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Alhambra
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Architctural masterpiece of the Islamic West
and a testament to the vitality and
complexity of the Mediterranean society
The Alhambra (qalèat al-hambra) sits on a
plateau in the Sierra Nevada Mountains just
ouside Granada, Spain. It is the bestpreserved Isalmic palace complex and is a
ture masterpiece of world architecture (and
landscape architecture).
The earliest structure on the site dated from
the ninth century, although traces of Roman
and Iberian ruins are present as well.
Numerous building campaigns followed,
from the works of the Viser Jehoseph bar
Nahjralla in the 11th century on to that of
Muhammad V (1238) and his successors.
MuhammadV (1361-91) was the principa;
patron of the complex as we know it today.
Although Yusuf 1 (1333-54) established the
current layout and decorative tone.
Elaborate use of light, water and garden
spaces
Expresses Arabic poetic tradition and
Qurèanic imagery of paradise
Numerous inscriptions, mostly verses of Ibn
Zamrak-Muhammadès Vès court poet.
• http://www.mcah.columbia.edu/alhambra/fl
ash/palace_qtvr3.html
• http://www.mcah.columbia.edu/ha/html/isla
mic_granada_lion1_high.htm
• http://www.mcah.columbia.edu/ha/html/isla
mic.html
Medieval European Art c. 500-1500
(DURING BYZANTINE, ROMANESQUE, GOTHIC
PERIODS)
• Medieval art took place over
a long period of time,
shortly after the fall of the
Roman Empire and lasted
until the end of the fifteenth
century just prior to the
Renaissance.
• BYZANTINE (300 A.D to
the 1400s )
• ROMANESQUE (Western
Europe was popular from
about 1000 A.D. to the
1150)
• GOTHIC (1150 A.D. to
1400 Century)
What was happening in what is
now Modern day Europe
• As long as the Byzantine (Eastern) Empire, with
its seat in Constantinople, dominated the
Christian Church, it maintained the balance of
power between the bishop of Constantinople and
the bishop of Rome. But when it began to
crumble, Rome began to assert itself.
• Ever since the 4th century, the Western (Romebased) Empire had been shrinking considerably,
thanks to the Goths and Franks. It finally
disappeared altogether in 476.
• Today we remember the period of time when the
Church ruled Western Europe with an iron hand
as the "Dark Ages," although more charitable
historians will call it the "Middle Ages.“
Key points
Spanned over 1000 years, Roman empire has collapsed
having been overran by the Visigoths, Huns and Vandals
• times of unrest as tribes moved through Europe
• strong hold of The Church over the people
• most tribes were Christian with pagan traditions
therefore there was such symbols as dragons and
monsters
• 400-600 CE few paintings or large buildings were
produced
• Time of the Crusades (1000 CE)
• most art was portable –(ornaments, weapons, objects for
daily use)
• geometric designs and animal motifs were favoured as
decorative elements
• manuscript illumination became an important art form
and reached a high point in its development
Why the Crusades came into being
• Feudalism has its roots in all the warring that
was going on in this period of time. To support
the cavalry, the kings gave their soldiers estates
of land farmed by dependent laborers. It was a
huge pyramid with the majority of the population
at the bottom, working as serfs or virtual slaves
for somebody else.
• The Church supported the inequality of the
feudal system through its various dogmatic
formulations, which strongly implied that God
Himself wants things this way, that poverty has
great spiritual value, and that the king is a
divinely ordained human being whose authority
cannot be questioned.
• Early in its history, the Church started to acquire land. At
first, the Church took over the properties of pagan
temples and temple priests. But it continued to expand it
holdings, until it became by far the biggest landowner in
Europe, collecting huge amounts of taxes from the
hapless peasants.
• As the Church's empire grew in size so did its need for
more money to support it. While the Crusades were
launched in part to curb the growth of the Islam Empire,
another motivation was to gain new lands and wealth for
the growing population of Europe. They offered an outlet
for the ambitions of land-hungry knights and noblemen.
• The main reason given at the time, however, was the
reclamation of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in
Jerusalem from the Muslims. This church had been
originally built on the site identified in the 4th century by
Empress Helena, the mother of Constantine, as the site
where Jesus was buried following his crucifixion.(This
church still stands today, after being rebuilt by the
Crusaders; it is a focal point of Christian pilgrimages to
Jerusalem)
• The Crusades turned into campaigns of slaughter, rape, and pillage,.
The primary victims of the Crusaders, were the Muslims (with 30-50
% the Jewish population of Europe along the way).
• There were altogether ten Crusades covering a swath of time
between the 11th through the 13th centuries:
• Pope Urban II mounted the first campaign, in part in response to a
plea for help from Christians in Constantinople who were besieged
by the Muslims. Its aim was to beat back the "infidels" (as Christians
called their fellow monotheists) and to recapture the Holy Land.
• Pope promised those that signed up had the spiritual benefit of
having all your sins forgiven by God (not too mention all the spoils of
war)
• An armed force of 15,000 -- including 5,000 knights and the rest
infantry, as well as a peasant force.
• The First Crusade, 1095-1099, saw the taking of Jerusalem, the
slaughter of both the Muslim and Jewish populations of the city, and
the establishment of the Crusader-run Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem
(which lasted only until 1187). The Crusaders, once they conquered
Jerusalem, embarked on a vast building effort all over Israel. The
Crusaders established special orders of knights to look after this
kingdom. Those that interest us in particular are the Knights
Templars and the Knights Hospitalers.
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The Second Crusade, 1147-1149, was organized to help the Christians to
recover lands which they lost to the Turks, but it ended in dismal failure.
The Third Crusade 1189-1192 was organized after Saladin, the Sultan of
Egypt, recaptured Jerusalem. This is the Crusade in which King Richard the
Lionhearted figured. It was a failure.
The reign of the Crusaders over the Holy Land was short lived. In less than
one hundred years, in fact in 1187, the Crusaders are conquered by Sultan
Saladin of Egypt
Sultan Saladin beat the Crusaders at what was one of the most important
battles in the medieval history of the Middle East -- at the Horns of Hattin,
which is northwest of the Sea of Galilee. There Saladin very skillfully
managed to lure the Crusaders out into the open. In the middle of the
summer and burning heat, they found themselves vastly outmaneuvered
and outnumbered, and this is how Saladin destroyed them.
Even though they lost Jerusalem, the Crusaders didn't give up. They
mounted campaign after campaign to recoup the Holy Land. They never did
get Jerusalem back, (although the Moslems did grant them access to
Christian holy sites there). Finally, in 1291, the last Crusader stronghold -- in
Acco (also known as Acre) -- fell.
The Fourth Crusade, 1202-1204, saw the capture of Constantinople, which
at the time was occupied by Greek-speaking Eastern Orthodox Christians,
who did not recognize the authority of the Roman Pope.
The Children's Crusade, 1212, sent thousands of children for the Holy Land,
where they were never heard from again..
The Fifth Crusade, 1217-21, was aimed at Egypt, but failed.
Four more Crusades mounted in the 13th century failed to reverse the
Muslim gains. In 1291 the last Crusader stronghold at Acco fell.