
The term Moor, derived from the ancient
Mauri, is an
exonym first used by
Christian Europeans to designate the
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
inhabitants of the
Maghreb, the
Iberian Peninsula,
Sicily and
Malta during the
Middle Ages.
Moors are not a distinct or
self-defined people. The 1911 ''
Encyclopædia Britannica'' observed that the term had "no real
ethnological value." Europeans of the
Middle Ages and the
early modern period variously applied the name to Arabs and North African Berbers, as well as Muslim Europeans.
The term has also been used in Europe in a broader, somewhat derogatory sense to refer to Muslims in general,
[Menocal, María Rosa (2002). ''Ornament of the World: How Muslims, Jews and Christians Created a Culture of Tolerance in Medieval Spain''. Little, Brown, & Co. , p. 241] especially those of Arab or Berber descent, whether living in Spain or North Africa. During the colonial era, the
Portuguese introduced the names "
Ceylon Moors" and "
Indian Moors" in South Asia and
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
, and the
Bengali Muslims were also called Moors. In the Philippines, the longstanding Muslim community, which predates the arrival of the Spanish, now self-identifies as the "
Moro people", an
exonym introduced by Spanish colonizers due to their Muslim faith.
In 711, troops mostly formed by Moors from northern Africa led the
Umayyad conquest of Hispania. The Iberian Peninsula then came to be known in
Classical Arabic
Classical Arabic ( ar, links=no, ٱلْعَرَبِيَّةُ ٱلْفُصْحَىٰ, al-ʿarabīyah al-fuṣḥā) or Quranic Arabic is the standardized literary form of Arabic used from the 7th century and throughout the Middle Ages, most notab ...
as
al-Andalus, which at its peak included most of
Septimania
Septimania (french: Septimanie ; oc, Septimània ) is a historical region in modern-day Southern France. It referred to the western part of the Roman province of Gallia Narbonensis that passed to the control of the Visigoths in 462, when Septima ...
and modern-day
Spain and
Portugal. In 827, the Moors occupied
Mazara on
Sicily, developing it as a port. They eventually went on to
consolidate the rest of the island. Differences in religion and culture led to a centuries-long conflict with the
Christian kingdoms of Europe, which tried to reclaim control of 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 in 1492 marked the end of Muslim rule in Spain, although
a Muslim minority persisted until
their expulsion in 1609.
Name
Etymology
During the classical period, the
Romans interacted with, and later conquered, parts of
Mauretania
Mauretania (; ) is the Latin name for a region in the ancient Maghreb. It stretched from central present-day Algeria westwards to the Atlantic, covering northern present-day Morocco, and southward to the Atlas Mountains. Its native inhabitants, ...
, a state that covered modern northern
Morocco, western
Algeria, and the Spanish cities
Ceuta and
Melilla
Melilla ( , ; ; rif, Mřič ; ar, مليلية ) is an autonomous city of Spain located in north Africa. It lies on the eastern side of the Cape Three Forks, bordering Morocco and facing the Mediterranean Sea. It has an area of . It was par ...
. The
Berber
Berber or Berbers may refer to:
Ethnic group
* Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa
* Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages
Places
* Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile
People with the surname
* Ady Berber (1913–196 ...
tribes of the region were noted in the
Classics
Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...
as ''
Mauri'', which was subsequently rendered as "Moors" in English and in related variations in other European languages. ''Mauri'' (Μαῦροι) is recorded as the native name by
Strabo
Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could see ...
in the early 1st century. This appellation was also adopted into Latin, whereas the Greek name for the tribe was ''Maurusii'' ( grc, Μαυρούσιοι). The Moors were also mentioned by
Tacitus as having revolted against the
Roman Empire in 24
AD.
During the Latin Middle Ages, ''Mauri'' was used to refer to Berbers and Arabs in the coastal regions of Northwest Africa.
The 16th century scholar
Leo Africanus (c. 1494–1554) identified the Moors (''Mauri'') as the native Berber inhabitants of the former
Roman Africa Province (
Roman Africans). He described Moors as one of five main population groups on the continent alongside
Egyptians
Egyptians ( arz, المَصرِيُون, translit=al-Maṣriyyūn, ; arz, المَصرِيِين, translit=al-Maṣriyyīn, ; cop, ⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ, remenkhēmi) are an ethnic group native to the Nile, Nile Valley in Egypt. Egyptian ...
