Download PDF | (The Medieval and Early Modern Iberian World 36) Ana Echevarría, Martin Beagles - Knights on the frontier_ the Moorish guard of the Kings of Castile (1410-1467) (The Medieval and Early Modern Iberian .
379 Pages
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Many people have helped bring this book into being, but particular thanks must go to Mercedes Garcia-Arenal, José Luis Martin and Maria Jestis Viguera Molins, each of whom, in his or her own way, has assisted and encouraged me over the years, making valuable suggestions and enabling me to find my way in the ever-lonely world of academic research.
‘The writing of this book was made possible by a generous postdoctoral grant from the Comunidad de Madrid. My stays at the Center for Medieval Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles and the Center for the Study of Cultures at the University of Rice (Houston, Texas) were tremendously enriching experiences. I would also like to make special mention of my participation in the IFAO-IISMM Week of Doctoral Studies, held in Cairo, Egypt, entitled “The Muslim elites from the Abbasid to the Ottoman periods”, and directed by Houari Touati. I had the privilege of being able to attend the event thanks to a travel grant from the EHESS (Paris).
Elena Cortés Ruiz eased my access to several documents; Roser Salicrti guided me through the amazing resources of the ACA; David Nirenberg, Tedfilo Ruiz, Jean Pierre Molénat and Javier Castafo all provided valuable suggestions for various parts of this book; Cristina de la Puente and Mercedes Garcia-Arenal were both kind enough to read and comment on the final draft.
Of course, I would also like to mention the assistance and efficiency of the staff of the following libraries: the Biblioteca Central of the UNED in Madrid, the Biblioteca Islamica of the AECI and the CSIC, the Archivo Histérico Nacional, the Archivo General de Simancas, and the Archivo de la Corona de Aragon.
Much of my research was carried out at the Departamento de Filologia Arabe of the CSIC in Madrid, whose members I would like to thank for their fabulous welcome and working environment, not to mention a library which is the delight of any researcher.
Finally, it only remains for me to thank my friends and family, and especially my husband José Manuel, for their patience while living with the Moorish guard over all these years. For the errors which may be found in the pages of this study I am solely responsible.
INTRODUCTION
Was there ever a time in history when religious differences were not essential to an understanding of the daily lives of the individuals and groups who lived in the Iberian Peninsula? Within the period of the Middle Ages, it seems obvious that one has to go back to the 13th century for evidence that will allow us to answer this question in the affirmative.
That century, we have often been told, was that of the “three cultures” and their famous “convivencia’ or more or less peaceful coexistence—terms which have both been used so often as to lose part of their meaning and usefulness in defining what was in fact an ever-changing reality. And yet, the same question might also be answered affirmatively by reference to the situation of the two religious groups still occupying Iberia as late as the 15th century. (By that time, only two important groups dominated, because the third, the outnumbered Jewish community, had suffered severely during the 14th century and had subsequently been unable to recover its population and influence.)
Clearly, not all areas of 15th-century peninsular society can be included. Religion certainly was a highly important factor for anyone who entered the ruling elite, and was also significant in all political propaganda. But it is nonetheless true that in the years between 1400 and 1480 a great number of people in the Iberian kingdoms managed to live peacefully, carry out their professions, have families and pray in their own temples regardless of the nature of their religious creed. Royal protection even made it possible for the leaders of such people to visit the court and obtain the approval of the monarch and noblemen for the development of their communities.
In addition, constant interchange between Christians and Muslims had created a climate which favoured the voluntary conversion of some individuals to Christianity. Religious changes among Muslims took place peacefully, though rarely, for many years, without any of the dramatic incidents usually associated with the mass christenings of Jews, such as pogroms, murder and ritual violence. In this way the so-called conversos de moro' were gradually integrated into Christian society, and they were able to practise a number of trades without finding themselves embroiled in significant clashes with Old Christians. The religious identity of these Muslims was transformed in three generations.
This is not to say that there were not difficult moments, such as the publication of the Ordenamiento of Valladolid of 1411, with its significant restrictive measures, or the clashes between the king and nobility in 1465, during which Muslims and conversos de moro closest to the monarch were cast in the role of public scapegoats. Nevertheless, it is quite legitimate to speak of a process of cultural and religious assimilation similar to that which was ushered in by archbishop Hernando of Talavera in a later period. A paradigmatic case of such assimilation is that of the “Moorish knights” of the body-guard of the kings of Castile.
