[muawiyah]

Spain continued to have substantial populations of Moslems right through the 1400s ~ The Reconquista took about 700 years and over that time remarkable customs grew up to mitigate the damage to society that would ensue if people failed to be tolerant to one another.

Jews benefited, as did Christians and Moslems. The North African Islamofascist dictators actually invaded Spain once to straighten out the Moslems and bring them back into conformance with Islamic law.

I referred to it above ~ but there was even a custom, with laws, governing "forced conversions" ~ and I'd guess the new local prince would make some decisions on the basis of whether or not he liked ham and eggs for breakfast.

By the time Ferdinand and isabella wrapped up the Reconquista most of the hard part had been done and people were "converted" according to law ~ with the Jews still having an exceptional status because they'd been prohibited entry into the mainstreams of Spanish society for hundreds of years.

The final forced conversion (or expulsion) was probably more of an afterthought about straightening out the kingdom than anything done in anger.

To a degree it was progressive in the sense it did offer Jews a way to enter Spanish society ~ which was shortly to become the wealthiest and most powerful on Earth!

[rmlew]

Jews benefited, as did Christians and Moslems. The North African Islamofascist dictators actually invaded Spain once to straighten out the Moslems and bring them back into conformance with Islamic law.
Not exactly. The Golden Age for Jews in Spain ended in 1066 with the Granada massacre of Jews by Muslims. One could even argue that it ended with the crumbling of the Crodoba Caliphate. The Almoravids and the Almohad Caliphate (al-Muwahhidun), presumably, were the Islamofascist dictators, you spoke of.