The term "Moors" refers primarily to the Muslim
Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily, and Malta
Malta during the Middle Ages. The Moors
Moors initially were the Berber autochthones of the Maghreb.[1] The name was later also applied to Arabs.[2][3] Moors
Moors are not a distinct or self-defined people,[4] and the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica observed that "The term 'Moors' has no real ethnological value."[5] Medieval
Medieval and early modern Europeans
Europeans variously applied the name to Arabs, North African Berbers, and Muslim Europeans.[6] The term has also been used in Europe in a broader, somewhat derogatory sense to refer to Muslims in general,[7] especially those of Arab or Berber descent, whether living in Spain
Spain or North Africa.[8] During the colonial era, the Portuguese introduced the names "Ceylon Moors" and "Indian Moors" in Sri Lanka, and the Bengali Muslims
Bengali Muslims were also called Moors.[9] In 711, troops mostly formed by Moors
Moors from northern Africa led the Umayyad
Umayyad conquest of Hispania. The Iberian peninsula then came to be known in classical Arabic
Arabic as Al-Andalus, which at its peak included most of Septimania
Septimania and modern-day Spain
Spain and Portugal. In 827, the Moors
Moors occupied Mazara on Sicily, developing it as a port.[10] They eventually consolidated the rest of the island and some of southern Italy. Differences in religion and culture led to a centuries-long conflict with the Christian
Christian kingdoms of Europe, which tried to reclaim control of Muslim
Muslim areas; this conflict was referred to as the Reconquista. In 1224 the Muslims were expelled from Sicily to the settlement of Lucera, which was destroyed by European Christians in 1300. The fall of Granada
Granada in 1492 marked the end of Muslim
Muslim rule in Iberia, although a Muslim
Muslim minority persisted until their expulsion in 1609.[11]

Contents

1 Name

1.1 Etymology 1.2 Modern meanings

2 Moors
Moors of the Maghreb 3 Moors
Moors of Iberia 4 Moors
Moors of Sicily 5 Architecture 6 In heraldry 7 Population 8 In popular culture 9 Notable Moors 10 Gallery 11 See also 12 Notes 13 References 14 Bibliography 15 External links

Name[edit] Etymology[edit] Further information: Mauri people
Mauri people and Mauretania During the classical period, the Romans interacted with, and later conquered, parts of Mauretania, a state that covered modern northern Morocco, western Algeria, and the Spanish cities Ceuta
Ceuta and Melilla.[12] The Berber tribes of the region were noted in Classical literature as Mauri, which was subsequently rendered as "Moors" in English and in related variations in other European languages.[13] Mauri (Μαῦροι) is recorded as the native name by Strabo
Strabo in the early 1st century. This appellation was also adopted into Latin, whereas the Greek name for the tribe was Maurusii (Μαυρούσιοι).[14] The Moors
Moors were also mentioned by Tacitus as having revolted against the Roman Empire
Roman Empire in 24 AD.[15] The 16th century scholar Leo Africanus
Leo Africanus (c. 1494–1554) identified the Moors
Moors (Mauri) as the native Berber inhabitants of the former Roman Africa Province (Roman Africans). He described Moors
Moors as one of five main population groups on the continent alongside Egyptians, Abyssinians (Abassins), Arabians and Cafri (Cafates).[1] Modern meanings[edit] In medieval Romance languages, variations of the Latin
Latin word for the Moors
Moors (for instance, Italian and Spanish: moro, French: maure, Portuguese: mouro, Romanian: maur) developed different applications and connotations. The term initially denoted a specific Berber people in western Libya, but the name acquired more general meaning during the medieval period, associated with "Muslim", similar to associations with "Saracens". During the context of the Crusades
Crusades and the Reconquista, the term Moors
Moors included the derogatory suggestion of "infidels". Apart from these historic associations and context, Moor and Moorish designate a specific ethnic group speaking Hassaniya Arabic. They inhabit Mauritania
Mauritania and parts of Algeria, Western Sahara, Tunisia, Morocco, Niger, and Mali. In Niger
Niger and Mali, these peoples are also known as the Azawagh
Azawagh Arabs, after the Azawagh
Azawagh region of the Sahara.[16] The authoritative dictionary of the Spanish language
Spanish language does not list any derogatory meaning for the word moro, a term generally referring to people of Maghrebian origin in particular or Muslims in general.[17] Some authors have pointed out that in modern colloquial Spanish use of the term moro is derogatory for Moroccans
Moroccans in particular[18][19][20][21][22] and Muslims in general. In modern, colloquial Portuguese, the term Mouro was primarily used as a designation for North Africans and secondarily as a derogatory and ironic term by northern Portuguese to refer to the inhabitants of the southern parts of the country (Lisbon, Alentejo, and Algarve). However, this designation has gained more acceptance in the south. In the Philippines, a former Spanish colony, many modern Filipinos call the large, local Muslim
Muslim minority concentrated in Mindanao
Mindanao and other southern islands Moros. The word is a catch-all term, as Moro may come from several distinct ethno-linguistic groups such as the Maranao people. The term was introduced by Spanish colonisers, and has since been appropriated by Filipino Muslims as an endonym, with many self-identifying as members of the Bangsamoro "Moro Nation". Moreno can mean dark-skinned in Spain, Portugal, Brazil, and the Philippines. Also in Spanish, morapio is a humorous name for "wine", especially that which has not been "baptized" or mixed with water, i.e., pure unadulterated wine. Among Spanish speakers, moro came to have a broader meaning, applied to both Filipino Moros from Mindanao, and the moriscos of Granada. Moro refers to all things dark, as in "Moor", moreno, etc. It was also used as a nickname; for instance, the Milanese Duke Ludovico Sforza
Ludovico Sforza was called Il Moro because of his dark complexion.[23] In Portugal, mouro (feminine, moura) may refer to supernatural beings known as enchanted moura, where "moor" implies 'alien' and 'non-Christian'. These beings were siren-like fairies with golden or reddish hair and a fair face. They were believed to have magical properties.[24] From this root, the name moor is applied to unbaptized children, meaning not Christian.[25][26] In Basque, mairu means moor and also refers to a mythical people.[27] Within the context of Portuguese colonization, in Sri Lanka (Portuguese Ceylon), Muslims of Arab origin are called Ceylon Moors, not to be confused with "Indian Moors" of Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (see Sri Lankan Moors). Sri Lankan Moors
Sri Lankan Moors (a combination of "Ceylon Moors" and "Indian Moors") make up 12% of the population. The Ceylon Moors
Ceylon Moors (unlike the Indian Moors) are descendants of Arab traders who settled there in the mid-6th century. When the Portuguese arrived in the early 16th century, they labelled all the Muslims in the island as Moors
Moors as they saw some of them resembling the Moors
Moors in North Africa. The Sri Lankan government continues to identify the Muslims in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka as "Sri Lankan Moors", sub-categorised into "Ceylon Moors" and "Indian Moors".[28] The Goan Muslims
Goan Muslims — a minority community who follow Islam
Islam in the western Indian coastal state of Goa
Goa — are commonly referred as Moir (Konkani: मैर) by Goan Catholics
Goan Catholics and Hindus.[a] Moir is derived from the Portuguese word mouro (Moor). Moors
Moors of the Maghreb[edit]

