Mikeila Oliveira

Muslim Influence on the Cultural Development of Medieval Portugal

History 365

Dr. Dana Wessell Lightfoot

21 June 2021

Muslim Influence on the Cultural Development of Medieval Portugal

[Paragraph] Europe is a continent that holds rich, aged historical documents that allows scholars to indulge in the historic significance of the past. Founded in 1143 as a result of the Zamora’s Treaty signing, Dom Alfonso Henriques was named the first king of Portugal and Alphonse the VII of Leon and Castile recognized Portugal as an independent kingdom, making Portugal one of the first unified countries in Europe.[1] Prior to the formation of the independent Kingdom of Portugal, the Muslim ‘Al-Andalus’ conquest in Iberia took over the land of what would become Portugal.[2] The area that was mostly comprised by Muslim Portugal was called ‘Gharb Al-Andalus’ (western Al-Andalus).[3] This essay will examine how the development of culture in Medieval Portugal encompassed Muslim influences such as language, architecture, and academia, in its creation during the 12^th and 13^th centuries as a result of the Muslim rule of Iberia starting in 711 and declining in the 12^th century.

[Paragraph] This paper will first observe the Muslim occupation of Iberia and then the conquest of Muslim territory by Portuguese rulers will be discussed. These two topics will aid in a greater understanding of the history of the formation of culture in Medieval Portugal, which will provide the prelude to the influences of Muslim doctrines that remained in the territory once the culture of the Portuguese Kingdom was in the process of creation. The Roman province of Gallaecia remained unsettled by Muslim settlers because of the northern regions “rugged terrain, cool, damp winters and difficult communications, particularly in Tras-os-Montes and eastern Beira Alta.”[4] However, central and southern Portugal were more attractive to Muslim settlers who remained in the land from the 8^th to the mid 13^th centuries. The draw to the central and southern regions was the drier and warmer climate, the land relatively developed, and the regions’ location closer in proximity to Cordoba – the capital of Al-Andalus before breaking into taifa kingdoms (independent Muslim principalities of the Iberian Peninsula).[5] This long-lasting duration of Muslim settlement within the later established borders of Portugal deems to be a sprinkle of suggestion that customs of everyday life will remain amidst the exchange of ruling power. Many factors play a role in the transfer of power in the Iberian Peninsula from Muslim to Christian rule. Most significant to the Portuguese Reconquista was the death of al-Mansur, to which northern Christians gained the confidence to attack ill-equipped Muslim territory where Christian leaders earned protection money in gold called parias, and the arrival of crusade and holy war ideas from Western European Christian warriors on pilgrimage.[6] With continued Christian attacks, the Almoravids (fundamentalist Muslims from North Africa) had to abandon Al-Andalus, leaving the territory under Christian rule.[7]

[Paragraph] The territory that was established by the Kingdom of Portugal closely resembles the modern-day borders of Portugal. Portugal began as the County of Portugal, which was also known as Portucale, Portugale, or Portugalia.[8] The arms of the county consisted of five shields azure, that are debated to have resembled “the five Moorish kings who were conquered – or…the five wounds of Christ, as [Alfonso] had been commanded in the divine vision.”[9] Beginning in 1139, The County of Portugal fought in the Battle of Ourique against Andalusian Muslims of the Almoravids, resulting in the acclamation of Alfonso Henriques as King of Portugal and the creation of the Kingdom of Portugal.[10] Continuing southward, in 1147 the Siege of Lisbon broke out. This battle served significance as a by-product of the Second Crusade in which not only were Portuguese combatants fighting the Almoravids in conquest of land, but English, German, and Flemish crusaders assisted in the siege as well.[11] The possession of Lisbon established half of the geographic boundaries of what would become the territory of Portugal, as well as gaining control of the Tagus River. The end of the Portuguese Reconquista of Christian Visigothic territories was marked by the Conquest of Faro in the Algarve, the southernmost region of Portugal, in 1249.[12]

[Paragraph] Although every town or village of significance in Gharb Al-Andalus had a mosque or oratory, during the Christian Reconquest most mosques were destroyed or converted into churches. Importantly to the Muslim influence of Portuguese culture, throughout Gharb Al-Andalus, academic knowledge was introduced through mosques, libraries, and Islamic schools.[13] Islamic scholarship, literature, and art flourish.[14] In diffusing this knowledge, Arabic, or Mozarabic (“a Latin-based language with many lexical borrowings from the Arabic language”), was the language of administration.[15] Everyday use of Arabic language had a lasting impact with up to a thousand modern-day Portuguese words, mostly relating to foods, plants, agricultural technology, commerce , administration, and the military, that can be traced back to Arabic.[16] Levi argues that the coming together of Islam, Sephardic Judaism, and Christianity “produced a unique body of cultural and scientific works unequal in human history.”[17] In times of cooperation, arts and sciences including agriculture, architecture, arithmetic, astrology, chemistry, cosmography, geography, mathematics, medicine, music, and philosophy were fostered within Iberia.[18] The teachings were maintained in the way of life of citizens at the time of the Portuguese Kingdom which was proven in the Portuguese Age of Exploration through the advancements of knowledge that was inherited.[19] Astrology was an important aspect of circumnavigation because the moon dictates the tides and discovery was most common by boat in the Age of Exploration. Al-Majriti, who studied astrology in the Muslim east, became famous for his edition of the Astrological Tables.[20] Al-Majriti kickstarted the emergence of many impactful Andalusian astrologists after him.[21] The success of the Portuguese in the Age of Exploration to establish trade, wealth, and territory can be argued to have been a direct result of Iberia’s history and interactions with Islamic science and the Andalusians who studied the field, bringing new ideas and knowledge to the Iberian Peninsula, and therefore, to the rest of Europe as well.

