THE VICTORS AND THE VANQUISHED

This is a revisionary study of Muslims living under Christian rule during the Spanish “reconquest.” It looks beyond the obvious religious distinction and delves into the subtleties of identity in the thirteenth-century Crown of Aragon, uncovering a social dynamic in which sectarian differences comprise only one of the many factors in the causal complex of political, economic, and cultural reactions.

   Beginning with the final stage of independent Muslim rule in the Ebro valley region, the book traces the transformation of Islamic society into mudéjar society under Christian domination. This was a case of social evolution, in which Muslims, far from being passive victims of foreign colonization, took an active part in shaping their institutions and experiences as subjects of the Infidel. Using a diverse range of methodological approaches, this book challenges widely held assumptions concerning Christian–Muslim relations in the Middle Ages, and minority–majority relations in general.

BRIAN A. CATLOS is Assistant Professor of History at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought Fourth Series

General Editor:
D. E. LUSCOMBE
Research Professor of Medieval History, University of Sheffield

Advisory Editors:
CHRISTINE CARPENTER
Reader in Medieval English History, University of Cambridge, and Fellow of New Hall

ROSAMOND McKITTERICK
Professor of Medieval History, University of Cambridge, and Fellow of Newnham College

The series Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought was inaugurated by G. G. Coulton in 1921; Professor D. E. Luscombe now acts as General Editor of the Fourth Series, with Dr Christine Carpenter and Professor Rosamond McKitterick as Advisory Editors. The series brings together outstanding work by medieval scholars over a wide range of human endeavor extending from political economy to the history of ideas.

For a list of titles in the series, see end of book.

THE VICTORS AND THE VANQUISHED

Christians and Muslims of Catalonia and Aragon, 1050–1300

BRIAN A. CATLOS

PUBLISHED BY THE PRESS SYNDICATE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge, United Kingdom

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge, CB2 2RU, UK
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Ruiz de Alarcón 13, 28014 Madrid, Spain
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http://www.cambridge.org

© Brian A. Catlos 2004

This book is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception
and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements,
no reproduction of any part may take place without
the written permission of Cambridge University Press.

First published 2004

Printed in the United Kingdom at the University Press, Cambridge

Typeface Bembo 11/12 pt.   System LATEX 2_e   [TB]

A catalog record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication data
Catlos Brian A.
The victors and the vanquished : Christians and Muslims of Catalonia and Aragon, 1050–1300 / Brian A. Catlos.
p.   cm. – (Cambridge studies in medieval life and thought; 59)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0 521 82234 3
1. Aragon (Spain) – History.   2. Aragon (Spain) – Ethnic relations.   3. Christians – Spain – Aragon – History.   4. Muslims – Spain – Aragon – History.   5. Catalonia (Spain) – History.   6. Catalonia (Spain) – Ethnic relations.   7. Christians – Spain – Catalonia – History.   8. Muslims – Spain – Catalonia – History.   9. Mudéjares.   I. Title.   II. Series.
DP125.C.38   2004
946′.502′0882971 – dc21   2003053298

ISBN 0 521 82234 3 hardback

n., fem.: luminary, bright, brilliant, radiant

CONTENTS

FIGURES

MAPS

TABLES

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to thank the following individuals and organizations, without which the completion of this book and the dissertation on which it is based would not have been possible. First of all deepest thanks to Núria Silleras Fernández for love, inspiration, patience, and advice. In gratitude for their encouragement and support, I thank Miriam and Richard Barkley, and Wadjih F. al-Hamwī, along with many family and friends who convinced me that this was a worthy endeavor to embark upon and complete.

   This book was completed while I held a two-year post-doctoral fellowship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Thomas F. Glick (Boston University) was my director and provided criticism and feedback on this and other projects. Dear thanks are also due to my PhD supervisor Andrew Watson, who patiently endured (and thoroughly criticized) the very rough drafts of my dissertation. My dissertation committee at the University of Toronto, Michael Gervers, Linda Northrup, Richard Hoffmann (York University) and Mark Meyerson, provided indispensable guidance. While researching and writing I had the privilege of working at the Institució Milà i Fontanals (CSIC, Barcelona) under the auspices of Maria Teresa Ferrer i Mallol’s Grup de recerca de la Corona Catalanoaragonesa. While at there I also enjoyed the good will of Josefina Mutgé, Roser Salicrú, and Manuel Sánchez, as well as the library and administrative staff.