The Great Mosque of Kairouan was founded by the Arab general Uqba ibn Nafi in 670 during the Islamic conquest, to provide a place of worship for recently converted or immigrating Muslims.

In the late 7th and early 8th centuries CE, the Islamic Umayyad Caliphate, established after the death of Muhammad, underwent a period of rapid growth. In 647 CE, 40,000 Arabs
Arabs forced the Byzantine governor of northern Africa to submit and pay tribute, but failed to permanently occupy the region.[29] After an interlude, during which the Muslims fought a civil war, the invasions resumed in 665, seizing Byzantine North Africa
North Africa up to Bugia over the course of a series of campaigns, lasting until 689. A Byzantine counterattack largely expelled the Arabs
Arabs but left the region vulnerable. Intermittent war over the inland provinces of North Africa
North Africa continued for the next two decades. Further civil war delayed the continuation of further conquest, but an Arab assault took Carthage
Carthage and held it against a Byzantine counterattack. Although a Christian
Christian and pagan Berber rebellion pushed out the Arabs temporarily, the Romanized urban population preferred the Arabs
Arabs to the Berbers
Berbers and welcomed a renewed and final conquest that left northern Africa in Muslim
Muslim hands by 698. Over the next decades, the Berber and urban populations of northern Africa gradually converted to Islam, although for separate reasons.[30] The Arabic language
Arabic language was also adopted. Initially, the Arabs
Arabs required only vassalage from the local inhabitants rather than assimilation, a process which took a considerable time.[30] The groups that inhabited the Maghreb
Maghreb following this process became known collectively as Moors. Although the Berbers would later expel the Arabs
Arabs from the Maghreb
Maghreb and form temporarily independent states, that effort failed to dislodge the usage of the collective term. Moors
Moors of Iberia[edit] Further information: Umayyad conquest of Hispania
Umayyad conquest of Hispania and Al-Andalus

Depiction of the Moors
Moors in Iberia, from The Cantigas de Santa Maria

In 711 the Islamic Arab and Moors
Moors of Berber descent in northern Africa crossed the Strait of Gibraltar
Strait of Gibraltar onto the Iberian Peninsula, and in a series of raids they conquered Visigothic Christian
Christian Hispania.[31] Their general, Tariq ibn Ziyad, brought most of Iberia under Islamic rule in an eight-year campaign. They continued northeast across the Pyrenees
Pyrenees Mountains but were defeated by the Franks
Franks under Charles Martel at the Battle of Tours
Battle of Tours in 732. The Maghreb
Maghreb fell into a civil war in 739 that lasted until 743 known as the Berber Revolt. The Berbers
Berbers revolted against the Umayyads, putting an end to Eastern dominion over the Maghreb. Despite racial tensions, Arabs
Arabs and Berbers
Berbers intermarried frequently. A few years later, the Eastern branch of the Umayyad
Umayyad dynasty was dethroned by the Abbasids and the Umayyad Caliphate
Umayyad Caliphate overthrown in the Abbasid revolution (746-750). Abd al-Rahman I, who was of Arab-Berber
Arab-Berber lineage, managed to evade the Abbasids and flee to the Maghreb
Maghreb and then Iberia, where he founded the Emirate of Córdoba
Emirate of Córdoba and the Andalusian branch of the Umayyad
Umayyad dynasty. The Moors
Moors ruled northern Africa and Al-Andalus for several centuries thereafter.[32] Ibn Hazm, the polymath, mentions that many of the Caliphs in the Umayyad Caliphate
Umayyad Caliphate and the Caliphate of Córdoba were blond and had light eyes.[33] Ibn Hazm
Ibn Hazm mentions that he preferred blondes, and notes that there was much interest in blondes in al-Andalus amongst the rulers and regular Muslims:

All the Caliphs of the Banu Marwan (God have mercy on their souls!), and especially the sons of al-Nasir, were without variation or exception disposed by nature to prefer blondes. I have myself seen them, and known others who had seen their forebears, from the days of al-Nasir's reign down to the present day; every one of them has been fair-haired, taking after their mothers, so that this has become a hereditary trait with them; all but Sulaiman al-Zafir (God have mercy on him!), whom I remember to have had black ringlets and a black beard. As for al-Nasir and al-Hakam al-Mustansir (may God be pleased with them!), I have been informed by my late father, the vizier, as well as by others, that both of them were blond and blue-eyed. The same is true of Hisham al-Mu'aiyad, Muhammad al-Mahdi, and `Abd al-Rahman al-Murtada (may God be merciful to them all!); I saw them myself many times, and had the honour of being received by them, and I remarked that they all had fair hair and blue eyes.[34]

Moorish army (right) of Almanzor
Almanzor during the Reconquista
Reconquista Battle of San Esteban de Gormaz, from Cantigas de Alfonso X
Alfonso X el Sabio

The languages spoken in the parts of the Iberian Peninsula
Iberian Peninsula under Muslim
Muslim rule were Andalusian Arabic
Andalusian Arabic and Mozarabic; they became extinct after the expulsion of the Moriscos, but Arabic language
Arabic language influence on the Spanish language
Spanish language can still be found today. The Muslims were resisted in parts of the Iberian Peninsula
Iberian Peninsula in areas of the northwest (such as Asturias, where they were defeated at the battle of Covadonga) and the largely Basque Country in the Pyrenees. Though the number of Moorish colonists was small, many native Iberian inhabitants converted to Islam. By 1000, according to Ronald Segal, some 5,000,000 of Iberia's 7,000,000 inhabitants, most of them descended from indigenous Iberian converts, were Muslim. There were also Sub-Saharan Africans who had been absorbed into al-Andalus to be used as soldiers and slaves. The Berber and Sub-Saharan African soldiers were known as "tangerines" because they were imported through Tangier.[35][36] The Caliphate of Córdoba
Caliphate of Córdoba collapsed in 1031 and the Islamic territory in Iberia fell under the rule of the Almohad Caliphate
Almohad Caliphate in 1153. This second stage was guided by a version of Islam
Islam that left behind the more tolerant practices of the past.[37] Al-Andalus
Al-Andalus broke up into a number of taifas (fiefs), which were partly consolidated under the Caliphate of Córdoba.

Muhammad I of Granada, the Nasrid Moorish ruler of the Emirate of Granada
Granada embracing his Castilian ally, taken from The Cantigas de Santa María

The Kingdom of Asturias, a small northwestern Christian
Christian Iberian kingdom, initiated the Reconquista
Reconquista ("Reconquest") soon after the Islamic conquest in the 8th century. Christian
Christian states based in the north and west slowly extended their power over the rest of Iberia. The Kingdom of Navarre, the Kingdom of Galicia, the Kingdom of León, the Kingdom of Portugal, the Kingdom of Aragon, the Marca Hispánica, and the Crown of Castile
Crown of Castile began a process of expansion and internal consolidation during the next several centuries under the flag of Reconquista. In 1212, a coalition of Christian
Christian kings under the leadership of Alfonso VIII of Castile
Alfonso VIII of Castile drove the Muslims from Central Iberia. The Portuguese side of the Reconquista
Reconquista ended in 1249 with the conquest of the Algarve
Algarve (Arabic: الغرب‎ – al-Gharb) under Afonso III. He was the first Portuguese monarch to claim the title "King of Portugal
Portugal and the Algarve". The Moorish Kingdom of Granada
Granada continued for three more centuries in southern Iberia. On 2 January 1492, the leader of the last Muslim stronghold in Granada
Granada surrendered to the armies of a recently united Christian
Christian Spain
Spain (after the marriage of Ferdinand II of Aragón
Ferdinand II of Aragón and Isabella I of Castile, the "Catholic Monarchs"). The Moorish inhabitants received no military aid or rescue from other Muslim nations.[38] The remaining Jews were also forced to leave Spain, convert to Roman Catholic Christianity, or be killed for refusing to do so. In 1480, to exert social and religious control, Isabella and Ferdinand agreed to allow the Inquisition in Spain. The Muslim population of Granada
Granada rebelled in 1499. The revolt lasted until early 1501, giving the Castilian authorities an excuse to void the terms of the Treaty of Granada
Granada (1491). In 1501, Castilian authorities delivered an ultimatum to the Muslims of Granada: they could either convert to Christianity
Christianity or be expelled.

