Lesson video

Hello there.

Welcome to this RE lesson.

My name is Mr. Robertson and I'm delighted that you've joined me.

Today's lesson is from our unit about freedom of religion or belief, and it asks this big question.

How far should governments go to protect freedom of religion or belief?

Today's lesson is entitled, "Freedom of religion or belief: What did it look like in the past?

" And we're going to be looking at a historical case study to see what we can learn about settlements of religion and belief in the past and anything that it might help us learn about for today.

So, by the end of this lesson, you will be able to examine a historical case study and consider issues of freedom of religion or belief.

We have some key words in this lesson.

Our first words are Al-Andalus, and this was the Muslim-ruled area of the Iberian Peninsula, including modern day Gibraltar, Portugal, Spain, and southern France.

The word freedom in this lesson means being able to believe what you want, or not believe at all, and being respected for that choice.

Coercion is using threats, intense pressure, or violence to compel someone to change their religion or belief.

And dhimmis is a term which means non-Muslims, mainly Christians and Jews, living under Islamic rule who were officially protected by the Muslim government.

All these words will come up as the lesson progresses and I think you'll understand them really well by the end of it.

So, the first part of our lesson is going to look at freedom of religion or belief in Al-Andalus.

So, let's recap what we mean by freedom of religion or belief.

Now, the heart of this is the right to have or change your religion or belief without coercion.

But does freedom of religion or belief look the same everywhere?

How do different governments deal with it?

Examining a historical case study could help us understand how people try to resolve questions about freedom of religion or belief, and that's what we're going to be doing today in this lesson.

So, let's start.

I'd like you to look very carefully at these two photographs.

And I wonder, you might want to pause the video and think about these questions.

What can you see?

Where might they have been taken?

What might they show?

You may have noticed a richly decorated, beautiful arch on the left-hand side and an incredible vaulted ceiling on the other.

Now, perhaps quite extraordinarily, these photographs are actually of the same building, and this building is the Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba in Spain.

And you can see that both of these are found within the same building.

And you may have noticed that, actually, the photograph on the left does look quite like a mosque, and the photograph on the right does look like a Christian church.

But how can a building be both a mosque and a cathedral?

Well, the answer lies back in history, and we're gonna take ourselves back to the 8th century to the city of Cordoba, which is located in what is now southern Spain.

In the year 1000, Cordoba was the biggest city in Europe with a population of up to 400,000 people.

But how was it so large, and why was it at the center of an Islamic empire?

So, Cordoba was part of what was called Al-Andalus.

This was an Islamic territory during the Middle Ages.

In 756 CE, the exiled Umayyad prince, Abd al-Rahman, overthrew the existing Arab rulers in Cordoba and established the Umayyad Emirate of Cordoba with himself as the emir.

Now, this is really important because his capture of Cordoba was the start of one of the most culturally significant Islamic states in Europe at the time, and Cordoba flourished as a center of art, culture, and learning, one of the great cities of the world.

So, this is an extraordinary part of European history where part of Europe was under Islamic rule and under specifically an emir of Cordoba.

Let's just check our understanding so far.

Cordoba is located in which present day country?

A, France, B, Spain, C, Portugal, D, Morocco.

Pause the video and have a think.

Excellent, it's B, Spain, isn't it?

Brilliant if you got that right.

Here we can see a photograph of the interior of this incredible building that I showed you.

This was known as the Great Mosque of Cordoba.

And I just love those beautiful striped arches and the kind of way they seem to go on into infinity.

I've actually been to this building and it's absolutely breathtaking.

But let me take you back in time and think a little bit about what life was like there.

Rising above the city is the Great Mosque of Cordoba.

Expanded by the Umayyad caliphs, its forest of columns is visible through open doors.

Not only is this a mosque, but a center of learning.

The mosque houses a vast library, attracting scholars from around the world.

Cordoba's colleges offer studies in a wide range of studies such as philosophy, medicine, mathematics, astronomy, and law.

Outside, the street hums with life.

The call to prayer fades into the city's everyday noise.

The mosque's red and white horseshoe arches rise behind an open courtyard planted with orange trees, their scented blossoms mixed with sharp smells of leather and lamp oil drifting from nearby workshops.

Men in long woolen or linen robes pass by.

Some sport white turbans, whilst others are bareheaded.

In parts of the market, Jewish merchants in darker clothes haggle over bolts of silk bought from the East.

A Christian porter speaking Romance Arabic balances amphorae of olive oil as he moves towards the river.

Water murmurs from fountains fed by Roman aqueducts, keeping the dust down in the heat.

