Medieval Spains
Advanced Skills

Church, Mosque, and Synagogue: Christians, Muslims, and Jews in Medieval Spain

Course Background and Objective: The Muslim conquest of the Iberian peninsula in 711 inaugurated a complex trireligious society that was to endure nearly eight hundred years (and more than eight centuries on the Muslim lunar calendar). This development has given rise to Spain's designation as a "land of three religions" and Spain's reputation as premodern western Europe's foremost "pluralist" society. It has also made Spain, as compared with other European lands, a hard country for non-Spaniards to understand.

This course seeks to explore diverse facets of Jewish-Muslim-Christian convivencia ("dwelling together"; coexistence) from the advent of Hispano-Islamic society through 1501, when Spanish Muslims were given a choice between conversion to Christianity or exile. (Spain's Jews had been given the same choice nine years earlier.) From the 8th through roughly the mid-11th centuries Muslims dominated most of the peninsula. From roughly the mid-11th through 15th centuries and on Christians ruled much and eventually all of Spain and Portugal. Much of the time a relatively stabilized Islamic-Christian frontier prevailed. In other periods -- especially the mid-11th to mid-13th centuries -- the frontier was in flux, with Christian kingdoms acquiring Muslim enclaves, many home to significant Jewish communities. Contacts between the three faith-communities occurred throughout, some characterized by cooperation and creativity and others by rivalry and misunderstanding.

The course focuses on religious and cultural contacts and their socio-psychological dynamics, placing these in historical and (only very partial) geographic, linguistic, political, economic, and technological context. The course centers on written sources but does not wholly neglect iconography and architecture. It stresses diverse perspectives within and across religious boundaries and at times forces us to ponder difficulties faced by scholars seeking to explain religious or religiously-linked phenomena (e.g., what actual human experience lies behind the metaphor of "religious conversion"?).

Methodologically, our enterprise emphasizes study of primary sources as the only way to arrive at a trustworthy model of convivencia. In the course of such study, attention is paid to peculiarities of genre, the frequent indeterminacy of evidence, and difficulties involved in formulating historical assessments.

The course summons questions concerning the dynamics of religious change and concerning the interplay of persecution and toleration: What phenomena stimulate cultural change? How representative are medieval Spain's majority-minority relations of those in formative western European society generally? Occasionally, we note how recent developments (e.g., the Arab-Israeli conflict) have coloured modern understandings of the medieval past or how past events live on in the present-day consciousness of Christians, Muslims, and Jews.

Prerequisites, Format, Structure, Scope: The course has no prerequisites but is better taken after a course in (at least) one of the three religious traditions that we study. Sources are read in English translation but students are encouraged to use original languages where possible. The main format is interactive seminar.

Structurally, the course divides into three main parts. During the Fall Semester, we mostly study 1) Al-Andalus: Islamic Spain from the Umayyads through the Almohads. During the Winter Semester we consider 2) the Period of Christian Expansion, 11th - 13th Centuries and 3) the Late Middle Ages: Towards Religious Uniformity and Empire.

Note that 1) differences among peninsular peoples of the same faith-community (Berber versus Arab Muslims, Castilian versus Aragonese or Catalan Christians) are not explored in depth and 2) the Portuguese constituent of medieval Iberia as well as overseas holdings of Spanish polities are not considered.

Required Texts (available at the University Bookstore):
  1. Medieval Iberia: Readings from Christian, Muslim, and Jewish Sources, ed. Constable
  2. A Course Kit
  3. Bernard Reilly, The Medieval Spains


