain." Fletcher is considered by some authorities to be the Bernard Lewis of Islamic Spain and his well-written 1990 book remains the one of best efforts covering that period. Another well-written book, but more detailed effort, is L.P. Harvey's "Islamic Spain 1250-1500." A third book, a superior piece of modern travel writing, rich in Moorish and Jewish history, is Gees Nooteboom's "Roads to Santiago."

All three of books are widely available, offer an unvarnished overview of Moorish & Sefardic Spain, and are worth consideration for people seeking a non-academic overview of this classic period.

Good luck and good reading!

Optimistic History
I have been fortunate enough to travel to Spain three times now. Two of my trips have taken me through the southern parts of the country--Andalusia (al-Andalus) and its environs--that make up the setting for much of this story. It is a beautiful part of the world and Menocal has provided us with a wonderful history of the area during the time of its greatest glory: the Middle Ages. From 711 until 1492, the Iberian Peninsula was the home of three different cultures--Jewish, Christian and Muslim--that were often able to co-exist in relative peace. While doing so, they were each able to contribute to a cosmopolitan and melded culture that for a long stretch was the most advanced culture in Western civilization, producing things that remain unique to this day.

This "culture of tolerance" as Menocal calls it was perhaps not as tolerant as she likes to make out and, of course, it ultimately implodes as Christians and Muslims fight for possession of the country. Still, much of the literature, science and philosophy produced of that time remains influential and many of the beautiful places remain to be see by visitors to the area. Anyone traveling to the country would be amiss if he or she did not take a look at this book and get a feel for the achievement of medieval Spain.

Understand that this book is a completely optimistic account of the period and ignores most of the tragedies of the time. Still, in our time of insecurity, it is nice to read something positive. It is beautiful to see what can be achieved when three powerful cultures work together instead of try to destroy each other.

Innacuracies
I found it disturbing that this book contained several historical innacuracies. In my opinion, if Ms. Menocal could not accurately document simple historical events or she is ignorant of the facts, she does a great disservice to the contents of this book. She does a greater disservice to those readers who have a new found interest in Spanish medieval history. Ms. Menocal makes reference to several authors who are experts in Spanish medieval history such as Bernard F. Reilly and Richard Fletcher. Ms. Menocal makes references to these authors, however, it seems that she must not have read their books.

A blaring example of an historical innacuracy is located on page 98, when Ms.Menocal states that the town of Medinaceli is "famous and is remembered today as the hometown of the half-legendary warrior called the Cid". Any person with the most rudimentary knowledge of Spanish medieval history knows that the Cid was born in Vivar, located in the province of Burgos, as has been thoroughly researched and established by Spanish historians Gonzalo Martinez Diez, Ramon Menendez Pidal and the aforementioned authors. As a matter of fact, the Poema de Mio Cid, written in the early XIII century, refers to the Cid as Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar a countless number of times. DUH! I am amazed how she could have put that in her book. I challenge any reader of this book, should they ever take a trip to Spain, to boldly state to any Spaniard that the Cid's hometown is Medinaceli. You will be summarily laughed at.

An additional innacuracy within the book was located on page 145. Ms. Menocal states that king Alfonso VI had two children from his Moorish concubine Zaida. While it is true she did bear him his only son, Sancho, Zaida did not bear him a daughter Teresa, future queen of Portugal and mother of the first king of Portugal, Afonso Enriquez. Teresa was the offspring of the union of Alfonso VI with another concubine, Jimena Munoz, daughter of the magnate of Bierzo. It is thought that Zaida converted to Christianity, changed her name to Isabel and married king Alfonso VI. Her marriage to Alfonso VI and conversion to Christianity thus legitimized Sancho's future ascension to the throne; however, Sancho died fighting the Moors in the battle of Ucles in 1108.

The rock solid foundation to any good book on history is the accurate documentation of historical facts. If this is lacking, it is in indication that the author, for whatever reason, did a poor job of researching the accurate history of the time period in question. What if anything does it say about the contents of the rest of the book? If a building is constructed on a shaky foundation the rest of the building is in danger of collapse. In my opinion, if an author cannot accurately document historical facts, is ignorant of the facts or is attempting to revise history, this can only damage the contents of a book no matter how noble the purpose of the author in addressing a subject matter. Unfortunately, Ms. Menocal is guilty of at least poor research, which despite her noble purpose in addressing a very important aspect of Spanish medieval history damages the subject matter in her book. You are left wondering what other historical events she got wrong in her book rendering her work a piece of fiction. In conclusion, I am left questioning an author's motivation/purpose in writing a historically innacurate book.