,
Abyssinians (Abassins), Arabians and
Cafri (Cafates).
Modern meanings
In medieval
Romance languages, variations of the
Latin word for the Moors (for instance,
Italian and
Spanish: ''moro'',
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
: ''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
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
", similar to associations with "
Saracens". During the context of the
Crusades and the
Reconquista, the term 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
Hassānīya ( ar, حسانية '; also known as , , , , and ''Maure'') is a variety of Maghrebi Arabic spoken by Mauritanian Arabs and the Sahrawi. It was spoken by the Beni Ḥassān Bedouin tribes, who extended their authority over most of M ...
. They inhabit
Mauritania
Mauritania (; ar, موريتانيا, ', french: Mauritanie; Berber: ''Agawej'' or ''Cengit''; Pulaar: ''Moritani''; Wolof: ''Gànnaar''; Soninke:), officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania ( ar, الجمهورية الإسلامية ...
and parts of
Algeria,
Western Sahara,
Tunisia,
Morocco,
Niger, and
Mali. In Niger and Mali, these peoples are also known as the
Azawagh Arabs, after the
Azawagh region of the Sahara.
The
authoritative dictionary of the 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. Some authors have pointed out that in modern colloquial Spanish use of the term ''moro'' is derogatory for
Moroccans in particular and
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
s in general.
In the
Philippines, a
former Spanish colony, many modern
Filipinos call the large,
local Muslim minority concentrated in
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
An endonym (from Greek: , 'inner' + , 'name'; also known as autonym) is a common, ''native'' name for a geographical place, group of people, individual person, language or dialect, meaning that it is used inside that particular place, group, ...
, 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
Granada (,, DIN 31635, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the fo ...
. ''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 Maria Sforza (; 27 July 1452 – 27 May 1508), also known as Ludovico il Moro (; "the Moor"). "Arbiter of Italy", according to the expression used by Guicciardini, was called ''Il Moro'' because of his dark complexion.

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. From this root, the name moor is applied to unbaptized children, meaning not Christian. In
Basque, ''
mairu'' means moor and also refers to a mythical people.
Muslims located in
South Asia were distinguished by the Portuguese historians into two groups: Mouros da Terra ("Moors of the Land") and the Mouros da Arabia/Mouros de Meca ("Moors from Arabia/Mecca" or "Paradesi Muslims").
[Subrahmanyam, Sanjay."The Political Economy of Commerce: Southern India 1500-1650" Cambridge University Press, (2002)] The Mouros da Terra were either descendants of any native convert (mostly from any of the former lower or untouchable castes) to Islam or descendants of a marriage alliance between a Middle Eastern individual and an Indian woman.
Within the context of
Portuguese colonization, in
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
(
Portuguese Ceylon), Muslims of Arab origin are called ''Ceylon Moors'', not to be confused with "Indian Moors" of Sri Lanka (see
Sri Lankan Moors
Sri Lankan Moors ( ta, இலங்கைச் சோனகர், translit=Ilaṅkaic Cōṉakar; si, ලංකා යෝනක, translit=Lanka Yonaka; formerly Ceylon Moors; colloquially referred to as Sri Lankan Muslims) are an ethnic minorit ...
). Sri Lankan Moors (a combination of "Ceylon Moors" and "Indian Moors") make up 12% of the population. The 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 as they saw some of them resembling the Moors in North Africa. The Sri Lankan government continues to identify the Muslims in Sri Lanka as "Sri Lankan Moors", sub-categorised into "Ceylon Moors" and "Indian Moors".
The
Goan Muslims — a minority community who follow
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
in the western
Indian coastal state of
Goa — are commonly referred as ''Moir'' ( knn, मैर) by
Goan Catholics and
Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
s. ''Moir'' is derived from the
Portuguese word ''mouro'' ("Moor").
Moors of the Maghreb

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 forced the
Byzantine governor of northern Africa to submit and pay tribute, but failed to permanently occupy the region. After an interlude, during which the Muslims fought a
civil war, the invasions resumed in 665, seizing Byzantine North Africa up to
Bugia over the course of a series of campaigns, lasting until 689. A Byzantine counterattack largely expelled the Arabs but left the region vulnerable. Intermittent war over the inland provinces of North Africa continued for the next two decades. Further civil war delayed the continuation of further conquest, but an Arab assault took
Carthage and held it against a Byzantine counterattack.