Course Outline

  1. Introduction
    1. Why this course? Interreligious Primer. Issues of language and geography
    2. Roman and Visigothic Spain
  2. Al-Andalus: from the Umayyads through the Almohads
    1. Islamic Conquest, Political Ups and Downs, Intra-Muslic Ethnic Cleavages
    2. Christians, Jews, and Neo-Muslims in Hispano-Islamic Society
    3. Religious, Literary, and Intellectual Currents
    4. Andalusi-Jewish Images of Islam and Islamicate Civilization
  3. Frontier Society: Period of Christian Expansion, 11th - 13th Centuries
    1. Conquest, Holy War, and Frontier Society 1050 - 1212
    2. Religion, Literature, Science in Christian Spain (1100 - 1250)
    3. Thirteenth Century Conquest and Resettlement
    4. Dreams of Conversion: 13th Century Missionary Assault
    5. Jews, Muslims, and Alfonso X "el Sabio"
  4. Late Middle Ages: Towards Religious Uniformity and Empire
    1. Muslim Granada and Mudejars, 14th Century - 1469
    2. Jews and Conversos -- 14th Century - 1469
    3. Catholic Monarchs
    4. The Moriscos (Crypto-Muslims)
    5. Glance Forward: Rise of a World Power
    6. Polemic of Spanish History


Reading Assignments

(MI = Medieval Iberia; CK = Course Kit; Reilly = The Medieval Spains; * = optional)

For extensive bibliography in English, see the back of Medieval Iberia; the books listed as optional below are well-known, fairly general monographs.

Introduction

Primary Sources
  1. Church and Synagogue in sculpture
  2. Augustine on the Jews
  3. Pact of Umar

Secondary Reading
  1. Jeremy Cohen, Living Letters of the Law, 1-71


Roman and Visigothic Spain

Primary Sources
  1. Coucin of Elvira (about 300) (CK1-2)
  2. Severus of Minorca, "Letter on the Conversion of the Jews" (417-18) (CK3-10)
  3. Visogothic conversion to Catholicism (MI12-20 skim)
  4. Isidore of Seville, "In Praise of Spain" (624) (MI3-4)
  5. Visogothic legislation concerning the Jews
    1. Fourth council of Toledo (presided over by Isidore) (633) (CK11)
    2. Sixth council of Toledo (638) (MI21-22)
    3. Lex Visigothorum (MI23)

Secondary Reading
  1. Reilly, 1-7, 17-33, 39-50; Maps 1 and 2
  2. Jeremy Cohen, Living Letters of the Law, 95-122
  3. *Harold V. Livermore, The Origins of Spain and Portugal


Al-Andalus: from the Umayyads through the Almohads

Islamic Conquest, Political Ups and Downs, Muslim Ethnic Cleavages

Primary Sources
  1. Two accounts of the Muslim conquest (MI29-36)
  2. Jews Aid the Muslim Conquerors (CK12)
  3. A Muslim-Christian Treaty, 713 (MI37-38)
  4. Christian resistance in the North (ca. 718) (MI39-42)

Secondary Reading
  1. Map of Iberian peninsula (MI28)
  2. Reilly, 51-67, 74-89
  3. Maria Rosa Menocal, "Visions of al-Andalus," in The Literature of Al-Andalus
  4. *Hugh Kennedy, Muslim Spain and Portugal: A Political History of al-Andalus
  5. *Bernard Lewis, The Arabs in History, chapters 2-8


Christians, Jews, and Neo-Muslims in Hispano-Islamic Society

Primary Sources
  1. Period of Umayyad emirate and caliphate (756-1031)
    1. Issues of conversion: a Churchman converts to Judaism (CK13); a fatwa (religious ruling) regarding a convert to Islam who wishes to revert to Christianity (CK14)
    2. A fatwa regarding Muslims who celebrate Christian festivals (CK15-16)
    3. Christian martyrs in Cordoba (MI51-55)
    4. A muwallad revolts against `Abd al-Ra²man (CK17)
    5. A Babylonian teshuvah (religious ruling) sent to Spain (CK18-19)
    6. Jewish diplomats and administrators at the Umayyad court (MI67-74)
  2. Period of "Party Kings" (reyes de taifas, muluk at-tawa'if) (1031-1090s)
    1. Samuel ibn Naghrela on the Battle of Alfuente (MI84-90)
    2. Muslim and Jewish views of Samuel and Joseph ibn Naghrela (MI91-102)
    3. Getting away with murder: a Muslim-Jewish encounter at a bathhouse (CK20)
  3. Almoravid Dynasty (al-muratibun) (1091-1140s)
    1. Issues of religious innovation (bid`a) and laxity (CK21-22)
    2. From a hisba manual: market regulations in Seville (MI176-79)
  4. Almohad Dynasty (al-muwahhidun) (1148-1240s)
    1. A Jewish response to the Almohad persecutions (CK23-25)