Some brief remarks on terminology are perhaps necessary before I proceed to discuss this group of men. One of the questions raised by the original data referring to these knights is that of whether it is more apt to describe them as the “guardia morisca” or the “guardia mora”, i.e. as Moriscos or as Moors. At first sight, it might seem best to refer to them as Moors, given that several members of the royal body-guard were actually Muslims, as were the master builders of the royal palaces and a number of royal servants.? Moreover, in the accounts book of the camarero del rey, or assistant at the royal chamber Juan de Tordesillas, specific distinctions seem to be made between the “caballeros moros” and the “caballeros moriscos” within the king’s guard.* However, a more detailed study of the sources shows that most members of the guardia morisca—although not, interestingly enough, the master builders—did eventually convert from Islam to Christianity and adopted Christian names. Thus it seems more appropriate to use the term “guardia morisca” or Moorish guard, since it reflects the phenomenon as it was actually experienced by members of the monarch’s personal bodyguard. As we will see, this affected the performance of their duties and their relationships with those in the monarch’s closest circle. The records claim that many knights “came from the kingdom of Granada to convert to our holy Christian faith” and for this were “rewarded” with military positions close to the king who was, as has been shown in other contexts, the major champion of converts from both Judaism and Islam. Since contemporary sources usually refer to the men as “moriscos”, and because many of the knights who arrived in Castile as Muslims later converted during their time in the royal guard, I will consistently refer to them as the “guardia morisca” or “Moorish guard” from this point on.
‘The guard was a coherent group of men with a trade that can be considered exceptional by comparison with those usually available to the Mudejars, the Muslim population living under Christian dominion, or to other conversos de moro. Few members of a religious minority can have come as close as the Moorish guard were able to do to a centre of power like the court, where at times they even succeeded in enjoying a certain amount of influence. It should be emphasised that we are concerned here with an elite trade or profession, occupied by men with very specific social characteristics: high rank in their society of origin, Islamic religion (later abandoned), and military training. Unlike in the cases of other activities traditionally carried out by these two groups, the knights were men with a certain amount of power within the community. In addition, their activity occurred in a context of almost continuous interchange and coexistence with Christians, because of the manner in which they accompanied the king and his court on his travels. To some extent, their membership of this circle guaranteed their safety at a time when attacks on the practice of trades by Muslims and Jews had reached their peak. In this particular case, as we will see, the Islamic religion turned out to be a determining factor in guaranteeing them the status that they enjoyed.
At the same time, we should be careful not to isolate the situation of the Hispanic realms of the 15th century from their international context. It is true that their position with respect to Islam was at the very least a peculiar one in the European context, but we should not forget that a comparable situation then also existed at the other end of the Mediterranean, in Byzantine territory and today’s Hungary, Christianity’s other main “frontier”. In all these areas, there was a great variety of religious backgrounds among the men who made up the armed frontier forces. In virtually the entire Mediterranean area, it was possible to find rulers with personal body-guards that contained men of a different religion from that of the majority of the ruler’s subjects. This occurred during both the Middle Ages and the Renaissance period. From the first generations of Turks used by the Abbasid caliphs to the personal guard of the Ottoman sultan, and not forgetting the contemporary elche body-guard of the Nasrid sultans, it was common to find such regiments, made up of troops of a different religion who had been hired by ruling sovereigns to mark a distinction from their subjects. All of their members were specifically trained for their posts and eventually converted to either Islam or Christianity, as we will see. This does not, however, mean that the Moorish guard of the Castilian monarchs simply copied a pattern established in the lands of Islam. Throughout this book we will see how there were both similarities and differences between the different systems.
Castile was subject to intense disruptive forces during the first half of the 15th century, a period which saw the worst political situation since the enthronement of the Trastamara dynasty (1359). Constant meddling by the descendants of Fernando of Antequera—Fernando I of Arag6n—stirred the desire to take the crown away from the nobility and the extended royal family. This was accompanied by the encouragement of newly emerging social groups. Judeo-converts benefited from the situation and joined the administration, whereas conversos de moro scaled military ranks. Some of the consequences of this important change were positive—it was extremely useful for the monarch to have a certain number of loyal servants and troops who could be called upon to form a small-sized army in his defence at times of greatest danger to his person. But the repercussions of the existence of the Moorish guard were even greater in Castilian political propaganda, and most especially in fuelling criticism of Enrique IV. The political use made of this group of Muslims and conversos de moro in the creation of an image of the king as depraved and decadent contributed to the forging of the “leyenda negra” of Enrique IV.
On the other side of the frontier, Granada was divided by internal struggle. A number of strong lineages, whose members were related to the Nasrid dynasty by marriage, had taken up the reins of the sultanate. Their family interests conditioned their support for several candidates to the throne. The geographical proximity of the Muslim kingdoms of North Africa—Tunisia, Egypt and Tlemcen—had a constant influence on the situation in Granada throughout the period. The Nasrids lacked religious legitimacy as Muslim rulers—they were not caliphs, nor were they especially successful in the jihad against Christians—and this hindered the process of succession. All branches of the Nasrid family were eligible to the sultanate, and the situation became even more unstable if there was no direct male heir, as after Muhammad IX. ‘The role played by the three main cities of the realm—Granada, Malaga and Almeria—as capitals and power bases for different candidates, who made use of their resources for personal purposes, complicated the picture even further. Castilian support for one or another candidate set a precedent for the policies of the Catholic Monarchs towards Boabdil and his family in later years.