Although a
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
and
pagan Berber rebellion pushed out the Arabs temporarily, the Romanized urban population preferred the Arabs to the Berbers and welcomed a renewed and final conquest that left northern Africa in Muslim hands by 698. Over the next decades, the Berber and urban populations of northern Africa gradually converted to Islam, although for separate reasons.
[Lapidus, 200-201] The Arabic language was also adopted. Initially, the Arabs required only vassalage from the local inhabitants rather than assimilation, a process which took a considerable time.
The groups that inhabited the Maghreb following this process became known collectively as Moors. Although the Berbers would
later expel the Arabs from the Maghreb and form temporarily independent states, that effort failed to dislodge the usage of the collective term.
Modern use in parts of the Maghreb
The term has been applied at times to urban and
coastal populations of the
Maghreb, the term in these regions nowadays is rather used to denote the
Arab-Berber populations (occasionally somewhat mixed-race) living in
Western Sahara, and
Hassaniya-speaking populations, mainly in
Mauritania
Mauritania (; ar, موريتانيا, ', french: Mauritanie; Berber: ''Agawej'' or ''Cengit''; Pulaar: ''Moritani''; Wolof: ''Gànnaar''; Soninke:), officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania ( ar, الجمهورية الإسلامية ...
,
Western Sahara, and
Northwestern Mali.
Moors of Iberia

In 711 the Islamic Arabs and Moors of Berber descent in
northern Africa crossed the
Strait of Gibraltar
The Strait of Gibraltar ( ar, مضيق جبل طارق, Maḍīq Jabal Ṭāriq; es, Estrecho de Gibraltar, Archaic: Pillars of Hercules), also known as the Straits of Gibraltar, is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Medi ...
onto the
Iberian Peninsula, and in a series of raids they conquered
Visigothic Christian
Hispania. Their general,
Tariq ibn Ziyad, brought most of Iberia under Islamic rule in an eight-year campaign. They continued northeast across the
Pyrenees Mountains but were defeated by the
Franks under
Charles Martel at the
Battle of Tours in 732.
The Maghreb fell into a
civil war in 739 that lasted until 743 known as the
Berber Revolt. The Berbers revolted against the
Umayyads, putting an end to Eastern dominion over the Maghreb. Despite racial tensions, Arabs and Berbers intermarried frequently. A few years later, the Eastern branch of the
Umayyad dynasty was dethroned by the
Abbasids
The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...
and the Umayyad Caliphate overthrown in the
Abbasid revolution (746-750).
Abd al-Rahman I, who was of
Arab-Berber lineage, managed to evade the Abbasids and flee to the Maghreb and then Iberia, where he founded the
Emirate of Córdoba and the
Andalusian
Andalusia is a region in Spain.
Andalusian may also refer to:
Animals
*Andalusian chicken, a type of chicken
*Andalusian donkey, breed of donkey
*Andalusian hemipode, a buttonquail, one of a small family of birds
*Andalusian horse, a breed of ho ...
branch of the Umayyad dynasty. The Moors ruled northern Africa and Al-Andalus for several centuries thereafter.
Ibn Hazm, the polymath, mentions that many of the Caliphs in the Umayyad Caliphate and the
Caliphate of Córdoba were blond and had light eyes. 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:

The languages spoken in the parts of the Iberian Peninsula under Muslim rule were
Andalusian Arabic and
Mozarabic; they became extinct after the
expulsion of the Moriscos, but
Arabic language influence on the Spanish language can still be found today. The Muslims were resisted in parts of the Iberian Peninsula in areas of the northwest (such as
Asturias, where they were defeated at the battle of
Covadonga
Covadonga ( Asturian: ''Cuadonga'', from ''cova domnica'' "Cave of Our Lady"Juan Gil Fernández, José L. Moralejo, Juan Ignacio Ruiz de la Peña, ''Crónicas asturianas'', Universidad de Oviedo, 1985,
p. 203.) is one of 11 parishes in Cang ...
