Research+Summary+Scott

Back = Research Summary  = =Art, Literature, and Music= =Science and Mathematical Contributions= =Events and leaders= =Climate and Geographical Factors:= =Weaponry and Transportation:= =Plagues and Diseases:=
 * Paper was introduced to the Islamic world in 1751 and very quickly spread to Al-andalus. ([|Science: Islamic Legacy])
 * High literacy rate. ([|wiki Al-andalus culture])
 * They translated their books into a different language so everyone could read them. ([|wiki Al-andalus culture])
 * Paper was unknown to the west but the moors had tons of paper. It was everywhere. ([|Moors])
 * They had bookshops and around 70 libraries. ([|Moors])
 * London was a small mud hut village when Cordova had half a million people living there. ([|Moors])
 * There were around 100,000 houses, close to 1000 mosques, and 300 public baths and 21 suburbs. ([|Moors])
 * The streets were paved and had oil lamps. ([|Moors])
 * All the houses were decorated and had gardens. ([|Moors])
 * Court was open to all religions and ethnicities. ([|wiki Al-andalus culture])
 * They developed a non-Ptolemaic astronomical configuration and started a new way of thinking that was against a geocentric orbit. ([|wiki Al-andalus culture])
 * They discovered that the orbits of the planets were elliptical and not circular. ([|wiki Al-andalus culture])
 * A mathematician discovered the amount of light from the sun refracted by atmospheric moisture. It is very close to our modern value. ([|wiki Al-andalus culture])
 * They made great progress in anatomy and physiology. ([|wiki Al-andalus culture])
 * Abu al-Qasim al-Zahrawi contributed to the study of surgery and wrote an encyclopedia on it. It was used for centuries afterwards. ([|wiki Al-andalus culture])
 * He also invented many surgical tools such as: scalpel, surgical needle, retractor, and the speculum. ([|wiki Al-andalus culture])
 * Their hygiene was very good for the time period. ([|wiki Al-andalus culture])
 * They used inhaled anaesthetics to treat their patients. ([|wiki Al-andalus culture])
 * They used watermills for factories. Fulling mills, paper mills, and steel mills all had water mills attached. ([|wiki Al-andalus culture])
 * Europe later got windmills from Afghanistan and introduced them to Europe. ([|wiki Al-andalus culture])
 * Moorish Spain built the first forge that was driven without labour. ([|wiki Al-andalus culture])
 * They had irrigation throughout Spain. Much of it still remains. ([|wiki Al-andalus culture])
 * Ibn Firnas designed a parachute, and tested the world’s first hang-glider. He was the first man to control his own flight. He did it in 888, almost 600 years before Davinci. ([|wiki Al-andalus culture])
 * Scholars and philosophers were paid to come to Al-Andalus. This brought upon the explosion in intellectuals that placed Moorish Spain ahead of all the other nations. ([|wiki Al-andalus culture])
 * 1031 – Moorish caliphate dynasty falls. ([|wiki Timeline of Iberian Peninsula])
 * Taifas established. ([|wiki Timeline of Iberian Peninsula]) [[image:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/Taifas.gif width="382" height="283" align="right" caption="The Taifas. Toledo, Badajoz, Valencia, and everything south of them is Al-andalus" link="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/Taifas.gif"]]
 * The Taifas start fighting amongst themselves. Christian armies ravage their lands unchecked. ([|wiki Timeline of Iberian Peninsula])
 * 1056 – The almoravid dynasty begins and reunites a few Taifas. ([|wiki Timeline of Iberian Peninsula])
 * The almoravids resort to violence to re-conquer the Taifas. Christians start invading on the outer borders. ([|wiki Timeline of Iberian Peninsula])
 * Christians expand into the Taifas while Granada expands outwards. Eventually they meet. ([|wiki Timeline of Iberian Peninsula])
 * 1073 - Castile demands tribute from the Almoravids. They decline. ([|wiki Timeline of Iberian Peninsula])
 * In 1086, the king of Castile (a small country to the north of al-andalus) attacked the muslims. The attack failed miserably and the muslims were able to counter and capture the city of Valencia. ([|wiki Timeline of Iberian Peninsula])
 * 1144 – Taifas begin to form again. Almoravids lose their power and start to lose battles. ([|wiki Timeline of Iberian Peninsula])
