Customer Reviews

A Vanished World: Medieval Spain's Golden Age of Enlightenment

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This book is a super good read. It is popular history at its most entertaining. However, it is much more than that; it is a passionate plea for tolerance, and especially for religious tolerance. This is, of course, very timely, since the world today is sinking into the same religious hatreds that ruined Spain in the last centuries covered by this book.
For more than seven centuries, Christianity and Islam split the Iberian peninsula between them, with Jews forming a third major religious community. Sometimes there was "convivencia" (successful living-together); usually there was fighting, but at least there was mutual learning. Much of modern European civilization came from Islam, mostly via Spain--everything from the lute (al'ud in Arabic) to saffron (az-zafran) to the works of Aristotle and Galen, which survived largely in Arabic translations and had to be reintroduced to west Europe after the Dark Ages. For centuries, Spain was a vast, wide-open pipeline, siphoning civilization to the west. This story is repressed and hidden in too many standard histories.
I hope that Lowney's book gets many people interested in this amazing period of history. Readers will want to follow up by looking up the more serious literature. Excellent advanced histories and art studies are available. I would especially recommend the poetry: the unbelievably beautiful Spanish, Catalan and Galician lyrics that delighted the Christians, and the soaringly romantic or darkly brooding poems of the Arabic masters. (And there were, inevitably, even some poems written in both: Arabic poems with rather mangled Spanish verses interspersed.) Latin/Spanish and Arabic ideas of fine writing, as well as ideas of love and loss and beauty, cross-fertilized each other, producing some of the most musical sounds and dramatic images in all literature. Many excellent anthologies are available. Look them up on Amazon!

Mr. Lowney's "A Vanished World" is a remarkable work that illuminates the sometimes expedient, often begrudging ability of the three great monotheistic religions to live and work amidst each other in medieval Spain. Written in a vigorous prose punctuated with warm humor and keen religious sensitivity, and informed by considerable research, A Vanished World illustrates for the modern reader a means by which we might consider a route toward cultural and interfaith understanding. Mr. Lowney capably compares the attitude of "El Cid," in which nobility and goodness is as likely to be shared by Moors as well as by Christians, with the dour certainty of "The Song of Roland," in which "the pagans are wrong and the Christians are right." The former reflects its composition in a polyglot Spain, where simple exposure to multiple faiths resulted in a tolerance by necessity that "Roland," composed in a far-off Christian country with little concern for the reality on the ground, could arrogantly ignore. The lesson for our own struggle to understand the faith-fueled crises of the present day is plainly made and gracefully argued. Mr. Lowney rewards the reader with entertaining and incisive portraits of the great figures who rose from each of the faith traditions, from the 12th-century Jewish rationalist Daniel Maimonides, to the Muslim Averroes, the great "Commentator" on Plato, to the Christian king "Alfonso the Wise," whose image appears above the gallery doors of the US House of Representatives, in honor of his law code. In all, "A Vanished World" is popular history of the highest order, eminently readable and thought-provoking.

As a fan of Mr. Lowney's first book, I was frankly intimidated by the subject matter of his latest book. Where Heroic Leadership was a brisk yet insightful piece about the qualities of true leaders, A Vanished World promised to expose how thin was my grasp on world history. I feared "taking my medicine."
How wrong I was!
To my surprise and delight, I found the book informative and even gripping. Using a series of short biographies of political, military, religious, and intellectual figures in Spain during the Middle Ages, Lowney identifies the threads that held together that region and that just as frequently pulled it apart. The scholarship is solid; the writing careful, balanced, and ultimately persuasive. The book's message of how tolerance can be spread and how it can be so easily wiped out is of obvious importance and relevance. Those who feel that we live in a unique age of terror and religious confrontation would do well do learn this history and to see, if even dimly, the possibilities of reconciliation and of hope.
Like other great popular histories, it does not talk down to its readers or modernize its subjects. A Vanished World invites you to explore something you knew little about and to share in a genuine intellectual treat. A good work and well worth your time.