   Further feedback and inspiration were provided by Robert I. Burns (UCLA), Elena Lourie (Ben Gurion University), and Jaume Riera y Sans (Arxiu de la Corona d’Aragó). Sharon Kinoshita (UC Santa Cruz) read drafts and made helpful comments at various stages, and David Abulafia (Cambridge University) and Sally McKee (UC Davis) provided encouragement. David E. Luscombe (University of Sheffield) patiently provided advice on the book and reviewed document transcriptions. Miguel Torrens and Richard Raiswell helped with library queries. The staff of the Arxiu de la Corona d’Aragó were welcoming and professional. I am also grateful to Antoni Virgili (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona), Carlos Laliena (Universidad de Zaragoza), Miquel Barceló (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona), and Esteban Sarasa Sánchez (Universidad de Zaragoza) for helping me to access certain difficult sources. William Davis of Cambridge University Press deserves gratitude for taking an interest in the doctoral dissertation and guiding it through its transformation. Special thanks also go to J. N. Hillgarth (University of Toronto), under whom I had the great privilege of studying as a graduate student, and who has remained a source of encouragement.

   Finally, this project would not have been completed without the support of the following: the University of Toronto, including University College, the School of Graduate Studies; the Centre for Medieval Studies and the Associates of the School of Graduate Studies; the Canada and Ontario Student Loan Programs; the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada; the Ontario Government; the Canadian Association of University Teachers; the American Historical Association; the Imperial Order of the Daughters of the Empire; the Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores de España; the Generalitat de Catalunya; and the Institut d’Estudis Catalans (Barcelona). The Excmo. Ayuntamento de Alcañiz kindly gave me permission to photograph the castle frescoes for use in this book.

NOTE ON THE CITATION OF SOURCES, DATES, PLACES, AND NAMES

In the course of my archival research I examined systematically and in their entirety the various collections cited in the Bibliography. Where I am aware of an edition of a document which I have consulted in the original, this has been noted; documents cited only by the edited version were consulted only in published form. When I was led to a source by a secondary study I have indicated the work in question. Otherwise, I hope my readers will understand that I am not endeavoring to lay any special claim to the “discovery” of documents which have been used by others.

   The languages of the documents used in this study include Arabic, Latin, Old Spanish, Old Catalan, Old Aragonese, and other intermediate and imprecise “Romance” dialects. The Latin itself ranges from elevated registers to severely bastardized orally influenced forms. In extracts from unedited documents I have added only punctuation and capitalization; spellings have been transcribed verbatim. Scribal inconsistencies are not noted, except where they affect clarity (in which case a [sic] may be interposed). The consonantal “i” and and “u” are favored over “j” and “v,” except in personal and place names which customarily use the latter. Italicized foreign words which appear in the text are presented in their standard Latin, Catalan, or Castilian forms (e.g. aljama, universitas), unless they are drawn directly from sources, in which case they appear according to their usage in the document in question. Dates of documents have been converted to the modern calendar for consistency (and thus may differ from dates noted in other publications). All translations into English are mine, unless otherwise noted. In these excerpts I have opted to convey the sense of the original rather than following literally the sometimes awkward constructions.

