Al-Andalus · 756-1031

Córdoba, jewel of al-Andalus

An Umayyad prince who escaped a massacre founded a new state in Spain. Students explore Córdoba, its Great Mosque and its people of three faiths, and ask how equal life in the caliphate really was.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
50 minutes
Ages
11–14
On the map
3 steps, AD 1000 to AD 1100
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

An Umayyad prince who escaped a massacre founded a new state in Spain. Students explore Córdoba, its Great Mosque and its people of three faiths, and ask how equal life in the caliphate really was.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Locate the Caliphate of Córdoba and its Christian neighbors on the map in 1000.
  • Describe the Great Mosque of Córdoba and the city around 1000.
  • Explain how Muslims, Christians and Jews lived together, and where the limits were.
2

Explore the map

15 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 1000

A caliphate in the west

Open the map in 1000. Find the Caliphate of Córdoba and the Christian kingdoms to its north. Where does the border between them run?

Open this view on the map
b

AD 1000

A giant city

Turn on the Cities layer. Compare the dot of Córdoba with those of Paris and Rome in 1000. Which looks largest? Why might estimates of its size differ so much?

Open this view on the map
c

AD 1100

After the caliphate

Move to 1100. What has happened to Muslim Spain? Which dynasty from North Africa now rules the south?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

15 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. Abd al-Rahman I fled from Syria to Spain after the Abbasids killed most of his family. Why might Spain have been a good place to start again?
  2. In 929 Abd al-Rahman III called himself caliph. Why would he want the same title as the ruler in Baghdad?
  3. Muslims, Christians and Jews lived in Córdoba, but not as equals. Is "living together" the right way to describe it? Why?
  4. The Great Mosque became a cathedral after 1236. What does it mean when a building changes religion?
  5. Why did the caliphate break up into many small kingdoms after 1031, and who gained from that?
4

Game round

10 min

Play one round of Rule History as Charlemagne, who led an army into Spain in 778, invited by Muslim governors who were rebelling against the emir of Córdoba. Discuss: how did Christian and Muslim rulers in Spain and France deal with each other, in war and in diplomacy?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

€19 per month unlocks every worksheet, every live lesson and the class workspace. The free lesson prints without a subscription.