Where the "Ornament of the World" disappoints, "A Vanishing World" is a triumph. Chris Lowney has produced a great read about the people and period that represented Medieval Spain. Moorish Spain, Jewish Spain and Christian Spain. Reads like a historical novel. Mini-biographies about the people and vivid histories about the period. If Miramax did the movie, you'd base it on the great characters that Lowney profiles. You learn about the great strengths and hilarious vices of different Muslim, Jewish and Christian leaders. You also cannot escape how the choices and conflicts of that period and how they parallel with some similar ones today. A great read for the beach or for exchange students thinking about traveling to Spain. A Bernard Lewis-caliber work that reads like James Michener.

Menocal's "The Ornament of the World" is a romanticized account of the Moors eight-hundred year presence in Spain. Lowney's "A Vanished World" is a bit more realistic. Where Menocal sees her subject with the gloss of nostalgia, idealizing the realm of her historical figures with commemorative essays, Lownney places the subject back into the world, revealing a world with ambiguity, passion and chaos. Menocal likes to hide some of the darker human elements of Moorish Spain; Lowney is a bit more straight-forward, not letting his historical text get too cramped with ideals.

The two books might complement each other although neither might be a seminal work.

I still prefer Menocal's work because it was sheer pleasure to read her text. Lowney is a solid writer but he lacks Menocal's enthusiasm, melancholy and sympathy. But Lowney offers a bit larger picture, looking at Christian, Jewish and Moorish lives and cultures within Spain of the Medieval Era. His chapters are brief, he engages and moves on. Menocal focussed mainly on the Moorish and Jewish characters, and paid due attention to the Christian historical figures only when discussing the Reconquest. Lowney is great in that he gives due attention to all the main historical figures and events: i.e. Isisdore of Seville, Santiago, al-Tariq, Pope Sylvester, Abd Al-Rahman, Almansor, Ferdinand III, Moses Maimonides, Averroes, Ibn 'Arabi, etc...

My one gripe: I wish he had spent more time discussing and elaborating on the importance of the philosophers and mystics of Spain. His discussions were far too brief and I'm still hungry to learn more. In this, Lowney doesn't satisfy, offering bread crumbs instead of a good intellectual sandwich.

All in all, a satisfying introduction. It is very approachable as a history book, surely one, like Menocal's, to inspire further reading.

Chris Lowney resurrects with much brio the fascinating history of Medieval Spain, which became the only Islamic state that ever prospered in mainland Europe for more than seven centuries. After a "blitzkrieg" military campaign, Muslim conquerors hailing from North Africa rolled back Christian rule on most of the Iberian Peninsula in 711 C.E. Christian rulers, who were understandably resentful of this occupation, launched their Reconquista from the north of the peninsula after infighting started weakening al-Andalus (the Arabic name for the Muslim-ruled part of Spain) in the eleventh century C.E. Al-Andalus disintegrated itself into more than two dozen rivaling small kingdoms by the 1030s C.E that over time became easy picks for united Christian conquerors. This rivalry among these kingdoms was also a blessing in disguise.

To his credit, Lowney acknowledges and emphasizes the significant contributions of al-Andalus to transition the rest of Europe out of the Dark Ages and into the Renaissance. Without Islam, much western wisdom from the Antiquity would have been lost forever following the disintegration of the Roman Empire in the West. Furthermore, Medieval Spain became the conduit for bringing the best that the Islamic world had to offer to mostly backward Europeans. Cosmopolis such as Seville, Cordoba, Toledo, and Granada were the cities on the hill economically, culturally, scientifically, and religiously. The architecture of the older parts of these urban centers still reflects this past greatness.

Despite their differences, Medieval Spaniards showed for a time a tolerance for each other's religious and cultural background that remains a marvel to a world plagued by intolerance and obscurantism. Outstanding twelfth-century theologians such as the Jewish Moses Maimonides and the Muslim Ibn Rushd Averroes went as far as to subject their respective religions to rationality. Shias and Sunnis in Modern Iraq, especially in Baghdad, have much to learn from this peaceful religious coexistence. Obscurantism and intolerance were the perfect ingredients for the disastrous recipe that Medieval Spain itself ended up swallowing after the completion of the Reconquista.

