A Literary Network:
Convivencia in the law book of Alfonso X of Castile
A study on the legal texts in Las Siete Partidas (1256-1265)
Image 1. Statue of Alfonso X of Castile in front of the Biblioteca Nacional de España in Madrid, made in 1892.
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Introduction
Can you imagine that you are not allowed to buy bread, because it was prepared by someone that does not adhere the same religion as you? Or maybe you fall in love, but the man you desire belongs to a different social class, so you are not allowed to marry him. These are just two examples of the way of life in thirteenth century Spain. Although we all know that times have changed a lot since then, it still is intriguing to read a law book from that century that explicitly states such rules of conduct. And to be honest, in some cultures these rules have not changed much! Alfonso X, son of Fernando III and Elisabeth of Swabia, ruled in the kingdom of Castile from 1552 until his death in 1284. On the one hand he was a true reconquistador, fighting against the Moors in Cádiz and defending his own lands. On the other hand he was a scholar, interested in astronomy, art, music and literature. His two most famous written works are Cantigas de Santa Maria (poetry) and the law book las Siete Partidas. As a result, he received the name Alfonso el Sabio: Alfonso the Wise. In the thirteenth century when Christians, Jews and Moors lived together, but also fought each other, Alfonso wrote Las Siete Partidas: three law books with the objective to bring continuity to the Iberian Peninsula. In my study I have taken a further look at the form and content of these books to see what elements of the thirteenth century convivencia or reconquista there are to be found. |
The Iberian Peninsula in the thirteenth century
According to historian Michel Balard we can divide the Spanish Middle Ages up into two periods: 500-1000 and 1000-1500. If we take a closer look to the second period of time, we can see that this is a period of change: the Moors start to lose power in the Iberian Peninsula to the Christians and the Turks gain more lands from the Ottomans. An other important aspect is the ‘medieval nautical revolution,’ as Frederick Lane, Roberto Lopez and Michel Balard describe the increase of commerce through the maritime route. This causes that the Christian city-states such as Venice and Genoa became more powerful. Overall, Christianity was gaining more power in the thirteenth century Mediterranean. If we zoom in to the Iberian Peninsula, we can see that it was characterized by taifa kingdoms that started to fall apart from the eleventh century on. Important victories for the Christians were, for example,the conquest of Córdoba in 1236, Seville in 1248 and Cádiz in 1262 (under Alfoso X of Castile). One can state that the thirteenth century was a period of time in which the Christians were taking back over the power of the peninsula and these elements are present in Las Siete Partidas. |
Image 2. Painting 'Alfonso el Sabio en la conquista de Cádiz' by Matías Moreno (1866) representing Alfonso X el Sabio taking over the sea after the conquest of Cádiz.
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Reconquista or convivencia?
In the Spanish history of the Middle Ages we use the terms reconquista and convivencia, but they are slightly in contrast of each other. Reconquistar means literarily reconquer and convivencia means convivence. The term convivencia was first used by histrorian and literary man Ramón Menéndez Pidal in Orígenes del español as ‘convivencia de normas’ to express the different linguistic forms of the Castilian language. It was his student, Américo Castro, that started to use the term to describe the living together of the Christians, the Jews and the Moors. Recently, historians are critical towards this description of convivencia. They believe that convivencia only emphasises the positive elements and that it does not consider the conflicts between the three cultures. Therefore they prefer the term 'coexistence.' In principle it does not matter what definition one uses, it always includes the capability of people from different ethnic groups to step outside their own role and communicate with people from an other group.
In the Spanish history of the Middle Ages we use the terms reconquista and convivencia, but they are slightly in contrast of each other. Reconquistar means literarily reconquer and convivencia means convivence. The term convivencia was first used by histrorian and literary man Ramón Menéndez Pidal in Orígenes del español as ‘convivencia de normas’ to express the different linguistic forms of the Castilian language. It was his student, Américo Castro, that started to use the term to describe the living together of the Christians, the Jews and the Moors. Recently, historians are critical towards this description of convivencia. They believe that convivencia only emphasises the positive elements and that it does not consider the conflicts between the three cultures. Therefore they prefer the term 'coexistence.' In principle it does not matter what definition one uses, it always includes the capability of people from different ethnic groups to step outside their own role and communicate with people from an other group.
Image 3. The front page of Las Siete Partidas by Alfonso X el Sabio, copy of 1555.
