Knights on the frontier: the Moorish guard of the Kings of Castile (1410-1467) (The Medieval and Early Modern Iberian World)

Knights on the Frontier

The Medieval and Early Modern Iberian World Edited by

Larry J. Simon (Western Michigan University) Gerard Wiegers (Radboud University Nijmegen) Arie Schippers (University of Amsterdam) Donna M. Rogers (Dalhousie University) Isidro J. Rivera (University of Kansas)

VOLUME 36

Knights on the Frontier The Moorish Guard of the Kings of Castile (1410–1467)

By

Ana Echevarría Translated by

Martin Beagles

LEIDEN • BOSTON 2009

Cover illustrations: 14th century fresco from a tomb at the monastery of Valbuena de Duero. Copyright Photograph by Pedro José Santos (1997). This book was translated with financial support of the Spanish Ministry of Culture, Directorate General for Books, Archives and Libraries. Copyright: Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (Librería UNED) Original title: Caballeros en la Frontera: La guardia morisca de los reyes de Castilla (1410–1467) (ISBN 84-362-5177-6) This book is printed on acid-free paper. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication-Data Echevarria, Ana. [Caballeros en la Frontera. English] The Moorish guard of the Kings of Castile (1410-1467) / by Ana Echevarria ; translated by Martin Beagles. p. cm. — (The medieval and early modern Iberian world ; v. 36) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-90-04-17110-7 (hardback : alk. paper) 1. Guards troops—Spain—History. 2. Spain. Guardia Real—History. 3. Muslims—Spain—History. 4. Christianity and other religions—Islam. 5. Castile (Spain)—History. I. Beagles, Martin. II. Title. UA786.G7E24 2008 357’.10946309024—dc22 2008035394

ISSN 1569-1934 ISBN 978 90 04 17110 7 Copyright 2009 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Hotei Publishing, IDC Publishers, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and VSP. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change. printed in the netherlands

For José Manuel, who took part in this dream. For Angus Mackay, a great Scot.

CONTENTS

Acknowledgements ....................................................................... Introduction .................................................................................

ix xi

Chapter One: Christians, Mudejars and Granadans: three sides of one political reality ...............................................................

1

Chapter Two: The Moorish knights, from the Frontier to the Court .......................................................................................

47

Chapter Three: The King’s “foreign” guard ...................................

97

Chapter Four: The conversion of the Moorish knights .................

139

Chapter Five: The dissolution of the Moorish guard ....................

191

Conclusion ...................................................................................

211

Documentary Appendix ...............................................................

215

Bibliography .................................................................................

333

Index ............................................................................................

347

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Many people have helped bring this book into being, but particular thanks must go to Mercedes García-Arenal, José Luis Martín and María Jesús 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 Salicrú guided me through the amazing resources of the ACA; David Nirenberg, Teófilo Ruiz, Jean Pierre Molénat and Javier Castaño all provided valuable suggestions for various parts of this book; Cristina de la Puente and Mercedes García-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 Islámica of the AECI and the CSIC, the Archivo Histórico Nacional, the Archivo General de Simancas, and the Archivo de la Corona de Aragón. Much of my research was carried out at the Departamento de Filología Árabe 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 out-numbered 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 moro1 were gradually integrated into Christian society, and they were able to practise a number 1

See M. A. Ladero Quesada, “La population mudéjare, état de la question et documentation chrétienne en Castille”, p. 139 and J. P. Molénat, “Mudéjares et mozarabes à Tolède du XIIe au XVe s.”, p. 148, both in Minorités religieuses dans l’Éspagne médiévale, pp. 131–142 and 143–154.

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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.2 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.3 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

2

Memorias de don Enrique IV de Castilla, vol. II, Madrid, 1835–1913, pp. 364–365. AGS, Casas y Sitios Reales, leg. 97, f. 209 r. (“cavalleros moros de la mi guardia”); 211 r. (“con los otros cavalleros moros que andan en mi guardia”); 252 v. (“capitán de los cavalleros moros e moriscos”); 304 r. (“capitán de los cavalleros moros”); 307 r. (“cavalleros moriscos que andan en la mi guardia”). 3

introduction

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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

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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 Trastámara dynasty (1359). Constant meddling by the descendants of Fernando of Antequera—Fernando I of Aragón—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, Málaga and Almería—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.

introduction

xv

Their raison d’être 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 for a 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, Álvaro 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

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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

introduction

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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

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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 Histórico Nacional, Archivo de la Corona de Aragón and edited collections from several Spanish cities, it was the section known as the “raciones moriscas”, belonging to the “Escribanía 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

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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.

CHAPTER ONE

CHRISTIANS, MUDEJARS AND GRANADANS: THREE SIDES OF ONE POLITICAL REALITY

The Crown of Castile under the last Trastámara monarchs The most tumultuous century in Castilian medieval history was that which was largely covered by the reigns of the last two monarchs of the Trastámara dynasty, Juan II (1406–1454) and Enrique IV (1454–1474). However, although this was a time of conflict in which internal struggles tore the kingdom of Castile apart, it was also a period that saw the creation of an “absolutist” ideology of royal power accompanied by a great flowering of humanism, making it possible to consider these two monarchs the earliest representatives of a Castilian political Renaissance.1 Political justification of the dynasty had already been established during the earlier reigns of Enrique II and Juan I, by means of carefully orchestrated propaganda which manipulated the historical memory of previous reigns. In addition, the succession issue had been definitively solved by the marriage between Enrique III and Catalina of Lancaster, descendants of each branch of the Castilian royal family. The long minority of Juan II, lasting from 1406 to 1418, determined much of what was to occur during his subsequent reign. At his death, Juan’s father Enrique III had left as co-regents his widow Catalina of Lancaster and his brother the infante Fernando. As soon as Enrique III died, the two regents engaged in direct confrontation, with each trying to impose a different dynastic policy on Castile. Catalina’s aim was to aggrandise the monarchy by creating ties with her own English and Portuguese royal families, whereas Don Fernando sought to further the careers of his numerous children and promote good relations with France and Aragón, the traditional policy under Enrique III.2

1 A. Mackay, La España de la Edad Media, Madrid, 1991, p. 147. [English edition Spain in the Middle Ages: From Frontier to Empire, 1000–1500, London, 1977.] 2 For more on this, see J. Torres Fontes, “La regencia de Fernando de Antequera y las relaciones castellano-granadinas (1407–1416)”, Miscelánea de Estudios Árabes y Hebraicos, XIV–XV/1 (1965–66), pp. 137–167; XVI–XVII (1967–68), pp. 89–145; XXI (1972), pp.

2

chapter one

In 1412 Fernando was elected king of Aragón, but he retained a tight hold on the reins of his regency of Castile through various delegates and noblemen. Fernando worked hard to extend his family’s power in both kingdoms until his death in 1416. His son Alfonso inherited the Aragonese crown, and two other sons were to play a fundamental role in Castilian politics as the so-called “infantes of Aragón”. These two sons were the infante Enrique, Master of the Order of Santiago from 1409 and the inheritor of a large fortune from his mother, Leonor of Albuquerque, and the infante Juan, first heir and then king of Navarre, who inherited the lands belonging to his father in Castile. Two strategic marriages were made in an effort to tighten the circle around Juan II of Castile: Maria of Aragón, sister to the infantes, married Juan himself, and Juan’s sister, Maria of Castile, was married to Alfonso V of Aragón. (This marriage could only be realised under the auspices of the infantes of Aragón in 1418, after the death of Catalina of Lancaster, who had been consistently opposed to the project.) Although Queen Catalina was accused of withdrawing her son from the reach of the nobles and keeping him away from court circles, a close reading of contemporary historical chronicles makes it clear that it was in fact Don Fernando who was the direct or indirect cause of this removal, because the queen lived in constant fear that her brother-in-law might seize the young king from her. Nevertheless, Juan II did make public appearances at a number of festivities and key ceremonies, and during his childhood he was taken to those Castilian cities which were habitual places of royal residence: among the cities he visited were Valladolid, Segovia, Ayllón and Salamanca. The queen’s court was made up of a clique whose power had been partly curtailed by Fernando—he was, for example, able to persuade Catalina to banish her personal favourite, Leonor López de Córdoba, from court. However, Catalina’s clique continued to support the queen throughout her complex political crisis, and the young nobleman Álvaro de Luna, later to become Juan II’s personal valido, first appeared within this circle. Juan II’s reign as such can be sub-divided into several periods: the first, from the moment he reached the age of majority until his first clash with the infantes of Aragón, during which time he was supported by Álvaro de Luna (1418–1420); the second from 1420 until the valido’s first fall from grace as

37–84, and XXII (1973), pp. 7–31 and “Moros, judíos y conversos en la regencia de Fernando de Antequera”, CHE XXXI–XXXII (1960), pp. 7–31; see also M. Arribas Palau, “Fernando de Antequera y sus relaciones con Granada y Marruecos”, AEM 9 (1974–79), pp. 531–549; P. A. Porras Arboledas, Juan II, 1406–1454, Valladolid, 1995, pp. 29–83 and A. Echevarría Arsuaga, Catalina de Lancaster, Hondarribia, 2002.

MARÍA = Sons of ENRIQUE III MARÍA = Sons of FERNANDO I

María Leonor

ISABEL Queen of Castilla (1474–1504)

LEONOR = FREDRICK III King of the Romans (1440) H.R.E. (1452–93)

1 JUAN II = 2 JUANA ENRIQUES King of Navarra (1425–79) King of Aragón (1458–79) FERNANDO II King of Aragón (1479–1516)

ALFONSO King of Portugal (1438–81)

SANCHO PEDRO (+ 1416) (+ 1439) LEONOR = DUARTE, King of Portugal (1433–8)

Fig. 1. The Trastámara dynasty in the 15th century

Carlos de Viana (+ 1461)

BLANCA = Queen of Navarra

Juana de = ENRIQUE IV = Blanca Portugal King of Castilla (1454–74)

(King of Castilla) (1406–54)

ISABEL = 2 JUAN II 1 = MARÍA (1445)

CATALINA = 1 ENRIQUE = 2 Isabel Pimentel (+ 1439) Maestre de Santiago Enrique (+ 1445)

FERNANDO I Nápoles (1458–94)

MARÍA = ALFONSO V King of Aragón (1416–1458) (+1458) King of Nápoles (1435–58)

ENRIQUE III = CATALINA (de Lancaster) (1412–1416) FERNANDO I (de Antequera) = LEONOR (de Alburquerque) (1390–1406) (+ 1418)

(1379–1390) JUAN I = Leonor (de Aragón)

(1369–1379) ENRIQUE II (de Trastámara)

christians, mudejars and granadans 3

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a result of Aragonese opposition in 1430; a third period from Luna’s recovery of influence and the battle of La Higueruela until the “kidnapping” of the king in Rágama by the infantes; and then a final period from the triumph of the royalist party at the battle of Olmedo in 1445 until the definitive fall and death of Luna, who was followed to the grave by the king himself just a few months later (1454).3 Such fluctuations in the exercise of royal power could only lead to considerable governmental instability in Castile. The basis of royal policy, managed by Luna, was to strip the two infantes, who headed a party of nobles, of their power and influence, and deprive them of their extensive frontier territories, from where it was easy for them to organise armed revolts against the Castilian monarch and establish diplomatic alliances designed to isolate Aragón. Luna resorted to various different tactics in order to achieve these broad aims. Firstly, he set about concentrating in his own hands as many posts and privileges as possible, taking them directly from the infantes whenever he could. Thus it was that he took over the titles of Constable of Castile and Master of the Order of Santiago, as well as assuming numerous other aristocratic titles. Luna also found places at court for a number of new lawyers and bureaucrats who were able to take responsibility for administering the kingdom without having to rely on the co-operation of the noblemen occupying the traditional grandiose-sounding posts. This allowed the state apparatus to keep working in spite of the obstructing tactics of the leagues of nobles which were such a characteristic feature of the 15th century. Among the functionaries instated by Luna, there were many aides who owed him a debt of loyalty as a result of their appointments, as well as a fair number of religious conversos. Luna also recruited enough armed troops to deal with the rebellious nobles, although these forces were quickly dissolved whenever

3 Unfortunately, the only complete biography of Fernando de Antequera remains that by I. Macdonald, Don Fernando de Antequera, Oxford, 1948. This study can be complemented by the works mentioned above by J. Torres Fontes, and the numerous data contained in R. Salicrú, El sultanat de Granada i la Corona d’Aragó (1410–1458), Barcelona, 1998, pp. 21–117. Fernando’s actions in Aragón have been studied by E. Sarasa Sánchez, Aragón en el reinado de Fernando I, 1412–1416: gobierno y administración, constitución política, hacienda real, Zaragoza, 1986. See also E. Benito Ruano, Los infantes de Aragón, re-ed., Madrid, 2002. These events are also covered by the historical chronicles: Lope de Barrientos, Refundición de la crónica del Halconero, ed. J. de M. Carriazo, Madrid, 1946; Pedro Carrillo de Huete, Crónica del Halconero de Juan II, ed. J. de M. Carriazo, Madrid, 1946; Gonzalo Chacón, Crónica de don Álvaro de Luna, condestable de Castilla, maestre de Santiago, ed. J. de M. Carriazo, Madrid, 1940; L. Galíndez de Carvajal, Crónica del serenísimo príncipe Don Juan, segundo Rey deste nombre, in Crónicas de los reyes de Castilla, ed. C. Rosell, Madrid, 1956, vol. II.

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the infantes succeeded in bringing about the valido’s fall from royal grace. In foreign policy, an alliance was sought with England and, with particular emphasis, the Portuguese, which led to Juan II’s second marriage to princess Isabel of Portugal in 1447. The attempt to control the nobility and establish a strong monarchy also implied a loss of power by the Cortes, which passed laws that became almost worthless, in spite of the reforms constantly requested from them by the king. Obviously, Álvaro de Luna’s actions sparked criticism from the nobles, whose aim was nonetheless not to oppose or abolish “absolutism”, but to reap as much benefit as possible from it and exert control over the Royal Council, the official organ of power that was closest to the king. The issue at stake was not that of the absolute power of the monarch, who answered only to God, but that of an alleged “usurpation” of that power by the valido Luna. The infantes in turn believed that as members of the royal family, heads of the nobles of Castile and members of the King’s Council, they were authorised to use the monarch almost as they pleased. Juan II, trapped in a delicate situation, limited himself to courting favour from both sides and leading a comfortable existence at a court with humanist pretensions. In the rest of Europe, 1453 was the year of the fall of Constantinople, but in Castile it was remembered as that of the public execution of the most powerful man in the realm, Álvaro de Luna, who was charged with treason to his king. (It is interesting to note that the official chronicler Alonso de Palencia devoted several pages of his Décadas to describing events in Constantinople and their consequences, but also complained that these events had distracted the attention of Europeans from the fall of Luna.)4 Towards the end of Juan II’s reign, two other important protagonists made their appearance on the political scene: the crown prince Enrique, son of Juan II and Maria of Aragón, and Enrique’s own valido, Juan Pacheco, the marquis of Villena. These two men swayed constantly between the need to promote Enrique’s family ties with Juan of Navarre, Enrique’s father-in-law, and the need to support Juan II during periods of crisis in his government. Enrique had little sympathy for Luna, but he did accompany the Constable during the liberation of his father at Rágama. However, he also made unsuccessful attempts to seize control of his own areas of power at the crown’s expense.