   Place names of towns are rendered according to the standard modern forms (e.g. Lleida, Zaragoza), except in cases where the accepted English version varies markedly from the original (e.g. Mecca instead of al-Makka). Names of countries and regions are presented according to current English usage; the term “Crown of Aragon” is preferred over “Catalano-Aragonese Crown” to refer to the dynastic federation ruled by the descendants of the ruling house of Barcelona. Kings of Aragon before the dynastic union of 1150 are indicated by their Aragonese enumeration with Castilian spelling (e.g. Alfonso Ⅰ “the Battler”). The successors of Ramon Berenguer Ⅳ, the count-kings of Barcelona-Aragón (and many other titles), are enumerated and named according to their modern Catalan form (e.g. Alfons Ⅱ “the Liberal,” rather than Alfonso Ⅲ). Occidental honorifics are translated, Arabic ones are not, and popes’ names are given in English. Major figures of the age who appear in the documentation are referred to according to standard modern forms (e.g. “Blasco de Alagón” for “Blascus de Alagone,” and “Roger de Llúria” for “Rogerius de Loria”), while lesser figures bear the names (typically Latin forms) by which they are referred to in the documents (e.g. “Raymundus Martini” rather than “Ramon Martines” or “Ramón Martínez”). This is justified by the fact that the overwhelming majority of the documents are in Latin, and because many individuals straddled the Catalan–Aragonese cultural and linguistic divide. Likewise, names of lesser Muslim and Jewish personages appear according to their form in the Christian documents. In such cases, apart from within excerpts from documents, individuals are named consistently, according to the dominant variant (e.g. a “Muḥammad” may appear as either “Mahomet,” “Mahoma” or “Mafomet”). The words “Muslim” and “Islamic” are used interchangeably as adjectives whereas “Moorish” is avoided as antiquated and misleading.

GLOSSARY

açuna (or assunna, zunna or sunna, Lat., Rom; from Ar. al-sunna): Muslim or Jewish law as recognized by and practiced under Christian domination in Iberia.

adelantati (Lat., sing. adelantatus): popular representatives of the aljama (normally two or four in number), elected by its members, and with responsibility for taxation and certain minor criminal offenses.

alaminus (Lat.; Rom. alamin or alamí, from Ar. al-amīn): mudéjar judicial official, somtimes designating the local community leader.

albaranum (Lat., pl. albarana; from Ar. al-barā a): receipt or contract showing that the royal tax had been paid on the purchase of a slave.

alcadi (Lat., Rom. alchadi; from Ar. al-qāḍī ): mudéjar Islamic magistrate, possibly designating local community leader.

alcaydus (Lat.; Rom. alcait; from Ar. al-qā’id or al-qāḍī ): mudéjar community leader, and frequently, magistrate.

alcudia (Lat.): the jurisdictional and/or geographic competency of an alcaydus.

alfaquinatus (Lat.): the jurisdictional and/or geographic competency of an alfaquinus.

alfaquinus (or alfaqui, Lat., Rom. alfachis; from Ar. al-faqīh): mudéjar jurist, sometimes designating the community leader.

alfundicus (alfondech or fundicum, Lat.; Rom. alfondega, alfondica; from Ar. al-funduq): (1) a merchants’ inn, storehouse and market; a caravanserai; (2) a Christian trade and diplomatic embassy in Islamic territory.

alguazir (Lat., Rom., from Ar. wazīr): (1) in some locales, a mudéjar official; (2) (Cast. alguacil ) a lower-level judicial officer.

aljama (Lat., Rom.; from Ar. al-jamī ): a Muslim or Jewish community in Christian Iberia.

amān (Ar.): a treaty extended by Muslim military commanders to enemies who surrender.

ʾamma (Ar.): in Islamic society, the mass of the population as distinguished from the aristocracy, or khaṣṣa.

azemila (Lat.; from Ar. al-zāmila): a head tax on mules in the Crown of Aragon.

azofra (or sofra minuta, Lat., Rom.; from Ar. al-ṣufra): in the Crown of Aragon, an obligation for subjects of a feudal lord to perform labor services, such as wood and water transport.

baiulus (Lat.; Cat. batlle): a royal or seigniorial rent collector, with jurisdiction over a single municipality and its dependent villages.

baiulus sarracenorum (Lat.): a royal or seigniorial official with jurisdiction over an aljama.

baptizatus (Lat.): a convert to Christianity.

capeleuator (Lat.): one who posts bail for another.

carta-puebla (Cast.): a charter issued by a king or other feudal authority determining the terms of settlement of a village and the reciprocal obligations of the lord and inhabitants.

cartelegium (Lat.): a tax or toll on the transport of goods.

caualcata (Lat.): an obligation for royal subjects to render military service.

çaualquem (or çaualquenus, Lat.; from Ar. ṣāḥib al-ḥukm?): mudéjar judicial official and aljama administrator; a term used primarily in Catalonia.

