Posts Tagged ‘Spain’

Christians and Jews in thirteenth-century Castile: the career and writings of Rodrigo Jiménez de Rada, Archbishop of Toledo (1209-1247)

Christians and Jews in thirteenth-century Castile: the career and writings of Rodrigo Jiménez de Rada, Archbishop of Toledo (1209-1247)

By Lucy K. Pick

PhD Dissertation, University of Toronto, 1995

Abstract: The life of Archbishop Rodrigo Jimenez de Rada offers a window on many of the principal issues of his day. He is best known for his role in the victory over the Almohads at the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa (1212) and for several works of history in which he traces the emergence of Castile, with Toledo as its political and spiritual centre. Rodrigo was also an important figure in the shifting relationship between Christians and the Jews in thirteenth-century Spain. He worked to protect the Jews of Castile from the restrictions imposed on Europe’s Jews by the Fourth Lateran Council (1215) and by the popes. Rodrigo also undertook business transactions using Jews as his agents, causing the clergy of the Toledo cathedral chapter to complain that he was overly friendly with Jews. The Archbishop composed a treatise, the Dialogus libri uitae, to foster conversions from Judaism. The text survives in one manuscript, Salamanca, Bibl. Univ., ms. 2089.

The work attacks Talmudic and Midrashic predictions about the Messiah, and seeks to demonstrate the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies about the coming of Christ, using philosophical arguments, biblical exegesis, and patristic authorities. The text reflects the practical and philosophical stance of the most powerful prelate in Castile at a crucial juncture in Christian-Jewish relations, when the papacy was tightening its restrictive legislation against the Jews and attacking the Talmud. Unlike most treatises against the Jews, which demonstrate little knowledge of contemporary Judaism, Rodrigo’s work displays an awareness of current Jewish concerns and beliefs.

The work has attracted little attention hitherto, and no study or printed text of it exists. Writers of anti-Jewish polemic and prelates who had dealings with Jews were common in the Middle Ages, but it is unusual to possess documents by and about an individual who acted in both capacities. Considering the Dialogus against Don Rodrigo’s day-to-day dealings with the Jews and his treatment of them in his historical works sheds new light on the state of Christian-Jewish relations in thirteenth-century Spain.

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21 Feb 2010
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Hirelings and Shepherds: Archbishop Berenguer of Narbonne (1191-1211) and the Ideal Bishop

Hirelings and Shepherds: Archbishop Berenguer of Narbonne (1191-1211) and the Ideal Bishop

By Elaine Graham-Leigh

The English Historical Review, Vol. 116, No. 469 (2001)

Introduction: It is for his occupation of the see of Narbonne that Archbishop Berenguer (1191-1211) is best known to historians. Narbonne in the twelfth century was one of the richest cities in Languedoc, and was the seat of an archbishop whose province stretched from the Garonne at Toulouse to the Rhone. By the end of the century, the growth of the Cathar heresy in much of this area had become a serious problem, with only the most eastern parts of the province remaining unaffected. The diocese of Narbonne itself has acquired a historiographical reputation as being less heretical than its neighbours, but given his overall responsibility for the most heretical parts of Languedoc, it is perhaps unsurprising that Berenguer has become notorious as the worst of the failing prelates of Languedoc, unable or unwilling to deal with the threat posed by Catharism in his diocese.

This is not, however, the only possible view of the Archbishop: Berenguer’s election to Narbonne was the culmination of a long and successful ecclesiastical career. The illegitimate son of Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona (1131-62), Berenguer became Abbot of the Aragonese abbey of Montearagon in 1170. He was elected Bishop of Lerida in 1177 and was given permission to retain his abbacy alongside his episcopal appointment, a permission which was renewed on his election to Narbonne in 1191. He was succeeded as Archbishop of Narbonne by Arnauld Arnaury, Abbot of Citeaux (1200-12, in 1212. Athough Berenguer’s record in Narbonne is seldom considered in the light of his Spanish appointments, it is nevertheless through a consideration of the Archbishop’s entire career that his behaviour in Narbonne is best understood.

