The Golden Age of the Moor (Journal of African Civilizations, Vol 11, Fall 1991)

Ivan Van Sertima

This book examines the debt owed by Europe to the Moors for its Renaissance, and the significant role, played by the Africans in the Muslim invasions of the Iberian peninsula. While the authors focus mainly on Spain and Portugal, they also examine the races and roots of the original North Africans before the later ethnic mix of the blackamoors and tawny Moors in the medieval period. The study ranges from characterizations of the Moors in the literature of Cervantes and Shakespeare to their profound influence upon the development of Europe's university system, and the diffusion through this system of ancient and medieval sciences.