Stanley Lane-Poole
1 The Story of the Moors in Spain
Regardless of what the naysayers on this site postulate, this book is very useful in describing the moors, and their historical legacy. This book deals in specifics, whereas those criticizing this book, is dealing in generalizations.
It's funny how the critics of this book, refer to the moors as "white", when it is convenient, whereas many of their brethren, refer to the moors as a non-white, mixed group, when it suits their racial purposes, by displaying the history of non-white invasions into Europe, and how the steadfast will of the European people eventually staved off such invasion, by reclaiming and conquering their original lands: vis-a-vis the Moors being driven out of Spain, France, etc.
Todays many (not all)Arabs are primarily non-white: they're not pure white, seeing as how many of them, especially the North Africans, possess black genetic strains; which makes the statement that Arabs across the board are categorically white-ludicrous (unless you consider semites, as classically a "white" people).
Again, this book is brilliant in its' documentation of the Moors, and their racial make-up, and those that oppose it, only wish that what they were saying was the truth, as opposed to how it really was-and what they probably don't want to believe.
2 the truth shall set u free!
More outcrys of afrocentricity, well, for one, the past precedes its inheritors, so to say that the moors were mostly arabs that had black slaves is laughable at best, especially when there is so much proof of who these ppl were despite any religion one might find themselves a part of through invasion and intergrouping. Now if u trace the arabs ancestors and the berbers ancestors then u will come to the conclusion that they were all originally negroid in features ( Black Africans!), most Africans still possess most of the features that are found in other so called races, just look at most of the dogons who have not mated with someone of a different race,indeed, blacks are the only ppl that are not a race for that matter and the features of ppl who are not black such as arabs, asians, indians, etc, is the result of albinoism and these ppl who rejoined and mated with the black Africans through war and alliances that have been goin on for centuries, but indeed blacks are the originals. But even in the presence of proof the best a bunch of insecure bigots can do is make up lies about what the pictures and other artifacts were portraying, oh no! thats not a black man that is just someone who was painted black lmao! good one! grow up ppl biophysics speaks in high volume, black was first, as it will be last when u depart your body. So arabs, berbers, asians, euroasians, and indians all have ancestors who were from Africa and were very negroid and black! so lets just say no to the antiblack hype!yawn! Besides Mr. Poole doesnt need approval from a bunch of armchair scholors, (pun intended!) lmao!
3 TOTALLY WRONG .. I AM FROM MAURAITINA
I Am also anthropologist..
i challege any one on here in genetics and recent founding on the so called moors.. have any of you seen the painting in europe
of the moors . i have 15 of them even mexico
4 Ludicrous Historical Fiction
First off, this book holds some entertainment value, but it has no basis in reality. Just about every bit of information is distorted beyond belief; talk about rewriting history...
Secondly, in response to Mr. Lowe's review, "Othello" was a FICTIONAL character. It is extremely doubtful that Shakespeare ever set eyes on anyone of Black African extraction, and his Othello character was based essentially on myth.
In Elizabethan times the term "black" was used to describe anyone who had very dark skin, negros or someone black in CHARACTER which AFFECTED his appearance and made him SEEM black. In otherwords, Othello, given the essence of the play, could have been an Arab, Negro, Mulatto, Turk, Greek... In other words, anyone from Morocco (and south of the Sahara) to the Arabian Peninsula. The truth is that Black Africans were hardly known in the British Isles until sometime late in the 16th century, when the horrid transatlantic slave trade led to the establishment of slave markets in Liverpool, Manchester and several other cities. At that time significant black slave communities began forming in these towns.
Unfortunately, blacks made no cultural contributions in Iberia. Negros in Spaniard and Lusitanian lands, and in other parts of Europe, were slaves and servants, in great part. That is the sad truth. "Moor" was (and is still today) a very ambiguous term used to describe a number of different peoples, but, predominantly North African types-Berber or Arab. Groups that are Caucasoid/Semetic/Hametic-essentially whites of non-European origin. Of course, the "Moors" did contain negro elements. In the Arab/Berber invasion of Visigothic Iberia (711), there were very small groups of black slaves and servants along with some freedmen. Later on, during the Almoravid advance in the 11th century, blacks from southern Morocco and Senegal were incorported into the fighting force, either as converts to Islam or mercenaries.
