Page 39 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Mallorca, Menorca & Ibiza

THE HIST OR Y OF THE BALEARIC ISLANDS  37

Romana brought cotton and, on
prosperity: Roman terraced hillsides,
settlers planted vine­ oranges, limes and
yards, built roads and olives. In 1114, Muslim
founded Palmeria rule was interrupted
and Pollentia, a when an army of
settlement near 70,000 Italian and
Alcúdia in Mallorca. Catalan soldiers
They also founded attacked Ibiza and
Portus Magonis (Maó) A mosaic from the Calvià library, Mallorca, showing Mallorca. Supported
in Menorca, which the conquest of Mallorca by the Arabs in 904 by the pope, the
subsequently became Christian troops slaugh­
the island’s capital and extended the tered most of the Muslims and set sail,
Phoenician port, Sanisera, making it one filling their ships with spoils. The Moors
of the biggest harbours of the empire. quickly re­established themselves, however,
By the 3rd century AD, the expansion and flourished once again under the rule
of Christianity had begun on the islands. of the Almoravids, a Berber dynasty from
Roman rule was already in decline when, in North Africa. Reminders of Moorish
425, the Vandals invaded and destroyed both presence on the islands include the
the Roman and Christian cultural heritages. agricultural terraces, architecture and
Subsequently, the Byzantine army led designs for embroidery and ceramics.
by Belisarius expelled the Vandal tribes
from the Balearic Islands. For over 100
years the islands remained within the
sphere of influence of the Byzantine
Empire. This ensured their stability until
the declining empire came under attack
– first from pirates, then from the Vikings
and, finally, from the Arabs.

The Moors
The conquest of Menorca and Mallorca
by the Emir of Cordoba at the beginning
of the 10th century marks the start of
Moorish influence over the islands, which
lasted for more than three centuries. During
this period the Muslims transformed the
Balearic Islands, introducing new irrigation Arab Bath in Palma, one of few surviving relics of Muslim culture
techniques, planting crops like rice and on the islands

Sacking of Pollentia 798 Raid by
by Vandals 1085 Islands gain the
Moorish pirates
status of caliphate ruled by
the Almoravids
707 First raids by the Arabs
100 BC AD 200 500 800 1100
426 Vandal invasion 859 Vikings raid the islands 1114 Mallorca invaded,
unsuccessfully, by
902 Mallorca becomes a member Christian army – “Small
533 Beginning of Byzantine rule over of the Cordoba Caliphate
the archipelago Crusade”

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