çaualquenia (Lat.): the jurisdictional and/or geographic competency of a çaualquem.

cavalleria (Lat.): the fiscal unit representing the cost of supporting one cavalryman.

cena (Lat.): the hospitality which communities were required to extend to the king; gradually converted into a regular tax and extended to figures of lesser rank.

chirograph: a medieval contractual document which was drawn up in duplicate on a single parchment, often with a series of letters (e.g. “ABC”) separating the texts. On execution the document would be cut with a knife, leaving each party with one of the interlocking copies.

concilium (Lat.): town council, administering the whole town or the Christian community therein.

converso (Rom.): a convert to Christianity.

corts (Cat.; Cast. cortes): the parliament in the Crown of Aragon; convened periodically, either kingdom by kingdom or all together.

corvée (Fr.): the obligatory labor, such as road repair, which tenants were required to perform for their feudal lord.

dār al-Islām (Ar.): the “abode of Islam”; that portion of the world under the political control of Islamic regimes.

decimas (Lat.): the annual tax of ten per cent levied on produce by the Church.

dhimma (Ar.): the “pact of protection” extended to non-Muslim subject populations by Islamic regimes.

don (Cast.; from Lat. dominus): a term indicating respect, similar to “Mister.”

elongamentum (Lat.): a loan extension.

exaricus (Lat.; Rom. exaric; from Ar. al-shārik): a sharecro pper.

exercitus (Lat.): an obligation for royal subjects to render military service, eventually converted into a regular tax.

faqīh (Ar.): a specialist in Islamic law.

fatwā (Ar.): a legal/theological responsum or opinion regarding a hypothetical or actual scenario, dictated by an Islamic jurist.

fideiussor (Lat.): a guarantor.

fitna (Ar.): “struggle,” usually denoting civil war or war between Islamic regimes.

franquitas (Lat.): an exemption from the obligation to pay standard royal taxes.

fuero (Cast.; Cat. fur; Lat. forum): a law or legal code.

funduq (Ar.): see alfondicus.

ghazw (Ar.; Rom. razzia): a raid.

guidaticum (Lat.): a letter of protection or safe transit issued by the king.

hājib (Ar.): “chamberlain”; the title favored by the taifa kings.

ḥisba (Ar.): public morality, including sexual behavior and commercial law.

ḥisn/qarya (Ar.): a settlement structure of villages and a strong-point or fortress, characteristic of northern and eastern al-Andalus.

homicidium (Lat.): the fine for the charge of murder.

homines (Lat., sing. homo): literally, “men,” used to refer to the inhabitants, frequently the Christian inhabitants, of a locale.

honor (Lat., Rom.): an administrative/fiscal grant given in exchange for military service.

hubūs (Ar.): a pious endowment typically in service of charity.

huerta (Cast.): a market-garden.

imām (Ar.): an Islamic prayer-leader.

infante (Cast.; Cat. infant): a prince; a child, uncle or brother of the king.

infanzon (Cast., Lat.; Cat. cavaller; Rom. ynfançon): a member of the broad Aragonese nobility, a group which enjoyed special legal and fiscal status.

jenetus (Lat.; Rom. jenet; Cat. genet; from Ar. Banū Zanāta): Muslim mercenary; light cavalryman.

jihād (Ar.): moral struggle; “Holy War.”

jizya (Ar.): the poll-tax paid by non-Muslim subjects to Islamic rulers in lieu of military service.

judería (Cast.; Cat. call): Jewish neighborhood or ghetto, often contiguous with but not equivalent to aljama; cf. morería.

judex (Lat.): a judge.

juratus (Lat.): a juror, a sworn member of a council or tribunal.

jurisperitus (Lat.): a jurist, a legal expert.

justicia (Lat.): judge appointed by royal order from among the infanzones of a town, over whom he had jurisdiction.

justicia de Aragón (Cast.): originally the chief magistrate of Zaragoza; after the Privilegium generale (1287), became protector of the Aragonese nobility’s rights vis-à-vis the king.

khaṣṣa (Ar.): the aristocracy in Islamic society; a loosely defined class to be distinguished from the amma.

kharja (Ar.): a rhyming couplet, typically in the vernacular, which closes a poem.

kunya (Ar.): an agnomen or surname.

lezda (Lat., Rom.; Cat. leuda): a tax on the transport of goods.

madhhab (Ar.): a school of interpretation of Islamic law; medieval Sunni Islam recognized four such schools as legitimate.