Donkeys clutter over the regular stone paving.

Shouting children weave between them.

In the shade of an orange tree, a scribe sets up his board near the mosque gates to write letters for those who cannot read.

So, from that narrative, what clues do we get from what society was like in Al-Andalus?

And does anything surprise you?

Maybe you were surprised that in the year 1000 that this city was so big and so advanced, with libraries and people reading and learning about such amazing subjects.

We sometimes call this period of European history the Dark Ages.

It doesn't sound very dark here, does it?

And also the fact that Jews, Christians, and Muslims seem to be living together in the same city and not at war with each other.

I've got another historical image for you here and I wonder what you think this might show.

This is from the Sarajevo Haggadah.

It's thought to be created in Spain around the year 1300.

It depicts Jews worshiping in a synagogue.

Can you see the Torah scrolls?

You can see there are three with different colors in the arc.

And I wonder what this source might tell us about freedom of religion in Al-Andalus.

You might be surprised considering what we know about the history of Jews in Europe to think that there were synagogues where worship could be so open.

And the fact that something so beautiful has been created also suggests that this was a community that was able and wealthy enough to produce beautiful manuscripts.

And finally, I have another image for you here.

You might want to pause the video and look really carefully to see what you can see.

So, this source depicts a Jew and a Muslim playing chess.

It was commissioned in 12th century in Al-Andalus.

I wonder what this might tell us about freedom of religion or belief.

So, both this source and the image from the Sarajevo Haggadah tell us that under Muslim rule Jews and Christians were permitted to practice their religion.

They were assigned what was called dhimmi status, which is Arabic for protected people.

The dhimmi status meant that Jews and Christians were permitted to keep their beliefs and also to manifest them publicly and privately.

They did not suffer coercion and were not forced to convert to Islam.

We could see evidence for this historically.

There were more than 15 Christian monasteries in Cordoba.

There were also Christian bishops and priests.

There were other numerous churches and synagogues.

As we saw, the Sarajevo Haggadah shows Jews attending a synagogue and practicing religion.

The image of the Jew and Muslim playing chess shows there was connection and exchange between the different groups.

Both Jews and Christians were allowed to follow their own rules.

For example, they could get married using their own laws and ceremonies.

However, this freedom came at a cost.

Jews and Christians were required to pay a special tax, known as jizya, but this tax was not charged to Muslim inhabitants of Cordoba.

So, lots of information there about what it was like to be Jewish or Christian under Muslim rule and this idea of dhimmi or protected status.

Let's recap.

Dhimmi status meant that Jews and Christians were free to keep their religion and did not have to convert, could practice their religion in public and private, could meet in churches and synagogues, and could follow their own religious laws, such as marriage.

However, Jews and Christians had to pay a special tax to the authorities to enable them to practice their religion.

And they were also particularly vulnerable to changes in leadership.

Some leaders would tolerate people with dhimmi status living in Al-Andalus, but others would not and would persecute them.

So, it wasn't necessarily always safe.

Let's check our understandings so far.

Which of the following did dhimmi status not guarantee?

A, freedom to remain Jewish or Christian.

B, able to attend church.

C, freedom from additional taxes.

D, able to attend synagogue.

Excellent, it's C.

You were not free from additional taxes.

In fact, as a dhimmi status person, you had to pay additional taxes.

Okay, so we've learned quite a lot about life in Al-Andalus.

I'd like us now to bring this learning together.

I'd like you to create a spider diagram to explain what life was like.

Think about the sources that we have seen.

We've looked at the image of the Jew and Muslim playing chess.

We've looked at the image of Jews worshiping in a synagogue in Al-Andalus from the Sarajevo Haggadah.

We've read a narrative and we've seen the photograph of the mosque cathedral.

Using all of that, I'd like you to think, where was Cordoba and who ruled it?

What was the city like at that time in the year 1000?

And what was it like to live there as either a Jew or Christian?

Good luck, and I look forward to seeing what you come up with.

Wow, what a lot of hard work.

So, this is spider my diagram.

Yours might look slightly different.

So, I've made some points about Cordoba itself.

I said Cordoba was ruled by a Muslim emir, and it was the biggest city in Europe at that time.

I've also said that "Cordoba was a place of great learning with a huge mosque and library.

I've said that Jews and Christians held dhimmi status, which means they had freedom to practice their religion, although they had to pay a tax, and they were at risk of persecution by some leaders.

But I've also said that there's evidence that Jews, Muslims, and Christians lived together harmoniously and there was no coercion.

