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In 711 A.D., Muslim armies came from

North Africa to the Iberian Peninsula.

They conquered the Visigothic Kingdom

of Toledo. It became a new Muslim

territory called AL – ANDALUS.

Video:

THE MIDDLE AGES

From 711 A.D., Al – Andalus was an

emirate. It was part of the caliphate

and its capital was Córdoba. It was

governed by an emir. In 929 A.D., an

emir called Abderramán III declared

that Al- Andalus was an independent

caliphate. He established the

Córdoba Caliphate. Later on, Al-

Andalus was divided into small taifa

kingdoms.

Al- Andalus became a centre of art and

learning. They also built beautiful

buildings, such as the Alhambra in

Granada, the Great Mosque in Córdoba

and the Alcazaba in Almería.

Make a poster about a building from Al – Andalus.

INSTRUCTIONS

a) Find pictures of the building.

b) Find out when it was built and what it was used for. Include this

information on your poster. c) Include a map of Spain that shows the location of the building.

Life in Al – Andalus was peaceful, but

there were many battles at the borders

with the Christian kingdoms in the north.

GAME IN PAIRS

a) Take turns to name a city in Spain.

b) Say if your partner’s city was ever in Al-Andalus. c) Use the map to check your answers.

Some people in Al – Andalus were

Christian or Jewish. The Muslims didn’t

consider non-Muslims to be equals, but

they gave them some basic rights:

Christians and Jews could:

o Live where they wanted to.

o Practise their religion.

o Do any job, but they couldn’t

have authority over a Muslim.

o Be part of society and culture.

Christians and Jews had to:

o Pay special taxes.

o Were a special badge.

o Obey Muslims laws.

o They couldn’t carry weapons.

WRITE A BIOGRAPHY: ABDERRAMÁN III

a) Draw a timeline of the person’s life.

b) Find a picture of the historical figure.

c) Write out the information you found about

Abderramán III.

In Al – Andalus there were many

merchants. They traded products such

as gold, silk, leather goods and pottery.

They bought and sold things in the souk.

Farmers in Al – Andalus raised goats and

sheep. There were also experts in

irrigated farming.

People speak Arabic. Many place

names in the South of Spain come from

Arabic, for example, “Guadalquivir” and

“Almería”.

Cities were ruled by a governor. He lived

in the alcazaba. This was a fortress.

Many people were Muslims. The mosque

was an important building in the city.

Muslims traded in the ___________________. They bought and sold

_________and__________.

The important buildings in a Muslim city were the___________and the_____________.

Non- Muslims could____________________________and ___________________________.

Non- Muslims couldn’t_____________________________. They also had to

____________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________.

Complete the sentences.

When the Muslims created Al-Andalus,

many Christians moved to the

mountains in the north. In 722 A.D. the

Battle of Covadonga took place

between the Christians and the

Muslims. A Visigoth noble called Don

Pelayo was the leader of the Christians.

He defeated the Muslims in the battle.

After that, Don Pelayo established the

Kingdom of Asturias. Later on this

became the Kingdom of León. There

were other Christian kingdoms too, such

as the Kingdom of Castilla, Navarra and

Aragón.

Society was divided into three groups:

clergy, nobles and peasants. People

were Christians. Priests and monks were

important members of society.

Most people were peasants. They

worked on the land, growing crops and

raising animals.

The king ruled the country, but the

countryside was divided into small areas.

Each area was ruled by a noble who

was called the lord.

Each kingdom had its own language, but

all the languages were similar to Latin.