) and the largely
Basque Country
Basque Country may refer to:
* Basque Country (autonomous community), as used in Spain ( es, País Vasco, link=no), also called , an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain (shown in pink on the map)
* French Basque Country o ...
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
Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the African co ...
who had been absorbed into al-Andalus to be used as soldiers and
slaves
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
. The Berber and Sub-Saharan African soldiers were known as "tangerines" because they were imported through
Tangier.
The Caliphate of Córdoba collapsed in 1031 and the Islamic territory in Iberia fell under the rule of the
Almohad Caliphate
The Almohad Caliphate (; ar, خِلَافَةُ ٱلْمُوَحِّدِينَ or or from ar, ٱلْمُوَحِّدُونَ, translit=al-Muwaḥḥidūn, lit=those who profess the Tawhid, unity of God) was a North African Berbers, Berber M ...
in 1153. This second stage was guided by a version of Islam that left behind the more tolerant practices of the past. Al-Andalus broke up into a number of
taifas (fiefs), which were partly consolidated under the Caliphate of Córdoba.

The
Kingdom of Asturias, a small northwestern Christian Iberian kingdom, initiated the ''
Reconquista'' ("Reconquest") soon after the Islamic conquest in the 8th century. Christian states based in the north and west slowly extended their power over the rest of Iberia. The
Kingdom of Navarre
The Kingdom of Navarre (; , , , ), originally the Kingdom of Pamplona (), was a Basque kingdom that occupied lands on both sides of the western Pyrenees, alongside the Atlantic Ocean between present-day Spain and France.
The medieval state took ...
, the
Kingdom of Galicia, the
Kingdom of León
The Kingdom of León; es, Reino de León; gl, Reino de León; pt, Reino de Leão; la, Regnum Legionense; mwl, Reino de Lhion was an independent kingdom situated in the northwest region of the Iberian Peninsula. It was founded in 910 when t ...
, the
Kingdom of Portugal
The Kingdom of Portugal ( la, Regnum Portugalliae, pt, Reino de Portugal) was a monarchy in the western Iberian Peninsula and the predecessor of the modern Portuguese Republic. Existing to various extents between 1139 and 1910, it was also kno ...
, the
Kingdom of Aragon
The Kingdom of Aragon ( an, Reino d'Aragón, ca, Regne d'Aragó, la, Regnum Aragoniae, es, Reino de Aragón) was a medieval and early modern kingdom on the Iberian Peninsula, corresponding to the modern-day autonomous community of Aragon, ...
, the ''
Marca Hispánica'', and the
Crown of Castile
The Crown of Castile was a medieval polity in the Iberian Peninsula that formed in 1230 as a result of the third and definitive union of the crowns and, some decades later, the parliaments of the kingdoms of Castile and León upon the accessi ...
began a process of expansion and internal consolidation during the next several centuries under the flag of Reconquista. In 1212, a coalition of Christian kings under the leadership of
Alfonso VIII of Castile
Alfonso VIII (11 November 11555 October 1214), called the Noble (''El Noble'') or the one of Las Navas (''el de las Navas''), was King of Castile from 1158 to his death and King of Toledo. After having suffered a great defeat with his own army at ...
drove the Muslims from Central Iberia. The Portuguese side of the Reconquista ended in 1249 with the conquest of the
Algarve ( ar, الغرب –
''al-Gharb'') under
Afonso III. He was the first Portuguese monarch to claim the title "
King of Portugal and the Algarve".
The Moorish
Kingdom of Granada continued for three more centuries in southern Iberia. On 2 January 1492, the leader of the last Muslim stronghold in
Granada
Granada (,, DIN 31635, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the fo ...
surrendered to the armies of a recently united Christian Spain (after the marriage of
Ferdinand II of Aragón
Ferdinand II ( an, Ferrando; ca, Ferran; eu, Errando; it, Ferdinando; la, Ferdinandus; es, Fernando; 10 March 1452 – 23 January 1516), also called Ferdinand the Catholic (Spanish: ''el Católico''), was King of Aragon and List of Sardin ...
and
Isabella I of Castile
Isabella I ( es, Isabel I; 22 April 1451 – 26 November 1504), also called Isabella the Catholic (Spanish: ''la Católica''), was Queen of Castile from 1474 until her death in 1504, as well as List of Aragonese royal consorts, Queen consort ...
