A Brief History of "The Moors"
- From Algeria and Morocco, later migrate to Spain.
- Often refers to Islamic and Muslim people, is not one group.
- It can mean a “tanned person”, not necessarily one who is black (esp Spain and Portugal).
- Although Moors are often identified as Muslim, the term “Moor” predates Islam.
- The term originates in Numidian Kingdom of Maure in the third century BCE (now Algeria and Tunisia). Numidia was full of tribes of Berber people (the Berbers are the indigenous people of North Africa.).
- These Moors were trading partners of Carthage (Rome’s enemy)
- The kings split and half aligned with Rome while the other have aligned with Carthage
- The succession of kings became messed up when and illegitimate son, Jugurtha, took the throne and started warring with his competition, Adherbal-- who fled to Rome
- The Romans settled this conflict by going to war with Numidia and then dividing the Numidian Kingdom into two parts
- Through bribery of Roman officials, Jugurtha got the richer and more resource-rich half of the country
- Even though he got what he wanted, Jugurtha began a war with Rome (and Abherdal) once more.
- This war made a lot of Romans very angry, especially because Jugurtha’s casualties included important Roman businessmen
- Lucius Calpurnius Bestia led the army against Jurgurtha, who eventually surrendered
- Jugurtha’s surrender was so favorable and effortless that an investigation was launched.
- While in Rome, Jugurtha tried to assassinate a rival-- which led to his expulsion from the city.
- Jugurtha managed to kill another rival through a combination of bribery and trickery to get the things which he wanted
- Jugurtha tried a few more attacks on Rome and it took a couple more generals to get him in check. Eventually, he was killed by being thrown into a pit to die.
- Numidia was divided up a few more times and eventually very highly Romanized.
- The Berber people were increasingly Arabized over the centuries, especially during the Middle Ages during the Muslim conquest. This is around when the term “Moor” would begin to mean something more inclusive.
- The Mauri were an ancient Berber people inhabiting the territory of modern Algeria and Morocco. Much of that territory was annexed to the Roman empire in 44 AD. Subgroups of Mauri continued to inhabit the desert regions south of the Roman border. A subgroup of the Mauri were known as the Musulamii.
Shakespeare was often wrong about things. He used what he learned in school, books and by talking to people in combination with popular culture and public conception. While many "Moors" would be extremely dark-skinned, many would be tan.