THE THREE SYMBOLS OF MEDIEVAL SPAIN

Hi folks!

This week we have been creating some amazing shields with plastic plates and gouache.

They were decorated with a symbol, the one you all chose...but there are hundreds of characteristic symbols that are related to each culture (Jews, Muslims...). Let's see the three most important ones:

• THE STAR OF DAVID (Jew): Star of David - Its shape is that of a hexagram, the compound of two equilateral triangles. The hexagram has been in use as a symbol of Judaism since the 17th century, with precedents in the 14th to 16th centuries in Central Europe, where the Shield of David was partly used in conjunction with the Seal of Solomon (the hexagram) on Jewish flags. The hexagram does appear occasionally in Jewish contexts since antiquity, apparently as a decorative motif. For example, in Israel, there is a stone bearing a hexagram from the arch of a 3-4th century synagogue in the Galilee.

• THE STAR AND CRESENT (Muslim): The star and crescent is the best-known symbol used to represent Islam. The symbol is not Muslim in origin, it was a polytheistic icon adopted during the spread of Islam, and its use today is sometimes controversial in the Muslim world. The crescent and star are often said to be Islamic symbols, but historians say that they were the insignia of the Ottoman Empire, not of Islam as a whole.

• CHRISTIAN CROSS (Catholic): The cross symbol, which is today one of the most widely recognised religious symbols in the world is the earliest used Christian symbol. In the most broad sense it symbolizes the religion of Christian. More specifically, it represents and memorializes Christ's death.

Don't miss the opportunity that "MERCADILLO MEDIEVAL" will bring to you in terms of symbol-seeking!