, the "
Catholic Monarchs"). The Moorish inhabitants received no military aid or rescue from other Muslim nations.
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
rebelled in 1499. The revolt lasted until early 1501, giving the Castilian authorities an excuse to void the terms of the
Treaty of Granada (1491). In 1501, Castilian authorities delivered an ultimatum to the Muslims of Granada: they could either convert to Christianity or be expelled.

The Inquisition was aimed mostly at Jews and Muslims who had overtly converted to Christianity but were thought to be practicing their faiths secretly. They were respectively called ''
marrano
Marranos were Spanish and Portuguese Jews living in the Iberian Peninsula who converted or were Forced conversion#Spanish Inquisition, forced to convert to Christianity during the Middle Ages, but continued to Crypto-Judaism, practice Judaism i ...
s'' and ''moriscos''. However, in 1567 King
Philip II directed Moriscos to give up their Arabic names and traditional dress, and prohibited the use of
Arabic. In reaction, there was a
Morisco uprising in the
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.
Some Muslims converted to 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." According to historian
Richard A. Fletcher, "the number of 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 from Algeria and Morocco."
In the meantime, Spanish and Portuguese
expeditions westward from the
New World spread Christianity to India, the
Malay peninsula
The Malay Peninsula (Malay: ''Semenanjung Tanah Melayu'') is a peninsula in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The area ...
,
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
Philip II) in Spain, while in Portugal and his Italian kingdoms he ruled as Philip I ( pt, Filipe I). (21 May 152713 September 1598), also known as Philip the Prudent ( es, Felipe el Prudente), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from ...
. In
Mindanao, the Spaniards named the
kris
The kris, or ''keris'' in the Indonesian language, is an asymmetrical dagger with distinctive blade-patterning achieved through alternating laminations of iron and nickelous iron (''pamor''). Of Javanese origin, the kris is famous for its disti ...
-bearing people as
Moros or 'Moors'. Today this ethnic group in Mindanao, who are generally Filipino Muslim, are called "Moros".
Moors of Sicily

The first Muslim conquest of 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 fell under Muslim control, most notably the port city of
Bari
Bari ( , ; nap, label= Barese, Bare ; lat, Barium) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, southern Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy a ...
, which formed the
Emirate of Bari from 847 to 871. In 909, the
Aghlabids was replaced by the
Isma'ili rulers of the
Fatimid Caliphate
The Fatimid Caliphate was an Isma'ilism, Ismaili Shia Islam, Shi'a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries AD. Spanning a large area of North Africa, it ranged from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the ea ...
. 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 under Muslim rule was
Siculo-Arabic.
In 1038, a
Byzantine army under
George Maniakes crossed the strait of Messina. This army included a corps of
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
Syracuse may refer to:
Places Italy
*Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa''
*Province of Syracuse
United States
*Syracuse, New York
**East Syracuse, New York
**North Syracuse, New York
*Syracuse, Indiana
* Syracuse, Kansas
*Syracuse, Miss ...
. Despite his success, Maniaces was removed from his position, and the subsequent Muslim counter-offensive reconquered all the cities captured by the Byzantines.
The Norman
Robert Guiscard
Robert Guiscard (; Modern ; – 17 July 1085) was a Norman adventurer remembered for the conquest of southern Italy and Sicily. Robert was born into the Hauteville family in Normandy, went on to become count and then duke of Apulia and Calabri ...
, son of Tancred, invaded 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 power on the island. Eventually all of Sicily was taken. In 1091, Noto in the southern tip of 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.
Ali ibn al-Athir wrote: "They
he Muslimswere treated kindly, and they were protected, even against the
Franks. Because of that, they had great love for King Roger."
The Muslim problem characterized Hohenstaufen rule in Sicily under Holy Roman Emperors
Henry VI and his son,
Frederick II. Many repressive measures were introduced by Frederick II to appease the popes, who were intolerant of 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 in Sicily. The complete eviction of Muslims and the annihilation of Islam in Sicily was completed by the late 1240s when the final deportations to
Lucera took place.
The remaining population of Sicilian Muslims converted to
Catholicism due to the incentives put in place by Fredrich II. Some Muslims from Lucera would also later convert due to oppression on the mainland and had their property returned to them and returned to Sicily.
