The film Cities of Light: The Rise and Fall of Islamic Spain examines a time during the Middle Ages when Christians, Jews and Muslims peacefully coexisted in southern Spain. D. Fairchild Ruggles, author of the forthcoming Islamic Gardens and Landscapes, is among the expert scholars interviewed in the program. If you missed the broadcast of this public television documentary, you may be able to catch it on cable or digital television. Visit PBS.org to check your local listings.
If you’ve seen Cities of Light and wish to deepen your understanding of medieval and early modern Spain and the cultural interplay between faiths, here’s a reading list.
Creating East and West: Renaissance Humanists and the Ottoman Turks
Nancy BisahaReading the Qur’an in Latin Christendom, 1140-1560
Thomas E. BurmanMedieval Iberia: Readings from Christian, Muslim, and Jewish Sources
Edited by Olivia Remie ConstableEarly Modern Spain: A Documentary History
Edited by Jon CowansIsabel the Queen: Life and Times, Second Edition
Peggy K. LissThe Kingdom of Sicily, 1100-1250: A Literary History
Karla Mallette