episode 1. At the height of empire]. With the grandeur and geometric sophistication of the Alhambra as a powerful opening example, this program looks at Islamic culture in southern Spain following the Berber invasion of 711. Scholar Bettany Hughes talks with Professor Antonio Fernández-Puertas of the University of Granada, who has studied Nasrid art and architecture for 40 years; with Professor Lauro Olmo Encisco of Alcala University in Madrid, an expert on the Visigothic site of Recópolis; and with Islamic historian Ali Raisuni, who posits noble motives behind Moorish expansion. These conversations, as well as the program's energetic visuals and helpful overviews of Islam's origins, yield valuable insight into the social, economic, scientific, and military dynamics of the period. episode 2. Prelude to the Renaissance]. Over seven centuries of Islamic rule, Spain became the cultural jewel of Europe. This program illustrates that flowering of art and science, placing the rebirth of classical learning in Andalusian rather than Italian cities. Writer Bettany Hughes speaks with Antonia Almagro of the Spanish National Research Council about the intellectual and aesthetic revelations a visitor from Florence or Venice might have experienced in Muslim Granada or Toledo. She also hears from historian Emilio Gonzales Ferrin, who contrasts the initial wave of Islamic settlers with more fundamentalist reinforcements brought up to defend against the Christian reconquest. Questions behind the identity of the Spanish hero Guzmán El Bueno reflect these complexities within Islam.

Originally produced for television in 2005. 700 years of little known history. Special feature: Bettany Hughes bio.

episode 1. The Moors, at the height of empire (52 min.) -- episode 2. The Moors, prelude to the Renaissance (49 min.).