Here's another sweet release I managed to land at a local thrift shop yesterday. This one contains seven delicious tracks of medieval music composed by Jewish, Muslim, and Christian artists from the Iberian Peninsula, or more specifically, former al-Andalus and Sepharad, nowadays called Spain.

This intercultural/interreligious soiree is brought to you by the Altramar Medieval Music Ensemble, comprised of Jann Cosart, Angela Mariani, Chris Smith, David Stattelman, Timothy G. Johnson, and Allison Zelles. Enjoy and let me know what you think.

http://www.mirrorcreator.com/files/SKQ2BPNG/Iberian_Garden_-_Jewish__Christian_and_Muslim_Music_in_Medieval_Sp ain__Vol._1_(Dorian__1997).zip_links

thanks Chronos

Spain was a multicultural haven before assholes ruined it all (a story that keeps repeating). Thanks for this unique item.

---------- Post added at 09:58 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:57 AM ----------

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Spain was a multicultural haven before assholes ruined it all (a story that keeps repeating). Thanks for this unique item.

No offense but I think your commentary is only the result of romanticism and modern propaganda. It's false Spain was a multicultural haven. The only multi-cultural haven was the "Escuela de Traductores de Toledo" (influential focus when literature, philosophy, science and arts were shared peaceful among iberian christian, jewish and islamic scholars) but multiculturalism there never was in society. History doesn't support this modern claim.

Thanks!! :)

Spain was a multicultural haven before assholes ruined it all (a story that keeps repeating). Thanks for this unique item.

Amen to that, even though it was anything but a haven, and it already was pretty much ruined by the time Ferdinand and Isabel won the Battle of Granada in 1492 and gave its coup de grace to the last Caliphate. Long before then, the three races/religions mostly put up with one another for the sake of convenience and mutual profit.

Sure, there was a lot of interbreeding (just look at the history of conversos and moriscos), but those in power spent most of their time plotting, betraying, wheeling and dealing to serve their own interests long before al-Andalus bit the dust, same as always. Spain under Muslim rule may have had far better times than the debacles that followed with the expulsion of the Sephardic Jews in 1492, the Crown's many bankruptcies under Philip II, III, and IV, the expulsion of the moriscos in 1609 and such, but it wasn't peaches and cream, either: there's no such thing as paradise lost.

It's a pity the "Catholic" Kings had their way in the end, but I think history and karma is slowly but surely restoring the balance of things. I just hope we're far older and wiser this time...

Amen to that, even though it was anything but a haven, and it already was pretty much ruined by the time Ferdinand and Isabel won the Battle of Granada in 1492 and gave its coup de grace to the last Caliphate. Long before then, the three races/religions mostly put up with one another for the sake of convenience and mutual profit.

Sure, there was a lot of interbreeding (just look at the history of conversos and moriscos), but those in power spent most of their time plotting, betraying, wheeling and dealing to serve their own interests long before al-Andalus bit the dust, same as always. Spain under Muslim rule may have had far better times than the debacles that followed with the expulsion of the Sephardic Jews in 1492, the Crown's many bankruptcies under Philip II, III, and IV, the expulsion of the moriscos in 1609 and such, but it wasn't peaches and cream, either: there's no such thing as paradise lost.

It's a pity the "Catholic" Kings had their way in the end, but I think history and karma is slowly but surely restoring the balance of things. I just hope we're far older and wiser this time...



Well, I think your opinion ("Spain under Muslim rule may have had far better times than the debacles that followed with the expulsion of the Sephardic Jews in 1492") is historically unsustainable. The territories under Muslim rule (Al-Andalus) were economical & culturally prosperous only during 3 centuries (caliphates). This precisely because there were cultural exchange and cooperation between muslims and christians. From that moment on all changed in catastrophe. Almoravid and almohad (bereber muslims invasions in 11th century) meant the demolition of this shining period. Almoravid and almohad dinasties were a plague because they were followers of a fundamentalist islamic tratidion wich destroyed not only iberian christian legacy in South Spain (St Isidore of Seville, the visigothic architecture, etc...) but the rich cultural enviroment under the islamic caliphate (arab). Thanks to God christian kingdom from the north were reducing the bereber control and influence in those territories. This allowed the "carolingian Renaissance" expansion (and later the Romanesque art expansion). Under christian rule the christian areas achieved a major, excellent cultural period with finished with the establishment of "Toledo School of Translators (12th Century). This School, CHRISTIAN, NOT MUSLIM, translated many of the philosophical and scientific works from classical Arabic, classical Greek, and ancient Hebrew to latin and later under Alfonso X the Wise (13th Century) to castilian (spanish). Many classical works of ancient philosophers and scientists (greek fundamentally) were physically saved from collapse and barbaric islamic fire. Those latin translations made under christian rule in Toledo later spread from Spain to Europe and facilitated the arrival of Renaissance in all Europe.