4 Further details can be found in D. T. Jean, John II of Castile and the Grand Master Álvaro de Luna, Madrid, 1978; N. Round, The Greatest Man Uncrowned. A study of the fall of Don Álvaro de Luna, London, 1986; I. Pastor Bodmer, Grandeza y tragedia de un valido. La muerte de Don Álvaro de Luna, Madrid, 1992, 2 vols.

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Juan II died shortly after the death of his valido and was succeeded by his son, who became Enrique IV.5 At the start of his reign Enrique was an extremely wealthy king. To his considerable personal possessions he had added those of the principality of Asturias—which he continued to hold due to its lack of an heir—and those of the Castilian crown, recently augmented by the confiscation of Luna’s properties. However, a lack of support from his own family and the Castilian nobles soon led Enrique to search for new associates.6 His government started by ratifying his father’s functionaries in their posts and went on to create new Spanish grandees among the lower nobility in an effort to weaken the power of the high aristocracy. Enrique thus surrounded himself with new allies, such as his friends Juan Pacheco, Pacheco’s brother Pedro Girón, Miguel Lucas de Iranzo and Beltrán de la Cueva. Enrique’s general policy, which was at first managed by Pacheco, the marquis of Villena, can be seen as largely a continuation of that of his father. Although the infante Enrique of Aragón disappeared from the Castilian political scene, Juan, king of Navarre after his marriage to Blanca and then king of Aragón as a result of the death of Alfonso the Magnanimous, kept up a policy of constant intervention until 1457, the year in which he agreed with Enrique at the Vistas de Alfaro (meeting of Alfaro) to withdraw from the Castilian stage in exchange for a large sum of money. This manoeuvre made the marquis of Villena the leading nobleman in Castile, and his brother Pedro Girón became the Master of Calatrava. The prominence of these two men and their craving for power soon dragged the kingdom back into a state of near-anarchy. As with Juan II, it is possible to identify distinct periods in the reign of Enrique IV. The first of these, from his coronation until 1463, was a period of tranquillity and optimism in a kingdom that was rich and well regarded at foreign courts. However, the complex family affairs of Juan of Navarre were to have a decisive influence on Enrique’s reign. Juan’s lack of popularity in Navarre and Catalonia led Enrique to be offered both the crown and the protectorate of Navarre—through his former wife, princess Blanca—and also the principality of Catalonia. The hesitant Enrique’s sluggish reaction to these offers owed to his subjection to Villena, who sought only to maximise his own personal benefit, and this reaction frustrated hopes of a possible union between the kingdoms, causing a general crisis in Castile 5 Several studies of Enrique’s reign have appeared recently: R. Pérez Bustamante and R. Calderón Ortega, Enrique IV, 1454–1474, Valladolid, 1998; L. Suárez Fernández, Enrique IV de Castilla, Barcelona, 2001, and J. L. Martín Rodríguez, Enrique IV, Hondarribia, 2002. 6 W. D. Phillips, Enrique IV and the Crisis of Fifteenth Century Castile, Cambridge, Mass., 1978, pp. 46–47.

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which became a full-scale civil war between 1464 and 1467. In 1465, a league of nobles led by the royal favourite tried to impose a new system of government in the kingdom by means of the so-called Sentence of Medina del Campo. Although Enrique IV was forced to make capitulations, he never put his signature to the document, which sought a significant reduction of his powers as king. Enrique’s resistance led to the “Farce of Ávila” in June 1465, a ceremony in which the king was publicly overthrown by the league of nobles and the archbishop of Toledo, and which was followed by the proclamation of Enrique’s young step-brother as Alfonso XII of Castile. The “new” monarch was never recognised by any foreign government or the Papacy, and was questioned by those members of the nobility who were not of Villena’s party. He was also completely ignored by the common people, who remained loyal to Enrique IV. The final period of Enrique IV’s reign can be defined as extending from the death of the prince-king Alfonso on July 5th 1468 until Enrique’s own death on December 11th 1474. This period was characterised by a series of desperate attempts on both sides to resolve the issue of Enrique’s eventual succession.7 The throne could only be inherited by a woman: Juana, the king’s daughter, disrespectfully known as La Beltraneja in propaganda designed to damage her interests (she was alleged to be the illegitimate daughter of Beltrán de la Cueva) or Isabella, Enrique’s sister, whose only real hope of claiming the throne rested on a general acceptance of Juana’s illegitimacy. The rest of the story is well-known: despite Enrique’s refusal to disinherit his daughter, an agreement was eventually signed at Toros de Guisando recognising Isabella’s rights, but Isabella’s marriage to Fernando of Aragón—the son of Enrique’s personal enemy Juan II—angered the Castilian king and caused him to revoke his previous decision. At his death, Enrique had yet to designate which of the two women should succeed him, and Castile was plunged into another civil war, which ended in victory for Ferdinand and Isabella. The complex political situation of these years was reflected in profound institutional and social changes which consolidated Castile as the modern State it would become in the sixteenth century. With the Cortes in decline and attended by fewer and fewer delegates from the towns and cities (the important posts had often fallen into the hands of noblemen or prelates), royal control of the appointment of representatives became more overt. Some areas of the kingdom were left completely unrepresented, as were the

7 For the succession conflict, I follow the arguments in J. L. Martín Rodríguez, Enrique IV, pp. 203–304, which revises many traditional ideas about Enrique, such as his alleged impotence.

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lowest social orders, such as small-scale traders and artisans. The king often did not even bother to inform the Cortes of the issues he required them to consider, and on most occasions only called the Cortes to sit at all in order to solve financial issues like the approval of war subsidies or the devaluation of the currency. The time of the Cortes’ great legal pronouncements had clearly passed. As far as administration of the kingdom was concerned, it should first be noted that there was throughout the 15th century a huge growth in the number of territorial manors, which were exempt from royal jurisdiction. This was because of the numerous grants of estates of this kind that monarchs were forced to make in order to “seduce” their followers. At the head of the administrative regions there still stood, in Leon and Castile, an adelantado mayor or merino mayor with judicial functions, and in the frontier realms of Andalusia and Murcia, the adelantado mayor de la frontera, who had military as well as judicial powers. During the period with which we are concerned, all of these men were members of important noble families. In the municipalities, the oligarchy had assumed control of the concejos or local councils. These ancient general assemblies of citizens were now replaced by small groups of six, twelve or twenty-four regidores, who were usually members of leading families in the city. The process of their election by local citizens became more and more questionable, and the crown responded to this by reserving its right to make direct appointments of members of local governments or by deploying corregidores, who were royal officials with the power to overturn any municipal decision. Mayors or magistrates and the alguacil were proposed by the concejo and chosen by the king, or by the lord of the town or city. The actions of the corregidores, who often violated municipal fueros and liberties, led representatives in the Cortes to ask the king to reduce their powers or the duration of their terms of office, but abuses were common during the reigns of both Juan II and Enrique IV. The other instruments of royal power during this period were the Hermandades or associations of cities, formed in times of crisis to defend municipal liberties or the king. The role of the Hermandades in supporting Enrique IV against the nobles was especially important. The administration of justice was in the hands of the Chancillería, which was made up of oídores or public functionaries who imparted justice on behalf of the king. The alcaldes de corte were entrusted with lawsuits originating in each of the kingdoms of Castile, Leon, Extremadura, Toledo and Andalusia, and the alcalde de los fijosdalgo oversaw lawsuits involving members of the nobility. After an itinerary period, the Chancillería remained permanently in Valladolid from 1442 onwards. Local tribunals continued to function in accordance with custom, but local fueros gradually gave way to the rule of

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the crown’s legal compilations. Two separate jurisdictions, but which in the last instance had to resort to the Chancillería for appeal cases, were those of the Mudejars and the Jews. In the case of the former, local jurisdiction was applied by a network of alcaldes mayores de las aljamas. They were headed by the alcalde mayor of all the aljamas of the realm, appointed by the king from among the Mudejar elite closest to the crown. The same occurred with the Jewish community, which was led by the rab mayor (rabbi) of the court, and whose aljamas were able to pass judgement in accordance with the customs of their own law. Royal finances were in the hands of two contadores mayores de hacienda, who were in charge of administering royal moneys and keeping accounts books, and two contadores mayores de cuentas, who had additional judicial authority to resolve economic lawsuits. After 1436 these men also performed their duties at the Casa de Cuentas in Valladolid. Tax exemptions for the clergy and the nobility considerably weakened the availability of crown funds, and monarchs were forced to seek finance through taxes on the lands that still remained in their possession, as well as fines, customs duties and subsidies voted by the Cortes, plus the parias or punitive impositions demanded from Granada. The nobility changed in important ways during the course of the 15th century. Firstly, relatives of the king formed groups of individuals who became great noblemen and obstructed the government of the realm. Among such figures, the most striking example was Fernando of Antequera, the future Fernando I of Aragón, and his sons Juan and Enrique. In addition, the Trastámaras implemented a very liberal policy of making concessions to their followers which had the effect of mortgaging the royal patrimony until the reign of the Catholic Kings. This policy created what was known as the new nobility, in contrast with the ancient nobility of Leonese and Navarran origin. In order to prevent the break-up of their patrimony, these families were permitted to create mayorazgos, i.e. sets of inalienable properties and titles which were passed on to the first-born son of the noble house and his descendants, while the other siblings kept the less important manors. This was the means of maintaining the authority of the oldest son, who bore the family surname, lived in the ancestral home and acted as the political head of the family.8 The importance of family lineages increased as these men took their places at court, close to the king, and played an active role

8 See M. C. Gerbet, Las noblezas españolas en la Edad Media. Siglos XI–XV, Madrid, 1994, pp. 275–381, and L. Suárez Fernández, Nobleza y monarquía: el proceso de construcción de la Corona española, Valladolid, 1975, revised re-edition, Madrid, 2003.

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in government. To prevent this monopoly and its interference, Juan II and Enrique IV chose their validos from among the second-rank nobility or even the burgess class, and favoured functionaries of the royal household, who were raised to the highest posts in government. The reaction of the nobility to such policies led to a governmental crisis which is discussed in further detail later. The church, on the other hand, had finally emerged from its schism in about 1438 in a weakened and fragmented state, to such an extent that Papal bulls could not be published or applied in Castile without royal consent. In the appointment of bishops and archbishops, monarchs had succeeded in winning the right to present their candidates to the Pope, and they forced the appointment of priests who were natives of the kingdoms where they worked, as a way of curbing the absenteeism of members of the curia who had “filled” their posts from Rome, with all the problems that such a practice had entailed. The great prelates were often members of the main noble families of Castile, and spent at least part of the year at court, in accordance with contemporary practice. It was common for them to have children or siblings, who on occasions would succeed them in their posts. Their participation in political intrigue at court also sowed confusion among believers. The military orders underwent a process of secularisation during this period which went hand in hand with their politicisation when their crusading activities at the front in Granada began to go into decline. Castilian kings obtained Papal permission to name the Masters of these orders, who were sometimes no more than young boys, like the sons of Fernando of Antequera, Enrique and Fadrique. The Maestrazgo of Santiago was held by two great royal favourites, Álvaro de Luna and Beltrán de la Cueva, and their lands were exploited to the benefit of dynastic struggles.9 The cash crisis that affected noble lords and churchmen was one of the reasons for their backing of campaigns against Granada. Land was plentiful, but there was a general lack of farm hands and leases, causing the income of landed lords to fall continually. This situation was only partly remedied through the receipt of salaries or raciones for the posts they held at court. Monarchs did not possess enough properties to be able to keep sharing them out among their loyal followers, and were forced to resort to the confisca-

9 P. A. Porras Arboledas, La Orden de Santiago en el siglo XV. La provincia de Castilla, Madrid, 1997, pp. 19–29 and 59–64. See also E. Mitre, “Los maestres de las Órdenes Militares castellanas y la “revolución” Trastámara: vicisitudes políticas y relaciones nobiliarias”, in Las Órdenes Militares en la Península Ibérica. Edad Media, co-ord. R. Izquierdo Benito and F. Ruiz Gómez, Cuenca, 2000, pp. 259–280.