 * 1147 – Due to rebellions and uprisings the Almoravids leave Iberia and return to Islam. ([|wiki Timeline of Iberian Peninsula])
 * Al-andalus has no leadership and starts to collapse. ([|wiki Timeline of Iberian Peninsula])
 * 1149 – The Almohads come from North Africa and establish their rule. The Almohads are more passive than the Almoravids. ([|wiki Timeline of Iberian Peninsula])
 * The Almohads convince the Taifas to reform under them. ([|wiki Timeline of Iberian Peninsula])
 * 1200 – All Christian countries declare war on Al-andalus ([|wiki Timeline of Iberian Peninsula])
 * 1212 – The battle of Las Navas de Tolosa occurs. The Almohads lose all popularity among the people and Al-andalus goes into serious decline and they rule with much less power and prestige. ([|wiki Al-andalus culture])
 * Civil wars led to the re-establishment of the Taifas (small independent states) but they did not do well. They were all conquered individually by portugal, aragon or castile. ([|wiki Al-andalus culture])
 * 1275 – Marinids lead expeditions into Al-andalus. They begin to take control of Al-andalus. ([|wiki Timeline of Iberian Peninsula])
 * In 1349, the castiles held Granada under siege but the black death wiped out their army and ended it. ([|wiki Al-andalus culture])
 * Castile and aragon were at war with other christian countries and portugal had lost a lot of military power, which led to a 100 year period of security for Granada. ([|wiki Al-andalus culture])
 * 1410 – Castile leads an attack against the city of Granada. The Castilian army is easily repelled. ([|wiki Al-andalus culture])
 * When Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castille married, in 1469, they launched a final assault against Granada. ([|wiki Al-andalus culture])
 * The christians proceeded to crush Granada with the armies of 2 countries. ([|wiki Timeline of Iberian Peninsula])
 * After a long siege, the city of Granada was surrendered in 1492. ([|wiki Al-andalus culture])
 * They had irrigation throughout Spain. Much of it still remains. ([|wiki Al-andalus culture])
 * The moors created a lot of agriculture with irrigation. ([|wiki Al-andalus culture])
 * Introduced sugar cane, rice, citrus fruit, apricots, cotton, artichokes, eggplants, and spices. ([|wiki Al-andalus culture])
 * The Iberian Peninsula is crossed by mountain ranges, going east-west. Between the mountain ranges are usually dry plains.
 * The Iberian Peninsula is very hot during the summer and cool during the winter. ([|Moors])
 * The Muslims couldn’t travel through Spain, so they traveled along the coast in Caravels. ([|wiki Al-andalus culture])
 * They were narrow and had a normal length so they had little capacity, but the Caravel had 2 or 3 masts whereas the galleys of the time had usually only 1 mast. They were a lot faster and manoeuvrable than a galley. ([|wiki Caravel])
 * The Moors were given gunpowder during the 1200’s by the rest of the Muslim world. They developed the cannon and used it before most other European nations. ([|wiki Cannon])
 * The cannons were hard to move, slow to reload, and unreliable, but still gave a great advantage to the Al-andalusians. ([|wiki Cannon in medieval ages])
 * The Black Death played a large roll in the continuing survival of Al-andalus. In 1349-1350, the city of Granada was besieged. What broke it out of the siege was the Black Death. ([|wiki Al-andalus culture])
 * The Castilian army led by Alfonso XI, quickly diminished as the Black Death swept through the army killing most men because of the poor hygiene. Alfonso XI was among those killed. ([|wiki Al-andalus culture])
 * Although many Muslims died, it was a far smaller percentage due to good hygiene. ([|wiki Black Death])
 * The new Castilian king was Pedro of Castile. He made a peace treaty with Granada and turned his eyes to the other Christian countries. ([|wiki Al-andalus culture])
 * This peace treaty lasted for more than 100 years and Granada might have been conquered earlier if not for the Black Death. ([|wiki Al-andalus culture])
 * The plague gave the victim swollen lymph nodes, a high fever, made it painful to move, and black rashes. It killed 4 out of 5 people that got the disease within 9 days. ([|wiki Black Death] )