[Paragraph] Muslim presence not only brought new ideas to the Iberian Peninsula, but also renewed cultural traditions that were stemmed prior to the period of Islamic rule. Public baths are an example of a cultural tradition that served of importance in Iberian sociability prior to Islamic rule, though it was reintroduced under the Muslims with “liturgical and ritual meaning” until the later fifteenth-century when sources begin to make no reference to the existence of public baths.[22] Other traces of Islamic presence from the eighth to the thirteenth centuries in the form of ceramics have been excavated in the more recent years. At Silves Castle located in the South of Portugal, archaeologists have excavated ceramics to study “provenance and production techniques.”[23] The use of “cobalt blue onto a white tin oxide layer”, especially in the use of azulejos, a traditional painted tin-glazed ceramic tilework which are an art form and also serve the purpose of temperature control in buildings, have be traced to have followed Muslim, Gothic, and Renaissance patterns.[24] The principal source of cobalt, that created the blue colour was primarily found in present-day Iran and then exported throughout the Muslim world.[25] The term azulejo is derived from Arabic roots, meaning ‘small polished stone’.[26] Azulejos serve significance to the culture of Portugal as through design and words, they tell stories of history, religion ,and culture through decorative expression.

[Paragraph] Islamic farmers are credited with the introduction of methods of irrigation to Iberia, including machinery and underground canals (qanats) that sustained the expansion of plants, the expansion of farmland, and in turn, the influx of crops became vital to nourishing life.[27] Durum wheat is considered by the academic, Andrew Watson, as the most important crop, which was unknown to the Mediterranean in the pre-Islamic world.[28] Along with durum wheat, Islamic rule introduced Asiatic rice, sugar cane, banana and plantain, lemon, lime, sorghum, watermelon, eggplant, spinach, artichoke, sour orange, mango, and coconut palm.[29] These fruits, vegetables, and grains served of significance for nutrients and the creation of traditional meals, and consequently, the establishment of culture. Durum wheat is the main ingredient of most pastas which are familiar to consumers as native to the Mediterranean. The sour orange which was introduced to Iberia by Muslim settlers is also known as the Seville (a city in Spain) orange, demonstrating the long-lasting impact that Muslim introductions have had on the Iberian Peninsula.

[Paragraph] From the Ancient period to modern times, the continent of Europe is a treasure chest of historical records and documentation. The medieval period is no exception. Muslims settled in Iberia throughout the medieval period, beginning with an invasion in 711 and officially ending rule in the late 15^th century. This extensive duration of settlement was bound to create a cultural impact throughout history regardless of shifting power which has been proven throughout this essay. Muslim influence has impacted the creation of Medieval Portuguese culture through language, agriculture, irrigation systems, the introduction of grains, vegetables, and fruits, through ceramics and architecture, and through various fields of academia. The domination of Islamic rule within the Iberian Peninsula is evident not only throughout Medieval Portuguese culture as articulated throughout this essay, but also in the continuation of medieval culture that has been carried onto the modern day. Therefore, the Muslim invasion of Iberia is not only a period of time in the early ages, rather its impressions have proven to be so impactful that their legacy has maintained itself to the present day.

Bibliography 

Constable, Olivia Remie, ed. “The Siege of Lisbon: The Conquest of Lisbon (1147) Translated from Latin by Charles Wendell David,” In Medieval Iberia: Readings from Christian, Muslim, and Jewish Sources, 180-183. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2012.

De Barrios, Maria Filomena Lopes. “Body, Baths and Cloth: Muslim and Christian Perceptions in Medieval Portugal.” Portuguese Studies 21 (2005): 1-12.

Decker, Michael. “Plants and Progress: Rethinking the Islamic Agricultural Revolution.” Journal of World History 20, no. 2 (June 2009): 187-206.

Disney, A.R. A History of Portugal and the Portuguese Empire: From Beginnings to 1807. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009.

dos Santos, Reynaldo. “The Blue in Portuguese Historical Azulejos.” (2012).

Ferreira L.F. Vieira, R. Varela Gomes, M.F.C. Pereira, L.F. Santos, I. Ferreira Machado. “Islamic Ceramics in Portugal Found at Silves Castle (8^th to 13^th c.): An Archaeometric Characterization.” Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 8, (August 2016): 434-443.