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3 Feb 2010
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Ibn Sahula’s Tale of the Egyptian Sorcerer: A Thirteenth Century Don Yllán

Ibn Sahula’s Tale of the Egyptian Sorcerer: A Thirteenth Century Don Yllán

By David A. Wacks

eHumanista, Volume 4 (2004)

Introduction: The tale of Don Yllán and the Deán of Santiago (ejemplo 11 in Juan Manuel’s Conde Lucanor) has a Hebrew language analogue, written in the late 13th century, that has eluded Hispanists completely for centuries. This exemplum is an excerpt from the frametale of Isaac ben Solomon ibn Sahula (b. 1244), Mešal Haqadmonī (=MQ), or ‘Tale of the Ancient One.’ It was written in Castile in approximately 1281, toward the end of the reign of Alfonso X of Castile and Leon (r. 1254-82). MQ is a wide-ranging work of rhyming prose interspersed with poetry in the style of the maqāma. Its narrative framework contains fables and poetry as well as discourses on such topics as astrology, medicine, and optics. Appearing in part 4, “On Humility,” Ibn Sahula’s exemplum of the Egyptian Sorceror is interpolated in a discussion between two characters, the Dove and the Crow, as a negative example of one who did not respect the learning of his elder.

In Ibn Sahula’s tale, a young man from Jerusalem travels to Egypt in search of instruction in the magic arts. He finds a sorcerer who agrees to teach him, but the young man’s insolence toward the former prompts the sorcerer to put him to the test. This comes in the form of an illusion in which the youth imagines he arrives in a foreign land where he rapidly climbs the ranks at court, eventually becoming king and fathering a male heir. At this point the illusion is dispelled and the young man realizes he is back in the sorcerer’s home, back to the day of their first meeting. The young man’s remorse for his error is apparently genuine, and the sorcerer agrees to keep him on as apprentice for one year.

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26 Jan 2010
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The participation of the nobility in the reconquest and in the military orders

The participation of the nobility in the reconquest and in the military orders

By José Augusto de Sotto Mayor Pizarro

E-Journal of Portuguese History, Vol.4:1 (2006)

Abstract:  Starting from the general framework of the Crusades and the Reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula, together with the involvement of the nobility in these two processes, the author seeks to clarify to what extent the participation of the Portuguese nobility – exalted by some chroniclers and literary sources – in both the Reconquest and the military orders was effectively materialized through diplomatic and genealogical sources from the 13th and 14th centuries.

Earlier studies have made it possible to conclude that, despite its adoption of the lineage system, the Portuguese nobility did not promote the exclusion of the second-born sons from the paternal inheritance. This weakens the idea that a substantial proportion of them joined the ranks of the military orders, so that it is possible that the same orders also incorporated villein-knights and members of the urban aristocracies.

Introduction:

When Pope Urban II made his famous speech at the Council of Clermont in 1095, exhorting Christendom to liberate the holy places in Palestine, he was far from imagining the dimension and consequences of the phenomenon to which his words were to give rise. The movement of the Crusades did in fact assume truly exceptional proportions. Above all it became a question of expansion, both in territorial terms by extending the frontiers of Christendom to the Near East, and by founding various Christian kingdoms there, and as is obvious, in human terms and in terms of the spread of faith. Yet in addition to conquest and expansion, the Crusades also gave rise to new realities and structures. Among these, one must, I believe, inevitably highlight closer contacts established between West and East, with undeniable repercussions at the economic, cultural, artistic and intellectual levels. At the level of structures, I must emphasize the creation of the Christian kingdoms in the Near East and the appearance of the military orders. Being the embodiment of the idea of the militia christi, the military orders appeared precisely within the context of the Crusades as the legitimately and canonically armed hand of Christianity.

