Medieval Iberia: Readings from Christian, Muslim, and Jewish Sources (The Middle Ages Series)

The book is a compilation of brief written accounts, each rarely more than six or ten pages in length, and spanning a thousand years, have been compiled chronologically by topic to portray one of the clearest historical examinations of Spain from Christian, Muslim, and Jewish sources. A truly fascinating read!

This is an excellent source of primary historical data covering medieval Iberia, with documents and poems translated by some of the best (Nirenberg, O'Callaghan, Bisson, etc.). If studying medieval Iberian history, this is a must for references unless you are fluent in Arabic, Catalan, Latin, Hebrew, Castilian, Galician-Portuguese, Portuguese, Aljamiado, and Italian. The surrender treaties contained here are very important, and when combined with the information that Dr. Brian Catlos provides in his work, "Muslims of Latin Christendom, ca. 1050– 1614", and that of Dr. Isabel O'Connor's "The Forgotten Community - The Mudejar Aljama of Xativa, 1240-1327", provide insight in the aftermath as to why - though not themselves entirely faultless - the Mudejar rebelled in the late thirteenth and fifteenth centuries when under Christian control. Highly recommended.

History by those who lived it and those who were close to it. Want to have an understanding of peaceful Islam then read the relevant portions of this book and you will understand that Islam was anything but peaceful to those it conquered. It negates the "we are terrible because of the crusades" straw man argument even verbalized by our president. Violence of this caliber by anyone should never be excusable for any reason.

Great read

Source. Texts. ....an absolute treasure. These are readings I will return to again and again in my historical studies.

A must for anyone studying the history of Islamic occupation in Spain. Loaded with documentation from Latin, Hebrew, Arabic and other sources. http://youtu.be/uTiJKJArzz4?list=UUpvpku8O928I6bRiqbGvzeg

Interesting but would have been better if more chronological and would have appreciated more Jewish input from the time period