CHAPTER VIII

INFLUENCES TENDING TOWARD A REVIVAL OF LEARNING


I. MOSLEM LEARNING FROM SPAIN

THE MOHAMMEDANS IN SPAIN. It will be recalled that in chapter V we
mentioned briefly the Mohammedan migrations of the seventh century, and
said that we should meet them again a little later on as one of the minor
forces in the development of our western civilization. After their defeat
at Tours (732) the Mohammedans retired into Spain, mixed with the Iberian-
Roman-Visigothic peoples inhabiting the peninsula, and began to develop a
civilization there. Figure 33 (p. 114) shows how much of the world the
Mohammedans had overrun by 800 A.D., and how much of Spain was in their
possession.

In Spain they developed a skillful agriculture (R. 85), as, in lands as
hot and dry as Spain, all agriculture to be successful must be. They
introduced irrigation, gave special attention to the breeding of horses
and cattle, and developed garden and orchard fruits. To them western
Europe is indebted for the introduction of many of its orchard fruits,
useful plants, and garden vegetables, as well as for a number of important
manufacturing processes. The orange, lemon, peach, apricot, and mulberry
trees; the spinach, artichoke, and asparagus among vegetables; cotton,
rice, sugar cane, and hemp among useful plants; the culture of the
silkworm, and the manufacture of silk and cotton garments; the manufacture