Court of the lions in the Alhambra, a Moorish palace built in the 14th century in Granada, Spain

The Inquisition was aimed mostly at Jews and Muslims who had overtly converted to Christianity
Christianity but were thought to be practicing their faiths secretly. They were respectively called marranos and moriscos. However, in 1567 King Philip II directed Moriscos
Moriscos to give up their Arabic
Arabic names and traditional dress, and prohibited the use of Arabic. In reaction, there was a Morisco
Morisco uprising in the Alpujarras
Alpujarras from 1568 to 1571. In the years from 1609 to 1614, the government expelled Moriscos. The historian Henri Lapeyre estimated that this affected 300,000 out of an estimated total of 8 million inhabitants.[39] Some Muslims converted to Christianity
Christianity and remained permanently in Iberia. This is indicated by a "high mean proportion of ancestry from North African (10.6%)" that "attests to a high level of religious conversion (whether voluntary or enforced), driven by historical episodes of social and religious intolerance, that ultimately led to the integration of descendants."[40][41] According to historian Richard A. Fletcher,[42] "the number of Arabs
Arabs who settled in Iberia was very small. 'Moorish' Iberia does at least have the merit of reminding us that the bulk of the invaders and settlers were Moors, i.e., Berbers
Berbers from Algeria
Algeria and Morocco." In the meantime, Spanish and Portuguese expeditions westward from the New World
New World spread Christianity
Christianity to India, the Malay peninsula, Indonesia, and the Philippines. By 1521, the ships of Magellan had reached that island archipelago, which they named Las Islas Filipinas, after Philip II of Spain. In Mindanao, the Spaniards named the kris-bearing people as Moros or 'Moors'. Today this ethnic group in Mindanao, who are generally Filipino Muslim, are called "Moros". Moors
Moors of Sicily[edit] See also: History of Islam in southern Italy
History of Islam in southern Italy and Norman-Arab-Byzantine culture

Muslim
Muslim musicians at the court of the Norman King Roger II of Sicily

The first Muslim
Muslim conquest of Sicily
Sicily began in 827, though it was not until 902 that almost the entire island was in the control of the Aghlabids, with the exception of some minor strongholds in the rugged interior. During that period some parts of southern Italy
Italy fell under Muslim
Muslim control, most notably the port city of Bari, which formed the Emirate of Bari
Bari from 847-871. In 909 the Aghlabid dynasty was replaced by Shiite
Shiite Fatimids.[citation needed] Four years later, the Fatimid governor was ousted from Palermo when the island declared its independence under Emir Ahmed ibn-Kohrob. The language spoken in Sicily
Sicily under Muslim
Muslim rule was Siculo-Arabic. In 1038, a Byzantine army under George Maniaces crossed the strait of Messina. This army included a corps of Normans
Normans that saved the situation in the first clash against the Muslims from Messina. After another decisive victory in the summer of 1040, Maniaces halted his march to lay siege to Syracuse. Despite his success, Maniaces was removed from his position, and the subsequent Muslim
Muslim counter-offensive reconquered all the cities captured by the Byzantines. The Norman Robert Guiscard, son of Tancred, invaded Sicily
Sicily in 1060. The island was split between three Arab emirs, and the Christian population in many parts of the island rose up against the ruling Muslims. One year later, Messina fell, and in 1072 Palermo was taken by the Normans. The loss of the cities, each with a splendid harbor, dealt a severe blow to Muslim
Muslim power on the island. Eventually all of Sicily
Sicily was taken. In 1091, Noto in the southern tip of Sicily
Sicily and the island of Malta, the last Arab strongholds, fell to the Christians. Islamic authors noted the tolerance of the Norman kings of Sicily. Ibn al-Athir wrote: "They [the Muslims] were treated kindly, and they were protected, even against the Franks. Because of that, they had great love for King Roger."[43] The Muslim
Muslim problem characterized Hohenstaufen rule in Sicily
Sicily under Holy Roman Emperors Henry VI and his son Frederick II. Many repressive measures were introduced by Frederick II to please the popes, who were intolerant of Islam
Islam in the heart of Christendom. This resulted in a rebellion by Sicilian Muslims, which in turn triggered organized resistance and systematic reprisals and marked the final chapter of Islam
Islam in Sicily. The complete eviction of Muslims and the annihilation of Islam
Islam in Sicily
Sicily was completed by the late 1240s when the final deportations to Lucera
Lucera took place. Architecture[edit] Main article: Moorish architecture

Interior of the Mezquita, Córdoba

Moorish architecture
Moorish architecture is the articulated Islamic architecture
Islamic architecture of northern Africa and parts of Spain
Spain and Portugal, where the Moors
Moors were dominant between 711 and 1492. The best surviving examples of this architectural tradition are La Mezquita
Mezquita in Córdoba and the Alhambra palace in Granada
Granada (mainly 1338–1390),[44] as well as the Giralda
Giralda in Seville (1184).[45] Other notable examples include the ruined palace city of Medina Azahara
Medina Azahara (936–1010), the church (former mosque) San Cristo de la Luz
Cristo de la Luz in Toledo, the Aljafería
Aljafería in Saragossa
Saragossa and baths at for example Ronda
Ronda and Alhama de Granada. In heraldry[edit] Main article: Maure

Coat of arms of Aragon
Aragon with Moors' heads.

Arms of the wealthy Bristol merchant and shipper William II Canynges (d.1474), as depicted on his canopied tomb in St Mary Redcliffe Church, showing the couped heads of three Moors
Moors wreathed at the temples

Moors—or more frequently their heads, often crowned—appear with some frequency in medieval European heraldry, though less so since the Middle Ages. The term ascribed to them in Anglo-Norman blazon (the language of English heraldry) is maure, though they are also sometimes called moore, blackmoor, blackamoor or negro.[46] Maures appear in European heraldry from at least as early as the 13th century,[47] and some have been attested as early as the 11th century in Italy,[47] where they have persisted in the local heraldry and vexillology well into modern times in Corsica
Corsica and Sardinia.