During the reigns of Frederick II as well as his son,
Manfred
''Manfred: A dramatic poem'' is a closet drama written in 1816–1817 by Lord Byron. It contains supernatural elements, in keeping with the popularity of the ghost story in England at the time. It is a typical example of a Gothic fiction.
Byr ...
, a large amount of Muslims were brought, as slaves, to farm lands and perform domestic labor.
Enslaved persons in Sicily were not afforded the same privileges as the Muslims in mainland Italy. The trend of importing a considerable amount of slaves from the Muslim world did not stop with the
Hohenstaufen but was amplified under the
Aragonese and
Spanish crowns, and was in fact continued until as late as 1838 The majority of which would also come receive the label 'Moors'
Architecture
Moorish architecture is the
articulated Islamic architecture of northern Africa and parts of Spain and Portugal, where the Moors were dominant between 711 and 1492. The best surviving examples of this architectural tradition are the
Mosque–Cathedral of Córdoba and the Alhambra in Granada (mainly 1338–1390),
[Curl p. 502.] as well as the
Giralda in Seville (1184).
[Pevsner, ''The Penguin Dictionary of Architecture''.] Other notable examples include the ruined
palace
A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome which ...
city of
Medina Azahara (936–1010) and the
Mosque of Cristo de la Luz
The Mosque of Cristo de la Luz is a Catholic Church, Catholic chapel and former mosque in Toledo, Spain. It is the one of the ten that existed in the city during the Moorish architecture, Moorish period. The edifice was then known as ''Mezquita B ...
, now a church, in
Toledo
Toledo most commonly refers to:
* Toledo, Spain, a city in Spain
* Province of Toledo, Spain
* Toledo, Ohio, a city in the United States
Toledo may also refer to:
Places Belize
* Toledo District
* Toledo Settlement
Bolivia
* Toledo, Orur ...
, the
Aljafería
The Aljafería Palace ( es, Palacio de la Aljafería; ar, قصر الجعفرية, tr. ''Qaṣr al-Jaʿfariyah'') is a fortified medieval palace built during the second half of the 11th century in the Taifa of Zaragoza in Al-Andalus, present ...
in
Zaragoza and baths such as those at
Ronda and
Alhama de Granada.
In heraldry

Moors—or more frequently their heads, often crowned—appear with some frequency in medieval European
heraldry
Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, rank and pedigree. Armory, the best-known branch ...
, 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''.
Maures appear in European heraldry from at least as early as the 13th century,
and some have been attested as early as the 11th century in
Italy,
where they have persisted in the local
heraldry
Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, rank and pedigree. Armory, the best-known branch ...
and
vexillology well into modern times in
Corsica
Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...
and
Sardinia.

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.
The
arms of Pope Benedict XVI feature a moor's head, crowned and collared red, in reference to the arms of
Freising, Germany. In the case of 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 and Pamplona
Peter I ( es, Pedro, an, Pero, eu, Petri; 1068 - 1104) was King of Aragon and also Pamplona from 1094 until his death in 1104. Peter was the eldest son of Sancho Ramírez, from whom he inherited the crowns of Aragon and Pamplona, and Isabel ...
in the 11th century, the four moors' heads around a cross having been adopted to the arms of Aragon around 1281–1387, and Corsica and Sardinia having come under the dominion of the king of Aragon in 1297. In Corsica, the blindfolds were lifted to the brow in the 18th century as a way of expressing the island's newfound independence.
The use of Moors (and particularly their heads) as a heraldic symbol has been deprecated in modern
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
. For example, the College of Arms of the
Society for Creative Anachronism urges applicants to use them delicately to avoid causing offence.
In popular culture
* The title character in William Shakespeare's play ''
Othello
''Othello'' (full title: ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'') is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare, probably in 1603, set in the contemporary Ottoman–Venetian War (1570–1573) fought for the control of the Island of Cypru ...
'', and the derived title character in Verdi's opera ''
Otello
''Otello'' () is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on Shakespeare's play ''Othello''. It was Verdi's penultimate opera, first performed at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan, on 5 February 1887.
Th ...