Secondary Reading
  1. Robert Hillenbrand, "`The Ornament of the World": Medieval Córdoba as a Cultural Centre," in The Legacy of Muslim Spain (CK55-66)
  2. M. Epalza, "Mozarabs: An Emblematic Christian Minority in Islamic al-Andalus," in The Legacy of Muslim Spain (CK67-74)
  3. Jane S. Gerber, "The Golden Era," in The Jews of Spain: A History of the Sephardic Experience
  4. *Thomas F. Glick, Islamic and Christian Spain
  5. *Eliyahu Ashtor, The Jews of Moslem Spain, 3 vols.


Religious, Literary, and Intellectual Currents

Primary Sources
  1. Religious polemics and apologetics
    1. A Christian account of the life of Muhammad (MI48-50)
    2. Judah Halevi, Kuzari (CK26-30)
  2. Scriptural scholarship and polemic
    1. A Jew (misre-)presents Song of Songs before the Almoravid emir (CK14)
    2. Introduction to Maimonides' Guide of the Perplexed (CK31-36)
    3. The challenge of i`jaz al-qur'an ("the inimitablity of the Quran") (CK14)
    4. Ibn Hazm's "biblical criticism"
      1. critique of the Hebrew Bible (CK37)
      2. inconsistencies of the gospels (MI81-83)
  3. Hispano-Arabic and Hispano-Jewish poetry
    1. Hispano-Arabic muwashshah and zajal (MI175-79)
    2. Golden age of Hebrew poetry (CK38-40)
  4. Theology, Spirituality, Philosophy
    1. Bahya ibn Paquda, Duties of the Heart (CK41-43)
    2. The life of ibn Arabi, Andalusi mystic (MI201-6)
    3. From Maimonides' Guide (I, 26, 71; II, 40) (CK44-54)
    4. Ibn Rushd, "The Doctrine of Divine Unity" (MI190-97)

Secondary Reading
  1. Reilly, 67-74
  2. *Oliver Leaman, An Introduction to Medieval Islamic Philosophy


Andalusi-Jewish Images of Islam and Islamicate Civilization (versus Christendom / Christianity)

Primary Sources
  1. Poems of Moses ibn Ezra -- Muslim versus Christian Spain (CK75-76)
  2. A teshuvah (responsum) of Maimonides on the status of Islam in Jewish law (CK77-79)
  3. Maimonides on the role of Christianity and Islam in messianic times (CK80-81)


Frontier Society: Period of Christian Expansion, 11th - 13th Centuries

Conquest, Holy War, and Frontier Society 1050 - 1212

Primary Sources
  1. Career of El Cid (MI, 111-17)
  2. The pope to Spain's bishops on the status of Jews in anti-Muslim crusades (CK, 82-83)
  3. Alfonso VI before the fall of Toledo in an Arabic account (CK, 84-85)
  4. Redeeming a captive Jewish woman (MI, 131-32)
  5. Grants to Christian military orders (MI, 156-61)
  6. Charters granted to Jewish communities (CK, 86-87)

Secondary Reading
  1. Map: The Iberian peninsula, 1095 (MI, 110)
  2. Reilly, 90-103, 116-21, 129-39
  3. Derek W. Lomax, The Reconquest of Spain
  4. Yitzhak Baer, History of the Jews in Christian Spain, I, 39-185


Religion, Literature, Science (1100 - 1250)

Primary Sources
  1. Two arguments in support of the Christian faith (MI, 143-51)
  2. Peter the Venerable has the Koran translated (CK, 88)
  3. Petrus Alfonsi on the cult at Mecca (CK, 90)
  4. Petrus Alfonsi, Disciplina clericalis (MI, 152-55)
  5. Representations of Jews and Muslims in a maq*ma of Judah al-²arizi (MI, 198-202)