Coat of arms of the Nasrid dynasty, the last Muslim
Muslim dynasty of al-Andalus

Armigers bearing moors or moors' heads may have adopted them for any of several reasons, to include symbolizing military victories in the Crusades, as a pun on the bearer's name in the canting arms of Morese, Negri, Saraceni, etc., or in the case of Frederick II, possibly to demonstrate the reach of his empire.[47] The arms of Pope Benedict XVI feature a moor's head, crowned and collared red, in reference to the arms of Freising, Germany.[48] In the case of Corsica
Corsica and Sardinia, the blindfolded moors' heads in the four quarters have long been said to represent the four Moorish emirs who were defeated by Peter I of Aragon
Aragon in the 11th century, the four moors' heads around a cross having been adopted to the arms of Aragon
Aragon around 1281–1387, and Corsica
Corsica and Sardinia
Sardinia having come under the dominion of the king of Aragon
Aragon in 1297.[49] In Corsica, the blindfolds were lifted to the brow in the 18th century as a way of expressing the island's newfound independence.[50] The use of Moors
Moors (and particularly their heads) as a heraldic symbol has been deprecated in modern North America.[51] For example, the College of Arms of the Society for Creative Anachronism
Society for Creative Anachronism urges applicants to use them delicately to avoid causing offence.[52] Population[edit]

Moors
Moors on the North African coast, as depicted in Britain in 1739

Populations in Carthage
Carthage circa 200 BC and northern Algeria
Algeria 1500 BC were diverse.[citation needed] As a group, they plotted closest to the populations of Northern Egypt and intermediate to Northern Europeans and tropical Africans: "the data supported the comments from ancient authors observed by classicists: everything from fair-skinned blonds to peoples who were dark-skinned 'Ethiopian' or part Ethiopian in appearance."[53] Modern evidence shows a similar diversity among present North Africans. Moreover, this diversity of phenotypes and peoples was probably due to in situ differentiation, not foreign influxes.[citation needed] Foreign influxes are thought to have affected population make-up, but did not replace the indigenous Berber population.[54] In popular culture[edit]

The title character in William Shakespeare's play Othello, and the derived title character in Verdi's opera Otello, is a Moor. The character has been played by various thespians in different forms of entertainment. A less well-known Moorish character, Aaron, appears in Shakespeare’s earlier tragedy Titus Andronicus. Morgan Freeman's character Azeem in the 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves is a Moor who Robin Hood
Robin Hood saves from prison. The 2009 documentary film Journey to Mecca
Journey to Mecca follows the travels of the Moorish explorer Ibn Battuta
Ibn Battuta from his native country of Morocco
Morocco to Mecca
Mecca for the Hajj
Hajj in 1325. The international bestseller The Alchemist mentions the Moors
Moors several times while describing the setting of southern Spain. Moors
Moors are also mentioned very frequently in Miguel de Cervantes' novel Don Quixote.

Notable Moors[edit] See also: List of Berbers
Berbers and List of Arab scientists and scholars

Averroes, a Moorish polymath, was the founder of the Averroism
Averroism school of philosophy, and influential in the rise of secular thought in Western Europe

Tariq ibn Ziyad, Moorish general who defeated the Visigoths
Visigoths and conquered Hispania
Hispania in 711. Abd ar-Rahman I, founder of the Umayyad
Umayyad Emirate of Córdoba
Emirate of Córdoba in 756; along with its succeeding Caliphate of Córdoba, the dynasty ruled Islamic Iberia for three centuries. Ibn al-Qūṭiyya, Andalusian historian and grammarian. Yahya al-Laithi, Andalusian scholar who introduced the Maliki
Maliki school of jurisprudence in Al-Andalus. Abbas ibn Firnas, 810–887, Berber inventor and aviator who invented an early parachute and made the first attempt at controlled flight with a hang glider. Maslama al-Majriti, died 1007, Andalusian writer believed to have been the author of the Encyclopedia of the Brethren of Purity and the Picatrix. Al-Zahrawi
Al-Zahrawi (Abulcasis), Andalusian physician and surgeon who established the discipline of surgery as a profession with his Al-Tasrif
Al-Tasrif in 1000. Said Al-Andalusi, 1029–1070, Andalusian Qadi, historian, philosopher, mathematician and astronomer. Abū Ishāq Ibrāhīm al-Zarqālī
Abū Ishāq Ibrāhīm al-Zarqālī (Arzachel), 1029–1087, Andalusian astronomer and engineer who developed the equatorium and universal (latitude-independent) astrolabe and compiled a Zij later used as a basis for the Tables of Toledo. Artephius, circa 1126, Andalusian scientist known as the author of numerous works of Alchemical texts, now extant only in Latin. Ibn Bajjah (Avempace), died 1138, Andalusian physicist and polymath whose theory of motion, including the concept of a reaction force, influenced the development of classical mechanics. Ibn Zuhr
Ibn Zuhr (Avenzoar), 1091–1161, Andalusian physician and polymath who discovered the existence of parasites and pioneered experimental surgery. Muhammad al-Idrisi, circa 1100–1166, Moorish geographer and polymath who drew the Tabula Rogeriana, the most accurate world map in pre-modern times. Ibn Tufail, circa 1105–1185, Arabic
Arabic writer and polymath who wrote Hayy ibn Yaqdhan, the first philosophical novel. Averroes
Averroes (Ibn Rushd), 1126–1198, classical Islamic philosopher and polymath who wrote The Incoherence of the Incoherence
The Incoherence of the Incoherence and the most extensive Aristotelian commentaries, and established the school of Averroism. Ibn al-Baitar, died 1248, Andalusian botanist and pharmacist who compiled the most extensive pharmacopoeia and botanical compilation in pre-modern times. Musa I of Mali
Mali (c. 1280 – c. 1337) was a devout Muslim, and his pilgrimage to Mecca
Mecca made him well-known across northern Africa and the Middle East. Ibn Khaldun, a pioneer of the social sciences and forerunner of sociology, historiography and economics, who wrote the Muqaddimah
Muqaddimah in 1377. Abu Bakr II (fl. 14th century), abdicated his throne in order to explore "the limits of the ocean". Abū al-Hasan ibn Alī al-Qalasādī, 1412–1486, Moorish mathematician who took the first steps toward the introduction of algebraic symbolism. Leo Africanus, 1494–1554, Andalusian geographer, author and diplomat, who was captured by Spanish pirates and sold as a slave, but later baptized and freed. Estevanico, also referred to as "Stephen the Moor", was an explorer in the service of Spain
Spain of what is now the southwest of the United States. Ibn Battuta, an Islamic scholar and Moorish explorer who is generally considered one of the greatest travellers of all time. Ibn Hazm, a Moorish polymath who was considered one of the leading thinkers of the Muslim
Muslim World and is widely acknowledged as the father of Comparative religion
Comparative religion studies. Ibn Idhari, a Moorish historian who was the author of (Al-Bayan al-Mughrib) an important medieval text on the history of the Maghreb and Iberia.