It must be said that the Almoravid period in Iberia was the lowest point of Muslim history in the Peninsula. The Almoravids occupied large parts of Southern Iberia but, in the 50 odd years they were present, never really controlled considerable territory. There was great territorial flux due to endless conflict with Christians and Arabs alike. The Almoravids were fanatical Islamic "purists" who twisted religion to suit their pursuit of power (much like the Taliban). These people were extermely repressive and responsible for numerous social and cultural abuses/atrocities. So feared and hated were the Almoravids that some of the Arab califs actually joined forces with Christian kingdoms to defeat them. A good example of the level of hatred for the Almoravids is found in the town of Tomar in Portugal,a Knights Templar. In the aftermath of an early 10th century town siege the Christian knights captured approximately 6,000 Almoravid troops and beheaded them all in the city's main square.
The point of all this is to clarify a little bit of Iberian history with respect to the Moors. The clear fact is that the Moors were NOT black/negroid...hardly. Yes, Islamic blacks fought alongside Moors but they were completely different ethnically. The bottom line is that Moorish cultural contributions in Spain and Portugal came from the Arabs, and, to a much lesser extent, Berbers...Enough already with absurd fantasies!
5 A timeless classic
I have read this book several times,and it has been a valuable history lesson for me. For those who ahve a problem with the Moors being called "Black" and calling this "Afrocentic", Mr.Lane-Poole really pulled off a feat, because he was neither black, nor did he live to even imagine Black people at a stage to where the term would even be considered.By the way, if anyone doubts the race of the Moors, read first hand descriptions in J.A. Rogers "Nature Knows No Color Line" or "Sex and Race".And tell me,who was Othello???..
6 the truth has been revealed
i am glad the author has the capacity and open mindness to tell the truth about who the moors really were. lets look at the moors historically. the first time we here about the moors they are a group of africans called numidians, maros or mauri. those terms are greek and roman terms which ment scorched. these were north african soldiers fighting against the romans with the carthagians. we later hear about the moors as being mercenary troops for the roman empire. then we later hear about the moors as a group of northwest africans fighting against the arabs for the control of northwest africa in the 7th century as the arabs invade the continent. One well know even though she is not talked about in our history books beacause she is african is dahia al-kahina which means prophetess or priestess. she is a moorish woman from mauritania. who is leading african forces against the arabs. she held the arabs at bay for along time. in studying historical documents it seems to indicate that she was very dark in complextion with dredlocks. her army however fragmented and they are eventually were drastically defeated. she told her sons and soldiers to adopt islam and make common causes with the arabs. one account says kahina was beheaded another says she killed herself. ultimatly these men participated in the invasion and the conquest of spain. the spanish christians often reffered to these men. as black, black as night, black as tar, black as a cooking pot. one account states that these men are very dark, the only thing white about them is their teeth. also twon prominent figures in moorish history that shows who the moors truly were, are st. maurice who has a statue made in his honor and its in a museum in england, which shows that he was black. also sir morien, a black knight in midevil europe who is also depicted as black. i am glad the author can show true history without racism, distortion and bias intentions regarding race.
7 Ethnocentric Fiction
Lane Pool's classic is very innacurate but a fun read, from a travelog perspective. However, what Jackson projects in his introduction is incredibly distorted. The reality of Muslim Iberia is quite simple: Arab armies (mainly from Syria) along with Berber tribes from what is now Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia invaded Iberia in 711. These people were Muslims but overwhelmingly white. A small number of blacks came to Spain as slaves or servants of the Arabs and Berbers. Moors, a confusing term because it has been so misinterpreted throughout history, were NOT Negroes at all. Rather, they were Arabs and Berbers. The Muslim Arabs/Berbers in Spain (and Portugal) made clear racial and ethnic distinctions between themselves and Black Africans. Black African cultural contributions in Iberia were/are, for all intents and purposes, non-existent. That is the plain truth Mr.Jackson, not the "truth" as YOU would like to see it.