García-Contreras, Guillermo Aleks Pluskowski, Michelle Alexander, Rowena Banerjea, and Marcos García García. “Landscapes of (Re)Conquest: Dynamics of Multicultural Frontiers in Medieval South-West Europe.” Antiquity 94, no. 375 (2020): e15. doi:10.15184/aqy.2020.76.

Levi, Joseph Abraham. “Muslim Science as the Source of the Portuguese Age of Discoveries.” Comparative Literature and Culture 14, no. 5 (December 2012): 1-8.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “History.” Diplomatic Portal: Permanent Mission of Portugal to the United Nations. https://onu.missaoportugal.mne.gov.pt/en/about-portugal/history (Accessed June 17, 2021).

Parmelee, Katherine Ward. “The Flag of Portugal in History and Legend.” Romantic Review 9, (January 1, 1918): 291-303.

[1] Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “History,” Diplomatic Portal: Permanent Mission of Portugal to the United Nations, https://onu.missaoportugal.mne.gov.pt/en/about-portugal/history (accessed June 17, 2021).

[2] A. R. Disney, A History of Portugal and the Portuguese Empire: From Beginnings to 1807, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009), 53.

[3] A. R. Disney, A History of Portugal and the Portuguese Empire: From Beginnings to 1807, 53.

[4] A. R. Disney, A History of Portugal and the Portuguese Empire: From Beginnings to 1807, 54.

[5] A. R. Disney, A History of Portugal and the Portuguese Empire: From Beginnings to 1807, 54.

[6] A. R. Disney, A History of Portugal and the Portuguese Empire: From Beginnings to 1807, 57.

[7] A. R. Disney, A History of Portugal and the Portuguese Empire: From Beginnings to 1807, 57.

[8] Katherine Ward, Parmelee, “The Flag of Portugal in History and Legend,” Romantic Review 9, (January 1, 1918): 293.

[9] Katherine Ward, Parmelee, “The Flag of Portugal in History and Legend,” 293.

[10] A. R. Disney, A History of Portugal and the Portuguese Empire: From Beginnings to 1807, 75.

[11] Olivia Remie, Constable, ed, “The Siege of Lisbon: The Conquest of Lisbon (1147) Translated from Latin by Charles Wendell David,” In Medieval Iberia: Readings from Christian, Muslim, and Jewish Sources, 180-183 (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2012): 182-183.

[12] Guillermo García-Contreras, Aleks Pluskowski, Michelle Alexander, Rowena Banerjea, and Marcos García García, “Landscapes of (Re)Conquest: Dynamics of Multicultural Frontiers in Medieval South-West Europe,” Antiquity 94, no. 375 (2020): e15. doi:10.15184/aqy.2020.76.

[13] A. R. Disney, A History of Portugal and the Portuguese Empire: From Beginnings to 1807, 62.

[14] A. R. Disney, A History of Portugal and the Portuguese Empire: From Beginnings to 1807, 62.

[15] “Muslim Science as the Source of the Portuguese Age of Discoveries,” Comparative Literature and Culture 14, no. 5 (December 2012): 4.

[16] A. R. Disney, A History of Portugal and the Portuguese Empire: From Beginnings to 1807, 62; Joseph Abraham Levi, “Muslim Science as the Source of the Portuguese Age of Discoveries,” 4.

[17] Joseph Abraham Levi, “Muslim Science as the Source of the Portuguese Age of Discoveries,” 3.

[18] Joseph Abraham Levi, “Muslim Science as the Source of the Portuguese Age of Discoveries,” 4.

[19] Joseph Abraham Levi, “Muslim Science as the Source of the Portuguese Age of Discoveries,” 4.

[20] Joseph Abraham Levi, “Muslim Science as the Source of the Portuguese Age of Discoveries,” 7.

[21] Joseph Abraham Levi, “Muslim Science as the Source of the Portuguese Age of Discoveries,” 7.

[22] Maria Filomena Lopes de Barros, “Body, Baths and Cloth: Muslim and Christian Perceptions in Medieval Portugal,” Portuguese Studies 21, (2005): 3-5.

[23] L.F. Vieira Ferreira, R. Varela Gomes, M.F.C. Pereira, L.F. Santos, I. Ferreira Machado, “Islamic Ceramics in Portugal Found at Silves Castle (8^th to 13^th c.): An Archaeometric Characterization,” Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 8, (August 2016): 434.

[24] Reynaldo dos Santos, “The Blue in Portuguese Historical Azulejos,” (2012): 3.

[25] Reynaldo dos Santos, “The Blue in Portuguese Historical Azulejos,” 9.

[26] Nina Santos, “A Brief History of Portugal’s Beautiful Azulejo Tiles,” Culture Trip, https://theculturetrip.com/europe/portugal/articles/a-brief-history-of-portugals-beautiful-azulejo-tiles/ (accessed June 18, 2021).

[27] Michael Decker, “Plants and Progress: Rethinking the Islamic Agricultural Revolution,” Journal of World History 20, no. 2 (June 2009): 188.

[28] Michael Decker, “Plants and Progress: Rethinking the Islamic Agricultural Revolution,” 192.

[29] Michael Decker, “Plants and Progress: Rethinking the Islamic Agricultural Revolution,” 188.