Gallery[edit]

Othello
Othello and Desdemona
Desdemona in Venice, depicting Othello
Othello and his wife from William Shakespeare's play Othello

"Batalla del Puig" (c. 1410-1420), depicting a battle from the Reconquista

Tariq ibn-Ziyad
Tariq ibn-Ziyad was the Moorish general who led the conquest of Visigothic Spain
Spain in the early 8th century

Moors
Moors in Spain
Spain playing chess, from the Book of Games

The Moors
Moors request permission from James I of Aragón

"Wild Men and Moors" tapestry, c. 1400

Moorish and Christian
Christian army readying for battle, taken from The Cantigas de Santa María

Moorish and Christian
Christian Reconquista
Reconquista battle, taken from The Cantigas de Santa María

Christian
Christian and Moor playing lutes, 13th century

Riyad the Moor receiving a letter from Shanul in Hadith Bayad wa Riyad

Depiction of Moorish cavalry troops, taken from The Cantigas de Santa María

Moors
Moors dividing the spoils, taken from The Cantigas de Santa María

Muhammad XII of Granada, last Muslim
Muslim sultan in Spain

Leo Africanus, born in Granada

Christian
Christian and Muslim
Muslim playing chess, from The Book of Games
Book of Games of Alfonso X, c. 1285

Depiction of three Moorish knights found on Alhambra's Ladies Tower

See also[edit]

Adarga Al-Andalus Alhambra Almohad dynasty Almoravid dynasty Averroes

Berbers Böszörmény Caliphate of Córdoba Emirate of Granada Genetic history of the Iberian Peninsula Genetic studies on Moroccans

History of North Africa History of Portugal History of Spain Islam
Islam in Spain Marinid dynasty Moorish architecture Moorish Revival architecture

Morisco Nasrid dynasty Orientalism Ricote (Don Quixote) Saracen

Notes[edit]

^ ... Hindu
Hindu Kristao Moir sogle bhau- Hindus, Christians and Muslims are all brothers...[55]

References[edit]

