The Moors & The European Renaissance

The Moors & The European Renaissance

The Moors helped to bring the Renaissance to Europe because of  the Ancient African knoweldge from Kemet that the Moors brought with them as North Africans to Europe during  the time the Moors ruled Europe from Southern France and parts of Spain after Europe had fallen into decline after the fall of the Roman Empire.

The origins of the Moors rule and influence on the Renaissance in Europe began when the Arabs came into Africa around 639 AD as part of a Jihad which took over Egypt, Libya and the Maghreb inhabited by indigenous Black peoples that the Romans called Moor.

After the fall of the Roman Empire, the Moors Migrated into Europe via the Sea under the command of the African General Tarik Ibn Ziad who conquered the Visigoth Kings.

The conquest of the Visigoth Kings by the Moors led to the establishment of the rule of the Moors in Europe an event which would lay the foundations for the Renaissance in Europe.

Europe Under The Rule Of The Moors

The Moors helped create the Renaissance in Europe because the Moors ruled Europe in a tolerant manner and allowed Christianity to thrive.

Furthermore, the Moors infuenced Europen Culture by introducing Europe to the Classical Sciences translated from Greek and this was a key aspect to the emergence of the Renaissance in Europe.

Complex grand Architecture erected by the Moors who ruled Europe is also evidence of how much influence the Moors had on Europe. 

Cosmopolitan Cities such as Granada, Seville and Cordoba thrived in Europe under the rule of the Moors.

The Moors ushered in the Renaissance in Europe beceause the Moors preserved, transmitted and contributed to the Ancient Knowledge from Egypt that had been acquired and preserved by the Greeks and passed it onto the Europeans.

Europeans were then able to transition towards the Renaissance because they translated the entire science they received from the Moors from Arabic and exported it beyond Spain. The translated Texts circulated all over Europe leading eventually to the establishment of such esteemed European Centres of Learning like Oxford University whose initial Curriculum was distinguished because it relied heavily on the knowledge from the Moor Texts.

The knowledge the Europeans obtained from the Moors was what enabled the Renaissance period of enlightenment which has shaped the face of modern Europe and the World today.

It can therefore be said that it was the Moors that led to the enlightenment of the Renaissance period in Europe.

Decline Of The Influence Of The Moors In Europe

The Crusades would ultimately lead to the decline of the influence of the  Moors in Europe.

By the 13th century, the Crusaders began winning pockets of control in the territory of the Moors in Europe all the way to Spain primarily because the Moors were engaged in internal fighting over control of the Islamic Caliphate.

As a result, Moorish control gradually declined as Europeans continued to gain a stronghold amongst the divided Moors.

Eventually, the last stronghold of the Moors in Europe was Granada in the South of Spain until Cordoba fell, followed by Valencia and Seville.

The marriage of Isabella and Ferdinand united Europe under Catholic Spain, and Granada the last City of the Moors was finally besieged until it finally surrendered.

On January 1 1492 Isabella and Ferdinand took the keys of the palace of Alhambra and ousted the Moorish Ruler Bhu Abdul marking the end of the period of the rule and influence of the Moors in Europe.

Following the conquest of Granada, the Spanish inquisition began which led to religious persecution and ethnic cleansing, making it impossible for Muslims to practise their religion openly in Europe.

In 1609, there was an official expulsion of the Moors in Europe, and most of the Moors that fled Europe found refuge in North and West Africa.

By the time these events occured the knowledge brought to Europe by the Moors had already spread throughout Europe and the seeds of the Renaissance in Europe had already been sown.

Renaissance Legacy Of The Moors Rule In Europe

The most important Legacy of the Moors to Europe and Humanity is probably the Renaissance because the Moors in Europe acted as a bridge between the modern world and the knowledge of Antiquity.

The European enlightenment has formed the pillar of the modern world through the advances in Science, Mathematics, Knowledge and Culture it inspired as a result of the African knowledge spread by the Moors in Europe.

Proof of the influence of the Moors on the Renaissance is in many of the structures built by the Moors which still exist in Europe today.

Some of these buildings and Castles were converted to Cathedrals which have become symbols of the European Renaissance.

Indeed the most telling tribute to the influence of the Moors on the Renaissance in Europe is on the Arabic inscription on the Graves of the European Conquerors of the Moors, Ferdinand and Isabella: ‘There is no God, but Allah’.

Influence Of The Moors On The Renaissance In Europe