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tion of goods belonging to some owners in order to confer them on others. Some noblemen made the leap into commercial activity, usually in the wool, metal and mining sectors, using the products of their own lands to do so, but such men were an exception. An increase in the population of Castile during the 15th century allowed the application of a system of crop rotation in the newly cultivated lands which was encouraged by the lords, always keen to recoup their incomes. Agrarian production of cereals and vine varied greatly from year to year, making the expensiveness of foodstuffs in Castile as common as it was in the kingdom of Granada, and often forcing cereals to be imported from Sicily and other kingdoms. On the other hand, the buoyant production of olive oil in Andalusia not only met local demands, but meant that it was exported to northern Europe.10 Livestock breeding continued to be the main occupation of Castilians, who traded in wool at the fairs held in major towns like Medina, Olmedo, Burgos or Guadalajara, and exported it through the Cantabrian ports and Seville. Flanders, England, France and Italy, the main recipients of the raw material, returned in exchange a significant amount of cloth to complement Castile’s scarce production which was designed for purely local consumption. Italy and Granada provided textiles of greater luxury, such as the silk used by the social elite. It was common practice to pay courtiers in yards of cloth, and this custom was a recognition of commercial activity which had certain sociological implications, as I will mention later.11 Monetary instability struck all areas of the Iberian peninsula, and became chronic after about 1450. The maravedí, the currency of Castile, was constantly devalued during the reigns of Juan II and Enrique IV, with drastic falls in value coinciding with the periods of greatest political crisis. The first fall took place in 1429–30, when Luna definitively replaced the infantes Juan and Enrique of Aragón at the head of the kingdom and put a new administration in place. It was precisely at that time that the so-called “dobla de la banda” was issued, a copy of the gold dobla or doubloon called a valadí or morisca in the kingdom of Granada.12 The fact that Juan II ordered 10 Studies of agriculture in the peninsula are almost always local. For a general overview, see J. Valdeón, “León y Castilla”, in Historia de España (dir. M. Tuñón de Lara), Barcelona, 1988, vol. 4, pp. 106–113; J. L. Martín, Manual de Historia de España, 2. La España medieval, Madrid, 1993, pp. 528–548. 11 For more, see A. Mackay, La España de la Edad Media, Madrid, 1991, pp. 180–203. [English edition Spain in the Middle Ages: From Frontier to Empire, 1000–1500, London, 1977.] 12 The Code of January 29th 1442 was analysed by A. Mackay, Money, Prices and Politics

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the emission of these coins on the eve of his campaign against the Muslim kingdom will be explained later, as will the symbolism of their name. There was another brief moment of weakness in 1459, and the situation became completely chaotic after 1463. During the civil war, and until the end of Enrique IV’s reign, the crown’s devaluations of the currency caused inflation to reach alarming levels. The noble factions and the procuradores de cortes made repeated calls for a return to a stable monetary policy, but did little to bring it about. From 1460 on, private mints began to operate, although Enrique tried to halt them by creating the official mint of Segovia.13 Fluctuations in the currency became so great that their effects on the market could not be palliated by special taxes, the payment of parias by the sultans of Granada, or the appropriation of diezmas de cruzada (crusade tithes) granted to Castile by successive popes to finance the campaigns in Granada. One of the most important sources of income for the crown were the religious minorities, who depended directly on the king in crown territories. With their taxes and labour, Jews and Mudejars contributed to the upholding of the monarchy even in times of crisis. Indeed, the Mudejar minority played a fundamental role in Castilian domestic politics during the period immediately before the conquest of Granada. However, it was the very existence of the kingdom of Granada that made it possible for the Mudejars to remain in Castile and which justified their presence there, as can be seen from the way in which events later unfolded.

The Mudejar communities under the Castilian crown The Mudejars were the most visible manifestation of Islam in the Christian realms of the Iberian peninsula. They were organised into aljamas, a term which covered both the council or junta of leading men and older inhabitants who held the main official posts in the community and, by extension, the group or community of Muslims or Jews who had the status of vassals under a Christian authority. The situation of the aljamas changed in several ways during the 15th century, as a result of the civil war and the first antiin Fifteenth-Century Castile, London, 1981, pp. 36, 50, and it has been edited in two different versions more recently by T. Puñal Fernández, “El ordenamiento de precios y salarios de Juan II en 1442. Estudio histórico-diplomático” in Espacio, Tiempo y Forma, Serie III, Historia Medieval, 14, 2001, pp. 241–355. The reference to the dobla, according to Mackay, is in BN, Ms. 13259, f. 312 v. 13 A. Mackay, Money, Prices and Politics, pp. 86–93; M. A. Ladero Quesada, “La política monetaria en el reino de Castilla”, in En La España Medieval, XI, 1988, pp. 79–123.

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minority measures of the Trastámaras. With a population that had been decimated by the war and great plague of 1348, plus the repercussions of the pogroms of 1391, which marked the decadence of a Jewish minority that was also badly affected by internal dissensions, the Mudejars took on a new significance in late medieval Castilian society.14 However, the flourishing situation of the Castilian aljamas attracted the attention of its monarchs, who tried to secure their control over a minority that was mainly concentrated in lands belonging to the crown. Thus it was that attempts were made to define as clearly as possible the ties that bound Mudejars and the king, and to establish patterns of centralisation and increased hierarchical organisation within the Mudejar minority itself. The actions taken by the Castilian crown are fundamental to an understanding of the origin of the Moorish guard and its role as a bridge between three different ambits: the Christian, the Granadan and the Mudejar. The aljamas, as a result of the privileges conceded to the Mudejars, were semi-autonomous entities with the same status as the concejos of Castilian towns and cities. Each aljama was headed by an alcalde mayor, who was normally a member of one of the leading Muslim families in the community, and on occasions a man of acknowledged noble descent. Ideally, the alcalde mayor was chosen by the Mudejars themselves and confirmed in his post by the king, but in the 15th century the process was often reversed, with the aljama simply confirming a royal appointment. The figure of the alcalde mayor served the monarchy as a means of controlling the Mudejars through an interlocutor who also had a say in the deployment of the group’s taxes. The aljamas were grouped for fiscal purposes into kingdoms (Leon, Castile, Andalusia and Murcia), at least until the reign of the Catholic Kings, when they began to be divided into bishoprics, following an older custom, which can be traced back to the 13th century.15 The largest aljamas, which were usually found in urban areas, were the seats of the judicial districts which had survived, with some alterations, since

14 “Mudéjares y moriscos” in El reino nazarí de Granada, Historia de España Menéndez Pidal (co-ord. María Jesús Viguera Molins), vol. VIII, 4, Madrid, 2000, pp. 365–440, especially p. 376. 15 Mention must be made here of the studies by M. A. Ladero Quesada, Los mudéjares de Castilla en tiempo de Isabel I, Valladolid, 1969; “Los mudéjares de Castilla en la Baja Edad Media”, ASIM I, Teruel, 1981, pp. 349–390 and “Los mudéjares en los reinos de la Corona de Castilla. Estado actual de su estudio”, ASIM III, Teruel, 1986, pp. 5–20, which can also be found in the volume Los mudéjares de Castilla y otros estudios de historia medieval andaluza, Granada, 1989, pp. 11–99.

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the Islamic period.16 The make-up and organisation of the posts held in each aljama were fundamental in defining their hierarchical organisation within the realm, but often they did not coincide with the relative importance of the Christian town or city where they were located. In an aljama of a certain size, there was a cadí or alcalde, a man of the highest authority who had the same mixture of judicial, administrative and religious powers as equivalent Islamic authorities. His responsibilities were to administer justice, make pronouncements on issues of faith and morals, decide theological disputes, supervise the marketplace and generally watch over the life of the community and act as its representative before the Christian authorities, whether the concejo or the monarchy itself. Four or five elected senior officials met at assemblies to deal with the internal affairs of the aljamas and were entitled to name other minor officials, as well as deciding on how the tax burden owed to the king was to be shared out among the various heads of family. The zalmedina was the judge of first resort and also the jailer and official in charge of fraud cases, the upkeep of the local prison and the appointment of policing staff. An alamín or alfaquí provided the cadí with legal assessment, had jurisdiction over some civil cases and could sometimes act as a notary. The smallest aljamas had councils which were so reduced in size that they sometimes had only one alfaquí, and these aljamas consulted other larger ones on a range of different issues. The co-ordination of the networks of influence linking the first-order aljamas and what might be called “dependent” aljamas was largely in the hands of the elite Mudejar families. Grasping the nature of this relationship is important to an understanding of relations within the Muslim community in the peninsular Christian kingdoms. Within the local elites of the Mudejars who held the main posts in the aljamas, there were some lineages which were in turn linked to the Castilian court, and most directly to the monarch and his main advisors, like Álvaro de Luna, the marquis of Santillana or Alonso Carrillo, the archbishop of Seville.17 Such men, as personal aides to 16 M. I. Calero Secall, “La justicia, cadíes y magistrados”, in El reino nazarí de Granada, pp. 387–390, is an interesting study of the judicial headquarters of Granada. An equivalent study for the kingdom of Castile has so far proved impossible to carry out. 17 J. P. Molénat, “L’élite mudéjare dans la Péninsula Ibérique médiévale”, in Elites e redes clientelares na Idade Média: problemas metodológicos, ed. F. T. Barata, Lisbon, 2001, pp. 45–53; “Une famille de l’elite mudéjare de la Couronne de Castille: les Xarafí de Tolède et d’Alcalá de Henares” in Mélanges Louis Cardaillac, Zaghouan, Tunisia, 1995, I, pp. 765–772; “Àpropos d’Abrahen Xarafí: les alcaldes mayores de los moros de Castille au temps des Rois Catholiques”, ASIM VII, Teruel, 1999, pp. 175–184; “Alcaldes et alcaldes mayores de moros de Castille au XVe siècle”, in Regarde sur al-Andalus (VIIIe–XVe siècle), F. Géal (dir.), Madrid, 2006, pp. 147–168. See also A. Echevarría Arsuaga, “Mudéjares y moriscos”, in El reino nazarí de Granada, vol. VIII, 4, pp. 367–440.

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the monarch, were given the title of “alcalde mayor de las aljamas de todos los reinos”. This meant that they had general authority over all aljamas, acted as appeal judges appointed directly by the king, and were intermediaries between the Mudejar community and the monarch. By appointing both the local alcaldes and the alcaldes mayores del reino, the king was able to act directly upon the Crown aljamas, normally located in the largest cities of the kingdom, which were also habitual seats of the court, such as Ávila, Segovia, Burgos, Palencia, Madrigal, Tordesillas, Toro, Medina del Campo, Salamanca, Valladolid, Toledo, Madrid or Seville. There were nevertheless still clashes over control of the Crown aljamas between the king and the concejos, with the latter wanting the aljamas to be subordinate to them in civil affairs.18 Generally speaking, the greater the extent of assimilation of the Mudejar population in any one area or city, and the greater their economic importance in one particular production sector, the more important it became to reassert control over them. This sort of control was exerted, for example, when meetings which had normally taken place in the main mosque of the Moorish quarter or in the town square were required by law to be held in a church or “Christian square” out of respect to the concejo or the Jewish aljama.19 In almost all the main Castilian towns and cities, there is evidence of Muslims living throughout the different quarters, just as there is evidence that there were unsuccessful attempts by the concejos to restrict them to living together in only one. There are also records of the existence of shops belonging to Mudejars located outside the areas to which they were in theory limited, of the survival of mosques in areas that were mainly Christian, and of repeated threats by some communities that they would emigrate to territorial manors if these practices were continued.20 The king also had the last word in the aljamas of ecclesiastical estates such as bishoprics and monasteries, where Mudejars were often employed, although there were frequent conflicts in them over the different rulings on incomes from the aljamas, such as those which occurred between the bishop of Cartagena and the military Order of Saint John over the incomes of Archena, or that between the same bishop and the Order of Calatrava over

18

J. C. De Miguel, La comunidad mudéjar de Madrid, Madrid, 1989, pp. 39–44. F. J. García Marco, Las comunidades mudéjares de Calatayud, pp. 341–369, cites most of the meeting places of the aljamas of Calatayud. 20 A good selection of documents providing this kind of evidence can be found in the classic work by M. A. Ladero Quesada, Los mudéjares en tiempo de Isabel I, Valladolid, 1969. For specific examples, see the works cited in the notes that follow. 19

christians, mudejars and granadans

17

the revenues of Abanilla. In spite of court interference in the appointment of individuals to the highest Mudejar posts, royal authority and that of the concejo could be applied without difficulty in these places. The protection offered by different members of the nobility led to the concentration of large numbers of Mudejars in manor towns, which have not been sufficiently well studied in the kingdom of Castile, particularly from the judicial point of view. It is thus impossible to know how members of the nobility may have acted to put pressure on particular alcaldes of aljamas, except in those cases where noblemen like the Mendozas intervened personally to name alcaldes mayores of the kingdom of Castile. As for the extensive estates belonging to the Military Orders, especially in southern areas, they are known to have possessed large Mudejar populations, which were supported by the Masters. During a period when these posts had come under the direct authority of the personal favourites of Juan II and Enrique IV, it is unclear whether it was the king or the Masters themselves who benefited from the income and human resources of the aljamas which fell under this kind of jurisdiction. Mudejar society was relatively un-hierarchical. Apart from the court elite mentioned above, urban Mudejars usually specialised in trades or professions that were useful to the Christian community in general, or to one concejo in particular. In this way they were able to prevent the expression of opposition to their work, despite the limitations theoretically imposed on them by law.21 The professional areas in which they specialised included medicine, metallurgy, skinning, a long list of trades related to building (tile workers, bricklayers, plasterers, carpenters, blacksmiths and builders), trades related to the conduction of water, and fire-fighting activities. To these were added the agricultural labours carried out by Mudejars who served land-owning Christians or their own coreligionists, as occurred, for instance, in Ávila. Any of these men could in theory serve in the king’s armed retinue if needed, but although evidence has been found of their involvement in military activity during the 13th century, they had normally chosen by the 15th to make an economic contribution instead of taking part in combat. On occasions this

21 Castilian law tried to prevent Mudejars and Jews from practising numerous trades through the Ordenamiento of Valladolid of 1412, but this order was largely ignored and later revoked by Juan II, so that such restrictions had little practical effect until the passing of measures by the Cortes of Toledo in 1480. These measures were harsher than those of 1412, and were also intended to form part of a general offensive against Granada. See A. Echevarría Arsuaga, “Política y religión frente al Islam: la evolución de la legislación real castellana sobre musulmanes en el siglo XV”, Qurtuba, 4, 1999, pp. 45–72.

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happened at the request of the concejos, which were thus able to ensure the continuity of a city’s professional activities during times of war. During the 15th century the local armed retinues had very few Mudejars in their ranks. Mudejars were, however, to be found in the royal army that was created at this time. The crown cities contributed to this army by sending knights of Mudejar origin to it—proof of the economic buoyancy of these citizens, who until recently had been considered very marginal subjects by historians. Such events also show the limited importance of religious affiliation in the recruitment process. Assimilation of Mudejars was fairly advanced in the north of Castile, and a symbiosis of the Islamic and the Christian in the frontier regions allowed the differentiating features of the Mudejars to vanish slowly over time, if indeed they were ever externally present. At the same time, their presence on the frontier and at court made it easier for them to make contact with their fellow-believers in the kingdom of Granada, with whom on occasions they still maintained relations because of family ties and common interests.