^ a b Africanus, Leo (1526). The History and Description of Africa. Hakluyt Society. pp. 20 & 108. Retrieved 30 August 2017. the Mauri -- or Moors
Moors -- were the Berbers  ^ The Arabs
Arabs called the latter Muwalladun or Muladi. Menocal (2002). Ornament of the World, p. 16 ^ Richard A Fletcher, Moorish Spain
Spain (University of California Press, 2006), pp.1,19. ^ Ross Brann, "The Moors?", Andalusia, New York University. Quote: "Andalusi Arabic
Arabic sources, as opposed to later Mudéjar
Mudéjar and Morisco sources in Aljamiado and medieval Spanish texts, neither refer to individuals as Moors
Moors nor recognize any such group, community or culture." ^ Britannica Encyclopedia (1911). p. 811. Archived from the original on 2013-01-23. CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link) ^ Blackmore, Josiah (2009). Moorings: Portuguese Expansion and the Writing of Africa. U of Minnesota Press. pp. xvi, 18. ISBN 978-0-8166-4832-0.  ^ Menocal, María Rosa (2002). Ornament of the World: How Muslims, Jews and Christians Created a Culture of Tolerance in Medieval
Medieval Spain. Little, Brown, & Co. ISBN 0-316-16871-8, p. 241 ^ John Randall Baker. "Race". Oxford University Press: 226. Retrieved March 12, 2014. In one sense the word 'Moor' means Mohammedan Berbers and Arabs
Arabs of North-western Africa, with some Syrians, who conquered most of Spain
Spain in the 8th century and dominated the country for hundreds of years.  ^ Pieris, P.E. Ceylon and the Hollanders 1658-1796. American Ceylon Mission Press, Tellippalai Ceylon 1918 ^ "Assessment of the status, development and diversification of fisheries-dependent communities: Mazara del Vallo
Mazara del Vallo Case study report" (PDF). European Commission. 2010. p. 2. Retrieved 28 September 2012. In the year 827, Mazara was occupied by the Arabs, who made the city an important commercial harbour. That period was probably the most prosperous in the history of Mazara.  ^ Hillgarth, J. N. (2000). The Mirror of Spain, 1500-1700: The Formation of a Myth. University of Michigan Press. p. 67. ISBN 0472110926.  ^ Diderot, Denis (1752). Ceuta. p. 871.  ^ "Online Etymology Dictionary". Etymonline.com. Retrieved 2014-05-12.  ^ οἰκοῦσι δ᾽ ἐνταῦθα Μαυρούσιοι μὲν ὑπὸ τῶν Ἑλλήνων λεγόμενοι, Μαῦροι δ᾽ ὑπὸ τῶν Ῥωμαίων καὶ τῶν ἐπιχωρίων "Here dwell a people called by the Greeks Maurusii, and by the Romans and the natives Mauri" Strabo, Geographica 17.3.2. Lewis and Short, Latin
Latin Dictionary, 1879 s.v. "Mauri" ^ Cornelius Tacitus, Arthur Murphy, The Historical Annals of Cornelius Tacitus: With Supplements, Volume 1 (D. Neall, 1829 ) p114. ^ For an introduction to the culture of the Azawagh
Azawagh Arabs, see Rebecca Popenoe, Feeding Desire — Fatness, Beauty and Sexuality among a Saharan People. Routledge, London (2003) ISBN 0-415-28096-6 ^ DRAE ^ Simms, Karl (1997). Translating sensitive texts: linguistic aspects. Rodopi. p. 144. ISBN 978-90-420-0260-9.  ^ Warwick Armstrong, James Anderson (2007). Geopolitics of European Union enlargement: the fortress empire. Routledge. p. 83. ISBN 978-0-415-33939-1.  ^ Wessendorf, Susanne (2010). The multiculturalism backlash: European discourses, policies and practices. Taylor & Francis. p. 171. ISBN 978-0-415-55649-1.  ^ Tariq Modood, Anna Triandafyllidou, Ricard Zapata-Barrero (2006). Multiculturalism, Muslims and citizenship: a European approach. Routledge. p. 143. ISBN 978-0-415-35515-5.  ^ Bekers, Elisabeth (2009). Transcultural modernities: narrating Africa in Europe. Rodopi. p. 14. ISBN 978-90-420-2538-7.  ^ Lodovico Sforza, in: Thomas Gale, Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2005–2006 ^ Xosé Manuel González Reboredo, Leyendas Gallegas de Tradición Oral (Galician Legends of the Oral Tradition), Galicia: Editorial Galaxia, 2004, p. 18, Googlebooks, accessed 12 Jul 2010 (in Spanish) ^ Rodney Gallop, Portugal: A Book of Folkways, Cambridge University Press (CUP), 1936; reprint CUP Archives, 1961, Googlebooks, accessed 12 Jul 2010. ^ Francisco Martins Sarmento, "A Mourama", in Revista de Guimaraes, No. 100, 1990, Centro de Estudos de Património, Universidade do Minho, accessed 12 Jul 2010 (in Portuguese) ^ Euskadi.net (in Spanish) Archived November 4, 2014, at the Wayback Machine. ^ A. Hussein 'From where did the moors come from?[unreliable source?] ^ Rodd, Francis. "Kahena, Queen of the Berbers: "A Sketch of the Arab Invasion of Ifriqiya in the First Century of the Hijra" Bulletin of the School of Oriental Studies, University of London, Vol. 3, No. 4, (1925), 731-2 ^ a b Lapidus, 200-201 ^ Fletcher, Richard A. (2006). Moorish Spain. University of California Press. p. 1. ISBN 978-0-520-24840-3.  ^ Richard A. Fletcher. Moorish Spain. University of California Press. p. 20.  ^ Salma Khadra Jayyusi, Manuela Marín (April 14, 2014). The Legacy of Muslim
Muslim Spain. Brill Publishers. pp. 125, 365, and 463.  ^ Ibn Hazm, طوق الحمامة ^ Richard A. Fletcher. Moorish Spain. University of California Press. p. 61.  ^ Ronald Segal, Islam's Black Slaves (2003), Atlantic Books, ISBN 1-903809-81-9 ^ Granada
Granada by Richard Gottheil, Meyer Kayserling, Jewish Encyclopedia. 1906 ed. ^ Maalouf, Amin (1992). Leo Africanus
Leo Africanus (first ed.). Lanham, MD: New Amsterdam Books. p. 45. ISBN 1-56131-022-0.  ^ See History of Al-Andalus. ^ Adams et al., "The Genetic Legacy of Religious Diversity and Intolerance: Paternal Lineages of Christians, Jews, and Muslims in the Iberian Peninsula", Cell, 2008. Quote: "Admixture analysis based on binary and Y-STR haplotypes indicates a high mean proportion of ancestry from North African (10.6%) ranging from zero in Gascony to 21.7% in Northwest Castile." ^ Elena Bosch, "The religious conversions of Jews and Muslims have had a profound impact on the population of the Iberian Peninsula" Archived 2009-05-21 at the Wayback Machine., Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 2008, Quote: "The study shows that religious conversions and the subsequent marriages between people of different lineage had a relevant impact on modern populations both in Spain, especially in the Balearic Islands, and in Portugal." ^ Richard Fletcher. Moorish Spain
Spain p. 10. University of California Press, 1993. ISBN 978-0-520-08496-4 ^ Aubé, Pierre (2006). Les empires normands d’Orient. Editions Perrin. p. 168. ISBN 2-262-02297-6.  ^ Curl p. 502. ^ Pevsner, The Penguin Dictionary of Architecture. ^ Parker, James. "Man". A Glossary of Terms Used in Heraldry. Retrieved 2012-01-23.  ^ a b c "Africans in medieval & Renaissance art: the Moor's head". Victoria and Albert Museum. Retrieved 2012-01-23.  ^ Mons. Andrea Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo. "Coat of Arms of His Holiness Benedict XVI". The Holy See. Retrieved 2013-01-25.  ^ Sache, Ivan (2009-06-14). " Corsica
Corsica (France, Traditional province)". Flags of the World. Retrieved 2013-01-25.  ^ Curry, Ian (2012-03-18). "Blindfolded Moors
Moors - The Flags of Corsica and Sardinia". Vaguely Interesting. Retrieved 2013-01-25.  ^ In his July 15, 2005 blog article "Is that a Moor's head?", Mathew N. Schmalz refers to a discussion on the American Heraldry
Heraldry Society's website where at least one participant described the moor's head as a "potentially explosive image". ^ "Part IX: Offensive Armory". Rules for Submissions of the College of Arms of the Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc. 2008-04-02. Retrieved 2012-01-23.  ^ G. Mokhtar. General History of Africa: Ancient Civilizations of Africa, p. 427. ^ Keita, S. O. Y. (1990). "Studies of ancient crania from northern Africa". American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 83 (1): 35–48. doi:10.1002/ajpa.1330830105. PMID 2221029.  ^ Furtado, A. D. (1981). Goa, yesterday, to-day, tomorrow: an approach to various socio-economic and political issues in Goan life & re-interpretation of historical facts. Furtado's Enterprises. pp. 254 pages(page xviii). 

