Maurus - who is this? A barbarian or a representative of a developed culture?

Maurus - who is this? The representative of the cruel and willful people or the one who made an invaluable contribution to the development of cultures of different countries? Where is the truth, and what is fiction?

The origin of the empire

The Moors called the inhabitants of Mauritania, located in the north of Africa. Their history is inextricably linked with the development of Islam.

In the XII century in the Arabian desert, the Prophet Muhammad founded the city of Medina. After this, the people, who had previously pursued a nomadic way of life, found a permanent place to live. Then they began their development, conquering new lands, preaching Islam to the east and to the west.

Hunger for knowledge

Maurus - who is this? A barbarian for whom conquest is important? Contrary to the generally accepted attitude to the Moors, as to uneducated people, it must be said that this is a great misconception. For the Muslim, knowledge was important. Because of the heat of the day, nomadic people moved around at night. The result was the emergence of such a science as astronomy. When meeting with representatives of other cultures, the Moors tried to get as much new knowledge as possible. They attached special importance to books. Their value was very high and a large number of them were published.

Thanks to the fact that the Crusaders created unflattering glory for the Muslims, many do not know exactly what the Moors are - who is it? Believing that this is a synonym for the word "barbarian".

In fact, the Arab culture was opened to new knowledge. After the capture of Egypt, the Moors gained access to the Alexandria Library, which allowed them to seriously expand their horizons. Many works were translated into Arabic. It should be noted that Arabs and Berbers who profess Islam were also called Moors.

European civilization has tried to protect itself as much as possible from new knowledge, which significantly hampered its development.

Moors in Europe

Having overcome Gibraltar in 711, the Moors came to the Pyrenees peninsula. For 4 years capturing a large territory up to France. Given the fact that Europe of those times was in deep crisis, many cities were only too happy to get a fairly strong patron who could protect from the warrior and raids of the tribes. Despite the fact that Islam was unknown to the population of the Iberian Peninsula, they easily began to adopt a new religion. Many cities were rebuilt almost entirely, the main one was Cordoba. Maurus - who is this and what is his contribution to the development of Spain? New technologies were introduced: irrigation was used to irrigate the gardens, water supply and sewerage existed in the houses.

Of particular importance was the paper, which in Europe was learned thanks to the Arabs. Not surprisingly, there were 10 libraries in Cordoba. In Toledo, the foundations of modern algebra and chemistry were born, only here one could study works on mathematics and astronomy.

Crusades, which aim to rid Europe of the Moorish invaders, ruthlessly destroyed them, buildings and all technical installations. People were forcibly forced to accept Catholicism under pain of death and selection of property. Thus, a new but ambitious culture supplanted the more developed, Europe-given very much in the 12th centuries of influence.

Quite often you can hear the phrase: "The Moor has done his work, the Moor can go." This is a quote from the play "The Conspiracy of Fiesco in Genoa," written by I. F. Schiller at the end of the 18th century. The phrase is a symbol of unprincipled use of a person for their own purposes. The attitude towards him was, as an instrument for achieving the goal, which was no longer needed after the action was committed.