1. PERIODS IN THE HISTORY
OF AL-ANDALUS AND ITS
ART
Almudena Corrales Marbán
Social Studies
2013/2014
2. DEPENDENT EMIRATE
Al-Andalus was
governed by an emir who was
under the authority of the Caliph
of Damascus. After occupying
the Iberian Peninsula, the Muslims
continued to advance. They
crossed the Pyrenees but they
were defeated by the Franks in
Poitiers (732).
3. INDEPENDENT EMIRATE
When the Abbasids
defeated the Umayyad
Caliphate, Abd-al-Rahman I, a
member of the Umayyad family,
escaped to al-Andalus and
proclaimed himself emir. This
region became politically
independent, although it
continued to recognise the
religious authority of the caliph.
4. CÓRDOBA CALIPHATE
The emir Abd-al-Rahman III
proclaimed himself caliph in 929, and so
al-Andalus became independent of
Baghdad both from a political and
religious point of view. This was the
high point of al-Andalus history.
6. TAIFA KINGDOMS
At the beginning of the
11th century, al-Andalus was split
into taifa kingdoms. The
Christians took advantage of this
weak position to conquer lands
from the Muslims.
NORTH AFRICAN DYNASTIES
In 1086, the Muslims
asked the Almoravids for help. As a
result, they controlled all of alAndalus again until the beginning of
the 12th century.
7. TAIFA ARCHITECTURE
• Basic materials (brick) covered
with very ornate decoration,
especially arabesque.
• Polylobed and mixtilinear
arches.
Distinctive buildings
Aljafería Palace in
Zaragoza
Zaragoza was one of
the most important
taifa kingdoms
8. The Nasrid dynasty (Arabic:
banū Naṣr) was the last
Arab Muslim dynasty in Spain. The Nasrid dynasty rose to
power after the defeat of the Almohad Caliphate in 1212 at
the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa. Twenty-three different
emirs ruled Granada from the founding of the dynasty in 1232
by Mohammed I ibn Nasr until January 2, 1492, when
Muhammad XII surrendered to the Christian Spanish
kingdoms of Aragon and Castile. Today, the most visible
evidence of the Nasrids is the Alhambra palace complex built
under their rule.
THE LAST TAIFA AND NASRID
KINGDOM
After the disappearance of the
Almoravids, al-Andalus was again split into
taifa kingdoms. . In the middle of the 12th
century, the Almohads arrived on the
Peninsula and ruled Islamis territories, but
they were defeated by the Christians in the
13th century. Only the nasrid kingdom of
Granada survived until the year 1492, when it
was conquered by the Catholic Monarchs.
The Capitulation of Granada by the painter F. Pradilla y Ortiz,
1882: Muhammad XII of Granada confronts Ferdinand II of
Aragon and Isabella I of Castile, the Catholic Monarchs
9. ALMOHAD
ARCHITECTURE
• Tended to be more
austere.
• Panels composed of
diamond shapes.
Distinctive buildings
The Giralda
Old minarete of the
nowadays Seville
cathedral
The outside was
decorated with
sebka.
(paños de sebka
que simulan los
tapices árabes)
This is The Torre del Oro or golden tower, a
defensive watchtower built to control the access to
Seville via Guadalquivir river.
10. THE NASRID ART
The most important monument is the Alhambra in
Granada. It was built in the 14th century as a
fortress palace and it has a castle and a palace
complex.