The sultanate of Granada The remaining protagonist in this story was the sultanate of Granada. Although its territorial scope had been gradually reduced, Granada still clung to its position as the last bastion of Islam in the Iberian peninsula. Far from seeing its importance to Castile as having diminished, Castilian monarchs continued to welcome parias from Granada whenever the Castilian government was strong enough to impose them by force of arms. The king of Castile acted as a mediator in Granada’s diplomatic relations with other Christian kingdoms, and Castile also had important trade links with Granada during periods of peace or truces. In addition, declarations of vassalage to contemporary Castilian sovereigns were made by some Nasrid leaders, although this issue of their vassalage needs to be qualified, as it seems that not all Nasrid kings considered themselves subject to Castile as a result of such a bond. Castile, for its part, always saw Granada as a territory for possible expansion, and the stage for the crusading activity for which it had received so much monetary aid from the Papacy. The territory of the Nasrids had been reduced to the ancient coras of Granada (Ilbira), Málaga (Rayya), Almería (Bayyana/Al-Mariyya), Ronda (Takurunna) and part of that of Algeciras (al-Yazira al-Hadráʾ). In the mountainous regions of the Alpujarras and the ranges above Ronda and Málaga, the military-style demarcations (taʾas) predominated over any other type

christians, mudejars and granadans

19

of territorial organisation.22 In these areas, fortresses did not dominate the nearest nuclei in the manner of a Christian alfoz, but were controlled by the sultan and relied on the nearest town for their maintenance, sharing the duty of defending the territory with local farmsteads. The castles located in the areas bordering on Castile were also financed through the donation of goods through religious endowments, i.e. they functioned as pious foundations, with properties and incomes which were used for the upkeep of their defences. Such castles were designed for the waging of warfare against those regarded as enemies of the faith, and when the sultan’s permission was granted in times of war they were also allowed to gather a tithe from the surrounding area.23 Rural populations were subject to the cities but enjoyed a certain degree of autonomy in their form of government.24 It is vital to understand this system of spatial organisation, which was very different from that of the Christian areas, because each district functioned as a base for different political forces, and this was to play a decisive role in the relations between Granada and Castile. The imposition in the capital city of Granada of a dynasty originating from Jaén re-ignited the opposition of local lineages like the Abencerrajes or the fugitive Nasrids, who chose Málaga and Almería as their family bases, or the supporters of the Merinids like the Banu l-Hakim, who were located in Ronda and Algeciras. Almería also became the manorial home of some Nasrids, both relatives of the emir and presumed heirs to the throne, and a number of revolts started in that city, which during some periods can therefore be considered quasi-independent from the rest of the kingdom. The history of the kingdom of Granada after 1408 is characterised by the gradual disintegration of the Nasrid dynasty. In the lapse of time covered by the reigns of Juan II and Enrique IV, as many as ten different sultans governed from the Alhambra. These men assumed power through coups,

22 M. C. Jiménez Mata, “La división administrativa”, and C. Torres Delgado, “El territorio y la economía”, in El reino nazarí de Granada, vol. VIII.3, pp. 253–319 and 505–532 respectively; M. A. Ladero Quesada, Granada, historia de un país islámico, pp. 20–53. 23 Interesting examples of fatwas for Baza and Vélez, both dictated by Ibn Manzur (d. 1482), have survived. See V. Lagardère, Histoire et société en Occident musulman au Moyen Age. Analyse du Miʾyar d’al-Wansharishi, Madrid, 1996, p. 284, with translations in M. I. Calero Secall, “Afectación de las rentas de los habices de las mezquitas en fetuas nazaríes del siglo XV. El caso del poeta-alfaquí al-Basti”, in En el epílogo del Islam andalusí: la Granada del siglo XV, ed. C. del Moral, Granada, 2002, pp. 177–179; in the Alpujarras, see C. Trillo Sanjosé, “El castillo de Escariantes y el poblamiento de la ta’a de Ugíjar”, in Castillos y territorio en al-Andalus, ed. A. Malpica, Granada, 1998, pp. 419–449, esp. p. 435. 24 A. Malpica Cuello, “De la Granada nazarí al reino de Granada”, in De al-Andalus a la sociedad feudal: los repartimientos bajomedievales, Barcelona, 1990, pp. 123, 146.

Casarabonela

Piñar

Competa

GRANADA

Colomera Montefrío Moclín Zagra íllora

Archidona

Iznájár

Cabra

Bélmez Galera

Huéscar

Vélez Blanco

Baza

Fiñana

Estepona

Gibraltar Algeciras

El Castellar

Jimena

Setenil

Map 2.

Xiquena

Mojácar

Oria Huércal-Overa Purchena Vera Tabernas

Zújar

Benamaurelr Vélez Rubio

Guadix

Gorafe

Huelma Benzalema Montejícar Freila

Bejid

Alhabar Arenas

Cambil

Ugíjar Andarax Níjar Alhama Ardales Comares Sedella Canillas Turón Álora Torrox Frigiliana Almuñécar Adra Berja ALMERÍA Almogía Montecorto El Burgo Albuñol Yunquera Nerja Salobreña Montejaque Ronda MALAGA Bentomiz Maro Castil de Tolox Monda Benalmádena Ferro Gaucín Marbella Fuengirola Casares Vélez Málaga

Towers

Castles

Fortresses

Capital cities of the coras

Important cities

Limits of the coras (Islamic districts)

GRANADA IN THE 15th CENTURY 20 chapter one

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and some of them ruled for alternating periods lasting several years. Thus Muhammad IX, Saʿd and Abu l-Hasan ʿAli each reigned three times, and Muhammad VIII and Muhammad X did so twice. Castilian interventions in Granada served to destabilise the process of government even further. The Nasrid state had been defined from its origins as a sultanate or emirate, and its governors used the corresponding titles of sultan or emir. To this title was added the honorific one of emir of the Muslims, vicar of the Abbasids. This honorific title legitimised the dynasty by emphasising what was by then a purely symbolic link with the caliphate of Egypt, but also echoed the title of emir of the believers as used in North Africa. This link to an Arab lineage and the kind of propaganda sung by poets in courtly panegyrics raised the sultans to the status of caliphs or vicars of God, but the title was never used for official purposes. Neither did the Nasrids ever recognise the Banu Marin sultans as their superiors, despite the fact that they were protected by them on several occasions. Nasrid pacts of vassalage to Castile had little effect on the legitimacy of their power in the eyes of their own Muslim subjects, except in economic terms. Christians used the term “king” to refer to the sultans of Granada in reference to their function as sovereigns, and this was an obligatory term because of the express condition of vassalage to the Castilian monarch.25 The investiture of a sultan required, as it had throughout the history of al-Andalus, a promise of submission from the sultan’s subjects (bayʿa), his name being subsequently proclaimed during Friday prayers in all the mosques of the kingdom. The sultan himself was entitled to designate his successor, who in theory had to be a direct patrilineal descendant, although not necessarily his first-born son. In fact, the throne was often passed on to a brother rather than a son, and even to a younger rather than an older brother, even if it was often the latter who ended up governing the kingdom. Intrigues and disputes over the succession made the captivity of princes with rights to the throne an endemic feature of the dynasty, and over the period the fortress of Salobreña went from being a summer residence to an unofficial state prison for such captives. The Nasrid line of succession was basically agnatic, but there were two cases of succession through the female line: those of Ismael I and Yusuf IV ibn al-Mawl.26 Ismael was the son of the vizier Abu Saʿid Faray, who had 25

M. J. Viguera, “El soberano, visires y secretarios” in El reino nazarí de Granada, Historia de España Menéndez Pidal, (co-ord. María Jesús Viguera Molins), Madrid 2000, vol. VIII.3, pp. 319–325. I will use the terms sultan, or emir, throughout this book. 26 For this aspect of the succession process, see M. J. Viguera, “El soberano, visires y

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married a daughter of Muhammad II; Yusuf was the son of a member of the al-Mawl family and a daughter of Muhammad VI. Unlike Acién Almansa, who has argued for the co-existence of two different succession criteria in Granada, i.e. the traditional agnatic line and a new cognatic one, I believe that it was essentially Castilian intervention in Nasrid politics that determined the choice of alternative candidates to the throne. In seeking political legitimacy of some kind for each of their candidates, the Castilians were sometimes forced to resort to the notion of cognatic succession in order to justify their actions. The Islamic tradition of a woman’s marriage to a cousin or uncle on her father’s side was also fundamental to acceptance of such candidates.27 Given the need to marry daughters to husbands of a similar social and economic status,28 endogamy was widely practised in Nasrid Granada, and the families of viziers and high dignitaries of the administration managed to marry into the Nasrid dynasty through such political ties. In this manner there was also a reinforcement of relations with the lateral branches of the Nasrids and with lineages originally from Granada (the Banu l-Mawl, Banu Ashqilula, Mufarrij and Venegas). At times of political and military weakness, the marriages of daughters and sisters of the emirs had a greater political role than in the caliphal period, as a means of guaranteeing loyalties and support within and outside the family.29 These families’ contacts with Christians made it likelier that their sons would be chosen as pretenders to the throne with rights in the maternal line. To these figures should be added those sultans who were married to the daughters of other sultans: Muhammad VI, the husband of a daughter of Yusuf I, who led an uprising against his brother-in-law Muhammad V; and Yusuf V, whose rights to the throne derived from both the paternal and the maternal lines. The wives of the Nasrids, like the wives in dynasties before them, often intervened in power struggles, financing or advising their sons and other relatives.30

secretarios”, pp. 330–331; M. J. Rubiera Mata, “El vínculo cognático en al-Andalus”, Actas del I Congreso de Historia de Andalucía. Andalucía Medieval, I, pp. 121–124; M. Acién Almansa, Historia de los pueblos de España. Tierras fronterizas (I). Andalucía. Canarias, Barcelona, 1984, p. 52. 27 M. A. Ladero, Granada, p. 51. 28 M. Marín, Mujeres en al-Andalus, Madrid, 2002, p. 418, which cites the marriage options available to high-status women described by Ibn Mugit. 29 M. Marín, Mujeres en al-Andalus, pp. 548–549. For cases of transmission of rights along the female line in the Nasrid dynasty, see M. J. Rubiera, “El vínculo cognático en al-Andalus”, in Actas del I Congreso de historia de Andalucía, Córdoba, 1978, vol. I, pp. 121–124 and “La princesa Fatima bint al-Ahmar, la María de Molina de la dinastía nazarí de Granada”, Medievalismo, 6, 1996, pp. 183–189. 30 M. Marín, Mujeres en al-Andalus, pp. 589–590.

Ismael

Muhammad

a daughter

9. ISMAEL II 11. YUSUF II

7. YÚSUF I

19. MUHAMMAD X

20. SAʾD

22. MUHAMMAD XI Boabdil

23. MUHAMMAD XII al-Zagal

17. YÚSUF V “The Lame”

21. ABU L-HASAN (ISMAEL IV)

14. MUHAMMAD VIII “The Little One”

4. NASR

Ahmad = Fátima 15. MUHAMMAD IX “The Left-handed”

Nasr

3. MUHAMMAD III

2. MUHAMMAD II

1. MUHAMMAD I

8. MUHAMMAD V

Fátima

18. ISMAEL III 13. YUSUF III 12. MUHAMMAD VII ‘Ali

Daughter

6. MUHAMMAD IV

5. ISMAEL I

Yúsuf

Fig. 2. Genealogy of the Nasrid dynasty (based on F. Vidal and R. Salicrú, with corrections)

Ridwan Bannigas= Maryam 16. YÚSUF IV

Muhammad b. al-Mawl

10. MUHAMMAD VI “The Red”

Farax

Ismael

Muhammad

Nasr

christians, mudejars and granadans 23

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Until very recently, most studies of Nasrid Granada were deeply conditioned by their reliance on Christian and especially Castilian sources. However, recent discoveries in the field of Arabic literature and a revision of the value of documents in Granadan archives have made it possible to speak of a specifically Granadan dynamic, quite apart from that which was imposed on it by relations with its northern neighbour.31 The near-total dependence on Castile, in part “created” by a historiography which has been based almost exclusively on Christian records and chroniclers, and which placed special emphasis on the events of military campaigns, can now be qualified, and the sultanate’s foreign policy placed in a wider context, firstly with regard to other Islamic countries, and secondly with reference to the general domestic situation in the Nasrid kingdom. In order to understand the development of contacts between Granada and Castile it is now necessary to analyse the complex manner in which the dynasty evolved over time.32 The 15th century opened with the bellicose reign of the sultan Muhammad VII (1392–1408), which saw a Castilian military offensive in response to repeated Nasrid attacks on military objectives on the frontier. Muhammad VII had come to the throne at the age of just fifteen, as a result of a conspiracy by court functionaries led by Ibn Zamrak. Muhammad removed his older brother, Yusuf, from power and had him imprisoned in the fortress of

31 Among these discoveries, the edition of the work by Ibn ‘Asim, Defensa de la satisfacción en aceptar el designio y decreto de Dios (1450), by M. Charouiti Hasnaoui and S. Yarrar, has provided precious information on political developments in the period, as these two authors has shown. The work of Vidal and Salicrú has also contributed greatly, and the present study is deeply indebted to all of these scholars. Other discoveries are based on the poetical works of ‘Abd al-Karim al-Qaysi, also known as al-Basti, and which partly consisted of elegies for lost Granadan cities. For more on al-Basti, see C. Castillo, “La pérdida de Archidona poetizada por al-Basti”, in Homenaje al Prof. Jacinto Bosch Vilá, Granada, 1991, II, pp. 689–693; “La conquista de Gibraltar en el Diwan de ‘Abd al-Karim al-Qaysi”, MEAH, XLII–XLIII/1, 1993–94, pp. 73–80 and “Más elegías de al-Qaysi por pérdidas granadinas” in Homenaje al Prof. José María Fórneas Besteiro, Granada, 1995, pp. 111–115. Another version of events is offered by the Sefer ha-Shorashim, ed. M. Jiménez Sánchez, Granada, 1996, an important Judeo-Arabic dictionary written by the last rabbi of Granada, Seadyah ben Danan. In recent years, more attention has been paid to these sources and others as yet unpublished, e.g. in M. J. Viguera, “La cultura nazarí y sus registros históricos, biobibliográficos y geográficos”, in Estudios nazaríes, ed. C. Castillo, Granada, 1997, pp. 165–189 and J. M. Puerta Vílchez, “La cultura y la creación artística” in Historia del reino de Granada, ed. R. G. Peinado Santaella, Granada, 2001, pp. 349–395. Concerning Granadan archives, see recently M. Shatzmiller, Her day in court: Women’s property rights in fifteenth-century Granada. Cambridge (Mass.), 2007. 32 I follow here the most up-to-date work on the political history of the Nasrids: R. Salicrú, El sultanat de Granada i la Corona d’Aragó (1410–1458), Barcelona, 1998, and F. Vidal, “Historia política”, pp. 143–248. Apart from the works mentioned previously, see J. de M. Carriazo, “La Historia de la Casa Real de Granada, anónimo castellano de mediados del siglo XVI” in En la frontera de Granada, Seville, 2002, especially pp. 173–182.