'', is a Moor. A lesser-known Moorish character, Aaron, appears in Shakespeare's earlier tragedy ''
Titus Andronicus''.
* The
Second Spanish Republic Spanish Civil War song
¡Ay Carmela! talks about the moors fighting alongside
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War ...
*
Morgan Freeman
Morgan Freeman (born June 1, 1937) is an American actor, director, and narrator. He is known for his distinctive deep voice and various roles in a wide variety of film genres. Throughout his career spanning over five decades, he has received ...
's character Azeem in the 1991 film ''
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves'' is a Moor whom Robin Hood saves from prison.
* The 2009 documentary film ''
Journey to Mecca'' follows the travels of the Moorish explorer
Ibn Battuta
Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Battutah (, ; 24 February 13041368/1369),; fully: ; Arabic: commonly known as Ibn Battuta, was a Berbers, Berber Maghrebi people, Maghrebi scholar and explorer who travelled extensively in the lands of Afro-Eurasia, ...
from his native country of
Morocco to
Mecca for the
Hajj
The Hajj (; ar, حَجّ '; sometimes also spelled Hadj, Hadji or Haj in English) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for Muslims that must be carried ...
in 1325.
Notable Moors

*
Tariq ibn Ziyad, Moorish general who defeated the
Visigoths and
conquered Hispania in 711
*
Abd ar-Rahman I, founder of the
Umayyad Emirate of
Córdoba Córdoba most commonly refers to:
* Córdoba, Spain, a major city in southern Spain and formerly the imperial capital of Islamic Spain
* Córdoba, Argentina, 2nd largest city in the country and capital of Córdoba Province
Córdoba or Cordoba may ...
in 756; along with its succeeding
Caliphate of Córdoba, the dynasty ruled
Islamic Iberia for three centuries.
*
Ibn al-Qūṭiyya, Andalusian historian and
grammarian
Grammarian may refer to:
* Alexandrine grammarians, philologists and textual scholars in Hellenistic Alexandria in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BCE
* Biblical grammarians, scholars who study the Bible and the Hebrew language
* Grammarian (Greco-Roman ...
.
*
Yahya al-Laithi, Andalusian scholar who introduced the
Maliki school of jurisprudence in Al-Andalus.
*
Abbas ibn Firnas, 810–887,
Berber
Berber or Berbers may refer to:
Ethnic group
* Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa
* Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages
Places
* Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile
People with the surname
* Ady Berber (1913–196 ...
inventor
An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...
, poet, and scientist in the
Emirate of Córdoba.
*
Maslama al-Majriti, died 1007, Andalusian writer believed to have been the author of the ''
Encyclopedia of the Brethren of Purity
The ''Encyclopedia of the Brethren of Purity'' ( ar, رسائل إخوان الصفا) also variously known as the ''Epistles of the Brethren of Sincerity'', ''Epistles of the Brethren of Purity'' and ''Epistles of the Brethren of Purity and Loyal ...
'' and the ''
Picatrix''.
*
Al-Zahrawi (Abulcasis),
Andalusian physician and surgeon whose work ''
Al-Tasrif
The ''Kitāb al-Taṣrīf'' ( ar, كتاب التصريف لمن عجز عن التأليف, lit=The Arrangement of Medical Knowledge for One Who is Not Able to Compile a Book for Himself), known in English as The Method of Medicine, is a 30-volume ...
'', published in 1000, remained influential for centuries.
*
Said Al-Andalusi, 1029–1070, Andalusian
Qadi, historian, philosopher, mathematician and astronomer.
*
Abū Ishāq Ibrāhīm al-Zarqālī (Arzachel), 1029–1087,
Andalusian astronomer and engineer who developed the
equatorium and universal (latitude-independent)
astrolabe
An astrolabe ( grc, ἀστρολάβος ; ar, ٱلأَسْطُرلاب ; persian, ستارهیاب ) is an ancient astronomical instrument that was a handheld model of the universe. Its various functions also make it an elaborate inclin ...
and compiled a ''
Zij'' later used as a basis for the ''
Tables of Toledo''.
*
Artephius Artephius (or Artefius) (c. 1150) is a writer to whom a number of alchemical texts are ascribed. Although the roots of the texts are unclear and the identity of their author obscure, at least some of them are Arabic in origin. He is named as the au ...
