A Vanished World Chris Lowney

Vanessa Telles

Gibraltar where Tariq led his invasion of Spain.Gibraltar translates to “Tariq’s Mountain”King Roderic rules 710-711 Tariq ibn Ziyad conquers Spain

for the Moors is 711

“A Vanished World” focuses on the Iberian Peninsula and the interactionsbetween the three dominant religions of that area. Judaism, Islam and

Christianity all played an important role in Spain’s history.

The area that is covered by the book.

The region was under the control of the Visigoths from 476-711 withKing Roderic being the final Visigoth King.

Tariq ibn Ziyad conquers Spain in the name of the Moors and sets the stage for a Muslim presence in the region.

Left: Saint James with his scallop shell emblem.Peaceful and benevolent in appearance.

Right: Saint James the Muslim Killer

St. Jamesseen two

ways.

St. James has played a significant role in Christian Spain. His remains are supposedly located in the Galician coast in an area that was renamed “Santiago de Compostela”.

The area of his tomb has become a site of pilgrimage for Christians all over the world.

The Christians seeking to reclaim dominance in Spain reinvented St. James as a fierce warrior responsible for killing many Muslims

Pope Urban IIPope Paschal II

The Crusades

Pope Urban II launches the Crusades in 1095. While originally centered on reclaiming the Holy Land, the Crusades would eventually affect a much greater area, including Spain.

Indulgences are given to those who fight in the Crusade. Knights are told that fighting in the Crusades is more important than personal religious pilgrimage.

Pope Paschal II refocuses the Crusades on Spain, saying, “...For we are not a little fearful of the tyranny [of the Muslims]..”

Moses Maimonides

The Torah The Talmud

Moses Maimonides was responsible for making Jewish law more accessible. He took the two Jewish texts and sought to combine them in a definitive way to make adhering to the multitude of laws

possible even for the Jews that did not have access to one or both books. He penned the “Mishneh Torah (Repetition of the Law)” as well as the “Guide for the Perplexed”

Queen Isabella of Spain King Ferdinand of SpainPope Sixtus IV

Once in power, Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand requested that Pope Sixtus IV endorse an inquisition. The purpose for this particular inquisition was to find and hold responsible all the remaining Jews who outwardly practiced Christianity but remained faithful to Judaism in

private.

The monarchs were able to conquer and control Muslim-held Grenada, thereby uniting all of Spain under Christian rule.

Moors from Grenada were offered conversion or travel to North Africa. They were given 3 years to decide. Jews were ordered to convert or leave Spain as well. They were given 3 months to decide.

Pope John Paul II

“Jews, Christians, and Muslims, as we know, come from different religious traditions, but have many

ties to each other. In fact, all the believers of these three religions refer back to Abraham...for whom they have a profound respect, although in different ways...If there is not an amiable peace among these

religions, how can harmony in society be found? From believers, from the representatives of religion, from persons who have spent so many years of their life in meditation on the sacred books, the world is

waiting for a world of peace.”Pope John Paul II, April 30, 1991