8 A Terribly Innacurate Work
Stanley Lane-Poole has written a book that is so filled with errors, non-truths and misleading direction that it is much more fiction than fact. The original Moors were Berbers. These people were Mediterranean whites, being marginally present in the far southern parts of the Iberian Peninsula well before the muslim invasion of 714 AD. The Arabs that conquered a large portion of Spain (and Portugal) originated mainly from Syria and what is now Iraq. ORIGINAL Arabs, of course, were (and are today) members of the white race. Very few blacks, or those of the Negroid race, were part of the Arab advance. Nearly all came as slaves or servants. Mixing between the Arabs or Muslims and Iberians (European Christians) was rare in Spain and Portugal during the time that Muslims held influence in Iberia. Black Africans were so few between 714 and the mid-to-late 1100s (the period when Muslims were present in reasonable numbers)that they were never viewed as part of the Iberian population equation, by Christians or Muslims.
In sum, Lane-Poole's book is an sad distortion of a period in Iberian history that is generally not well understood. It is an injustice to Spaniards, Lusitanians, Arabs, Berbers as well as Black Africans. This piece merits classification under fiction and, quite possibly, DUST BIN.
9 Vintage 19th Century History
This is not at all a critical overview of the Muslim influence in Spain. However, much of the work that has been done on the Moors in Spain in the twentieth century has been more or less a re-writing of al-Maqqari's history in absolutely deathless prose.
Stanley Lane-Poole was descended from Edward Lane, author of the famous Lane's Lexicon, which is an invaluable source for students of Medieval Islam. And Lane-Poole worked on the lexicon (which is still unfinished) for some years. However, he was more inclined to popular history than philology.
_The Moors in Spain_ is not necessarily accurate, but it is a wonderfully written book, full of the romance and adventure that made the historical supplements of Victorian magazines like Harper's monthly such a treat. It's full of Asiatic bombast and dramatic vignettes. If you're offended by all historical authors preceding the advent of the Post-Modernist era, then you will hate this book. However, if you are a fan of 19th century history and travelogues, then you will probably enjoy the book.
10 This book is a reprint
Readers should be aware that this is a merely reprint of a book published in the last century. The date on the book is the date of the reprinting. It hardly represents the latest scholarship! If you really want to learn something about the moors, I suggest looking elsewhere.
11 Classic text. Poor Introduction.
Stanley Lane Pool's book is a classic example of the Reinhardt Dozy school of scholarship in the field of Hispano-Arabic studies. However, the introduction by Stanley Jackson is extremley misleading. The term Moor is not meant to denote black Africans, it was a term used by Christians to describe the Muslim inhabitants of Iberia not any specific racial group. The Arabs which crossed the straits of Gibralter into Iberia were originally from the Arabian peninsula. Also, they did not make up the majority of the troops who invaded Spain. The majority of the Islamic peoples who came to Iberia were north African Berbers of what anthropologists classify as the Hamitic branch of the caucasoid race. Furthermore, the indigenous Iberians always outnumbered the Arab, Berber and black African contingent. The Indigenous Iberians were simply islamized, adopted the Arab culture and were thus called Moors by the Christians. It was not until the coming of the Almoravid empire which arrived in Iberia in the 12th Century, where large numbers of black Africans came to Iberia, being that the Almoravids (al-murabitun) originated from present day Senegal and southern Morocco. Black Africans did make very important contirbutions to Iberian history, such as the great medieval, Spanish linguist Juan Latino who helped unify the Castillian language, however, he was a freed slave and a Christian not a Moor. To say that the Moors were of any specific racial group as Stanley Jackson posits is misleading and irresponsible pseudo-scholarship.
12 Moors in Spain
I am a student of African culture, particularly that of northern Africa. I found the book to be incredibly useful in researching the contributions that Africans made to Spain and the rest of Europe. The book shows that Africans were far superior in the arts and sciences of civilization, such as water irrigation, education, architecture, etc. than Europeans. The author also traces the origin of the Moors and ends the book with the fall of Moorish rule of Spain (after a failed attempt to conquer France). I would definitely recommend this and other books by Stanley Lane-Poole. The cover of The Story of The Moors in Spain is nice, too.