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Salobreña. The Abencerrajes occupied important positions in Muhammad’s government, and an agreement was signed with Martin I “The Humane” of Aragón in 1405. However, the apparent brilliance with which the reign begun was not maintained, as Muhammad VII spent much of his time with his army in the field and died young, shortly after signing a truce agreement with the Castilians defeated by him at Setenil. Muhammad’s death was attributed to the effects of a poisoned shirt allegedly sent to him by supporters of his imprisoned brother.33 Muhammad was succeeded as sultan by this brother, Yusuf III (1408–1417), despite the fact that Muhammad had left a young son at his death. The new sultan was a poet who favoured peace with Castile, partly because of the loss in battle of the town of Antequera in 1410, but also because of the large number of enemies he already faced at home, as was shown by the conquest of Gibraltar by Merinid troops between 1411 and 1414. After this loss, a brother of the sultan of Fez landed in the peninsula, and the Merinids also took the town of Marbella and the mountain region around Ronda, where they had followers among the leading families. Granadan sultans had by this period taken the precaution of removing Moroccan troops from their armies, where they had once been a key element but also a source of dissension because of the concessions that had to be granted to them. However, areas of Merinid support, though patchy, still held on in Granada. This period of division did not last long, but the episode shows the persistence of centrifugal tendencies within the kingdom. The need to defend Granada and palliate a possible fall in population led Yusuf III to undertake an attempt to attract Aragonese Mudejars to his kingdom between 1409 and 1410. The public proclamation he made to this end must have had some effect on emigration, as there was certainly a marked increase after that date in the number of Granadans using the patronymic “al-Mudajjan” (the Mudejar).34 The following reign opened amid great instability. The enthronement of a sultan who had yet to reach the age of majority raised a classic problem of 33 Crónica del rey don Juan II, pp. 290–308, 313; El Victorial, ed. J. de M. Carriazo, pp. 290–295; Refundición, pp. 11–12; A. García de Santa María, Crónica de Juan II de Castilla, ed. J. de M. Carriazo, Madrid, 1982, pp. 269–271; R. Salicrú, El sultanat de Granada, pp. 21–28. 34 For example, the instigator of the revolt in the Albaicín called Yusuf al-Mudajjan, discussed again below, and one Yuçaf the son of Alí el Mudéjar, mentioned in one of the documents edited by L. Seco de Lucena, “Documentos árabes granadinos, I. Documentos del Colegio de Niñas Nobles”, Al-Andalus, VIII, 1943, p. 422. On the proclamation, see R. Salicrú, El sultanat de Granada, pp. 180–181; F. Vidal, “Historia política”, pp. 152–153; W. Hoenerbach, “Cuatro documentos mudéjares originarios de Cataluña y Levante” in Homenaje al Prof. Darío Cabanelas con motivo de su LXX aniversario, Granada, 1987, vol. I, pp. 369–372.

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legitimacy in the Islamic world: the need for the backing of the administrative palace elite prepared to confirm a candidate to the throne in his post and hold onto the strings of power. In this case, the young Muhammad VIII (1417–1419 and 1427–1430) relied on the assistance of the Alamin family, to which his mother Umm al-Fath belonged. Yamin, the powerful alguacil mayor or alcaide who was uncle to the child and vizier to Yusuf III, managed to hold the young sultan’s government together in the face of opposition from Muhammad IX “El Zurdo” or “El Izquierdo” (The Left-Handed), the favoured candidate of the Abencerrajes. Muhammad El Zurdo nonetheless became the key figure of this period.35 In Muhammad VIII’s second reign, with the alcaide Yamin now dead and the sultan himself free from prison after reaching the age of majority, a controlling figure was no longer so necessary. From Christian sources we nonetheless know the names of two of the leading functionaries of the kingdom, the alcaides Çalit and Mançor Alazach.36 Others in the government were Yusuf—later Yusuf V “El Cojo” (The Lame)—and Saʿd, both cousins of Muhammad VIII and themselves future sultans. The interventions made by the queen mother in palace politics also become obvious in surviving correspondence from Muhammad’s second reign. The letters written by Muhammad and his mother, “la Horra On Malfath” (al-Hurra Umm al-Fath)37 to the monarchs of Aragón were courtesy documents, but they reveal the Granadan need for foreign alliances to counteract the influence of the Abencerrajes at court.38 The later Muhammad IX and his courtiers had a better network of contacts, and were more successful in gaining foreign aid. Muhammad IX El Zurdo (1419–1427, 1430–31, 1432–1445 and 1447–1453) was without doubt the longest-lasting and most decisive of all

35 Yamin also appears as “Hiamin” in some records. On the problems associated with identifying him with the family of the Alamines, and the inexactitude of calling him Ali, see R. Salicrú, “Nuevos mitos de la frontera: Muhammad X el Cojo, Ali al-Amin y Ridwan Bannigas, entre historiografía e historia, entre realidad y leyenda”, IV Estudios de frontera. Historia, tradiciones y leyendas en la frontera, Alcalá la Real, 2002, pp. 490–496; El sultanat de Granada, pp. 155–164. The documents justifying his theory are in Documents, pp. 41–43, 63, 73–77. Yamin’s signature in Arabic appears in a letter of September 4th 1418. I tentatively hold to the traditional idea that Yamin did belong to the Alamin family, given that this does not necessarily contradict Salicrú’s findings. 36 R. Salicrú, “Nuevos mitos de la frontera”, pp. 496–498; Documents, pp. 199, 202, 208–209. Mançor Alazach replaced Çalit in 1428. 37 For the significance of this name in Nasrid Granada and its reference to victory over the Christians, see M. Marín, Mujeres en al-Andalus, p. 72. 38 R. Salicrú, Documents, pp. 185–198. The letters of 1428 which make reference to the queen of Granada do not specify whether she was the wife or mother of Muhammad VIII, pp. 217–219.

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the 15th-century Granadan sultans, in spite of his frequent removals from the Alhambra. Like Muhammad VII, he was faithfully backed at all times by the Abencerrajes, who only supported an alternative candidate after his death. One symbol of this backing was his marriage to Zahr al-Riyad, a daughter of the vizier Mufarrij, who gave the order to kill Yamin, vizier to Muhammad VIII.39 Muhammad IX’s other main wife was Umm al-Fath, a sister of Muhammad VII and half-sister of Yusuf III. The marriage was a harmonious one, and Muhammad IX seems to have consulted Umm al-Fath on affairs of state as a result of her prudence, political know-how and familiarity with the Granadan potentates.40 However, Muhammad IX was never able to solve the problem of legitimacy in his succession, since he came from a collateral branch of the Nasrids and neither his lineage, his marriages or his military abilities were good enough to justify his rise to the throne, in spite of his decision to promote a fatwa by the Granadan ulama which condemned all those who accepted the under-age Muhammad VIII as their sultan.41 His reign was interrupted several times: twice by other Nasrid factions and twice by the Castilians, who had their own policy of aiding alternative candidates from collateral branches. A series of domestic revolts headed by a variety of different leaders showed that although he was backed by some leading figures, Muhammad IX did not enjoy widespread popular support, at least during the early years of his reign. These internal dissensions were represented as having had religious motives, as was the custom in the Islamic world: first a visionary known as “el Santo Moro” (the Holy Moor) succeeded in heading a large uprising of the populace against the sultan in Almería (1421–1426), and then the sufi preacher Yusuf al-Mudajjan did the same in the capital between 1426 and 1430.42 39 L. Seco de Lucena, “La familia de Muhammad X el Cojo, rey de Granada”, Al-Andalus, XI (1946), pp. 379–387. Abu Surur Mufarrij had been a client of Muhammad X and was no longer alive in 1431, the year of the death of Zahr al-Riyad. One of the sultana’s brothers, the alcaide Mujlis or the alcaide Muhammad, must have been the knight Mufarrij who was at the Castilian court in 1455 and was involved in the kidnapping of a Christian girl (discussed at greater length below). 40 According to the sources, her brothers had also valued her opinion. M. Marín, Mujeres en al-Andalus, pp. 590–591, citing Ibn ‘Asim. 41 A. García de Santamaría, Parti inedite, pp. 213–214. Cf. R. Salicrú, El sultanat de Granada, p. 166. For the problem of royalty, its legitimacy and the bases of authority for Islamic governors, there existed in the final phase of the Nasrid kingdom a treatise drawn up by the great cadi Ibn al-Azraq (d. 1490), entitled Badaʾi al-silk fi tabaʾi al mulk. Cf. R. Arié, “Panorama del florecimiento cultural en la Granada nasrí del siglo XV” in En el epílogo del Islam andalusí: la Granada del siglo XV, ed. C. de Moral, Granada, 2002, pp. 32–33. 42 J. Vallvé, “Cosas que pasaron el en reino de Granada hacia 1448”, BRAH, 189–II (1992),

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The support of the Hafsids of Tunis proved to be vital for Muhammad IX. His grandfather, Muhammad V, had enjoyed good relations with the Hafsids, and the same may also have been true of his father, Nasr. During the parenthesis when Muhammad VIII regained the throne, the Tunisian Abu Faris welcomed the exiled Muhammad IX and his followers, who had crossed Aragón with a safe-conduct from Alfonso V. The second pillar of Muhammad IX’s foreign policy from this moment on was to be the maintenance of friendly relations with the Aragonese. Castile also received a fair number of refugee knights during this period, as we will see, and the Castilians even interceded with Abu Faris, encouraging him to supply Muhammad with a fleet to enable him to make his return to Granada. Paradoxically, Almería was the city which, having risen against Muhammad IX as sultan, was to welcome him back and become the base of his military operations. When Muhammad IX’s troops, with numerous Tunisians in their ranks,43 defeated those of Muhammad VIII, it was the Castilian army that started to threaten the sultanate once more, and Muhammad IX’s fate was again in the hands of Tunis. Tunisian collaboration with the sultan went so far as to contemplate the idea of sending a fleet of ships to make an attack on Castile, but the idea was eventually discarded and the Tunisians limited themselves to assuming the role of intermediaries. The complicated situation on all fronts forced Muhammad IX to take a difficult decision: he ordered the execution of Muhammad VIII in order to prevent further problems of legitimacy at a time when Castilian forces were making their way towards the capital. A new phase of direct intervention by Castile in the designation of candidates to the throne was ushered in by the machinations of the vizier Ridwan Venegas, who manoeuvred for Castilian acceptance of Yusuf ibn Muhammad ibn al-Mawl (“Abenalmao”) as the latest aspirant. The Christians hoped that this scheme might provide the means of dominating Granada by securing, at the very least, the vassalage of its king. Within the borders of the kingdom of Granada, there was ongoing debate over Muhammad IX’s legitimacy and the primacy of the Abencerrajes among elite members of the State. The choice of the future Yusuf IV was made by resorting, once more, to a collateral Nasrid branch of a certain prestige. Yusuf descended from the Banu l-Mawl, an ancient lineage originally from Granada, and must have benefited from

pp. 254–255; M. Charouti Hasnaoui, “Nuevos datos sobre los últimos nasríes extraídos de una fuente árabe: Yunnat al-Rida de Ibn Asim”, Al-Qantara, XIV, 2 (1993), pp. 469–477; F. Vidal, “Historia política”, pp. 155–158; R. Salicrú, El sultanat de Granada, pp. 209–212. 43 See L. Seco de Lucena, “Nuevas rectificaciones a la historia de los nasríes”, Al-Andalus, XX (1955), p. 391.

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the support provided by his family’s clients. Furthermore, his mother was a daughter of Muhammad VI “El Bermejo” (the Red-Head), although this parentage may not have helped him greatly, given that Muhammad VI was himself considered a usurper in his day. Perhaps Yusuf ’s strongest card was simply that he was the brother-in-law of the vizier Ridwan Venegas, and was thus trusted by the party led by Venegas, who sought to take advantage of his distant ties with the Nasrids. This is the only possible explanation of the fact that Venegas chose to back Yusuf IV instead of the infantes Yusuf and Saʿd, cousins of Muhammad VIII, either of whom would have been much easier to legitimise.44 A razing of the meadow land or Vega around Granada ordered by Álvaro de Luna had already unsettled the general situation by the time of the opening of the Castilian campaign of 1430–31. This campaign was undertaken to provide the support Juan II had promised to Muhammad VIII, and also for domestic Castilian reasons, and it was concluded in the name of the candidate Yusuf IV.45 On this occasion Muhammad IX did not flee far from his palace after being defeated, given the slightness of Yusuf ’s chances of holding onto the throne once the Castilian troops had withdrawn. Nevertheless, Yusuf made a series of important decisions from the beginning of his reign, which seems to indicate that he had confidence in his ability to hold onto the throne: for example, he ratified the vassalage agreement with Juan II and took advantage of it to replace the qadi of the community, Ibn Siraj, head of the Granadan judicial structure, with one of his own men, Abu Yaʾfar al-ʿUraybi.46 This move caused the discontent of ulama and alfaquíes, who would not accept the imposition of a ban on further conversions to Islam, one of the conditions of the vassalage agreement signed with the Castilians. The decision to remove the qadi constituted a clear statement that the new sultan intended to replace leading government officials with

44

F. Vidal, “Historia política”, pp. 161–163. “E el rrey Esquierdo que fue se fue a Almería, e llebó consygo a su hermana del ynfante Coxo su sobrino, e a dos fijos del rrey Chico, al qual el rrey Esquierdo avía mandado degollar. E fuése desde Almería a Málaga, e rrobó todo quanto avía en el Alfanbra. E agora, sennor, con la graçia de Dios e con esfuerço de vuestra merçed, el vuestro adelantado del Andaluzía don Diego Gomes de Ribera e mis cavalleros van a Málaga, donde está el rrey Esquierdo, e fiança tengo en Dios e en esfuerço de la vuestra merçed que yo lo abré en las manos. E, sennor, he enviado a fazerlo saver a los capitanes de las galeras buestras, porque no se acoja en la mar.” Crónica del halconero, pp. 119–122. See also Refundición, pp. 127–128. J. Abellán Pérez, “Un documento sobre el infante granadino Yusuf b. Muhammad b. al-Mawl”, Andalucía Islámica, 2–3 (1981–82), pp. 189–193. The campaign will be discussed further in Chapter Two. 46 Ibn Siraj, a loyal supporter of Muhammad El Zurdo, was replaced as soon as Abenalmao fell from power. M. I. Calero, “La justicia . . .”, p. 393. 45

