Moorish

(adjective)

Of or pertaining to a style of Spanish architecture from the time of the Moors, characterized by the horseshoe arch and ornate, geometric decoration.

Related Terms

Examples of Moorish in the following topics:

  • European Expressionist Architecture

    • Draws as much from Moorish, Islamic, Egyptian, and Indian art and architecture as from Roman or Greek

  • The Mediterranean

    • The Alhambra is a reflection of the culture during the last centuries of the Moorish rule of Al-Andalus, reduced to the Emirate of Granada.

  • Renaissance Architecture in Venice

    • The style originated in 14th century Venice, where the confluence of Byzantine style from Constantinople met Arab influence from Moorish Spain.

  • Romanesque Sculpture: Majestat Batlló

    • The frontal geometric composition of the tunic decorated in circles and floral motifs is reminiscent of the refined Byzantine and Hispano-Moorish fabrics held in such high esteem in the Christian West during this time.

  • Spanish Architecture in the Baroque Period

    • They have a noticeable French influence (La Granja was known as the Spanish Versailles) but contain local spatial conceptions that in some ways display the heritage of the Moorish occupation.

  • Expansion Under the Umayyad Caliphates

    • One grandson of Hisham, Abd al-Rahman I, survived and established a kingdom in Al-Andalus (Moorish Iberia), proclaiming his family to be the Umayyad Caliphate revived.

  • Philip II and the Spanish Armada

    • In 1569, the Morisco Revolt broke out in the southern province of Granada in defiance of attempts to suppress Moorish customs and Philip ordered the expulsion of the Moriscos from Granada and their dispersal to other provinces.

  • Charlemagne's Reforms

    • Charlemagne's vast conquests brought him into contact with the cultures and learnings of other countries, especially Moorish Spain, Anglo-Saxon England, and Lombard Italy, and greatly increased the provision of monastic schools and scriptoria (centers for book copying) in Francia.

  • Spanish Exploration

    • In 1492, the joint rulers conquered the Moorish kingdom of Granada, which had been providing Castile with African goods through tribute, and decided to fund Christopher Columbus's expedition in the hope of bypassing Portugal's monopoly on west African sea routes, to reach "the Indies" (east and south Asia) by travelling west.

  • The Second Crusade

    • Traveling by ship from England to the Holy Land, the army stopped and helped the smaller (7,000) Portuguese army capture Lisbon, expelling its Moorish occupants.