With the fall of the Kingdom of Granada in 1491 C.E., the sole remaining Muslim territory in the peninsula, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella completed the Reconquista of Medieval Spain. They did not waste much time to impose Christianity on all their subjects. King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella gave their Jewish and Muslim subjects little time to either convert to Christianity or leave most of their possessions behind them and leave Spain forever. The discovery of the New World and its riches bought Spain some time. After Catholic Spain passed by its zenith, it could no longer count on the genius of its former Jewish and Muslim subjects who along Christians had contributed to the greatness of Medieval Spain. Unsurprisingly, Catholic Spain became an increasingly troubled and weak state that only rebounded from its backwardness in the second half of the 20th century C.E.

I read this book not as a scholar of Andalusia nor one of the history of monotheistic religions. I read this book becuase I was curious to learn more about about both the dynamic between Christians, Muslims and Jews in Spain during Moorish rule and how that might relate to how we can better understand the impact that fundamentalism in religion is having on our present-day inter-connected world.

We all read books through the lens of our own life experiences, so I find it interesting to read the points of view expressed in other reivews. I found this book to a much more balanced take on what happened (and the context in which it happened) than the other books that I have read on this subject. He is neither an aplogist for the Muslims nor does he carry the torch of martydom for the Jews. He helps to put into context what is not so easy to do. He explores subjects in a way that both informs the reader but does not over-romanticize the subject matter. Yet, to me, it was a fascinating read. He succeeded in striking a balance between retelling the countless and at times mind-numbing military scirmishes that often define our sense of what history is and discussing how religious thought was influenced by such events. More importantly, he showed me the link between how such great minds as Maimonedes, Moses de Leon, Averroes, and El Cid hailed from the same soil and how each had such a profound influence on reason, religion and its practice and the relationship between the two.

I recommend this book to anyone who has an intellectual curiosity to learn about religion, culture and history in Moorish Spain. I think we all would benefit from reading such books, particlularly ones that are so well written, organized and presented.

This book is a great starting point in terms of understanding medieval Spain and appreciating the Iberian contribution to broader European enlightenment. Aptly subtitled 'Medieval Spain's Golden Age of Enlightenment', Chris Lowney draws us into the accomplishments of Muslims, Christians and Jews over seven centuries.

Whether you choose to read this book as an historical statement of past accomplishments, or as a sign of hope for a more co-operative future, it provides a wonderful view of the golden age of the Iberian peninsula.

The book has a wealth of notes and suggested readings for those who would like to obtain more information about specific events or achievements.

Highly recommended to those interested in learning more about medieval Spain as well as those looking for instances of shared learning.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

This book is an excellent entry into the study of Medieval Spain and highlights key interactions between the Muslim, Christian, and Jewish factions within Feudal and Medieval Spain. This book avoided getting mired in the minutiae of Spanish history not relevant to the title subject. Modern historical comparisons are logically inserted. A respectable bibliography/Suggested Reading list is included. The book is very readable and enjoyable.

This is the third book I've read recently about the Iberian peninsula from the 700s to 1500s during the coexistence of the three Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. I first read Reston's "Dogs of God" (see my review) mostly about the 1400s' Christian reconquest of Spain, and their abuse and expulsion of Jews and Muslims. I then read Menocal's "Ornament of the World" mostly about the flowering of al-Andalus beginning in the 700s under generally tolerant and progressive Muslims.

Lowney's "A Vanished World: Medieval Spain's Golden Age of Enlightenment" is also about the same period as Menocal's book but initially more from the Christians' perspective. And initially I found his writing style somewhat tedious but farther along either it improved or I accommodated to it. Yet Lowney reveals aspects not covered by either Reston or Menocal so it's well worth the read if you want a balanced perspective of the period. And he provides extensive endnotes and annotated further readings.

Lowney concludes by lamenting the squandered opportunities resulting from religious bigotry and greed, and suggests lessons that could be learned by today's Christians, Jews and Muslims. But even here in the US, with our constitutional guaranteed religious freedoms, we still see contending for domination by some religious factions. Perhaps it's time we move beyond obsolescent religious teachings toward a New Enlightenment, as explored in my book "Concepts: A ProtoTheist Quest for Science-Minded Skeptics."