The Ornament of the World: How Muslims, Jews and Christians Created a Culture of Tolerance in Medieval Spain (Paperback)

by Maria Rosa Menocal (Author) "ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE MID-EIGHTH CENTURY, AN INTREPID young man named Abd al-Rahman abandoned his home in Damascus, the Near Eastern heartland of..." (more)
Key Phrases: palatine city, horseshoe arches, memory palaces, Ibn Hazm, Ibn Khaldun, Great Mosque (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
María Rosa Menocal's wafting, ineffably sad The Ornament of the World tells of a time and place--from 786 to 1492, in Andalucía, Spain--that is largely and unjustly overshadowed in most historical chronicles. It was a time when three cultures--Judaic, Islamic, and Christian--forged a relatively stable (though occasionally contentious) coexistence. Such was this period that there remains in Toledo a church with an "homage to Arabic writing on its walls [and] a sumptuous 14th-century synagogue built to look like Granada's Alhambra." Long gone, however, is the Córdoba library--a thousand times larger than any other in Christian Europe. Menocal's history is one of palatine cities, of philosophers, of poets whose work inspired Chaucer and Boccaccio, of weeping fountains, breezy courtyards, and a long-running tolerance "profoundly rooted in the cultivation of the complexities, charms and challenges of contradictions," which ended with the repression of Judaism and Islam the same year Columbus sailed to the New World. --H. O'Billovich --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal
Menocal (R. Selden Rose Professor of Spanish and Portuguese and director of Special Programs in the Humanities, Yale Univ.) has previously published The Arabic Role in Medieval Literary History: A Forgotten Heritage, as well as other books on the role of the vernacular in medieval cultures. This book certainly reflects her deep scholarship. Menocal offers persuasive evidence that the Renaissance was strongly foreshadowed by the intellectual climate of Spain in the preceding centuries, starting in 783 with the founding of Andalusia by Abd al-Rahman, an Umayyad from Syria. The culture created was receptive to intellectual pursuits not allowed in the rest of Europe for several centuries, including the creation of impressive libraries and the study and translation of Classical authors. Menocal claims that this environment was largely a result of the tolerance shown by this ruler and his successors toward Christians and Jews and their cultures. Menocal has not given us a history book so much as a demonstration that puritanical cultures of any ilk are detrimental to the development of science, art, and literature. Her arguments are convincing even without the dark background of September 11. Recommended for all libraries.
Clay Williams, Hunter Coll. Lib., New York
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Back Bay Books (April 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316168718
• ISBN-13: 978-0316168717
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (59 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #36,445 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

198 of 243 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars This 'Ornament' More Romantic Than True; Better Alternatives, June 11, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Ornament of the World: How Muslims, Jews, and Christians Created a Culture of Tolerance in Medieval Spain (Hardcover)

My wife and I have a home in Andalusia. We also are enthusiastic but 'minor' league students of Moorish & Jewish history in Spain. So I bought this book as a easy-to-please, generalist and wanna-be fan.

Unfortunately, this book comes up light on two levels: the lack of new insights and the lack of sharp writing spoils the book for me. For example, Menocal provides few new relevations about the role of Moors and Jews in Medieval Spain. Her book also lacks good story telling on the major figures and thought leaders of this 700-year period. I found Menocal's analysis sharp and able, but sometimes overdone. And like too many academics, Menocal is neither a good storyteller nor writer.

More broadly, the fundamental premise of the book: That Arabs, Jews and Christians lived peacefully under Moorish rule, is more romantic than true. Except for a very brief period of 50 or so years around 900 AD, there was more persecution than tolerance over the 700 year Moorish period. Ask the Jews of Granada that were slaughered in 1066, or the thousands of Christians who were deported by the Almoravid dynasty to Morocco as slaves in 1126. During the same period, it is well known the Berbers of Northern Africa would frequently pillage Spain, robbing Andalusian Arabs and Christians alike. Later, of course, a united Christian Spain would deport the heavily taxed and persecuted Moors in 1492; some authorities report Muslims were forced to leave their children behind as slaves for the Christian Monarchs to work in various trades.

I believe the book's only bright light is an interesting and original tale about how the enlightened Arabs and Jews of the period translated and preserved some of the world's best literature and science thought lost after the fall of Rome and Greece. The works of Aristotle, for example, were translated from Greek to Arab, then several hundred years later by the Christian clergy from Arab to Latin and other romance languages.

An alternative book about Islamic and Jewish influences in Andalusia is Richard Fletcher's "Moorish Spain." Fletcher is considered by some authorities to be the Bernard Lewis of Islamic Spain and his well-written 1990 book remains the one of best efforts covering that period. Another well-written book, but more detailed effort, is L.P. Harvey's "Islamic Spain 1250-1500." A third book, a superior piece of modern travel writing, rich in Moorish and Jewish history, is Gees Nooteboom's "Roads to Santiago."

