Sesion 14

Minorities in a Christian Society:

Jews and Muslims
1. Jews in Christian Iberia

2. Muslims in Christian Iberia

1. Jews in Christian Iberia
Jews in Christian Iberia

always a minority in all Christian kingdoms of Iberia

– Jewish population in Christian Iberia

• by 1300 circa 150.000

• by 1490 circa 250.000

– less than 5% of total population

– after all: the land in Western Europe with largest Jewish

population
Jews in Christian Iberia call and judería

Jews were a essentially an urban population

– sectors of towns called call in Catalan speaking Iberia and judería

in Castilian speaking Iberia

– the largest and most important Jewish communities

Crown of Aragon (Saragossa, Barcelona, Girona, Perpinyà, Valencia,

Mallorca); Crown of Castile (Toledo, Burgos, Segovia, Sevilla,
Cordoba); Crown of Navarre (Tudela, Pamplona); Crown of Portugal
(Coimbra, Braga, Lisbon)
thekingÕs
Pla
the call ofpalace
cathedral
call
a Sant Barcelona
Jaume
the call, a particular
topography

the ritual bath (mikvah)

the Jewish market place

the synagogue (scola de

jueus)

the hospital (espital dels

jueus)

full-page miniature from Haggadah,

Iberia 14th century
Jews in Christian Iberia aljamas and juderías

Jews in Christian Iberia had the right to govern themselves

– aljamas in Catalan speaking Iberia, juderías in Castilian speaking

Iberia

– ruled by

• secular rulers: secretaris (secretarii) consell (concilium)

• religious leaders: rabbis

Jews in Christian Iberia aljamas and juderías

the tasks of the secular self-

government

– justice

– taxes

– protection
the tasks of the secular self-
government

– justice

– taxes

– protection

accounts of Jucef Zabara presented in 1443 to

those responsible of the yearly tax assessment
in the aljama of Girona
fragment of a book
containing Selichot
prayers: prayers for
forgiveness and the
special service of
penitence held at
midnight on the
Saturday night before
Rosh Hashanah (Jewish
New Year celebration in
the fall of the year, the
month of Tishri)

the fragment includes the

beginning of a poem by
Judah Halevi, included in
collections of Jewish
religious hymns after 1391
Jews in Christian Iberia the king's treasure

the Jews: treasure of the Christian king

– king claimed ultimate jurisdiction (supreme judge) over every Jew

living in the lands under its rule

– king assumed to be the protector of the Jews of his kingdom

Jews in Christian Iberia the king's treasure

the king used Jews

– Jews served as administrators and financers

loans granted on fiscal incomes; Jews collected and farmed taxes; Jews
acted as treasurers of the king

– Jews served the king as diplomats, physicians, as translators (of

Arabic scholars) and as scholars
Jews in Christian Iberia the Jewish elite

the aljamas controlled by an elite of better Jews

– richer Jews

– stronger Jews

– wiser Jews
text in Arabic but using Hebrew
alphabet. Probably produced
in Muslim Iberia in the 13th
or 14th century

a fragment of a treaty on
medicine written by the
Syriac Ishaq ibn Hunayn
(died 910), son of Hunayn
ibn Ishaq. The fragment is
preserved in an archive of
Girona
2. Muslims in Christian Iberia
Muslims in Christian Iberia Mudejars

a Mudejar, a Muslim who stayed in his land after Christian

conquest and who accepted and submitted to non-Muslim rule

– from Arabic mudajjanun 'those who are allowed to stay', 'those

who pay tribute'

– the Christian sources do not call them mudejars, but moro or

sarraceno
Muslims in Christian Iberia Mudejars

• 11th and 12th centuries, the first Mudejar communities, the

result of the Christian conquests

• 13th century, large scale conquests, new Mudejar

communities

– they were larger

– they were more cohesive

– they were more capable of resistance and serious revolt

Mudejar
Crown
kingdom
Crown populations in
kingdom
of
of
of
of
Castile
Aragon
Portugal
Navarre
Granada
the 13th century
in the kingdom of the principality
kingdom
Mudejar communities
Barcelona
Valencia of of
Valencia
Catalonia
of the 13th
century in the Crown of Aragon
Valencia, majority of
the population

– circa 100.000
Muslims in front of
circa 30.000
Christians

– in cities Muslims
tended to live in
certain neighborhoods

– many villages
exclusively settled by
Mudejars
Muslims in Christian Iberia Mudejars

the question why were Muslims kept on place by the Christians,

why were they not expulsed?

– Christians, few and needed labor force to maintain rural and urban
economies

– Muslims were a labor force prized for their agricultural skills and
craftsmanship

– Muslims were a cheap and submissive labor force

Muslims in Christian Iberia aljamas

all Muslims (as also all the Jews) were part of the king’s treasure

– king claimed ultimate jurisdiction (supreme judge) over every

Muslim living in the lands under its rule

– king assumed to be the protector of the Muslims of his kingdom

Muslims in Christian Iberia aljamas

Muslims in Christian Iberia had the right to govern themselves

– communities

aljamas in Catalan speaking Iberia, morerías in Castilian speaking Iberia

– rulers:

• the secular ruler of the community: alcayde de moros, Arabic al-qadi

'judge', assisted by a council of elders (viejos)

• the religious ruler of the aljama: alfaquí

Muslims in Christian Iberia aljamas

the tasks of the secular self-government

– justice

– taxes

– protection
Muslims in Christian Iberia a resisting minority

the Mudejar's situation in Christian Iberia was a difficult situation

– pressure exercised by Christians

attacks of Christians; revolts of Mudejars

– incomprehension of other Muslims

rejection of living permanently under non-Islamic rule

Muslims in Christian Iberia a resisting minority

Mudejars were populations of Muslims who decided to stay in

Christian Iberia

– resisting Christian’s pressure

– accepting isolation from Muslims and disapproval of the doctors

– preserving the most vital boundary-maintaining mechanism of any

society
Muslims in Christian Iberia a resisting minority

preserving the most vital boundary-maintaining

mechanism of any society

– religion

basic beliefs and practices of Islam, Islamic law (sharia)

– language

• Valencia, Arabic

• other parts of Iberia, Romance languages (aljamiado)