Bibliography[edit]

This section's bibliographical information is not fully provided. If you know these sources and can provide full information, you can help by completing it.

Jan R. Carew. Rape of Paradise: Columbus and the birth of racism in America. Brooklyn, NY: A&B Books, c. 1994. David Brion Davis, "Slavery: White, Black, Muslim, Christian." New York Review of Books, vol. 48, #11 July 5, 2001. Do not have exact pages. Herodotus, The Histories Shomark O. Y. Keita, "Genetic Haplotypes in North Africa" Shomarka O. Y. Keita, "Studies of ancient crania from northern Africa." American Journal of Physical Anthropology 83:35-48 1990. Shomarka O. Y. Keita, "Further studies of crania from ancient northern Africa: an analysis of crania from First Dynasty Egyptian tombs, using multiple discriminant functions." American Journal of Physical Anthropology 87: 345-54, 1992. Shomarka O. Y. Keita, "Black Athena: race, Bernal and Snowden." Arethusa 26: 295-314, 1993. Bernard Lewis, "The Middle East". Bernard Lewis. The Muslim
Muslim Discovery of Europe. NY: Norton, 1982. Also an article with the same title published in Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London 20(1/3): 409-16, 1957. Bernard Lewis, "Race and Slavery in Islam". Stanley Lane-Poole, assisted by E. J. W. Gibb and Arthur Gilman. The Story of Turkey. NY: Putnam, 1888. Stanley Lane-Poole. The Story of the Barbary Corsairs. NY: Putnam,1890. Stanley Lane-Poole, The History of the Moors
Moors in Spain. J. A. (Joel Augustus) Rogers. Nature Knows No Color Line: research into the Negro ancestry in the white race. New York: 1952. Ronald Segal. Islam's Black Slaves: the other Black diaspora. NY: Farrar Straus Giroux, 2001. Ivan Van Sertima, ed. The Golden Age of the Moor. New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers, 1992. (Journal of African civilizations, vol. 11). Frank Snowden. Before Color Prejudice: the ancient view of blacks. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press, 1983. Frank Snowden. Blacks in antiquity: Ethiopians in the Greco-Roman experience. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1970. David M. Goldenberg. The Curse of Ham: race and slavery in early Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, c2003. Lucotte and Mercier, various genetic studies Eva Borreguero. "The Moors
Moors Are Coming, the Moors
Moors Are Coming! Encounters with Muslims in Contemporary Spain." p. 417-32 in Islam
Islam and Christian- Muslim
Muslim Relations, 2006, vol. 17, no. 4, pp. 417–32.

External links[edit]

Look up Moor or Moorish in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Moors

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Moors.

"The Moors" by Ross Brann, published on New York University website. Secret Seal: On the image of the Blackamoor in European Heraldry, a PBS
PBS article. Encyclopedia - Britannica Online Encyclopedia (2006) Moors, Classic Encyclopedia (1911) Khalid Amine, Moroccan Shakespeare: From Moors
Moors to Moroccans. Paper presented at an International Conference Organized by The Postgraduate School of Critical Theory and Cultural Studies, University of Nottingham, and The British Council, Morocco, 12–14 April 2001. Africans in Medieval
Medieval & Renaissance Art: The Moor's Head, Victoria and Albert Museum (n.d) Sean Cavazos-Kottke. Othello's Predecessors: Moors
Moors in Renaissance Popular Literature: (outline). Folger Shakespeare Library, 1998.

v t e

Tribal hegemony in the former Western Roman Empire
Roman Empire from the decline of Rome to 843

Huns
Huns 376–454 Vandals 406–534 Visigoths
Visigoths 410–711 Ostrogoths
Ostrogoths 493–553 Franks
Franks 509–843 Byzantines 553–568 Lombards
Lombards 568–774 Moors
Moors 711–1492

Authority control

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