On the other side, I hate to critizice this article as publishing old discovered content is fascinating, but I want to clear some points:
- Spain was not always a peaceful time for Jews and Christians during the Muslim domination. There were massacres/pogroms[1][2], and most of the Christian population were forced to leave (by intimidation or by increasing the tax for being non Muslim (jizyah). These emigrants were called Mozarabs[3] and they had an unique culture. Don't get me wrong, the other side would have done the almost the same and later, indeed, they did (see points bellow).
- The name of Andalusia (the southern region of Spain) comes from Al-Andalus, but Al-Andalus was bigger than that as the name referred to all territory held by the Muslim conquerors[4].
- Muslims were allowed to stay in Spain when the Christian kingdoms took Granada. But as you can image, most of them fled to Northern-Africa and other places. The ones that remained, rebelled against the Crown in 1499[5] and were expelled in 1609[6].
- Jews were expelled (or forced to convert to Christiany) in 1492[7]. Spain was the last country in Europe to do so, but it was a traumatic decision: the country had a big Jew population ("Judíos Sefardíes" in Spanish) with a unique culture (even their own language) and they have had important roles through all Spanish history.
- During its duration, the (damned) Spanish Inquisition killed 5000 people[8], tortured much more and detained more than 100000 inocent people. A tragedy of course, but considering that the institution lasted for almost 4 centuries, the numbers are comparable to other puritanist/intransigent religious institutions of Europe[9]
To sum up, I don't like the idealization of some cultures. Most cultures clashed with others and that resulted in wars, death and pain. The History was written by the victors, and now we are here. I hope some non-Spaniards and loving History people see this comment useful. Thank you!
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martyrs_of_C%C3%B3rdoba
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1066_Granada_massacre
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozarabs
[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Andalus (see the maps)
[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebellion_of_the_Alpujarras_(1...
[6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expulsion_of_the_Moriscos
[7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alhambra_Decree
[8] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Inquisition
[9] https://www.statista.com/chart/19801/people-tried-and-execut...