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personal followers close to him who would accept whatever political measures he chose to take. In the meantime, Muhammad IX retained control over the traditionally pro-Banu Marin areas opposed to the Nasrid dynasty, such as Almería—governed by his nephew Yusuf (V)—Málaga, Ronda, Gibraltar, Setenil and other parts of the Ajarquía. At the same time, he made moves to ingratiate himself with the Granadan population, who were generally unhappy with the new situation. It was for this reason that he visited, for example, the tomb of the sufi saint Ibn al-Zayyat in Vélez Málaga to ask for his blessing. The deposed sultan settled in Málaga and appealed for help through his diplomatic networks in Tunis, Aragón and even Castile. Although Yusuf IV’s sultanate did not last long, there is not general agreement about the true importance of his coup. Arab records agree that a state of instability continued until 1434, whereas the Castilian chroniclers give the impression that it was a limited revolt lasting only three months, and date the death of “Abenalmao” as occurring in April 1432.47 After a lightening offensive in which Yusuf IV lost his life, Muhammad IX returned to the Granadan throne and reinstated members of the Abencerraje, Kumasa and Alamin families in their posts. The rest of his reign was characterised by truce agreements signed with the Castilians after the voluntary surrender of the fortresses of Vélez Blanco, Vélez Rubio, Galera, Castilleja and Benamaurel. This gives some idea of the sense of insecurity that reigned among Granadans, and which Muhammad IX never managed to assuage. At no time in his reign did Muhammad ever lead an army in battle against the Castilians. Lacking a male heir, Muhammad IX maintained close relations with his nephew Yusuf ibn Ahmad, known as Yusuf El Cojo (the Lame), the son of his favourite sister, Fatima al-Hurra.48 He was also on good terms with Muhammad X El Chiquito (The Small), son of Muhammad VIII, to whom he married his daughter Umm al-Fath. By 1431, the date of his father’s death, Muhammad X was already an important figure at court, and had left the Alhambra on the arrival of Yusuf IV, Abenalmao. By 1447, El Chiquito had reached the age of majority, and after that date he figures as “associated” to the throne, in the usual interpretation, although such a status may have been 47 L. Seco Lucena, “Nuevas rectificaciones”, p. 391; Crónica del halconero, pp. 364–367; Refundición, pp. 131–132; Crónica de Juan II de Castilla, CODOIN, Madrid, 1891, vol. C, pp. 364–367. 48 For Fatima, see L. Seco de Lucena, “Documentos árabes granadinos II. Documentos de las Comendadoras de Santiago”, Al-Andalus, IX (1944), pp. 126–127, 136–137. It would be no surprise to learn that Yusuf el Cojo had married the third daughter of Muhammad IX, whose name was Fatima, but evidence confirming this has yet to emerge.

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reached even earlier.49 It is probably correct to say that he had in effect been sworn in as successor, a ceremony with precedents in the Islamic world, and one which would be reflected in the Christian chronicles.50 The entry of Muhammad X in the sultan’s inner circle led to further complications in Muhammad IX’s relations with his nephew Yusuf. After fleeing the capital, Yusuf became alcaide in Almería as a result of an intervention by his mother, and from there supported his uncle against Yusuf IV, Abenalmao. Yusuf El Cojo The Lame gradually established semi-autonomous power for himself in the city of Almería. He demanded the minting of coins with his own name, and the control of the fortresses and towns of the region with their rights and taxes, and he developed his own foreign policy towards Aragón through the Baile General of Valencia between 1431 and 1441. He also sent military expeditions against Marchena and Andarax. Sultan Muhammad IX El Zurdo travelled to Almería with his qadis and ulama to re-assert authority over his rebellious nephew, but Yusuf held out and proclaimed himself sultan of Granada, which indeed he became between 1445 and 1446. The month-long siege to which he was subjected served only to strengthen his position, as in the course of it he was able to cut off supplies to Muhammad IX and then take control of a huge booty when he won eventual victory. Muhammad IX was unable to return to Granada, and had to retire to Málaga, although that city and all others in the Ronda region and elsewhere eventually supported Yusuf V. Muhammad was forced to abdicate in exchange for the fortresses of Salobreña and Motril, where he finally took shelter. Muhammad IX’s domestic weakness was again seized upon by the Castilians to launch another new candidate to the throne, virtually at the same time that Yusuf V was heading his own uprising. This Castilian candidate was Ismael III (1446–1447). Yusuf V occupied the throne in about July 1445 and sacked his vizier but although he initially appointed several Abencerrajes as alcaides, this was a political manoeuvre and he ended up imprisoning all of them. Yusuf reorganised the administration, sharing out posts among his followers. For his part, Ismael III, who was probably a son of Yusuf II, sought the support of the Abencerrajes and used their lands to

49 L. Seco de Lucena, “Más rectificaciones a la historia de los nasríes. Un sultán llamado Muhammad el Chiquito”, Al-Andalus, XXIX (1959), pp. 280–281, and a letter from Juan II to Pedro de Aguilar on the occasion of the truce of 1452, on pp. 285–295. 50 J. E. López de Coca, “Revisión de una década de la historia granadina, 1445–1455”, MEAH, XXIX–XXX/1 (1980–1981), pp. 60–78; F. Vidal, “Historia política”, pp. 172–174, 178, 224 n. 198.

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unsettle the kingdom by calling upon the people to support Muhammad IX. Ismael eventually proclaimed himself sultan in February 1446. During the civil war which followed, Yusuf V managed to gain control of strongholds which had previously been taken by Christian forces, and this helped him to gain the sympathy of many Granadans. Yusuf V also allied himself with prince Enrique and the Christian noblemen against Ismael, who was backed by Juan II (Enrique had requested the ownership of castles on the border with Granada in August 1444, but his request had been denied).51 The situation in 1446 was thus as follows: the abdicated sultan Muhammad IX, supported by the Abencerrajes, lived in Salobreña; Yusuf V el Cojo occupied Almería, his manor estate, with his followers; and Ismael III governed in Granada, with the sole support of Juan II of Castile. This complex situation was unexpectedly resolved by the assassination of Yusuf V, allegedly at the hands of his vizier Ibn ʿAllaq, the only man who had until then been consistently loyal to him. Obviously, the Castilian candidate was unable to achieve anything without assistance from within the sultanate, and Muhammad IX now returned to the throne, accompanied on this occasion by his heir Muhammad X El Chiquito, who guaranteed him the connivance of the followers of the assassinated Muhammad VIII. El Chiquito also commanded the army, a task which the ageing Muhammad IX was no longer able to carry out himself. The victorious campaigns against the Castilians which followed must have conferred a certain prestige on Muhammad IX, who enjoyed the support of the people when faced with a new incursion by Ismael III which ended in Ismael’s death on 30 June 1450. Power was then shared out in such a way that Muhammad IX acted as sultan from the Alhambra, resolving issues of jurisdiction and the appointment of government officials, while El Chiquito took charge of the military arm of the sultanate, with varying fortune. During the reigns of Muhammad IX, the lines of the Alamin and the Venegas families, who had backed Muhammad VIII, seem to have grown weaker and lost influence at court, leaving the Abencerrajes and the lineages linked to them as the all-powerful arbiters of the dynasty’s destinies. The ʿAbd al-Barr family continued to hold posts in the Nasrid army, but the Alamin and Venegas lines disappeared from the political scene after the fall of Yusuf IV. The two families remained close to Saʿd and his son Muley Hacén, perhaps as a result of both men’s Castilian contacts.52

51

J. J. Echagüe Burgos, La corona y Segovia en tiempos de Enrique IV, Segovia, 1993, p. 42. L. Seco Lucena, “Alamines y Venegas, cortesanos de los nasríes”, MEAH, 10 (1961), pp. 127–142. 52

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When Muhammad IX died in July 1453, there was for the first time a split among the Abencerrajes over which of two candidates it was best to back. The “reigns” of both of these candidates therefore began at virtually the same time. The first of them, Muhammad X El Chiquito, who was the son of Muhammad VIII and was married to a daughter of Muhammad IX, did not please all the Abencerrajes—he was only supported by the ʿAbd alBarr and Ibn Kumasa lines—in spite of the fact that his accession resolved the dynastic problems of the two branches of the Nasrid family, until then opposed to one another. What counted against him was his father’s alliance with lineages that were enemies of the noble clan, and to this was added the recent military failure of the Alporchones or Lorca (1452),53 in the course of which a large part of the Nasrid military hierarchy, including fourteen alcaides of important cities, had lost their lives. The defeat had forced Muhammad to sign a truce with Castile, and had turned the people against the man who was leader of their troops and future sultan. Muhammad X’s period as sultan is thus best described as an “attempt” rather than a reign as such, for in three years he was unable ever to conquer Granada. On the other hand, Saʿd (1454–1455, 1455–1462 and 1464), the son of ʿAli b. Yusuf (II) and a cousin of Muhammad VIII and Yusuf V, was the candidate favoured by most of the populace. He succeeded in making himself the candidate of part of the Abencerraje clan and of the other leading Granadan lineages, who had served him. Saʿd was also backed by the Castilians, who led campaigns under Enrique IV to instate him as sultan. Saʿd, who had sheltered in the mountains of Ronda after one of Muhammad’s coups, managed to spread his influence throughout the region thanks to the Abencerrajes, and at that time he also made contact with the Castilian court. Taking advantage of Enrique IV’s recent rise to the throne, Saʿd declared himself Enrique’s vassal and sent his own son Abu l-Hasan ʿAli (“Muley Hacén”) to the Castilian king as a messenger and hostage, together with a large train of followers. In return, Saʿd requested military aid which the Castilians channelled through the Count of Arcos and the city of Seville. Castilian pressure on Muhammad X El Chiquito was vital to Saʿd’s success. One final attempt by Muhammad X to conquer Granada from the Alpujarras, where he had taken refuge, led only to his abdication, imprisonment and death in the Alhambra, together with his two sons.54 53

Crónica de D. Juan II, pp. 676–677. For this turbulent period, see, with special attention to the modifications made from one study to the next: H. Livermore, “El segundo rey chico, Muhammad XI, y la sucesión de la casa de Abu Nasr Sad, 1452–1456”, Al-Andalus, XXVIII/2 (1963), pp. 331–348; J. E. López de Coca, “Revisión de una decada”, pp. 78–90; J. Abellán, Relaciones castellano-nazaríes. Jerez 54

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Once he considered the situation safe enough within the kingdom, Saʿd announced an end to his vassalage to Enrique IV, giving rise to the last of the Castilian king’s campaigns against Granada. During that campaign, Muley Hacén and the Abencerrajes took part in the border skirmishes against Castile.55 The succession of negotiated deals, truces and payments of parias to prevent devastating attacks, on top of the terrible losses of harvests brought about by the razing of the fields, produced serious economic problems in the Granadan dynasty. Saʿd contracted debts with the kings of Aragón in 1457 and 1458, and was forced to sell off part of his personal patrimony between 1459 and 1460. Some of these goods, placed in the public customs house for silk, ended up in the hands of the qadi Abu l-Hajjaj Yusuf ibn Abi-l-Qasim ibn al-Sarraj.56 The internal crisis went on: although the razing raids came to an end, the renewal of truces and payments to the Castilians ruined the state’s finances, and the suspension of the truce in April 1462 only served to bring protests over the subsequent renewal of Castilian incursions which led to the conquests of Archidona and Gibraltar.57 Saʿd then made a move that was to cost him dear. He decided to divert blame for the general political situation towards the Abencerraje viziers, and took the opportunity to eliminate the hajib Mufarrij and Yusuf ibn al-Sarraj. Betrayal of a sultan was a crime that was paid for with death, but also with the confiscation of all personal belongings, and it is not impossible that there was an economic motive for ordering the elimination of these courtiers. The rest of the family fled to its possessions and called upon the infante Muley Hacén, then in Castile, to rise up, while gathering its followers together (1462).58 There are several reasons why Muley Hacén may have been

en los inicios del reinado de Enrique IV (1454–1457), Cádiz, 1985, pp. 15–18; R. Salicrú, El sultanat de Granada, pp. 453–463; F. Vidal, “Historia política”, pp. 183–188. The presence of Muley Hacén as a hostage in Castile can be assumed, according to Livermore, pp. 340–342, but he probably returned to Granada once his father had declared himself a vassal of Enrique IV. Ismael’s revolt is described by Ibn al-Basit: G. Lévi della Vida, “Il regno de Granada nel 1465–66 nei ricordi di un viaggiatore egiziano”, Al-Andalus, I (1933), pp. 328–329. This period was followed by a civil war during the course of which Christian forces took Gibraltar (October 1464). News of the capitulation reached as far abroad as Tlemcen. Enrique IV decided to take advantage of the situation by waging war on Granada. 55 Crónica anónima, pp. 22–23. The Granadan infante is referred to as Ismael. 56 R. Salicrú, Documents, pp. 506–508, 511; F. Vidal, “Historia política”, pp. 186, 229. The goods later passed into the hands of Abu l-Qasim ibn Ridwan Venegas. See L. Seco de Lucena, Documentos arábigo-granadinos, pp. 31–38, 54–57. 57 P. de Escavias, Hechos del condestable, p. 84. 58 Although the hypothesis of R. Arié, El reino nasrí, p. 73, that the new candidate of the Abencerrajes was in fact Yusuf VI, son of Ismail III, cannot be ruled out, the proposal in F. Vidal, “Historia política”, p. 189, which creates an alleged Ismael IV, whose origins and