Acting as a bridge between these realms were the Mudejars, Muslim subjects of the Christian king, who enjoyed a certain organisational autonomy.
Their raison d étre was the statute of continuity they had been granted, which allowed them to stay in their lands after the Christian conquest. The nature of this statute was acknowledged by the pacts signed by their leaders. But it was also significant that, while Granada existed, these Muslims were able to rely on another Islamic policy within the Iberian Peninsula. This can be seen from the succession of events immediately after the conquest of Granada. Part of the Moorish guard came from Castilian cities with important Muslim aljamas (organized communities). Therefore, I have deemed it necessary to refer to the framing of these communities, where the situation was different from the background of other “frontier knights”.
‘The economic situation of both Castile and Granada was disastrous, due to peak critical junctures and the endemic civil war which resulted from the difficulties experienced by kings and sultans in asserting their legitimacy. In other fields of government, institutional structures were stronger, so that political vicissitudes did not lead to the complete collapse of royal administration. Although such aspects cannot be covered in detail in this book, they have to be taken into account if one is to understand the general economic trends affecting the Moorish guard. My introductory remarks on the broad outline of Iberian history during this period, which make up the contents of Chapter One, thus set a context for the discussion that follows.
Chapter Two is a detailed study of the foreign policies of Castile and Granada that made the flow of men possible. This movement of men created the need fora mixed military institution where a role could be created for the Muslim knights in the royal household and some use found for them. The military actions of the nobility in the frontier war during the 15th century had long replaced the former royal initiatives that were characteristic of the 12th and 13th centuries. Thus, Muslim recruitment was linked to the relations of the knights with Andalusian lords, who often acted as intermediaries between the Granadan elite and the Castilian court. The existence of a clear policy towards Granada during the reigns of Juan II and Enrique IV has been systematically ignored by historians, on the grounds that they were both ineffective kings. However, the fact is that their endeavours preceded—and inspired—those of the Catholic Monarchs. First, Alvaro de Luna and Enrique IV used the traditional strategies of the Castilian monarchy, such as making the king of Granada a vassal of the king of Castile, a bond that is worth remembering because its various implications and shades of meaning permeated diplomatic relations. A moderate but effective war of attrition and the appropriate use of truces and diplomacy proved more harmful than conventional warfare. The use of these strategies owed much to the participation of the Moorish guards, whose role in these events must be inferred: given the secret nature of high security missions—and due to the loss of royal chancery registers—their mediation was seldom recorded. ‘Their wanderings across the borders, their links with Granadan lineages or aspects of their social importance usually reveal more about their activities than can be found in written sources.
‘The frontier which was the origin of these knights was regulated by means of a number of conventions, including appreciation of the enemy as a way of showing one’s own superiority in combat. Such esteem was the basis of courtesy towards the first Muslim converts, who often became employed as troop members either by towns, by nobles or else by the king himself. Both their former social status and the fact that they had been baptized guaranteed them acknowledgment in the form of good salaries and other rewards, such as garments, luxurious cloth or weapons.
Chapter Three is devoted to the discussion of military aspects of the Moorish guard, such as its command structure, troop numbers, equipment and strategy. The guard borrowed features from two different organisational systems of this type of army corps, located in each of the cultural areas with which the Hispanic monarchy had come into close contact: Mediterranean Islam and the monarchies of Christian Europe. The fact that contemporaries described the Mamluks as direct counterparts to these militia-men in Iberia gives an idea of the common mentality throughout the Mediterranean. But it also shows how deceptive appearances can be when it comes to grasping the real meaning of institutions in different political contexts.
The difference between mercenaries and regular troops is vital to this point. In a world where professional royal armies were starting to emerge as substitutes for feudal companies, specialised training was valued above all other factors. Castilian royal armies had their origins in the royal body-guards, where several regiments of knights and soldiers received specific training in the use of particular weapons. Their duties at court included watching over the king and his family, protecting him during his travels and public appearances, hunting and jousting as part of his retinue and, more importantly for this study, accompanying the king in his military campaigns against Granada. In hunting and warfare, the Moorish guard was highly appreciated in its role as light cavalry, needed in confrontations with Muslims, and much faster when hunting down a prey. The place of these men in the royal household, as well as their salaries and special rewards, speak of the high esteem they enjoyed. But the nature of these gifts and the changes in their dress reveal religious connotations that are worth considering.