At this level, one cannot fail to give great importance to the emblematic case of the oldest and most prestigious military order, linked even today to the principles that lay behind its now remote genesis. In fact, the Sovereign Military and Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, Rhodes and Malta initially appeared (in 1080) as an institution created for the lodging and the provision of hospital assistance to all those who, in their quest for redemption, made their way to the holy places of Palestine. As is well known, after the capture of Jerusalem in 1099 it was necessary to protect the crowds of pilgrims converging there from all over Europe, which gave rise to the need to create institutions that were capable of guaranteeing such protection and providing military support to the subsequent conquest and occupation of the territory.

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20 Jan 2010
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Historical writing in Visigothic Spain from c. 468 to the Arab invasion of 711

Historical writing in Visigothic Spain from c. 468 to the Arab invasion of 711

By Elizabeth A. Jordan

Thesis (Ph.D.)–University of Toronto, 1996

Abstract: The purpose of the present dissertation is to investigate the nature of the historical works composed in Visigothic Spain from the Chronica of the Gallaecian bishop Hydatius written c. 468 to the Arab Invasion of Spain in 711. The limited amount of concrete evidence to have survived with regard to the Visigothic kingdom in Spain, has generally led scholars to treat these historical texts as sources for historical facts rather than to approach them from a historiographical perspective. Alternatively, they have been used, selectively, to support certain thematic arguments.

The thesis examines the major extant historical works produced in Spain in this period in an attempt to derive from them the emerging perception throughout the period of the Visigothic presence in the peninsula and its role vis-a-vis external political entities, the Spanish Church and the indigenous population. An attempt is made to identify the ways in which the various kinds of historical works were used to direct and shape perceptions ofthe Goths and of Gothic history to certain ends, determined by the authors, all of whom held high ecclesiastical office, and to place these works within a larger context of Christian historical writing in its various genres.

Chapter 1 contains a general discussion of the nature of historical writing in the medieval period, the selection of texts for the present study, and the historiographical background which preceded and influenced the Iberian authors.

Chapter 2 considers how the Chronica of Hydatius reflected the Hispano-Roman reaction to the initial barbarian incursions. In Chapter 3 the focus shifts to the Visigothic period proper with the late-fifth-century chronicle of John of Biclar.

Chapter 4 serves as an introduction to Isidore of Seville and an examination of his political and historical theories as they appear in his non-historical writings. Chapter 5 focuses on the various genres of historical writing in which Isidore worked, and the manner in which he used them to direct the historical perceptions of his audience.

Chapter 5 examines the narrowing of the focus of historical writing in the later Visigothic period and includes the two major historical works produced in Spain from the death of Isidore to the Arab invasion, the De viris illustribus of Ildefonsus of Toledo and the Historia Wambae of Julian of Toledo. Chapter 6 summarizes the major changes of focus which took place in Spain throughout the Visigothic period.

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17 Jan 2010
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Rashi’s Daughters Book Three: Rachel

Rashi’s Daughters Book Three: Rachel

By Maggie Anton

Publisher: Plume, 2009
ISBN: 9780452295681

Rachel is the youngest and most beautiful daughter of medieval Jewish scholar Salomon ben Isaac, or “Rashi.” Her father’s favorite and adored by her new husband, Eliezer, Rachel’s life looks to be one of peaceful scholarship, laughter, and love. But events beyond her control will soon threaten everything she holds dear. Marauders of the First Crusade massacre nearly the entire Jewish population of Germany , and her beloved father suffers a stroke. Eliezer wants their family to move to the safety of Spain , but Rachel is determined to stay in France and help her family save the Troyes yeshiva, the only remnant of the great centers of Jewish learning in Europe .

Maggie Anton Lecture on Rashi’s Daughters

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13 Jan 2010
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Vikings raids on the Spanish Peninsula

Vikings raids on the Spanish Peninsula

By Rolf Scheen

Militaria: Revista de cultura militar, No.8 (1996)

Introduction: The Muslims described «heathens» as Majus. The name Majus – Magians was originally used of the Zoroastrians. It was then extended to other unbelievers, together with the associations of the term — e. g. incest and fire-worship. Again, the Muslims of the west described Spaniards who remained Christian as adjam, that is «Persians»— a term used in the east for non-Arab muslims, usually of Persian origin.

