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Hello, I'm Matt Lewis. Welcome to Gone Medieval from History Hit, the podcast that delves into the

greatest millennium in human history. We've got the most intriguing mysteries, the gobsmacking

details and latest groundbreaking research from the Vikings to the printing press, from kings to

popes to the crusades. We cross centuries and continents to delve into rebellions,

plots and murders, to find the stories big and small that tell us how we got here. Find out who we

really were with Gone Medieval. Imagine Imagine a land where minarets pierced the sky alongside church spires, where scholars debated philosophy in grand libraries, and where the scent of orange blossoms mingled with the call to prayer.

This was Al-Andalus, Islamic Spain, a realm that lasted nearly eight centuries.

The story of Al-Andalus began with a daring invasion in 7-11 as Tariq Ibn Ziad led a small army

across the Strait of Gibraltar, defeating the Visigothic

King Roderic in a battle that would change the face of Europe. Great cities such as Cordoba

emerged to rival Baghdad and Constantinople, boasting paved streets, street lighting, and hundreds

of public baths when London was little more than a muddy village.

But Al-Andalus was more than just a place.

...