In the Good Old Days

Related Content

• Wake Up and Reflect
  November 23, 2011
• Span of Knowledge
  May 2, 2012
• Three San Francisco Kids to Swim from Alcatraz
  November 15, 2011
• Fog Harbor Fish House Cooks Sustainable Fish For the Masses
  September 14, 2011
• Summer Guide: The Best Obscure Tourist Attractions
  June 22, 2011

More About

• Fred Astren
• Teofilo Ruiz
• Toledo
• Alcatraz

Like this Story?

Sign up for the Events Newsletter: What's happening in town? From underground club nights to the biggest outdoor festivals, our top picks for the week's best events will always keep you in on the action.

Privacy Policy Cancel Continue

History lesson: Parts of ancient Spain had Christians, Muslims, and Jews living in the same city. And back then (Oh hey! As now!) such mixing was rare, rare, rare. Germanic Visigoths, North Africans, Arabic Muladi, Sephardic Jews, and Catholics all lived together in what would become known as “Holy” Toledo. “La Convivencia” was a term invented to describe the fact that all of the above were not actively at war with each other, although no one claims everybody was playing nice. There was, however, an explosion of inter-influencing one another's art, translating of books, and, we have no evidence for this but enjoy imagining it, tons of Romeo and Juliet-type teens mooning over each other in spite of being from different sides of the Alcazar. At “Toledo: The Multicultural Challenges of Medieval Spain,” responsible researchers tell you what really happened, and why, and how we can maybe not reinvent the wheel. Teofilo Ruiz, Fred Astren, and other academics speak, and several members of Ensemble Alcatraz perform early classical music.
Feb. 4-5, 8 p.m., 2011