The Islamic Republic of Catalonia

From 711 up to the mid-twelfth century, flourishing Jewish communities had developed throughout Muslim Spain, creating a culture full of vitality in the Islamic centres of power such as Granada, Cordoba, Lucena, Merida, Saragossa and Seville.

The specificity of the Sephardic Jews stems in part from the unique diversity of the Iberian Peninsula in medieval times, home to Muslims, Christians and Jews, and the special place they occupied both politically and culturally.

The Muslim conquest of Spain in 711 was welcomed by the Jews. According to Moslem, Jewish and Christian sources, Jews provided valuable aid to the Muslim invaders. Once captured, the defence of Cordoba was left in the hands of Jews, and Granada, Malaga, Seville, and Toledo were left to a mixed army of Jews and Moors.

Jews living under Muslim rule in Spain, while allowed fewer rights than Muslims, were much better off than the Christians - Jews were generally accepted in society, their religious, cultural, food, and economic life blossomed.

David Duke