La Convivencia:
The Peaceful and Productive Co-existence of Jews, Christians, and Muslims in Medieval Spain
What can explain the unusual co-existence of Jews, Muslims and Christians in Spain in the Middle Ages? It was the height of la Reconquista, eight centuries of war over the control of the Spanish peninsula. Muslims and Christians were fighting in Spain, and in the east for Jerusalem in the Crusades. And throughout Europe Jews were being confined to small quarters and denied almost all trades. Yet in Spain, members of the three cultures spoke each others' languages, shared their philosophies and theologies, their science and their cultures. It was "an interplay and fusion of social and cultural forces" unique in the medieval world (Crow, 1985).
Signs of Convivencia
All the lands,
Even though the Christian kingdom was at war with the Muslim one, within the lands not currently under dispute, Christians, Muslims, and Jews lived daily side by side. Cities like Toledo held a mix of churches, mosques, and synagogues. The intellectual interests treasured by the Muslim rulers continued to be valued by the Christians, and it is perhaps in the arenas of philosophy and science that the three cultures worked most closely together, even though it was religious philosophy that kept them most divided.
One of the most important cultural links involved translation of Arabic, Hebrew and even ancient Greek texts. Many of the works of Ancient Greece were preserved in Arabic. To translate these works into Hebrew, Latin, or the vernacular, experts in each language worked together, reading aloud to each other and discussing the meanings. Ferdinand III encouraged the sharing of languages, and on his death in 1252, he was enshrined with an epitaph in Latin, Spanish, Hebrew and Arabic - all languages that are important to him and his country. His son, Alfonso X, The Wise, set up a school of translators in Toledo to continue this work.
In the gardens and palaces of the ruling Muslims, scholars of various races composed extemporaneous or planned poetry and songs in friendly competitions. Some of the most famous rabbis and scholars composed poetry on every subject, from religious faith to the state of their clothing to the joys of a late night of drinking. The earliest Spanish poems, from the 10th Century, are written in Hebrew characters. When Alfonso X wrote (or commissioned) his cantigas or songs, they were written in Castilian, but they were in the forms of popular Hebrew or Arabic poetry. Alfonso X also wrote a book on the game of chess, learned from the Arabs. Rabbi Sem Tob, in the time of Peter the Cruel, wrote Counsels to King Peter or Moral Proverbs - in Castilian. In the court of John II (1406-1454), literature flourished, and many of the writers and poets were Jewish (or conversos).
When Alfonso VI conquered Toledo, he promised the Muslim inhabitants to continue their rights and allow them their mosques. In Toledo, the church of Santa Maria la Blanca was shared for a while: Muslims pray in it on Fridays, Jews on Saturdays, and Christians on Sundays. Alfonso VI's physician was Granada-born Joseph Nasi Ferruziel, a prominent Jew who owned large estates in and around Toledo. Talented Jews and Muslims could hold other important positions in the court of the Christian kings, advising the king not only on matters concerning their own people, but all of the king's subjects. Alfonso X even granted some scholars the title of caballero, gentlemen or knight.
During the first Crusade, while zealous Christian soldiers and townspeople attacked Jews and their homes, Alfonso VI protected "his" Jews. In fact, harming or killing a Castilian Jew was punishable by a heavy fine - payable to the king. During the Black Plague (begun in 1348), Jews throughout Europe were blamed for the deaths and persecuted, but not in Spain.
Origins
When the Muslims invaded the peninsula, the Jews enslaved by the Christian Visigoths welcomed them. Jews were seen as allies by the Muslims, and both Jews and Christians were tolerated by the Muslims, since Islam, a fairly new religion at the time, was in part based on these religions. The invading Muslim forces were too small to populate the conquered lands. With no Muslim women available, Muslim men took Christian women as wives and concubines, and their children learned the languages and cultures of both parents. (The Arabs particularly desired the exotic blond and blue-eyed gallegas, women from Galicia, descended from Celts and Norsemen). The Jews, with their education and skills with languages and diplomacy, were valued go-betweens. When non-Visigothic Christians began to push the Muslim forces back, they also depended on Jews as diplomats and ambassadors. Waves of forced conversions brought many former (or secret) Jews and Muslims into influential positions and noble ranks in Christian-controlled areas. Later, Jews and Christians also intermarried, in spite of the general taboo against it, to the point where some scholars believe that almost all Spanish aristocracy by the late Middle Ages were part Jewish.
While intellectuals of all religions were valued for their knowledge and skills, the non-scholars were also needed for the daily requirements of living. Even through Christian kings encouraged Christian Spaniards to settle the newly-conquered frontier territories with grants of lands and special rights, there were simply not enough people to build the cities, work the lands, and defend the borders without the help of the Muslim and Jewish people who were living there. The lands that the Castilian king, Ferdinand III, conquered were scarcely inhabited, and most of those inhabitants were Muslims and Jews. When he tried to clear them from Seville and Cordoba, their economies collapsed. He allowed them to stay and took advantage of their learning and skills.
There was also a strong financial incentive for religious tolerance. Wars and frontier-settling are costly affairs, often requiring loans. But both Christianity and Judaism forbid "usury," charging interest on loans… but it was only forbidden to co-religionists. In other words, a Christian is forbidden to borrow money from a Christian, and a Jew cannot borrow from a Jew. But theologists of both religions decided that "usury" is acceptable for those outside their own religion. Many a Jewish merchant or community owed money on loans from Christians. Unfortunately for the Jews in Europe, when European Christian kings and nobles needed to pay their Jewish creditors, they raised taxes on the subjects - most of whom were Christian. This caused a great deal of resentment against Jews that was probably in large part responsible for the persecutions and expulsion they experienced throughout Europe.
The End of the Peace
Resentment against merchants grew, especially the wool merchants selling merino wool to Flanders. They grew rich while the laborers who produced it suffered from high inflation and a growing cost of living. While this resentment was first leveled against Genoese merchants, it was soon transferred to Jewish ones. The lower classes were jealous of the wealth, influence and status of the Jews, including the conversos who had married into noble families.
Peter the Cruel (1350-1369) added to the resentment when he surrounded himself with Jewish financial advisors, made all his tax-collectors Jewish, and used Muslim bodyguards. His successor, Enrique ("Henry", 1369-1406), forbade Jews from using Christian names, and required them to wear the "Badge of Shame
Ferdinand and Isabel began the Inquisition to control the nobility, increase their popularity with the commoners, consolidate their power, and ally the Church behind them. The job of the Inquisition was to flush out heresy, in particular to find conversos who were actually still practicing Judaism. When the Inquisition was begun, it was popular with the "pureblooded" and jealous lower class, and opposed by the nobility, many of whom bore Jewish blood. The Christianity of the nobility, many of whom were conversos or descended from them, could be called into question by the Inquisition if their wealth was tempting enough to the church and the king and queen.
References
John A. Crow. Spain: the Root and the Flower, 1985.
Haim Beinart. Atlas of Medieval Jewish History, 1992.
See also Jewish Culture in the Christian Kingdoms
This page is part of Chaiya's Sephardic World, a website devoted to the history and culture of Jews in Medieval Spain. The site is centered around the fictional SCA persona of Chaiya bat Avraham Toledano, created by Stacy Braslau-Schneck, the author of these pages. Chaiya is a Jewish lady living in Toledo in the 1230s. The SCA, or
Society for Creative Anachronism, is an educational organization devoted to researching and recreating the Middle Ages.I do not claim to be an historian, only a hobbyist. All errors are mine, all text is copyrighted to me, and all comments are welcome. "Yad/Return" image ©2001 Ilene Winn-Lederer
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