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Andalus, al-
Those parts of the Iberian peninsula governed by Muslims from 711 to 1492 . Locus of the most prolonged encounter between Islam and Christendom, traces of which can be found in the Spanish and Portuguese languages, art, and architecture, and the governance models of colonial Mexico and South America. Some of the finest cultural accomplishments of Islam emerged in al-Andalus: the great mosque of Córdoba, the Alhambra of Seville, the Cuenca school of ivory carving, the philosophy of Ibn Rushd (Averroës), and the medicine of Ibn Zuhr . The period also held significant Jewish cultural productivity ( Maimonides ). The golden age ended around the eleventh century; thereafter, Christian military might pushed the frontier south to Granada, conquered in 1492 (the Reconquista).
See also Alhambra; Europe, Islam in; Umayyad Caliphate
