Download PDF | (The Middle Ages Series) Joseph F. O'Callaghan - Reconquest and Crusade in Medieval Spain-University of Pennsylvania Press (2013).
342 Pages
Preface
The epic battle between Islam and Christianity for dominance in the Mediterranean, extending over many centuries, occupies a principal place in the history of medieval Europe. Historians of the Middle Ages, however, have tended to take a narrow view of that conflict by focusing primarily on the crusades directed to the Holy Land in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.
This book attempts to redress the balance in part by emphasizing that the clash of arms between Christians and Muslims in the Iberian peninsula from the early eighth century onward, commonly labeled the reconquest, was transformed into a crusade by the papacy during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Successive popes accorded to Christian warriors willing to participate in the peninsular wars against Islam the same crusading benefits offered to those going to the Holy Land. Thus if one wishes to study the history of the crusades one has to take a broader view of the entire Mediterranean to include medieval Spain.
The beginnings of crusading historiography help to explain the limited vision of the crusades that prevailed until recent years. Because generations of French nobles and kings participated in expeditions to liberate Jerusalem, crusading was seen as an integral part of French national history. English and American medievalists, concentrating their attention initially on France and England, were inevitably drawn to the crusades to the Holy Land, but either ignored or mentioned only cursorily the war against Islam in Spain.
Spanish historians were themselves responsible for this neglect in that, while they wrote much about the reconquest, they gave scant heed to the fact that the popes were granting remission of sins, the hallmark of crusading bulls, to those exposing their lives in combat against Islam. José Gofii Gaztambide’s history of the bull of crusade in Spain, published in 1958, changed the focus entirely through his detailed study of papal documents according crusading indulgences and other privileges to those engaged in the reconquest.
My interest in this project was first awakened when I reviewed Gof Gaztambide’s book. In 1987, while directing a National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Institute on Medieval Spain: Land of Three Religions, I explored the topic further. I am indebted to the participants in the Institute, my good friends Manuel Gonzalez Jiménez, Angus MacKay, Teofilo Ruiz, and Robert I. Burns, whose perspective on medieval Spain is always helpful. Father Burns also provided me with transcripts of several papal bulls. My students Theresa Earenfight, Donald Kagay, Nina Melechen, James Todesca, and Theresa Vann have always been a source of inspiration for me. Paul Chevedden has also been most helpful.
In writing this book | have attempted to utilize all the sources known to me, although, in comparison to other European countries, the number of Christian and Muslim chronicles is limited. The principal Latin narrative source for the twelfth century is the Chronicle of Alfonso the Emperor, a contemporary account of the reign of Alfonso VII of Leén-Castile by an anonymous cleric.
For the thirteenth century there are three major narratives for the history of Castile and Leén, namely, The Latin Chronicle of the Kings of Castile, probably written by the royal chancellor, Bishop Juan of Osma (d. 1246); the History of the Affairs of Spain by Rodrigo Jiménez de Rada, archbishop of Toledo (d. 1247); and the uncritical Chronicle of the World by Lucas, bishop of Tuy (d. 1249). All three works, concluding with the fall of Cordoba in 1236, were written by contemporaries who participated in many of the events they described and who were favorable to the monarchy. For the subsequent years to the fall of Seville in 1248 the vernacular History of Spain undertaken at the direction of Alfonso X provides a detailed narrative.
For the Crown of Aragon the chief narrative sources are the Deeds of the Counts of Barcelona, written by the monks of Ripoll between 1162 and 1276 in its first redaction, and the Chronicle of San Juan de la Pefia, composed at the direction of Pedro IV (1336-87). A unique thirteenth-century source is the Chronicle of Jaime I of Aragén, written in Catalan; though some scholars have questioned its authorship, there is general agreement that it was written or dictated by the king himself and thus reflects his point of view. The Catalan Chronicle of Bernat Desclot dating from the later thirteenth century is generally exact in its relation of earlier events.
Annals from all the Christian kingdoms provide specific dates for many events mentioned in the chronicles.
Official documentation for the Christian kingdoms is ample, especially from the second half of the twelfth century. Besides numerous papal bulls conceding crusading privileges, hundreds of charters of the kings of Castile, Leén, Portugal, and Aragén are extant. These documents are particularly helpful because they often were dated during sieges, recorded the capture of castles or towns, or rewarded those assisting in the conquest.
Muslim chronicles include the memoir of ‘Abd Allah, the last Zirid king of Granada (1073-90), written in exile in Morocco. Ibn Sahib al-Sala, secretary to the Almohad caliph, wrote an official account of conquests in Spain between 1159 and 1184. In the early thirteenth century al-Marrakushi, while residing in Baghdad, wrote a history of the Almohads, drawing upon his memory of his years in Spain. Al-Himyar'’s description in alphabetical order of the cities and towns of Islamic Spain frequently includes pertinent historical data.
The late thirteenth- or early fourteenth-century account of the Almoravids and the Almohads by the Moroccan historian Ibn ‘Abi Zar‘ tends at times to hyperbole and is not always trustworthy. Especially valuable is the history of Ibn ‘Idhari, completed in 1306. Drawing on earlier accounts, he provides an abundance of detail and seems quite judicious in his assessment of events. Dating from the late fourteenth century is the work of the great philosopher of history, Ibn Khaldiin (d. 1406), whose history of the Berbers includes many references to the peninsula. Finally, one should mention alMaqqari (d. 1631) whose historical compendium includes many extracts from earlier writers.
There is a scarcity of documentary material for Islamic Spain, though at times documents were included in Muslim chronicles. Moreover, LéviProvencal has published some documents relative to the Almohad empire.
Literary sources such as the Poem of the Cid and the Poem of Fernan Gonzdlez, both written in the thirteenth century, mirror the attitudes and customs of that epoch. Several troubadours enjoying the patronage of peninsular rulers also commented on specific crusades. The legal codes compiled by Alfonso X reflect military and naval customs developed by the middle of the thirteenth century and his Cantigas de Santa Maria provides anecdotal and illustrative material. Citations of all these sources and others will be found in the endnotes and the bibliography.
With respect to language I have tried to be consistent in using Castilian, Portuguese, or Catalan forms when speaking of people and places in those kingdoms. For Arabic transliteration I have generally followed the guidelines of the International Journal of Middle East Studies.
I also wish to thank the rector of La Iglesia colegiata de San Isidoro of Leén for permission to reproduce a photograph of the pendon de Baeza, and the Patrimonio Nacional de Espafia for permission to include a photograph of the pendon de las Nava de Tolosa, as well as illustrations from the Escorial manuscript of the Cantigas de Santa Maria. The Biblioteca Nazionale of Florence also kindly gave permission to use illustrations from the Banco Rari manuscript of the Cantigas.
Although the events described in this book occurred eight or nine hundred years ago, the tragedy of 11 September 2001 forcibly reminded the world that the rhetoric of crusade, holy war, and jihad, with all the intensity of feeling that those words conjure, is a powerful weapon and is still with us.
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