Conversion, assimilation and rejection are the three axes of Chapter Four. When faced with their new environment, not all knights decided to accept baptism. Therefore, this chapter has two sub-sections: the first on those families who took the step towards integration, i.e. conversion, and a second on those who remained in Castile as Muslims or who returned to Granada. The onomastic evolution of the families over three generations—the length of time it usually required for the process of integration to occur—was influenced by the personal decisions of each knight. This process started with the use of a Muslim name and a place of origin/residence, continued in the second generation with the use of a Christian name and a place of origin/residence, and finished in the third phase with the adoption of a Christian name and surname. Christian society, which in theory prohibited mixed marriages between a Christian and a Jew or a Muslim, actually encouraged at the time of conversion marriages with an “Old Christian”. Such marriages led to easier integration and prevented the social rejection of the children of such couples, as the “new relatives” would take care to introduce the offspring into their own social circles. This procedure proved quite successful, and led some members of the guard to take up posts in town councils or occupy high ranks in the royal armies. Castilian society was not necessarily hostile toward the variety of paths these guards chose. Converts from different contexts, such as Moroccan princes, rich nobles, ambassadors and merchants from Granada, could be found at court together with Muslim knights who had escaped from their kingdom, as well as musicians, Mudejar judges or master builders. Contacts among these groups and their close personal bonds to the king favoured the situation of the Mudejars in Castile for a brief golden age.
The social confrontations that led to civil war in Castile in the 1460s framed the dissolution of the Moorish guard, discussed in Chapter Five. Like Pedro I “the Cruel”, Enrique IV was branded an Islamophile and a homosexual. While it is difficult to reach conclusions about the second charge because of the absolute silence on this subject of all of the most objective contemporary sources, the first accusation is easily refuted, as I will show, through a careful study of the king and his circle. A famous charter issued by the nobility under the leadership of the marquis of Villena forcefully suggested the ways in which the kingdom should be governed, and argued for the banishment of Judeo-converts and Moorish guards from court. Both of these groups, who had acted as the monarchy’s main support during the previous two reigns, were vulnerable. Centralised royal power also relied heavily on them. Therefore, this attack successfully brought religion back into public debate, though in reality the dispute had more to do with justifying nobility through an alleged superiority of blood. However, the passage from a Mudejar to Morisco elite had by then become a well-established route and during the reign of the Catholic Monarchs, the families of old Moorish knights continued to serve the monarchy or represent their local communities, regardless of their converso origins. It was only many years after the conquest of Granada, with the appearance of the statutes of limpieza de sangre, that the legitimacy of the social position acquired by these families came to be placed under scrutiny.
The book ends with the publication of selected archival extracts containing information about the Moorish guard. These records are of great interest for the political, economic and social history of 15th-century Castile. Through them, it becomes possible to study different aspects of court life during the period, such as the organisation of court administration, a typology of the trades they carried out plus those of the king’s household and court, salaries, the distribution of leasing arrangements, etc. Although I have consulted several sections of the Archivo General de Simancas, Archivo Histérico Nacional, Archivo de la Corona de Aragén and edited collections from several Spanish cities, it was the section known as the “raciones moriscas”, belonging to the “Escribania mayor de rentas”, which had the advantage of being the best-defined group of documents, making reference only to issues relating to the Moorish knights or the master builders and tailors of Muslim origin, and therefore the most suitable for publication. This particular source is unique in that it uses the criteria of religious rather than geographical background as an organisational principle. Other Mudejars who were not directly related to the monarch are not cited, even the judges of the Muslim communities, who were closer to their fellow-Muslims than they were to the king. The variety of difficulties and other situations depicted by these records is irreplaceable, as is the vocabulary used by the scribes who composed them, and these were additional reasons for publishing a long appendix made up of material from that source only.
One of the greatest problems encountered by any researcher working with 15th-century Iberian sources is that of variation in the spelling of names, as well as the lack of a coherent system of surnames, especially when the Arabic onomastic system is converted to a Christian one. To this must be added the Christian scribes’ lack of familiarity with Arabic and its pronunciation, which led to the transcription of Arab names in many different forms, using criteria which were in turn completely unlike those favoured by current scholars. In referring to records emanating both from the kingdom of Granada and that of the Castilian Mudejars, this problem is multiplied, and one can be faced with as many as five different ways of spelling a particular name. I have sought throughout this book to be consistent, following the procedure of writing all names without diacritic signs, keeping Arab names for the kingdom of Granada and respecting Castilian spellings for those of the Mudejars. In the case of names of Granadans already familiar in their Spanish Castilian versions, I have decided to use such forms, e.g. Muley Hacén.
Finally, readers should be aware that partial preliminary versions of this study have appeared in previous articles of mine, which are cited in the bibliography. Some of the conclusions I drew in those articles have been revised for this volume.
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