The Great Reform Empires (1100–1250 CE)

This chapter describes how Islamic architecture developed more sober and abstract tendencies during the religious reforms of 1100-1250 CE as two successive Berber dynasties, first the Almoravids, then the Almohads, consolidated power and united Islamic rule in the western Mediterranean. During the reign of the Almoravids the palaces at Bin Yūniš, Onda, and Murcia show a steady transition from the styles of the tā’ifa-period to the distinctive architeture of the Almohads. Meanwhile, the palace of Monteagudo, constructed at the collapse of the Almoravids during the “second tā’ifa-period” fully introduced the Abbasid concept of space to the Iberian Peninsula and culminated the merger of fortified castles and residential palaces. Reflecting their interest in the governed community, the Almohads constructed their qasabas adjoined to cities, as may be seen in Marrakesh and Seville. An affinity for geometric symmetry and order, likely arising from Abbasid spatial conceptions, dictated the Almohads’ unadorned architectual style.