Manuela Marín

Julio Samsó

This anthology covers the period comprising the formation of al-Andalus (the period lasting from the conquest in 711 to the apogee of Cordoban Umayyad power in the tenth century) in which changes took place that are important not only for the history of the Iberian peninsula, but also for the history of the European continent and of the Arab-Islamic civilization as a whole. Eleven of the 19 articles, the bulk of which were written by Spanish authors, were published after 1990. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

The Formation of Al-Andalus: History and society

María Isabel Fierro

This volume collects articles addressing the formation of an Andalusi linguistic, religious and cultural identity that reflects the complexity of a medieval society on the borders of Islam and Christendom, the background against which other developments (including the emergence of a sophisticated Andalusi scientific tradition) must be assessed. Twenty-one essays discuss language and religion, intellectual and artistic developments, and the exact and natural sciences. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

The Formation of Al-Andalus: Language, religion, culture, and the sciences

This new volume of papers by Julio Samsó deals with the development of astronomy and astrology in al-Andalus and the Maghrib between the 10th and the 19th centuries. Opening with a survey of the social history of the exact sciences in al-Andalus, the book then looks at astronomical tables: the first stages of the introduction of al-Khwarizmi's and al-Battani's tables through the school of Maslama al-Majriti, the development of Ibn al-Zarqalluh/ Azarquiel's theories in Maghribi zijes (Ibn al-Banna' and Ibn Azzuz) and the abandonment of this tradition towards the end of the 14th century. From this period onwards new Eastern zijes (Muhyi al-Din al-Maghribi, Ibn al-Shatir, Ulugh Beg) are introduced in the Maghrib and, towards the beginning of the 17th century, a translation of Abraham Zacut and José Vizinho's Almanach Perpetuum (end of the 15th century) becomes well known in the whole Islamic world, from Morocco to the Yemen. As well as zijes themselves, the author also deals with theoretical astronomy (the use of an elliptical deferent for Mercury in Ibn al-Zarqalluh's equatorium and the criticisms of Ibn al-Haytham and Jabir b. Aflah on Ptolemy's determination of the parameters of the same planet), and with the use of zijes for the calculation of horoscopes, and an experimental astrological method for the correction of mean motion planetary tables (Ibn Azzuz).

Astronomy and Astrology in al-Andalus and the Maghrib

Maribel Fierro

These two volumes present a conspectus of current research on the history and culture of early medieval Spain and Portugal, from the time of the Arab conquest in 711 up to the fall of the caliphate. They trace the impact of Islamisation on the pre-existing Roman and Visigothic political and social structures, the continuing interaction between Christian and Muslim, and describe the particular development and characteristics of Muslim Spain- al-Andalus. Together, they comprise 38 articles, of which 32 have been translated into English specially for this publication. The first volume focuses on political and social history, and looks in detail at settlement patterns and urbanisation; the second examines questions of language and covers the brilliant cultural and intellectual history of the period.

Language, Religion, Culture and the Sciences

The Formation of al-Andalus, Part 2

In On Both Sides of the Strait of Gibraltar Julio Samsó shows that astronomical sources, written in al-Andalus, the Maghrib and the Iberian Peninsula, belong to the same tradition and emphasizes the role of al-Andalus and the Iberian Peninsula in the transmission of Islamic astronomy to medieval Europe.

Julio Samsó

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