Christians among Muslims: Monasticism in early Islamic al-Andalus (8th-11th Centuries)

In recent decades, the archaeological and written records have been mobilised to update our knowledge of early Islamic al-Andalus and the subsequent transformation that the arrival of Islam brought about in the Iberian Peninsula from 711 onwards. This historiographical renewal has hardly affected however the study of Christian monasticism in al-Andalus after this defining moment during the early Islamic period (8th-11th c.). This project aims at providing a step-change in the way in which this phenomenon has been investigated until now by developing an innovative and unprecedented interdisciplinary approach to it through the integration of state-of the-art historical, archaeological and geological methodologies. The project will follow three levels of analysis (monastic architectures, ensembles and landscapes) applied to diverse selected territories and sites in what is currently Spain (Toledo, Cordoba, Merida, Granada) and Portugal (Mertola). The purposes are therefore to develop a technological and production understanding of monastic architectures as manufactured products in its social and economic contexts, to provide fresh insights into the spatial organisation and long sequences of monasteries, and to evidence their economic, social and politic roles and strategies in relation to others settlements shaping and reshaping the landscapes. It is intended hence to develop a suitable and updated methodology for the analysis of large multi-period monastic sites and landscapes, by offering a synchronic and diachronic perspective. The overall aim is to generate a broader vision that allows us to move from isolated churches and monastic ensembles to monasticism in al-Andalus, to feature its role in the relations between the Christian population and the Muslim authorities during the period considered and to understand it in the wider context of the dār al-islām.