Al-Andalus was the Arabic name for southern and central Iberia that was controlled by the Arabs. What if it had never been reconquered by the kingdoms of northern Spain? What would it look like today? And how would history be different? To me, it seems that one thing that would be different is the European presence in the Americas, which at first was only Spain and Portugal, both of which do not exist or are much less powerful in this timeline.
What would a modern Al-Andalus look like and how would it have changed history?
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Napoleonrules
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It wasn't that anyone thought the world was flat that caused Columbus to have a hard time finding a financier, it was that Columbus was saying it was much smaller than previous calculations had arrived at. Al-Andalus would have had even more educated rulers having kept the classics of Rome and Greece to a greater extent than the rest of Europe. They would not have gone ahead with Columbus' proposal. Maybe France eventually would have gone west with or without Columbus; maybe England goes with Columbus or maybe Cabot still goes for England in 1497 on time.
One thing is for sure- there are more Jews alive and well in Al-Andalus than there were in OTL Spain. The spread of Ladino (Spanish equivalent of German-based Yiddish) never happens, Sephardic Jewish identity never is created as it was due to the diaspora of Spanish Jews (the origin of Sephardi culture) around the Muslim controlled Mediterranean that caused the Middle Eastern and Ottoman Jews adopt that liturgy and culture. Sephardi culture and liturgy is kept to Al-Andalus and the rest of Ottoman/North African Jewry creates a third ethnicity of Jewish identity separate from Ashkenazi and Sephardi.
One thing is for sure- there are more Jews alive and well in Al-Andalus than there were in OTL Spain. The spread of Ladino (Spanish equivalent of German-based Yiddish) never happens, Sephardic Jewish identity never is created as it was due to the diaspora of Spanish Jews (the origin of Sephardi culture) around the Muslim controlled Mediterranean that caused the Middle Eastern and Ottoman Jews adopt that liturgy and culture. Sephardi culture and liturgy is kept to Al-Andalus and the rest of Ottoman/North African Jewry creates a third ethnicity of Jewish identity separate from Ashkenazi and Sephardi.
Napoleonrules
Banned
If Hitler still comes to power and WWII otherwise looks the same what does Al-Andulus do? How does Hitler view this nation? How does this effect Vichy France?
@Napoleon: A giant intergalactic butterfly immediately crashes into the planet and wipes out all life on earth.
I would love to read a Timeline about a surviving al-Andalus, but I think it would also be rather difficult for them to avoid being constantly beset by crusades and diplomatically isolated from the rest of Europe. Probably control over the whole Iberian peninsula would be necessary, to keep the Pyrenees as a very defensible border and to stop continuous riding from Castile, Leon and the other small Christian kingdoms.
As for the consequences: they would totally change World history, but I think we cannot elaborate much on them without creating a scenario in which Islamic Iberia is viable and unified instead of being a collection of petty Emirates.
Possibly they would develop a variant of Islamic thought more influenced by classical philosophy? Ie Averroes has a bigger and more long lasting influence? What would their relationship with Morocco be?
It would be great if they created a culture that is both Islamic and European, and become a great power (Andalusian colonies in Americas are beyond cool obviously!).
I think that, if they survive, it means that that Islam and Christianity have a better reciprocal relationship, or religion plays a lesser role in European politics since WAY earlier, so there are much less crusedes and religion wars, but I am at loss to speculate how it could realistically come to pass...
As for the consequences: they would totally change World history, but I think we cannot elaborate much on them without creating a scenario in which Islamic Iberia is viable and unified instead of being a collection of petty Emirates.
Possibly they would develop a variant of Islamic thought more influenced by classical philosophy? Ie Averroes has a bigger and more long lasting influence? What would their relationship with Morocco be?
It would be great if they created a culture that is both Islamic and European, and become a great power (Andalusian colonies in Americas are beyond cool obviously!).
I think that, if they survive, it means that that Islam and Christianity have a better reciprocal relationship, or religion plays a lesser role in European politics since WAY earlier, so there are much less crusedes and religion wars, but I am at loss to speculate how it could realistically come to pass...
Which form of Al-Andalus would you like? Umayyads, Taifa, Almoravids, al-Muwahhidun, Nasirid?
Because depending on which one (many in case of Taifa) you would like would change how the effect would be on Europe and on the greater Islamic world.
Because depending on which one (many in case of Taifa) you would like would change how the effect would be on Europe and on the greater Islamic world.
Well, Al Andulus was next to France, which was more pragmatic than most re religion, so I can see it getting away with no crusades. The Ottomans managed to do pretty well in similar circumstances.
If France actually borders a Muslim country, it will probably take a harder line. France had its own tradition of fighting Islam; it supplied a large number of the Crusaders.
Driftless
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I'd agree, if it is to survive, it does so by occupying and fulling civilizing the whole of Iberia.
IF Al-Andalus manages to survive well into a revised "Age of Exploration", then that age has a far different look.
Is there a Prince Henry the Navigator, or a Moorish equivalent? (assuming Portugal as we know does not exist)
No Conquistadors - at least as we know them...
Columbus? Or, is the role filled by others as noted above?
IF Al-Andalus manages to survive well into a revised "Age of Exploration", then that age has a far different look.
Is there a Prince Henry the Navigator, or a Moorish equivalent? (assuming Portugal as we know does not exist)
No Conquistadors - at least as we know them...
Columbus? Or, is the role filled by others as noted above?
I don't know if anyone will read this but I just wanted to say that if Al-Andalus had continued it would have strengthened relations with the Ottoman Empire and there would have been two parts of Europe that were part of the Muslim world, potentially they might have united and probably Sicily would have become Arabised again, or continued to be so, and possibly the South of Italy would have been a site of battles or conflicts. Interesting
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