, a writer to whom a number of
alchemical texts are ascribed.
*
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 (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 writer and polymath who wrote ''
Hayy ibn Yaqdhan'', a
philosophical novel.
*
Averroes (Ibn Rushd), 1126–1198,
classical Islamic philosopher and polymath who wrote ''
The Incoherence of the Incoherence'' and several
Aristotelian commentaries, and established the school of
Averroism
Averroism refers to a school of medieval philosophy based on the application of the works of 12th-century Al-Andalus, Andalusian Islamic philosophy, philosopher Averroes, (known in his time in Arabic as ابن رشد, ibn Rushd, 1126–1198) a co ...
.
*
Ibn al-Baitar, died 1248,
Andalusian botanist and pharmacist who compiled the most extensive
pharmacopoeia and botanical compilation in pre-modern times.
*
Ibn Khaldun
Ibn Khaldun (; ar, أبو زيد عبد الرحمن بن محمد بن خلدون الحضرمي, ; 27 May 1332 – 17 March 1406, 732-808 AH) was an Arab
The Historical Muhammad', Irving M. Zeitlin, (Polity Press, 2007), p. 21; "It is, of ...
, who wrote about
sociology, historiography and
economics in the ''
Muqaddimah'' in 1377.
*
Abū al-Hasan ibn Alī al-Qalasādī, 1412–1486,
Moorish mathematician who helped popularize
algebraic symbolism.
*
Leo Africanus, 1494–1554, Andalusian geographer, author and diplomat, who was captured by Spanish
pirates
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...
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 of what is now the southwest of the United States.
*
Ibn Battuta
Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Battutah (, ; 24 February 13041368/1369),; fully: ; Arabic: commonly known as Ibn Battuta, was a Berbers, Berber Maghrebi people, Maghrebi scholar and explorer who travelled extensively in the lands of Afro-Eurasia, ...
, 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 World and is widely acknowledged as the father of
Comparative religion studies.
*
Ibn Idhari, a Moorish historian who was the author of (
Al-Bayan al-Mughrib
''Kitāb al-bayān al-mughrib fī ākhbār mulūk al-andalus wa'l-maghrib'' (''Book of the Amazing Story of the History of the Kings of al-Andalus and Maghreb'') by Ibn Idhāri (var. Ibn Athari) of Marrakech in the Maghreb (now Morocco) ...
) an important medieval text on the history of the
Maghreb and
Iberia.
*
Ibn Arabi,
Andalusian
Andalusia is a region in Spain.
Andalusian may also refer to:
Animals
*Andalusian chicken, a type of chicken
*Andalusian donkey, breed of donkey
*Andalusian hemipode, a buttonquail, one of a small family of birds
*Andalusian horse, a breed of ho ...
Sufi mystic and philosopher.
*
Abu Bakr ibn al-Arabi, a judge and
scholar of
Maliki law from
al-Andalus.
See also
Notes
*...''Hindu Kristao Moir sogle bhau''- Hindus, Christians and Muslims are all brothers...
References
Bibliography
:''This section's bibliographical information is not fully provided. If you know these sources and can provide full information, you can help Wikipedia 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 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 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.
* Frank Snowden. Before Color Prejudice: the ancient view of blacks. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard Univ. Press, 1983.
* Frank Snowden. ''Blacks in antiquity: Ethiopians in the Greco-Roman experience''. Cambridge, Massachusetts: 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 Are Coming, the Moors Are Coming! Encounters with Muslims in Contemporary Spain." p. 417-32 in ''Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations'', 2006, vol. 17, no. 4, pp. 417–32.
External links
"The Moors" by Ross Brann, published on New York University website
a
PBS article.
Encyclopedia - Britannica Online Encyclopedia(2006)
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 & Renaissance Art: The Moor's Head Victoria and Albert Museum (n.d)
* Sean Cavazos-Kottke
Othello's Predecessors: Moors in Renaissance Popular Literature (outline).
Folger Shakespeare Library, 1998.
{{Authority control
Medieval Portugal
Ifriqiya
Medieval Algeria
Medieval Morocco
Emirate of Sicily
History of Al-Andalus
Arabs
Arabs in Portugal
Arabs in Spain
Berber
Berbers in Portugal
Berbers in Spain