Excellent if you got these points, and brilliant if you've managed some more as well.

In the next part of this lesson, we're going to answer this question.

How did freedom of religion or belief change?

Let's just remind ourselves about Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and that states, "Everyone shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion.

This right shall include freedom to have or adopt a religion or belief of his choice, and freedom, either individually or in community with others, and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in worship, observance, practice, and teaching.

" So, I wonder, thinking about what this declaration says, and it sums up many of the rights that humans have in terms of freedom of religion or belief, what extent there was freedom of religion or belief in Al-Andalus?

I wonder what you think.

So, let's start.

How did the government of Al-Andalus ensure freedom?

So, again, I have another page for you here from the Sarajevo Haggadah, and you can see some Jewish women.

So, the very fact that this document has been produced proves that there was some freedom, and you can see the Jewish women in the clothing that they're choosing to wear manifesting being Jewish.

So dhimmi status meant that Jews and Christians were able to adopt the beliefs of their choice and they were free to manifest these beliefs and practices in public and private.

It's worth being really clear that in many parts of Europe at that point, Jews did not have this freedom and were actually subsequent liable to enormous amounts of persecution.

But how did Al-Andalus limit freedom?

Well, as we said, dhimmi status meant that Jews and Christians had to pay a tax that Muslims did not.

Most Jews and Christians could not hold senior jobs in the government.

They tended to have less important jobs.

So, to that extent, there was less freedom, paying an extra tax and not being able to participate in jobs and society to the same level as Muslims.

Let's just check our understanding.

True or false?

Having dhimmi status meant that Jews and Christians were equal to Muslims in Al-Andalus.

Think about what we've just been saying.

Is that true or false?

Excellent, it's false, isn't it, but why?

Well, dhimmi status meant that Jews and Christians had protected status, but they had to pay a tax for this protection and they did not have equal access to jobs.

So, we've already talked about the fact that Al-Andalus was a diverse society.

There were Muslims, Christians, and Jews.

But how did that get dealt with?

Well, we have another beautiful view there of the Grand Mosque of Cordoba and you can see there as well the mosque itself, it had enormous buildings around it, including the library, and beautiful gardens.

Muslim, Christian, and Jewish scholars could meet together and exchange ideas.

And so Christians and Jews were not disallowed from attending the library, and, in fact, they shared and engaged and learned together with their Muslim colleagues.

Now, this sharing of ideas mean that some historians have described this as a golden age of learning.

Lots of translations were done from Arabic, Greek writings were rediscovered, and people would talk to each other about philosophy and astronomy.

So, how does that situation of exchange and mutual learning together show freedom of religion and belief?

You might have thought about the idea that in many parts of Europe, Muslims, Christians, and Jews would never have exchanged ideas in this way and there would've been persecution, whereas at that point in Cordoba there was learning from and living together.

This is a statute depicting Maimonides.

This is in a square in Cordoba.

He grew up in Cordoba and was a Jewish scholar who became one of the most famous commentators on the Torah.

Now, living in Cordoba, he had dhimmi status, and that meant that he was trained in Arabic science and philosophy.

It meant that he wrote in Arabic but he used a Hebrew script.

He actually was employed by Muslim rulers in a senior position as a court physician.

But he had to flee Cordoba when a different ruler took over and persecuted Jews.

I wonder what my Maimonides shows us about freedom of religion or belief in Al-Andalus.

So, on one hand, you might have said he benefited hugely from being protected in Cordoba by learning about science and philosophy.

And actually, despite what we said earlier, he himself managed to get a senior position in court.

However, when a different ruler took over, that protected status didn't count and actually he ended up having to flee Cordoba, which of course he wouldn't have to have done if he was Muslim, so we can see there are limits to the freedom of religion or belief there.

Alex and Sofia are discussing freedom of religion or belief in Al-Andalus.

Alex says, "I think there was freedom of religion or belief at times in Al-Andalus.

The dhimmi status offered protection.

In other parts of Europe, Jews were forced to convert or face exile or death.

" Sofia says, "I'm not sure it was true freedom.

Jews and Christians could practice freely, but is paying a tax for the privilege true freedom?

Plus, they were kept out of many jobs.

" I wonder whose agreement you agree with more, and why?

You may want to pause the video and talk about this with the person next to you.

So, the Al-Andalus as we've described it didn't last.

In the 14th century, Christian armies gradually reconquered the area of Al-Andalus.

And by 1491, all of Spain was back under Christian rule.

In 1492, Jews were ordered to either convert to Christianity or leave Spain, and it's estimated that 100,000 Jews left Spain.

