ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of the different dynasties that ruled in al-Andalus and explains how they succeeded or failed in maintaining their power through their armies and the legitimacy they claimed and that was reflected, among other means, in their coins. It deals the most important components of the societies over which those rulers exercised their power, and of the cultural and intellectual developments that took place in them. The chapter addresses the aftermath of al-Andalus, from the Mudejars and Moriscos to the memory of al-Andalus in the Islamic world, in Spain, the Americas and ‘the West’, as well as its mythification and use for political and ideological contemporary purposes. In Europe, the history of al-Andalus has long been conducted by French scholars who have greatly enriched our understanding of its political, economic, social and cultural developments, and who have combined the study of texts with archaeological work with fruitful results.