Among the Muslims of the west the same name was applied to the heathen Scandinavians who were believed to be fireworshippers. The great fire festivais of northern Europe (which were not confined to Seandinavia), or even the seasonal burning of the heather, may have suggested this Magian connotation. In later Arab sources the name al-Ordomaníyun is used; it is borrowed from Latin forms Normanni, Nordmanni, Lordomanni, Lormanes, Leodomanni.

As Shetelig observes, the forms of «Norman» are of Norwegian origin. «The classical example is to be found in Alfred’s writings from about 880-890, when the Norwegian Ottar is his source on this matter. Ottar speaks of the whole country, from Vestfold to Finnmark, as being «Nordmanna land» or «Nordweg». It is of interest that while the Saxons were fighting the Danes, both Alfred and AEthelstan had Norwegians in the royal circle.

In Byzantine and Russian sources the names Ros, Rus’ were applied to Scandinavians, mostly of Swedish origin, who had penetrated down the rivers of Eastern Europe and who founded the city of Novgorod. Sometimes the chronicles preserve specific regional names; as Westfaldingi, Norwegians from Vestfold, round the Oslo fjord.

But in general the chronicles are seldom specific and often inaccurate. In referring to the Viking attacks, the Annals of Ulster call the invaders Genti («gentiles»); «the Four Masters» who compited the Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland, use the term Gailí («foreigners»). And it was this Majus/gentiles/gailís who in 844 showed up in the Spanish peninsula.

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11 Jan 2010
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Exceptis militibus et sanctis: Restrictions upon Ecclesiastical Ownership of Land in the Foral Legislation of Medieval Castile and Valencia

Exceptis militibus et sanctis»: Restrictions upon Ecclesiastical Ownership of Land in the Foral Legislation of Medieval Castile and Valencia

By James W. Brodman

En la España Medieval, No.15 (1992)

Introduction:  The late twelfth-century fuero of Cuenca, in discussing family relationships, states that, as matter of principle, “no one may disinherit his sons”. If someone, for example, should decide to enter te religious life, he may retain only a fifth of his personal property. The remainder, and all of his real property, must as a matter of equity andjustice be turned over to his heirs.

While in general, Cuencas municipal law code guarantees to property owners full powerover theirholdings, including the right of its disposal, the fuero specifically forbids the granting of any real property to monks or to those who have renounced the world. The rationale is that, because eccíesiastical persons cannot sell property, they should not be permitted to acquire it.

Later on, in the section dealing with buying and selling, the fuero stipulates that sales and exchanges of property within the city are permitted, except when monks are involved. These seemingly minor provisions in medieval property law are significant because they helpus to understand the place that the Church occupied in the society of frontier Spain.

On the one hand, and as numerous privileges demonstrate, priests and communities of religious were welcomed into frontier municipalities as settlers, and endowed with lands in the hope that these, by establishing a Christian presence in lands formerly Muslim, would assist in planting durable Christian societies.

But, on the other hand, care had to be taken lest the Church gain too much property and thus reduce the amount of land available to lay settlers or the revenues from that land accruing to kings or municipal concejos. The existence of these two competing concerns produced a period of experimentation in which the law, foral and ultimately royal, attempted to balance the legitimate interests of clerics and settlers. This study, through an examination of this law and of the anecdotal charter evidence, will trace the evolution of that effort.

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11 Jan 2010
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Social Networks in a Castilian Jewish Aljama and the Court Jews in the Fifteenth Century: A Preliminary Survey

Social Networks in a Castilian Jewish Aljama and the Court Jews in the Fifteenth Century: A Preliminary Survey

By Javier CASTAÑO

En la España Medieval, No.20 (1987)

Introduction: This article offers a preliminary survey based mainly on archival material: This short survey is part of a project in progress on Castilian Jewish leadership at the middle of the fifteenth century (circa 1440-1475), a study that will integrate Castilian archival and narrative sources as well as Hebrew legal and homiletic ones.