All three of books are widely available, offer an unvarnished overview of Moorish & Sefardic Spain, and are worth consideration for people seeking a non-academic overview of this classic period.

Good luck and good reading!

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Innacuracies, February 18, 2003

By	History Fan (Middlesex, NJ United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ornament of the World: How Muslims, Jews, and Christians Created a Culture of Tolerance in Medieval Spain (Hardcover)

I found it disturbing that this book contained several historical innacuracies. In my opinion, if Ms. Menocal could not accurately document simple historical events or she is ignorant of the facts, she does a great disservice to the contents of this book. She does a greater disservice to those readers who have a new found interest in Spanish medieval history. Ms. Menocal makes reference to several authors who are experts in Spanish medieval history such as Bernard F. Reilly and Richard Fletcher. Ms. Menocal makes references to these authors, however, it seems that she must not have read their books.

A blaring example of an historical innacuracy is located on page 98, when Ms.Menocal states that the town of Medinaceli is "famous and is remembered today as the hometown of the half-legendary warrior called the Cid". Any person with the most rudimentary knowledge of Spanish medieval history knows that the Cid was born in Vivar, located in the province of Burgos, as has been thoroughly researched and established by Spanish historians Gonzalo Martinez Diez, Ramon Menendez Pidal and the aforementioned authors. As a matter of fact, the Poema de Mio Cid, written in the early XIII century, refers to the Cid as Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar a countless number of times. DUH! I am amazed how she could have put that in her book. I challenge any reader of this book, should they ever take a trip to Spain, to boldly state to any Spaniard that the Cid's hometown is Medinaceli. You will be summarily laughed at.

An additional innacuracy within the book was located on page 145. Ms. Menocal states that king Alfonso VI had two children from his Moorish concubine Zaida. While it is true she did bear him his only son, Sancho, Zaida did not bear him a daughter Teresa, future queen of Portugal and mother of the first king of Portugal, Afonso Enriquez. Teresa was the offspring of the union of Alfonso VI with another concubine, Jimena Munoz, daughter of the magnate of Bierzo. It is thought that Zaida converted to Christianity, changed her name to Isabel and married king Alfonso VI. Her marriage to Alfonso VI and conversion to Christianity thus legitimized Sancho's future ascension to the throne; however, Sancho died fighting the Moors in the battle of Ucles in 1108.

The rock solid foundation to any good book on history is the accurate documentation of historical facts. If this is lacking, it is in indication that the author, for whatever reason, did a poor job of researching the accurate history of the time period in question. What if anything does it say about the contents of the rest of the book? If a building is constructed on a shaky foundation the rest of the building is in danger of collapse. In my opinion, if an author cannot accurately document historical facts, is ignorant of the facts or is attempting to revise history, this can only damage the contents of a book no matter how noble the purpose of the author in addressing a subject matter. Unfortunately, Ms. Menocal is guilty of at least poor research, which despite her noble purpose in addressing a very important aspect of Spanish medieval history damages the subject matter in her book. You are left wondering what other historical events she got wrong in her book rendering her work a piece of fiction. In conclusion, I am left questioning an author's motivation/purpose in writing a historically innacurate book.

89 of 112 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Optimistic History, June 2, 2002

By	Timothy Haugh (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Ornament of the World: How Muslims, Jews, and Christians Created a Culture of Tolerance in Medieval Spain (Hardcover)

I have been fortunate enough to travel to Spain three times now. Two of my trips have taken me through the southern parts of the country--Andalusia (al-Andalus) and its environs--that make up the setting for much of this story. It is a beautiful part of the world and Menocal has provided us with a wonderful history of the area during the time of its greatest glory: the Middle Ages. From 711 until 1492, the Iberian Peninsula was the home of three different cultures--Jewish, Christian and Muslim--that were often able to co-exist in relative peace. While doing so, they were each able to contribute to a cosmopolitan and melded culture that for a long stretch was the most advanced culture in Western civilization, producing things that remain unique to this day.

This "culture of tolerance" as Menocal calls it was perhaps not as tolerant as she likes to make out and, of course, it ultimately implodes as Christians and Muslims fight for possession of the country. Still, much of the literature, science and philosophy produced of that time remains influential and many of the beautiful places remain to be see by visitors to the area. Anyone traveling to the country would be amiss if he or she did not take a look at this book and get a feel for the achievement of medieval Spain.

Understand that this book is a completely optimistic account of the period and ignores most of the tragedies of the time. Still, in our time of insecurity, it is nice to read something positive. It is beautiful to see what can be achieved when three powerful cultures work together instead of try to destroy each other.