In this richly illustrated course, we’ll start by searching out the beginnings of Jewish Spain over 2,000 years ago, including the Roman and later Visigothic centuries. Then we’ll focus on the Muslim invasion and the Golden Age of Islamic Spain that followed. This was the era of La Convivencia, when Jews, Christians and Muslims lived largely in peace and shared and contributed to a common culture far advanced beyond the rest of Europe’s states. From there, we’ll chronicle the slow but steady advance of Christian armies, finally leading to the Expulsion of Jews (and Muslims) from Spain in 1492 and later years. We’ll close with a look at the fate of Sephardic Jews after the Expulsion as well as the fate of Spain in those centuries right up to today.