masjid al-jāmi (Ar.): congregational mosque, used for Friday prayers; also commonly site where Islamic justice is dispensed, where the community treasury is kept.

merinus (Lat.): a royal or seigniorial official who enforced judicial sentences.

merum et mixtum imperium (Lat.): civil and criminal jurisdiction.

monetaticus (Lat.; Cat. monetatge): an extraordinary royal tax levied on the occasion of minting coinage.

morería (Cast.): Muslim neighborhood or ghetto, often contiguous with but not equivalent to aljama; cf. judería.

mostassaf (Lat., Rom.; from Ar. muḥtasib): a market official in the Crown of Aragon.

muḥtasib (Ar.): Islamic public morality officer and/or market inspector; see ḥisba.

mudejarismo (Cast.): the modern study of mudéjares.

muftī (Ar.): Islamic scholar and legist.

muwallad (Ar.): a convert to Islam in the post-Conquest period.

nisba (Ar.): an element in traditional Arabic personal name which is refers to place of origin, profession, etc.

parias (Lat., Rom.): tribute paid by taifa rulers to neighboring Christian princes.

peyta (Lat., Rom.): a tax assessed on movable and immovable property.

portaticum (Lat.; Cat. portatge; Rom. portazgo) a tax on the transport of goods.

porterius (Lat.): literally, “gate-keeper”; an agent of the king.

primicias (Lat.): “first fruits” tax levied by the Church.

procurator (Lat.; Rom. procurador): an agent or representative.

qā’id (Ar.): local military commander in al-Andalus.

qāḍī (Ar.): Islamic magistrate.

qaṣba (Ar.): settlement type characteristic of the Atlas mountains and the western Sahara.

quinta (Lat.): “the fifth,” a tax levied on war booty.

raval (Rom.; from Ar. al-rabaḍ): an extra-mural suburb, often denoting the neighborhood where Muslims were required to relocate after conquest.

realenchus (Lat.; Rom. realengo): adjective describing property held directly from the king.

redemptio exercitus (Lat.): a monetary payment made in lieu of exercitus service.

religiosus (Lat.): a member of the clergy.

ribāṭ (Ar.): an Islamic “fortress-monastery,” typically located in frontier zones, where Muslims could temporarily lead an ascetic life and fulfill duty of jihād.

sabasala (Lat., Rom.; from Ar. ṣāhib al-ṣalāh): a mudéjar official.

sabasalania (Lat.): the jurisdictional and/or geographic competency of a sabasala.

ṣadaqa (Ar.): Islamic alms tax.

sayon (Rom., Lat. sagio): a “sargeant-at-arms,” at the service of the municipal judiciary, who sometimes served as executioner.

scribania (Lat., Rom.): the office and competencies of the scribe.

scriptor (Lat.): an officially appointed scribe.

sharī a (Ar.): Islamic law.

shirka (Ar.): one of a number of sharecropping arrangements permissible under Islamic law.

subbaiulus (Lat.): a subordinate or deputy of the local baiulus.

sulṭān (Ar.): in Islam, secular political authority.

sunna (Ar.): the “tradition” which forms one of the basis of Islamic belief and law.

superiunctarius (Lat.): a regional magistrate, a sub-official of the justicia de Aragón.

taifa (Cast.; from Ar. mulūk al-ṭawā’if ): any one of the small principalities which came into being with the disintegration of the Caliphate of Córdoba.

thaghr (Ar., pl. thughūr): a frontier zone, typically between the Islamic and non-Islamic worlds.

tributus (Lat.): a tax.

ʿulamā’ (Ar., sing. ālim): learned or erudite Muslims.

universitas (Lat.): the community of inhabitants of a given place. Frequently referred to Christians only.

ʿushr (Ar.): an Islamic 10 per cent income tax.

vicarius (Lat.; Cat. veguer): a judge with civil and criminal jurisdiction appointed on comital (later royal) authority over one of eighteen vegueries in Catalonia.

waqf (Ar.): see hubūs.

wazīr (Ar.): prime minister, vizier.

zalmedina (Lat., from Ar. ṣāhib al-madina): a municipal official in Christian administration, whose competencies resembled those of the muḥtasib.

ABBREVIATIONS