Secondary Reading
  1. Reilly, 121-28
  2. C. Burnett, "The Translating Activity in Medieval Spain," in The Legacy of Muslim Spain (CK, 91-98)


Thirteenth Century Conquest and Resettlement

Primary Sources
  1. Conquest of Valencia (MI, 207-216)
  2. Repartimiento (bill of apportionment), Seville 1291 (MI, 228-29)
  3. Papal letters about Spanish Jews (CK, 1-3)
  4. King James II of Aragon responds to the blood libel

Secondary Reading
  1. Reilly, 195-98
  2. R. Ignatius Burns, S.J., "Social Riots on the Christian-Moslem Frontier (Thirteenth-Century Valencia)" (CK, 7-18)


Dreams of Conversion: The Missionary Assault

Primary Sources
  1. Edict of James I of Aragon on Muslim and Jewish converts (CK, 19-20)
  2. The forced sermon as a missionizing technique (CK, 21-22)
  3. Dominican offensive: further activity of Raymond of Penyafort; Arabic study (CK, 23-24)
  4. Early career of Ramon Llull (MI, 276-79)
  5. Conversion experience of a 14th c. Spanish Jew (CK, 25)

Secondary Reading
  1. R. Ignatius Burns, S.J., "Christian-Islamic Confrontation in the West: The Thirteenth-Century Dream of Conversion"


Jews, Muslims, and Alfonso X "el Sabio"

Primary Sources
  1. Jews and Muslims in the Siete partidas (MI, 269-75)
  2. Muslims and Jews in miniatures in the Cántigas de Santa María (Songs [in Praise] of Holy Mary) (CK, 4-5)


Late Middle Ages: Towards Religious Uniformity and Empire

Muslim Granada and Mudejars, 14th Century - 1469

Primary Sources
  1. Nasrid architecture: the Alhambra; Alhambra to musical accompaniment in *Nights in the Garden of Spain (videorecording); go also to www.greatbuildings.com
  2. Exhortation for Muslims to leave Christian Spain and avoid Mudehar status (CK, 34)
  3. A Mudejar summary of Islamic law (CK, 327-29)
  4. Minorities confront each other: King Peter confirms a Muslim community's right to condemn to death converts to Judaism (CK, )

Secondary Reading
  1. Reilly, 190-95
  2. L. P. Harvey, Islamic Spain 1250 to 1500


Jews and Conversos, 14th Century - 1469

Primary Sources
  1. Letters of King Peter IV of Aragon in response to attacks on the Jewish community of Barcelona in the wake of the bubonic plague (CK, 26-27)
  2. Epitaph of Asher aben Turiel, 1349 ( )
  3. An account of the anti-Jewish riots of 1391 (CK, 28-29)
  4. Testimony of a converso while enjoying a Sabbath meal (CK, 30)
  5. A rabbinic responsum (teshuvah) concerning the conversos (CK, 31-33)

Secondary Reading
  1. Reilly, 198-203
  2. Baer, History of the Jews, II, 95-299


Catholic Monarchs

Primary Sources
  1. Two Autos de Fe (1486) (MI, 330-32)
  2. Muslims and Christians in Valencia (MI, 338-42)
  3. Conquest of Granada (MI, 342-50)
  4. Muslim deliberations prior to surrender (MI, 350-51)
  5. The edict of expulsion against Spanish Jewry (MI, 252-56)
  6. Inquisitional trials of Inés López (MI, 332-37)

Secondary Reading
  1. Henry Kamen, "The Catholic Kings 1469-1516" (CK, 35-44)


The Moriscos (Crypto-Muslims)

Primary Sources
  1. Morisco appeal to the Ottomon Sultan (MI, 364-70)

Secondary Reading
  1. L. P. Harvey, "The Political, Social and Cultural History of the Moriscos," in The Legacy of Muslim Spain, 201-33 (CK, 45-61)


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