Join us on Zoom for another Salon lecture on “Medieval Spain: Muslims, Christians, Jews” for Ipso Facto by Dr. James Rietveld on Thursday, November 14, 8 pm.

Follow this link to join us:
Pay What You Wish: www.eventbrite.com/e/1027482857887

When we set out on our quest to discover the history of Medieval Spain, we find ourselves encountering many conflicting geographical, religious, political, and ideological forces: North versus South; Europe versus North Africa; Catholic Christianity versus Arian Christianity and then, in turn, Catholic Christianity versus Judaism and then Islam; a mentality of accommodation and compromise versus a mentality of rejection and intolerance; polices of acceptance versus polices expulsion; religious rhetoric versus pragmatic plain-speech; and, of course, cultural identity versus cultural ambivalence.

Yet one single thread moves through them all despite the contradictions, the Spaniards ultimately sought to unite the Iberian Peninsula as one!

This unity was sometimes pursued through attempting to assert the domination of one ideology over the other. Other times, this unity was sought through consensus, with those advocating this view believing there could be unity in diversity.

What makes the history of Medieval Spain so interesting is that just when it appears one force will be triumphant over all others, suddenly, out of nowhere, another force or event occurs (usually violent) completely reversing the situation.

Unlike the ebb and flow types of transformations characteristic of many lands at some point, it is the marked style of Spain to be drastic, severe, moody and brash.

Historically and religiously speaking, Spain had much at stake globally, for the mentality created in this very atmosphere during the Medieval period would eventually influence first the violent epic of the Crusades, and then the rest of the world as a result of Spanish and Portuguese colonization in Africa, Asia, and the Americas.

Even before this period, because Spain was a bridge between Christian and Islamic domains, whatever occurred here in the way of ideology and scholarship, vastly impacted both the history of Europe and the history of the Islamic world.

Join us for a fascinating journey into a formative cultural and religious period in Medieval Spain’s history.

This lecture will be posted on the Dr. James Rietveld Salon Lecture You Tube channel, where you can also watch previous lectures: https://www.youtube.com/@dr.jamesrietveldsalonlectu2903
Dr. James Rietveld is a professor at CSU, Fullerton and Cal Poly Pomona, CA of History, Anthropology, Religion with a PHD from Claremont School of Religion, is author of two books, and can be seen on History channel’s “Crazy Rich Ancients.”

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