Here, I try to present some new material and, by the way of example, to articulate the relationship of this Jewish elite with a specific local community. We know that «a work of synthesis does not venture where current scholarship has not gone. That is the case with this particular period in Jewish history, where almost everything has still to be done, either because we are ignorant of its main sociopolitical and intellectual trends, or because these trends have been totally misunderstood.

The generation studied here is complex to analyze, at least from a political point of view, when we take into account the struggles that completely fragmented Castilian political power after 1464 until at least 1480, sfruggles in which Jews were not absent. The other problems for the period I am studying are either a lack of documentaty evidence, or disparate sources, both Castilian and Hebrew.

The usual grim view of the lives of Iberian Jewries during the fifteenth century — as result of the riots of 1391, the implementation of the restrictive legislation of 1412 and the impact of the missionary efforts in the period 1391-1414, and the way these events foreshadow the tragic expulsions and conversions of the nineties— has to be challenged. Far from this perception, the fifteenth century is a period of transformation of communal and social structures and of adaptation to new challenges —one interrupted, it is true by a sudden and tragic end. However, it is a period that deserves to be studied by itself, and not as a sad afterward to an idealized and diffuse ‘golden age’.

For the more concrete part of my analysis here, which focuses on the relationship between royal court Jews and a local Jewish community, I make use of the notarial registers. These records, which are partially preserved in Madrid, present certain homogeneity. As far as local social and economic aspects of Castilian Jewry for the decades 1440 to 1470, there seems tobe no other Castilian town with similar sources of the same value. In addition. Madrid has during these decades a particular importance in Castilian politics, being one of the favourite seats of the royal court. One caution is needed though making use of this archival material, in order to avoid confusion: Castilian sources usually privilege the portrayal of Jews in their relationship with non-Jews, ignoring in most cases details about the inner political, social, or religious life of the community.

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11 Jan 2010
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Politics and ideology in Late Medieval Cordoba

Politics and ideology in Late Medieval Cordoba

By John Edwards

En la España Medieval, Vol.4 (1984)

Introduction: Despite the growth of ‘scientific’ analysis in the study of the past, it is still rare to find any frankness among historians concerning their own motives and preconceptions. Most historical work is based on remarkably unsophisticated conceptual apparatus, whatever the technical expertise with whicb written sources are treated.

Nowhere is the barren nature of most historical work more clearly exposed than in the study of politics and political ideas. Despite the awareness in some circíes that history as an intellectual discipline must die, even though it responds to a fundamental human demand br knowledge and understanding of man’s past, if it fails to learn from and absorb other disciplines and their discoveries, it is still in fact, though never explicitly, assumed that men’s motives for political actions in past ages can be adequately explained by the use of a few naive and fairly crude concepts.

In exploring the theory and the practical results of politics in one late medieval Spanish town, it may be possible to reflect, rather more accurately than is customary, both the reality of a certain context in the past and the ideas and prejudices of one historian. This article will not begin from wholly materialistic assumptions or from the converse belief that the only true reality is non-material.

It will however use the knowledge which has been gleaned from a decade of research into the archives of Córdoba in order to undertake a journey which will, it is hoped, go through various ‘archaeological layers’ of historical understanding to reach a more rounded view of what some men aspired to do and what they actually did.

In this search, it will be assumed that those things which are conventionally described as ‘material’ or’spiritual’, whether in metaphors derived from that traditional source of imagery, the human body, so beloved of Biblical writers and medieval and Renaissance political theorists, or in those other images which Man and his followers have found in the spheres of building and manufacture, are merely different facets of one human nature and one world. Whatever distinctions and divisions may have to be made for purposes of analysis, it must never be forgotten that none of these facts or factors can exist for long without reference to the others.

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11 Jan 2010
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