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in the Christian kingdom at this time. He may have gone there to negotiate another truce deal, or perhaps because he had expressed opposition to his father’s attempted elimination of the Abencerrajes, thereby depriving himself of his father’s backing. On the other hand, if one accepts the hypothesis proposed by Vidal that the alcaidía of Almería, with the title of lord (raʾis), was usually conferred on the Granadan crown princes, it is possible that the presence of his brother Abu ʿAbd Allah Muhammad ibn Saʿd ibn ʿAli el Zagal (the future Muhammad XII) with this title in the city caused offence to Muley Hacén, who therefore chose to shelter at the Castilian court, where his presence can be traced throughout 1462.59 Once again, the Abencerrajes and Castile now gave their backing to the same candidate, who moved into Málaga, Ronda and Setenil (the southern flank). At the same time, the Castilian constable Miguel Lucas de Iranzo attacked properties of the sultan such as Cenete or Guadix, and the fortified towns like Arenas, Cambil and Alhabar which had belonged to the Abencerrajes in the north of the kingdom, and had probably been confiscated by Saʿd.60 Muley Hacén (1462, 1464–1482 and 1483–1485), who had already declared himself willing to become a vassal of Castile, reminded the Castilians that their attacks would not make it easier for him to take the throne and requested a truce with them.61 This truce, which was signed in

date of disappearance are unclear, is not convincing either. The correct interpretation of the facts given by Vidal in p. 230, n. 304, would undoubtedly lead him to different conclusions. Other ideas appear in M. A. Ladero Quesada, Granada, p. 189 and M. Charouiti Asnaoui, “Nuevos datos sobre los últimos nasríes extraídos de una fuente árabe: Yunnat al-Rida de Ibn Asim”, Al-Qantara XIV, 2 (1993), pp. 469–477. Identification with Abu l-Hasan ‘Ali was suggested by Ladero, supra, and Seco de Lucena, “Cuando subió . . .”, Al-Andalus XXII (1957), pp. 21–30; Los Abencerrajes, p. 63. Following the information given in the Christian chronicles and Aragonese records, I propose that this theory be accepted in my article “Abencerrajes, nazaríes y las fortalezas de la frontera granadina”, V Estudios de la Frontera. Funciones de la red castral fronteriza, Jaén: Diputación Provincial, 2004, pp. 147–160. 59 Muley Muhammad received several gifts at the Castilian court according to AGS, Casas y Sitios Reales, leg. 97, f. 208, 215 v. (varas de seda y paño como presente); f. 285 (el 2 de septiembre, pago de una armadura y espada para el infante Mule Hamed), f. 260 v.–261 r (un moro negro Maçote, había llegado a Castilla con el infante moro). M. A. Ladero Quesada, “1462: Un año en la vida de Enrique IV, rey de Castilla”, En la España medieval 14 (1991), p. 274. See also D. de Valera, Memorial de diversas hazañas, ed. J. de M. Carriazo, Madrid, 1953, p. 75. 60 P. de Escavias, Hechos del condestable, pp. 84–97; cf. F. Vidal, “Historia política”, p. 188. 61 “. . . esperando si el rey Ysmael, que nuevamente avían tomado por rey, saldría a pelear con ellos. El qual, por una carta bermeja que con un cavallero suyo enbió a los dichos señores maestre y condestable, les enbió demandar seguro para que algunos cavalleros suyos viniesen a fablar con ellos. Y el dicho seguro otorgado, vino un ynfante, pariente del dicho rey de Granada, e de su parte dixo a los dichos señores que bien sabían como de mano e con favor

íllora

Moclín

Alhabar

Cambil

Guadix

Baza Purchena

Huéscar Vélez Blanco

Map 3.

FORTRESSES CONTROLLED BY THE ABENCERRAJES AND THEIR CLIENTS

El Burgo

Ronda

Setenil

Towers

Castles

Fortresses

Other capitals

Important cities

Vera

Vélez Rubio

36 chapter one

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February 1463, continues to refer to Muley Hacén as the sovereign, with the support of Enrique IV.62 It is not easy to understand the nature of the arrangement father and son had made, but the two sultans seem to have continued to govern jointly, with Muley Hacén probably associated with the throne through a sworn oath as heir, until the death of Saʿd in 1465. It is not surprising, then, that the infante Muhammad al-Zagal fled from Almería towards Jaén in March 1464 with eighty Granadan knights, and from there sought refuge at the Castilian court, for fear of becoming a prisoner. Saʿd stayed in the background—indeed, he may even have been imprisoned himself—in his residence in Almería or Salobreña for what remained of his life, and never returned to Granada. Once he was dead, the possible succession of prince Yusuf ibn Saʿd, Muley Hacén’s fifteen-year-old brother, was discussed (Muhammad had fled to Castile), but his age meant his chances were always slim, and he died in the plague of 1467. During his solo reign, Muley Hacén had to deal with two serious domestic revolts promoted by the great Granadan lineages who, it need hardly be said, had the backing of Castile, always willing to support pretenders to the throne who might destabilise the sultanate. The first of these revolts, in mid-1470, was that of the alcaides, the military authorities in charge of the fortresses on the frontier whose power Muley Hacén wanted to limit or re-organise. The members of the Abencerraje lineage involved in this revolt appealed to the infante who had stayed in Castile, Muhammad al-Zagal, whose name they proclaimed in Málaga. However, al-Zagal refused to co-operate with this revolt. Instead, he parleyed with his brother, and the rebels were defeated

del rey de Castilla, su señor, él era reçebido por rey de Granada, e tenía aquel reyno para su serviçio. Por tanto, que les pidía de gracia que en tanto quél escrivía y enbiava al dicho señor rey por algunas tréguas y asentar su vasallaje con su señoría, quisiesen sobreseer de le facer guerra, porque los moros toviesen con él e no se llegasen al rey Çidi Çaha, pues que él con aquel reyno avía de seguir al rey de Castilla su señor. A lo que por los dichos señores le fue respondido que si tanto servidor era del rey su señor como dicía, que les diese aquella çibdad para él. En esto e en otras fablas pasaron grant pieça del día, fasta que movieron delante la dicha çibdad con toda su cavalgada, sus batallas así como estavan. [. . .] Y siguen las campañas del condestable por la zona. [. . .] Y con este deseo, el dicho señor condestable, no quince días pasados que avía salido de tierra de moros, tenía conçertado otro ardid, tal que si efecto oviera no es dubda sinó quel reyno de Granada, o la mayor parte dél, se dieran al rey nuestro señor, las manos atadas o por mudéjares, segúnd estavan de caydos, et por su grant devisión temerosos de ser destruydos”, Hechos del condestable, pp. 93–95. 62 See J. Torres Fontes, “Las treguas con Granada de 1462–63”, Hispania, XC (1963), pp. 163–199, P. de Escavias, Hechos del condestable, p. 93 and A. de Palencia, p. 394; also G. Lévi della Vida, “Il regno de Granada nel 1465–66 nei ricordi di un viaggiatore egiziano”, Al-Andalus, I (1933), pp. 307–334. Cf. F. Vidal, “Historia política”, p. 230, n. 304 and p. 232, n. 317.

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and executed. The sultan’s administrative activity continued throughout all this period.63 The second revolt was headed by prince Salim ibn Ibrahim al-Nayyar, lord of Almería, who made an alliance with prince Fernando of Aragón in 1474 to depose Muley Hacén.64 The internal affairs of the sultan’s family have tended to affect all interpretations of the final phase of the kingdom of Granada. Although popular imagination may have tended to over-emphasise this aspect of the crisis, it is clear that disunity within the dynasty and the problems of legitimacy associated with a poorly regulated succession had a great impact on the final years of the Nasrid state. Muley Hacén’s first marriage had been to ‘Aisha, the daughter of Muhammad IX El Zurdo, with whom he had two sons, Muhammad (Boabdil) and Yusuf. This marriage brought him a measure of political support as the perceived continuer of his father-in-law’s general policies, and among these supporters there were no doubt several members of the Abencerraje line. One of his slaves was Zoraya, mother of the princes Nasr and Saʿd. From 1478 on, and under the influence of Zoraya, Muley Hacén was accused of all manner of abuses against his own people and religion, from neglecting the army to allowing his grand vizier to burden the people with taxes and relegating his first wife to a position of reduced importance. He was further accused of embezzling and squandering public funds, neglecting the mosques, many of which were abandoned or left in ruins, and delaying payment of government officials’ salaries. He was also accused of promoting competition between ulama for certain posts, and deemed responsible for the high number of destitute students and schoolteachers who wandered the streets of the cities.65 The fact is that the economic situation was a disastrous one, and the instability which reigned throughout the sultanate had caused a wave of emigrants to seek shelter in the large fortified cities, giving rise to problems of space and food supply. Evidence of this is provided by the publication of

63

P. de Escavias, Hechos del condestable, p. 441. On the post and activities of a qa’id or alcaide, see M. J. Viguera, “El ejército”, in El reino nazarí de Granada, vol. VIII.3, pp. 438–440, 456 and “La organización militar en al-Andalus”, in Los recursos militares en la Edad Media hispánica, Revista de Historia Militar-Extra. Madrid, 2001, pp. 34–35. 64 According to the letter from Fernando to the Granadan, who intended to rebel with his son, edited by M. Garrido Atienza, Las capitulaciones para la entrega de Granada, Granada, 1992, pp. 159–160. 65 According to the Diwan by ʿAbd al-Karim al-Qaysi al-Bastí, cf. M. I. Calero, “La justicia . . .”, p. 372 and Fragmento de la época, pp. 7–13. For a revision of the influence of Zoraya on the fall of Muley Hacén, see J. E. López de Coca, “The making of Isabel de Solís”, in Medieval Spain. Culture, Conflict and Coexistence (eds. R. Collins and A.Goodman), London/New York, 2002, pp. 225–241.

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fatwas authorising the building of new furnaces very close to one another, or the extension of a mosque even when that extension would require the demolition of the wall of the alquibla.66 To the chaos of the domestic situation in Granada was added the end of the civil war in Castile, which allowed the Catholic Kings to start preparing their offensive against Granada, and which darkened the mood of Granada’s inhabitants. The end of the story is well known, but falls outside the period covered by the present study. The sequence of events which I have summarised would be impossible to understand without appreciating the participation in it of the Granadan elite within the sultan’s inner circle. This elite was made up of a few representatives of the jerifes—nobles by birth who were descendants of the Prophet—and the members of a dynastic aristocracy. The lineages were as important as the great families had been during the Andalusi period, and although the old family relations had become weaker, agnatic or tribal solidarity was replaced by new client bases attracted by the prospect of power and wealth. Old and new lines were linked by marriages, which were even arranged with members of the reigning dynasty. Meanwhile, the old family groupings linked to certain territories were disseminated as a result of political events, weakening their bases, and identification between the great landowning lineages and their local inhabitants ceased to exist.67 The pressure of the lineages on Granadan political life increased during the 15th century, as we have already seen. By the end of this period, two pre-eminent families from the earliest times of the sultanate remained: the Asquilula (“Escayola” in Christian records) and the Banu l-Mawl, who were originally from Cordoba. To these were added the rising Banu l-Sarraj or Abencerrajes, and the Kumasa, Banu ʿAbd al-Barr, Mufarrij, the Banu l-Hakim from Ronda, the al-Amin or Alamines, and the Bannigas or Venegas. Each of these families had their own groups of clients of minor lines of descent, which repeated the patterns of relation of the more powerful nobility. The alliances between these lines and their support for or opposition to the different branches of the Nasrids greatly complicated the history of the last century of Granada’s existence and were the cause of a constant drip of disgruntled knights fleeing towards the kingdom of Castile. The Trastámara monarchs were able to benefit from this movement, as the Catholic Kings were to do in a later period. The way of life of such knights was based on Fatwas of Abu ʿUmar ibn Manzur (d. 1482), cf. V. Lagardère, Histoire et societé, pp. 372–373. 67 A. Malpica, “De la Granada nazarí”, p. 122; M. J. Viguera, “Componentes y estructura de la población” in El reino nazarí de Granada, vol. VIII.4, pp. 41, 45–47. 66

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agrarian properties and State pensions which allowed them to live comfortably in the residential suburbs or almunias of the big cities, but they were also often awarded the alcaidías of frontier fortresses, from which they exerted control over a large part of the Nasrid army. In time, these alcaidías became true frontier dynasties in their own right.68 Nasrid palatine administration was made up of a royal council, which had a varying influence on political decisions, plus numbers of viziers and secretaries. During the 15th century there was a resurgence of the figure of the chamberlain (hajib) as the head of the administration and of political and military power. This title was not granted in every reign, nor for very long periods, since emirs were reluctant to promote the interests of one sole courtier in excess. Even so, Abu l-Surur Mufarrij was chamberlain to Yusuf III, as was ‘Ali al-Amin, who proclaimed Yusuf ’s son Muhammad VIII as sultan; Saʿd appointed a son of Mufarrij to the post, and Boabdil named Yusuf ibn Ibrahim, head of the Banu ‘Abd al-Barr. Next in the hierarchy of government officials came the viziers, headed by the grand vizier, known in Arabic as the double vizier, who was personally appointed and removed from office by the sultan. The grand vizier delegated to a certain number of secretaries, some of whom might also bear the title of vizier. The only grand vizier during this period whose name is known is Abu Bakr ibn ‘Asim, who occupied the post until 1426. The Nasrid Treasury was divided between the private patrimony of the dynasty (mustajlas) and the public treasury as such (bayt or khizanat al-mal). The two were quite clearly differentiated in principle, but interchangeable in practice, and the sultan’s private goods could be incorporated into the public treasury, just as goods belonging to the State could be acquired by the dynasty. The sultan’s patrimony consisted of rustic and urban properties, as well as money from taxes. Another entity in the organisation of state finances was the treasury of the Muslim community (bayt al-mal min al-muslimin), formed by large and small rustic and urban properties, with numerous incomes, indivisible and inalienable patrimony and goods from religious endowments; in the capital it possessed shops, bath-houses, mills and furnaces, as well as areas of land in the Vega. The extent to which this patrimony could be mingled with the State’s own public treasury has yet to be seen.

68 E. Molina López, “La dinámica política y los fundamentos de poder”, in Historia del reino de Granada, p. 242; A. Malpica, “El poblamiento y la organización del espacio”, in ibidem, pp. 270–271.

