Skewed histories

"When we study Europe's Middle Ages, we seldom include Spain (at least not until after the "reconquest"). Our libraries abound with books on the Middle Ages, but try to find in any of them a single word about daily life and customs in Spain. It is as if later historians, in order to justify a uniquely "European history", ignored the fact that a vibrant and brilliant civilization created by "Others"—by Arabs, by Muslims, —not only existed in Europe, but without whose contributions the region could not have become what it did.
From the introduction to A Medieval Banquet in the Alhambra Palace, Audrey Shabbas, editor, AWAIR, 1991.

This seems to be the position that a lot of articles about early Muslim learning in Spain take. The fact that the Christians of Europe were happy to inherit the legacy of the Arab occupation of Spain, but were reluctant to acknowledge its Islamic origin is understandably something that still resonates. I found an interesting article here:

http://www.islamfortoday.com/spain01.htm

Some astonishing information, found in a BBC article, about the amount of libraries (seventy! I lots of work opportunities there I imagine) in Cordoba, the capital of Umayyad Spain in the 10th century.














There were half a million inhabitants, living in 113,000 houses. There were 700 mosques and 300 public baths spread throughout the city and its twenty-one suburbs. The streets were paved and lit...There were bookshops and more than seventy libraries.
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References

Butt, G 1998, Spain's Islamic past, Islam for today, viewed 15 May 2010, (http://www.islamfortoday.com/spain01.htm).

2009,Muslim Spain (711-1492) BBC, viewed 14 May 2010, (http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/history/spain_1.shtml)
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Research reflections for first three posts

I have found it difficult to find information about Spanish libraries and daily life during the 8th - 13th centuries. I have been trying different search strings and found that when I have tried things like "Libraries Muslim Spain" I found little success, I found that the most successful searches included words such as Spain Islamic and history. This in turn would lead me to sites and journal articles that would features sections on the book and library culture of the time. I feel like I'm reaching a break through with my research after a long time of (seemingly) hitting walls.
I have decided that future research will be based around Cordoba the capital of Umayyad Spain. This might help me to narrow my searches, and hopefully uncover some more specific material.