David T from Harry’s Place points out another interesting point from today’s speech:

…In his Cairo speech, Obama made the following statement:

Islam has a proud tradition of tolerance. We see it in the history of Andalusia and Cordoba during the Inquisition

Can anybody explain precisely what Obama was referring to?

On first glance, it looks like a reference to the so-called ‘Golden Age’ in Al Andalus. During the Golden Age, Jews - and Christians - were subject to a certain degree of formal discrimination, but largely prospered. Life was certainly better than in places like England, where Jews were repeatedly massacred and ultimately expelled.

That “golden” period definitively came to an end by the close of the 11th Century, and the invasion of the less tolerant Almoravids from North Africa.

But why Cordoba? What happened there?

In 1011, there was a massacre of Jews in Cordoba: which was followed by other slaughters in other parts of Al Andalus, notably in Granada in 1066. The famous Jewish scholar, Maimonides originally lived in Cordoba in the early 12th century, until the Almohades dynasty took the city, and threatened to kill any Jews who did not leave or convert to Islam. Maimonides’ family relocated to the more tolerant university city of Fes, in Morocco…

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