The expulsion of the Sephardic Jews in 1492 and the end of Islamic rule in the iberian peninsule (Granada battle 1492), far from imply the debacle of Spain started the best period of Spain. Without jewish influence Spain built his larger Empire and expanded his power and influence not only to America but Europe. But the most relevant aspect of this period was the outstanding level of his culture. The "Siglo de Oro" (Spanish Golden Age) from 1492 until 1681 is one of these peaks that rarely a few europe nations achieved (perhaps only Italy, England, France and later Germany) in Arts, literature or even philosophy (School of Salamanca).

The decadency of Spain (like all empires) was fundamentally caused for demographic reasons (low density) and its need to control vast territories with very little native poblation; control of a huge continent in America (spending human resources in the colonization of America, building and developing many cities, schools, hospitals,universities, etc...), and control of important european areas by expensive wars against three or four emerging empires allied at the same time against Spain (british, french and dutch). Precisely the worst movement of Ausburg dinasty was his alliance with international jewish bank which with by usure credits and taxes ruined the castilian economy (while jewish bank also did business financing his enemies: England, France and Holland)

@Chronos X: Thank you very much for sharing this. :)

@spaniard69: Wasn't it also that the spanish golden age declined due to all the wealth they accumulated from America in the form of gold and just stopped working? That the gold was used to purchase luxury items for the upper classes, that the noble families didn't have to pay taxes and that labour was frowned upon?

Because I read that in the middle of the 16th century, countries such as England, started working really hard, producing clothes which they sold to the spaniards, and therefore gradually gained wealth and prosperity - thus making some noble councilor close to the royal family in Spain(during the decline of the country) realize that work equals wealth in many ways..

@spaniard69: Wasn't it also that the spanish golden age declined due to all the wealth they accumulated from America in the form of gold and just stopped working? That the gold was used to purchase luxury items for the upper classes, that the noble families didn't have to pay taxes and that labour was frowned upon?

Because I read that in the middle of the 16th century, countries such as England, started working really hard, producing clothes which they sold to the spaniards, and therefore gradually gained wealth and prosperity - thus making some noble councilor close to the royal family in Spain(during the decline of the country) realize that work equals wealth in many ways..


I'm afraid that's another myth of "Black Legend". The Quinto Real en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinto_Real established in 1504 was the spanish tax that levied on the mining of precious metals. Only 1/5 part of amount of gold and silver (mostly) was sent to Spain. 4/5 were used IN AMERICA for building of cities, universities, roads, hospitals, infrastructures, etc... In fact in 18th century the tax was reduced to 10%. So imagine. Spanish American territories were far richer than Spain in 18th century.
Of course the Quinto Real wasn't employed to internal markets but to pay bank debts of Habsburg dinasty. Fugger and Welser families were the destiny of this capital not Spain. The reason: the disastrous dynastic politics of Habsburg family (Charles I, Philip II, etc...) what interests weren't Spain but Europe (conserve their european territories, in Germany, Flandes, Holland, Italy, etc...)

In my opinion british wealth was produced by the amount of speculative capital (not productive), and this capital was later used to finance industrial revolution.


PD: For example you can read this:

�M�s productivas eran la Martinica y Barbados a Francia e Inglaterra a la mitad del siglo XVIII que todas las islas, provincias y reinos e imperios de la Am�rica a los espa�oles. De Jamaica, los ingleses obten�an cada a�o seis millones de pesos de oro, plata, �ndigo y cochinilla mediante el contrabando con los dominios espa�oles.Tan est�riles se revelaban las posesiones en manos de los espa�oles que un buen n�mero de pol�ticos se preguntaban sobre las ventajas reales de la colonia, demand�ndose
si �stas no eran sino cargas que contribu�an a aplastar el cuerpo de la monarqu�a y si finalmente no hubiese sido preferible de no agradecer al cielo la gloria tan costosa de de descubierto y conquistado el Nuevo Mundo� (COLMEIROM, Historia econdmica de Espa�a, Taurus, Madrid, 1965, t. 11, p.946)

More productive were Martinica and Barbades to France and England at the middle of the 18th Century than all island, provinces, kingdom and empires of America to spaniards. From Jamaica, the english yearly got 6.000.000 pesos in gold, silver, indigo and cochineal by contraband with spanish territories....