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La Escueala de Traductores de Toledo & Las Siete Partidas
Alfonso X invited scholars of different cultures to his court to write and translate texts. Nowadays we call this a community of learning under the name Escuela de Traductores de Toledo. According to Constant Mews & John Crossley ‘All learning takes place within some kind of community, whether it be a formal place of instruction, a religious community, or simply an informal network of two or more friends.’ That is exactly what took place in thirteenth century Toledo, where Alfonso drew up together these legal texts with his network of Jewish and Islamic scholars. Las Siete Partidas was not only written by a network of three different cultures, but was also written for these cultures. It gives a good image of how people were supposed to behave towards each other. The chapters 'de los Judíos’ and ‘de los Moros,’ Partida VII, título XXIV and Partida VII, título XXV describe the way one should behave towards the Jews and the Moors. It is interesting that the chapter about the Jews was placed after the magicians and fortune tellers and before the Moors. I believe that this indicates the position of these groups in society and reflects the unequal convivencia of the thirteenth century. |
Taking a further look into the content of the laws, it gets more evident that the texts contain many elements of the unequal convivencia. For example the following quote, which says that Christians are different than Moors and Jews:
La fuerza del estado de los homes se departe en muchas maneras; ca otramiente es judgada segunt derecho la persona del libre que del siervo... los fijosdalgo que los otros… los clérigos que los legos, et los figos legítimos que los otros de ganancia, et los cristianos que los moros nin los judios. (Alfonso X, Las Siete Partidas (Madrid, 1807), III, 128)
Not only did they differentiate the cultures, but there were also many different rules of conduct towards Moors and Jews. For example, a Christian was only allowed to take advise and not buy food from a Jew:
Bien la puede recibir por consejo de algunt judio sabidor, solamente que sea fecha por mano de cristiano…
(Alfonso X, Las Siete Partidas (Madrid, 1807), III, 673)
Or that Moors needed to be saved from their religion and converted to christianity:
Moros son una manera de gente que creen que Mahoma fue profeta y mandadero de Dios... (y por ello) queremos aquí decir de los moros y su necedad en que creen y por la que se cuidan salvar.
(Alfonso X, Las Siete Partidas (Madrid, 1807), III, Partida VII, Título XXV, preliminar)
These are only a couple of examples of laws in the enormous work of Alfonso X, that in total consists of 182 chapters and 2802 laws. For more reading, you can go to the department 'Klassieke Werken' of the university library of Groningen, where they have a version from the Real Academia de la Historia (1807) of the three law books for access.
La fuerza del estado de los homes se departe en muchas maneras; ca otramiente es judgada segunt derecho la persona del libre que del siervo... los fijosdalgo que los otros… los clérigos que los legos, et los figos legítimos que los otros de ganancia, et los cristianos que los moros nin los judios. (Alfonso X, Las Siete Partidas (Madrid, 1807), III, 128)
Not only did they differentiate the cultures, but there were also many different rules of conduct towards Moors and Jews. For example, a Christian was only allowed to take advise and not buy food from a Jew:
Bien la puede recibir por consejo de algunt judio sabidor, solamente que sea fecha por mano de cristiano…
(Alfonso X, Las Siete Partidas (Madrid, 1807), III, 673)
Or that Moors needed to be saved from their religion and converted to christianity:
Moros son una manera de gente que creen que Mahoma fue profeta y mandadero de Dios... (y por ello) queremos aquí decir de los moros y su necedad en que creen y por la que se cuidan salvar.
(Alfonso X, Las Siete Partidas (Madrid, 1807), III, Partida VII, Título XXV, preliminar)
These are only a couple of examples of laws in the enormous work of Alfonso X, that in total consists of 182 chapters and 2802 laws. For more reading, you can go to the department 'Klassieke Werken' of the university library of Groningen, where they have a version from the Real Academia de la Historia (1807) of the three law books for access.
Conclusion
The law book by Alfonso X of Castile might not be a representation of how life was in the thirteenth century, but it does show how Alfonso wanted it to be. Nevertheless it is an important work made by a network of Christians, Jews and Moors in the community of learning in Toledo. Las Siete Partidas has many elements that reflect the convivencia, but it is important to understand that this was not an equal convivence as Castro's definition describes it. Recent historians are critical towards this definition and I believe that Las Siete Partidas is a good example of the way Christians looked at the minorities in Spain's society. The biggest minority groups were the Jews and the Moors and it is important not to lump them together under the same heading. There were different rules of conduct for the Jews and the Moors and although they helped in writing the law books, that did not mean that they were on the same level as Christians. |
Image 4. Stamp in Las Partidas of Alfonso X El Sabio (Sevilla, 1491). Nowadays in the Biblioteca de la Institución Colombina, Sevilla.