From 1492 onwards, up to 5,000 Jews were executed, even if they had converted to Christianity.

Many Muslims who remained did convert to Christianity.

However, in 1609, an estimated 300,000 Muslim converts were forcibly expelled from Spain.

So, we can see that the situation was completely different after the Al-Andalus, and during that time and after, the cultural exchange and learning that happened between those three communities did not continue.

So, let's revisit the photograph that we saw at the very beginning of the lesson.

Can we now explain why we can see a Christian church alongside a Muslim mosque?

Once Cordoba was taken back by the Christian Spanish armies, the mosque was turned into a cathedral, and literally in the middle of this beautiful building was built a Christian cathedral.

It's quite extraordinary.

You walk in through the mosque and there it is, right in the middle.

And that really symbolizes, doesn't it, quite dramatically the change from Muslim rule to Christian rule.

Now, apart from the building itself, how do you think freedom of religion or belief changed under Christian rule?

Let's just check our understanding.

The Mosque-Cathedral in Cordoba shows, A, life in Cordoba stayed the same after reconquest, B, life for Muslims and Jews improved, C, life for Muslims and Jews was harder.

Pause the video and have a think.

Excellent, it's C, isn't it?

Life became a lot harder because from freedom there were choices of conversion or expulsion or death.

Okay, I've got a couple of final tasks for you.

Firstly, I'd like you to consider this statement.

"Jews had freedom to practice and manifest their religion or belief.

" I've got a continuum line for you there, starting at 0 where there is coercion and no freedom, up to 10 where there is total freedom.

I'd like you to think, where would you place on that line Jews living in Al-Andalus and where would you place Jews living under Christian rule?

I'd like you to choose where you would put those two different historical times and I'd like you to think why you would put them there and your reasons for it.

I look forward to seeing what you do.

Okay, so I've had a go at this.

Your numbers may look similar or different.

So, I've said that in Al-Andalus, I'd probably put it about an 8 to say that Jews had some freedom under Muslim rule, and the evidence for that is that the dhimmi status gave Jews protection to practice their religion, Jews could open synagogues and get married.

However, I wouldn't put it any higher because they had to pay a tax for this protection, and also under different rulers there may have been persecution as well.

For under Christian rule, I'm gonna put it much, much, much lower, towards 1, because there was no real freedom under Christian rule.

And the evidence for that is that in 1492 Jews were told to convert or leave Spain.

Many Jews were murdered.

And this is coercion and not freedom of religion or belief.

I wonder if you chose some similar numbers to that.

Secondly, Alex and Sofia again are discussing freedom of religion or belief.

Alex says, "We can't learn anything about freedom of religion or belief from Al-Andalus.

The freedom offered to Jews and Christians was to be a second-class citizen.

" Sofia says, "I think Al-Andalus was not perfect, but it was better than what followed.

The settlement they came up with allowed people to live alongside each other in relative peace and harmony.

" I'd like you to discuss these views with a partner and I'd like you to think, what do you think about this?

Do you lean more towards Alex's view or do you lean more to Sofia's view?

And what lessons could we learn today from studying Al-Andalus?

It was over 1,000 years ago, but is there anything in the way that that society created a settlement between different people that we could learn from?

Really looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

You may have said Al-Andalus was hundreds of years ago, but we might learn lessons from the past.

You may have agreed with Alex and said society in Al-Andalus was not perfect.

The dhimmi status meant that Jews and Christians were second-class citizens and they did have to pay a tax.

On the other hand, like Sofia, you may have said, but it was a time of relative religious harmony, especially compared to what happened afterwards.

And when people were living together in that harmony, there were conditions which meant there was lots of new learning, art, and ideas.

Today, of course, we'd probably think that paying a tax to practice religion is not true freedom of religion or belief.

But on the other hand, we might learn something from that society about how we share information and how giving people freedom allows these ideas and allows us to progress.

I wonder what you thought about that and what your ideas were.

So, to sum up today, we've learned that Al-Andalus is the name given to Muslim-ruled areas of Spain, France, and Portugal from the 8th to the 14th centuries.

We've learned that in places such as Cordoba, Jews and Christians held dhimmi status, which gave them some freedom to practice and manifest their religion and beliefs.

We've learned that under Christian rule, Jews were forced to convert or leave, and that this is an example of coercion.

And finally, we've learned that we can better understand freedom of religion or belief through studying historical case studies.

Thanks ever so much for learning with me today and I look forward to seeing you in one of our next lessons.