Spain And Spanish Culture
When examining any culture, pieces of other ideologies and cultural normalities different than the
foremost culture prevail, intertwining different cultures together. Spain, historically, has been known
to be a passing point for a wide variety of religious groups. During the ancient world, Christian,
Muslim, and Jewish peoples coexisted, each ultimately contributing to Spanish culture. Starting
around 701 C.E., Muslim forces began to expand into areas around the Middle East, gradually
broadening this land mass to reach Spain. Initially, Arab invaders were met with vigorous resistance;
however, as time went on, invaders experienced little opposition, allowing them to reap city after
city. Within the newly Arab–conquered cities, other religious groups faced little discrimination.
Additionally, this conquest established the ever–present influence of Islam on Spanish culture. In
this case, Spain adopted Islamic cultural innovations such as: forms of writing, religious aspects,
architectural styles, and materials supplied for said architectural innovations. Trailing into the
modern world, traces of Islamic culture are evidently intertwined into Spanish culture. Due to
Spain's rich history in interweaving cultures, it can be said that Spanish culture is intensely
influenced by Islamic culture through the invasion of Arab military in medieval time, visually
retaining influence through culture, religion, and architecture.
At the beginning of the early 700s, Muslims from the Arabian Peninsula began their conquest by
convincing nearby Germanic tribes to surrender; though it was not until they travelled across the
Straits of Gibraltar and attacked around 711 that their expansion truly began. As stated earlier, other
religious groups within Muslim Spain faced little discrimination. This impartial society could be
explained by the Treaty of Tudmir. This treaty promised that "[Christians] will not be coerced in
matters of religion, their churches will not be burned, nor will sacred objects be taken from the
realm" (Treaty of Tudmir). Islamic forces continued their invasion and took control of Zaragoza,
Spain by 714 C.E. In an opportunity to encourage his men, Tarik, a leader in the conquest of Spain
wrote: "attack this
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