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Sources and further reading
- Michel Balard, “A Christian Mediterranean,” The Mediterranean in History: 500-1500 (London: Thames & Hudson Ltd, 2003) 183-219.
- Robert I. Burns, Emperor of Culture: Alfonso X the Learned of Castile and His Thirteenth-Century Renaissance (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1990), 1–13.
- Robert I Burns, “Las Siete Partidas,” Underworlds: The Dead, the Criminals and the Marginalized, vol 5 (2001).
- Dwayne Carpenter, Alfonso X and the Jews: An edition of and Commentary on Siete Partidas 7.24 “De los judíos” (Berkely: University of California Press, 1986).
- María Cohen, “Jews and Moors in Alfonso X’s Las Siete Partidas,” Journal of Sefardic Studies 2 (2014) 1-9.
- Thomas Glick, “Convivencia: An Introductory Note,”Convivencia: Jews, Muslims, and Christinas in Medieval Spain (1992): 1-10.
- L.P. Harvey, “The Alfonsine School of Translators: Translation from Arabic into Castilian Produced under the Patronage of Alfonso the Wise of Castile (1221-1252-1284),” The Journal of the Royal asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland (1977): 109-117.
- Charles Lobingier. Introduction of LAS SIETE PARTIDAS of Alfonso X el Sabio (New Tork: Commerce Clearing House, 1931), Accessed May 31st 2016, http://faculty.washington.edu/petersen/alfonso/7part_1.htm .
- Gonzalo Menéndez Pidal, “Cómo trabajaron las escuelas alfonsíes,” Nueva Revista de Filología Hispánica (1951): 363–380.
- Ramón Menéndez Pidal, Orígenes del español. Estado lingüístico de la Península Ibérica hasta el siglo XI (Madrid, 1926).
- Constant Mews & John N. Crossley eds (2011). Communities of Learning: Networks and the Shaping of Intellectual Identity in Europe, 1100-1500 ( Turnhout: Brepols Publishers, 2011) 1-7; 37-54.
- John Middleton, World Monarchies and Dynasties, Volume 1 (California: Sharpe Reference, 2005).
- Madeline Nichols, “Las Siete Partidas,” California Law Review, vol 20, issue 3, artiekel 2, (1932) 260 – 285.
- Joseph O'Callaghan, A History of Medieval Spain (Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1983).
- Marjorie Ratcliffe, “Judíos y musulmanes en la jurisprudencia medieval española,” Revista Candiense de Estudios Hispánicos, vol 9, no 3 (1985): 423-438.
- Real Academia de la Historia, Las siete partidas del Rey Don Alfonso el Sabio : cotejadas con varios códices antiguos por la Real Academia de la Historia. Tomo 2: Partida Segunda y Tercera (Madrid, en la Imprenta Real, 1807).
- Raymond Scheindlin, “Hebrew poetry in Medieval Iberia,”Convivencia: Jews, Muslims, and Christinas in Medieval Spain (New York: The Jewish Museum, 1992): 39 – 60.
Images
- Image Header: Alfonso at his cort from ‘las Cantigas de Santa Maria’ in the Biblioteca del Monasterio de San Lorenzo de El Escorial. Image from the Spanish Wikpiedia https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Las_Siete_Partidas.jpg (accessed May 31st 2016)
- Image 1: image from the Spanish Wikipedia https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Alfonso_X_el_Sabio_(Jos%C3%A9_Alcoverro)_02.jpg
(accessed May 31st 2016) - Image 2: image from the Spanish Wikipedia https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Alfonso_X_el_Sabio_tomando_posesi%C3%B3n_del_mar_despu%C3%A9s_de_la_conquista_de_C%C3%A1diz._Mat%C3%ADas_Moreno._1866.jpg (accessed May 31st 2016)
- Image 3: image from the English Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Partidas.jpg (accessed May 31st 2016)
- Image 4: image from the Spanish Wikipedia https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Partidas3.jpg (accessed May 31st 2016)