(⚆_⚆) Nº207 Oh Thank Heaven for 711 🏪 ☰

hello!

Getting late here in Amsterdam but I wanted to ship this before pulling the plug and catching some Zzzz’s before tomorrow’s Pathfinder Giro.

Ok, about the subject line, no not that 711. I’m referencing 711 AD when Spanish occupation by the Moors began. Back then, an African army, under their leader Tariq ibn-Ziyad, crossed the Strait of Gibraltar from northern Africa and invaded the Iberian peninsula ‘Andalus’. Unfamiliar with the Moors? Read up.

Here are 5 of 15 facts on the Moors in Spain that I read about today:

1. The Moors, who ruled Spain for 800 years, introduced new scientific techniques to Europe, such as an astrolabe, a device for measuring the position of the stars and planets. Scientific progress in Astronomy, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, Geography and Philosophy flourished in Moorish Spain
2. At its height, Córdova, the heart of Moorish territory in Spain, was the most modern city in Europe. The streets were well-paved, with raised sidewalks for pedestrians. During the night, ten miles of streets were well illuminated by lamps. (This was hundreds of years before there was a paved street in Paris or a street lamp in London.)
3. Education was universal in Moorish Spain, available to all, while in Christian Europe ninety-nine percent of the population were illiterate, and even kings could neither read nor write. At that time, Europe had only two universities, the Moors had seventeen great universities…