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Jordan Voltz

Reflection Piece #1 9/25/13

Prof. Garceau

Group D

The major themes that I found in the reading are factionalism, construction of inter-

border power matrices, and the question of Who actually holds the power now that the central

state is gone?This is presented in contrast to the previous readings weve been assigned as well

as the previous state of the Iberian Peninsula, which has largely existed with a clearly unified and

well-constructed power structure in the south. There has always been the Christian resistance in

the north, but it hasnt been until Chapter 5 of FletchersMoorish Spainthat theyve actually had

a significant amount of power in Southern Muslim politics. Furthermore, the dismantling of the

Crdoban Caliphate and the dispersal of the ruled territory into numerous kingdoms increased

the amount of factionalism within the area. This lead to the serious amount of racketeering

between provinces and established incredibly complex networks of influence throughout the

peninsula. Since it was likely kept secret which provinces another province was protecting, an

incredible amount of intrigue and guess work likely went into understanding these structures of

power with no one party truly trusting the other.

However, this also extends into inter-religious issues, as the position and conflicts of the

Spanish Jewry is given significant attention. The conflict between Jewish advisors and Islamic

nobility/ peasantry was addressed from both sides within the reading. From this, it was very clear

that each side views itself as the victim of the political/religious machinations of the other. To

this end, each side attempted to call upon their mutual authority in an effort to support them. This

further demonstrates the theme that there is a collective questioning of the position of power

structures within the system, local or otherwise.

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The factionalism witnessed throughout this reading emerges in the disputes between

Sulaymann, Hisham II, and Muahmmed II, who all announce their claim for caliph-dom and

continuously war with each other over Al-Andulas. This creates a clear rift in the power structure

of Cordoba and is highly reminiscent of the fall of Rome. However, this prompts the re-

emergence of the Christian North as a continental power, containing untapped resources for each

Muslim party to use. The resulting effect of this is the cooling of tensions between the two

religions, as indicated in the Tibyan where the Amir instructs him to mend his relationships with

his enemies- an interesting and practical step to take during all of this internal strife and intrigue.

The construction of inter-border power matrices is also something that is relatively new

to the 11th

century. There was typically a clear divide between factions in the previous years,

usually based upon religion. However, once the monolithic Al-Andulas has two fiercely

competitive and eventually desperate leaders vying for control over it, the Christian north

becomes a legitimately considered faction, even if there are religious differences. To this end,

both Islam and Christianity forge alliances with each other and against each other. After Al-

Andulas dissolves, its clear that there was a clear questioning of authority, since these newly

founded Taifa states had never been independently ruled before.

The main question that I think can be derived from this is With the dissolution of Al-

Andulas, the rise of secularized factions, and the deeper concern for political intrigue can it be

said that the because of resulting secular strife between political factions, the region was the

closest that it ever came to religious tolerance?