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Government of the provinces was entrusted to three types of men: a governor or valí, a military chief; the caíd or alcaide, and a fiscal agent (ʿamil ). These posts could all be occupied by one sole person, and were often transmitted from father to son. The governors of the big cities were usually members of the Nasrid family, or of the main lineages of Granada, who were able to create their own networks of power in their provinces and cause the emir a fair number of problems. In the frontier region, on the other hand, the caíd had more authority, and a hierarchy of military posts was also established in the fortified towns, sometimes designated by the inhabitants themselves. The 15th century also saw the appearance of the alguacil (derived from the same word, wazir, as the term vizier). The alguacil evolved from being an honorific post to becoming a representative of higher jurisdiction in the provinces. Together with the cadí, the preachers, the alfaquis, the jeques and alamines, these men made up the local elite. Decisions affecting the general population were debated at a community meeting called a jamaʾa, a term resembling the Mudejar aljama. This local council was made up of the oldest inhabitants (jeques) and the wealthiest and most honourable local citizens, and was presided over by an alcaide and a cadí. Local bylaws could be passed at these meetings, where appointments made by the sultan which needed to be approved by the community were probably also discussed.69 The cadí mayor of the community,70 who figured at the apex of the judicial hierarchy of the Granadan emirate, was one of the most important functionaries of the State. Under his authority came the local or provincial cadís, located in the capitals of the coras, to whom were added the alcalde of the capital of the kingdom and the cadís of the rural areas;71 beneath them were judges with restricted responsibilities, like the marriage cadís or those responsible for deciding issues of water distribution. The cadís belonged to families that were important because of their wealth, their knowledge of the law, their prestige or in most cases a combination of all these factors, together with their experience in the administration of justice and territorial issues. 69 A. Malpica, “De la Granada nazarí”, p. 146; E. Molina López, “La dinámica política”, pp. 232–237; M. J. Viguera, “El soberano, visires y secretarios” in El reino nazarí de Granada, vol. VIII.3, pp. 339–355. 70 For the terms used to describe this post, see E. Tyan, Histoire de l’organisation judiciaire en pays d’Islam, Lyon, 1943, II, pp. 130–131. The term alcadí was used as a translation of this concept in Aragón where it appears as early as the 14th century (e.g. in the Archivo de la Corona de Aragón, ACA, Reg. 2111, f. 49), and later in Granada. 71 D. Peláez Portales, La administración de justicia en la España musulmana, Córdoba, 1999, pp. 45–53 follows the schema of law in the Partidas and considers them replacement or inferior judges. This is not, however, entirely correct, as is shown by M. I. Calero Secall, “La justicia . . .”, pp. 374–385.

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Leading families among them were the Banu Simak of Málaga and Granada, the Bunnahi, erroneously named the Nubahi, and the Banu ʿAsim. Although the cadí was in theory appointed by the emir, the emir normally chose one of the leading figures at court or in the local area, but the cadí himself was not able to name other judges, except occasional substitutes who replaced him for reasons of illness or temporary absence, or who assumed duties on his behalf in areas far from his headquarters when the area was a large one or when the terrain was difficult or hostile.72 The method of appointing men to such posts encouraged the creation of clientage networks among the Granadan cadís, as also happened in the aristocratic lineages. As far as the Granadan army is concerned, by the 15th century it almost completely lacked Berber mercenaries from the north of Africa, except for some members of the Zanata tribe. The regular army corps was composed of Andalusi soldiers, organised through a register or secretariat of the army (diwan al-yaysh) which reported, in the last instance, to the sultan. All other Granadans could be called up if it was deemed necessary, generally in defence of their own lands, but not for long-distance expeditions. As well as these two contingents there was a corps of Christian mercenaries, known as elches (maʾluyun), who formed the sultan’s personal guard, and are discussed in more detail below.73 In the vanguard were the combatant Muslims bordering on the land of the infidels, volunteers or local garrisons in the castles close to the frontier with Castile, which in cases of need received reinforcements of regular troops. These troops were stationed in Granada, within the confines of the Alhambra, but were not spread over the rest of the territory because of a general lack of numbers.74 The economic dislocation brought about by the instability of the political situation may have been one of the main causes of the internal conflicts suffered by the Nasrid kingdom during its last century. Several different records report a rise in the cost of living in the capital, mainly due to its over-population. The price of urban land, especially when it was irrigated, rose considerably. The price of livestock was prohibitive, except at the time of razzias, when meat for consumption became extraordinarily cheap. 75 Economic problems were mainly reflected in disturbances in the Nasrid 72 M. I. Calero Secall, “El juez delegado (naʾib) del cadí en el reino nazarí de Granada”, Andalucía islámica, 4–5 (1983–86), p. 165. 73 On this term, see E. Lapiedra, Cómo los musulmanes llamaban a los cristianos hispánicos, Alicante, 1997, pp. 189–247. 74 M. J. Viguera, “El ejército” in El reino nazarí de Granada, vol. VIII.3, pp. 431–435; R. Arié, El reino nasrí de Granada, pp. 228–235. 75 R. Arié, El reino nasrí de Granada, pp. 181–193.

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monetary system. The first great crisis occurred in 1425, the year in which gold coins were replaced by silver coins with a gold coating, as a consequence of the domestic revolts during Muhammad IX’s reign. From 1428 on, appearances of the expression “gold dinars at the usual silver rate” indicate that gold coins had ceased to circulate and most of the supposedly silver coinage was in fact devalued by its high content of alloys using other metals. This situation continued until 1454, when there is mention of freshly minted gold coins (dinars). A further devaluation of silver coinage took place between 1432 and 1434, as a consequence of the Castilian campaign and the enthronement of Yusuf IV ibn al-Mawl.76 The most turbulent reign in terms of instability in currency values was, logically enough given the domestic and foreign political situation, that of Abu l-Hasan Ali. Between 1474 and 1478, the old silver coins were replaced by newly minted ones. In 1478, there was a request for a legalised definition of the value of the gold dinar ʿayni minted by Abu l-Hasan Ali, then equivalent to forty silver dinars in pieces of ten, and from 1485 onwards there are mentions of the rate of “the newly minted silver coinage”.77 A new bronze fulus was also introduced which was regularly used during the civil war to pay the troops billeted in the castles.78 The fall in weight and the law of metals had a rapid effect on Islamic legal casuistry, with fatwas which sought to regulate the new exchange rate of the coins hurrying to validate the new rates of exchange for the payment of canonical taxes and to finance military expenses.79

76

L. Seco de Lucena, “Documentos árabes granadinos II. Documentos de las Comendadoras de Santiago”, Al-Andalus, IX (1944), pp. 128–129; “Escrituras árabes de la Universidad de Granada”, Al-Andalus, XXXV (1970), pp. 316–317, 320–329. Ibn Asim’s writings reflect this devaluation, citing it as one of the evils that can affect a human being, like usury and the debasement of the coinage. In the Junna he mentioned “the usury that affected all the people because of those forged dirhams that were in circulation previously, and until recent times”, and he clarified these remarks in his other treatise, Sarh al-Tuhfa, where he specifies the exact dates 1432–1434, writing: “More hazardous was what occurred in the 36th year of the ninth century and for the next two years, because of the debasement of the coinage through the use of copper, so that the sultan ordered it to be suppressed”. Cf. M. Charouiti Hasnaoui, “El siglo XV en la Junna de Ibn Asim” in En el epílogo del Islam andalusí, pp. 65–66. 77 L. Seco de Lucena, “Escrituras árabes”, pp. 336–337. 78 M. A. Ladero Quesada, Granada, pp. 84–85; G. Roselló, “La moneda” in El reino nazarí de Granada, pp. 573–580. The field of Granadan numismatics is currently undergoing a necessary process of revision, because of variations in the dynasty’s family tree. It therefore seems sensible to avoid making more conclusions for the time being. 79 See the fatwas of Abu l-Qasim ibn Siraj (d. 1444) on the exchange rate/value of dirhams and quirates, or that of al-Mawwaq (d. 1482), on alterations in taxes as a result of the devaluation of the coinage after the appearance of new silver coins. Cf. V. Lagardére, Histoire et societé, pp. 195–196, 481.

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Much has been written on the importance of Granadan foreign trade, but the extent to which this trade was in the hands of foreigners should not be forgotten. Genoese traders had a monopoly on exports (including spices, sugar, nuts, fish, gold and silk) from the Nasrid kingdom throughout the 14th century, and during the 15th Mallorcan, Catalan and Valencian traders assumed the role of intermediaries. All of these traders had business agreements with the great Granadan merchants, but it is difficult to estimate the real volume of wealth that they generated in the kingdom, since it is not possible to compare the final values of the merchandise in the Italian, Iberian and Hanseatic ports where they were sold with the prices paid to Granadan producers and artisans.80 Granadans themselves acted as intermediaries in the circulation of exotic products imported from other Islamic countries, such as lacquer, gum arabic, incense and particular spices. There was also active trading with Castile, in spite of occasional prohibitions, which I will discuss, and the same products that were exported to Mediterranean countries were traded there for wheat, common livestock and oil.81 The complex panorama of the Granadan kingdom during the 15th century thus led to highly variable situations among the Granadan knights, who were as likely to be forced to flee to Castile or Tunis as they were to find themselves at the centre of a sultan’s international diplomatic activity, negotiating truces on his behalf or offering him one of their daughters in marriage. Economic instability and the risk of losing their properties when the latest emir needed immediate funds for the state treasury added extra layers of difficulty to the task of ensuring one’s survival in the midst of armed revolts and popular indignation. If one adds to all this the shortages experienced in the frontier castles as a result of the lack of foodstuff and materials for the rebuilding of protective walls and other defences, it is clear that the elite of Granadan society and the army had more than enough

80 These subjects have been analysed by J. Heers, “Le royaume de Grenade et la politique marchende de Gênes en Occident (XVe siècle)”, Le moyen age, 63, 1957, pp. 87–121, and more recently by R. Salicrú, “The Catalano-Aragonese commercial presence in the sultanate of Granada during the reign of Alfonso the Magnanimous”, Journal of Medieval History, 27 (2001), pp. 289–312 and “Manifestacions y evolució de la rivalitat entre Gènova i la corona d’Aragó a la Granada del segle XV, un reflex de les transformacions de la penetració mercantil”, Acta historica et archaeologica mediaevalia, 23/24, 2002–2003, pp. 575–596. See also C. Trillo San José, “Las actividades económicas y las estructuras sociales” in Historia del reino de Granada, pp. 321–347. 81 J. Rodríguez Molina, “Relaciones pacíficas entre Granada y Jaén en el siglo XV”, Revista del Centro de Estudios Históricos de Granada y su Reino, 2ª época, I, 1987, pp. 133–153 and J. A. Porras Arboledas, “El comercio entre Jaén y Granada en 1480”, Al-Qantara, IX, 1988, pp. 519–524.

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reasons to contemplate crossing to the other side, and even undergoing religious conversion if they thought that this would help their families and interests. Embassies and camps witnessed a constant flow of legates and knights who took advantage of the varying circumstances to settle in the Christian kingdom for periods which could range from just a few months to the whole of the rest of their lives.

CHAPTER TWO

THE MOORISH KNIGHTS, FROM THE FRONTIER TO THE COURT

Granada, Castile and their intermediaries And many days passed between armistices and truces, skirmishes and disputes, lawsuits and legal actions, conformity and dissension, belligerence and reconciliation, and the king of the infidels [Juan II] was left with no hope but to adulate Islam and the Muslims, to scheme against believers, hide the intrigue from the faithful to the one God and hide his deceit from the striving combatants, for while he pretended to be making great efforts to procure the greatest prosperity for the homeland [Granada], and to harbour the best intentions for its inhabitants, and pretended also to be seriously concerned with resolving its affairs and with endeavouring to attend to the well-being of nobles and plebeians, he was in fact doing no more than smacking his lips and using his cunning to seek the perdition of the realm and thereby become able to conquer it. Ibn ‘Asim, Yunnat al-ridda1

In the 15th century, Castile was the only peninsular Christian kingdom which bordered on the lands of Islam; Aragón also sought to play a central role in diplomatic relations with Granada because of its interests in the Mediterranean region. This general situation determined the nature of relations between the three kingdoms. Relations between Castile and Granada were of an openly bellicose nature; those between Granada and Aragón were commercial; whereas the relationship which existed between Castile and Aragón was characterised by fierce rivalry and the attempts of domination of Aragón by its more powerful neighbour.2 Of all the Granadan sultans mentioned in the previous chapter, it was Muhammad IX who maintained the closest relations with the Aragonese, and this had its influence on Castilian interventions to back a series of alternative candidates to the throne. 1 The text is included by al-Maqqari in his work, Nafh al-Tib, and is translated into Spanish in the article by F. Velázquez Basanta, “La relación histórica sobre las postrimerías del reino de Granada, según Ahmad al-Maqqari (s. XVII)” in En el epílogo del Islam andalusí: la Granada del siglo XV, ed. C. del Moral, Granada, 2002, p. 491. 2 Given that relations between Granada and Aragón have been amply covered by R. Salicrú, El sultanat, I will focus here on the relationship of greatest importance to the content of this book, i.e. that between Granada and Castile.

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Various tactics were used by Castile, the dominant realm, in its policy towards Granada, which was the weakest of the three but was not always in complete subjection. First of all, there was the practice of war, which brought immense profits to the Castilians, although it is not clear to what extent these profits were greater than the money accrued from Granada during truce periods. At the state level, there were two different kinds of military initiative. First, conventional campaigns or wars of conquest, based on a strategy of positions and sieges, which only rarely ended in a pitched battle. On the other hand, economic or gradually erosive warfare, characterised by razing campaigns and small-scale punitive raids punctuated by truces from which the Castilians sought to obtain the greatest possible profits in terms of captives and the payment of punitive parias. However, war was also waged at another, more local, level on the frontier. There, it was characterised by the organisation of small cavalry charges or larger raids which set out from the border municipalities (especially Jaén, Seville, Lorca and Murcia) and which were backed by the great Andalusian landlords. Diplomacy was the other favoured method of Castilian intervention in Granada. At the highest levels, this included, in times of peace, the imposition on Granadan sultans of an oath of vassalage, used as an institutional instrument for the subjection of the Nasrid kingdom. When such a strategy proved impossible, Castile made alliances with factions inside the kingdom in attempts to impose new candidates of varying legitimacy to the throne. Even in times of war, diplomatic contacts could become another way of conducting an offensive, during periods when truces and the surrender of castles were being negotiated. Indeed, it has to be recognised that all of these military and diplomatic activities normally took place at the same time. This can create a misleading impression of confusion in relations between the two kingdoms, especially if certain aspects of internal politics mentioned above are not taken into account. Viewed in its entirety, the Granadan policy initiated by Juan II—or to be more accurate, the policy implemented by Fernando de Antequera and Álvaro de Luna during Juan II’s reign—and further pursued by Enrique IV generally prefigured that of the Catholic Kings during their war on Granada. Chronicles of the period constantly stress the importance of Castilian raids on Nasrid territory. Such raids were good opportunities for kings and noblemen to show off their skills and gain fame and glory. Many lineages were created on the basis of a fortunate intervention in the war on Muslims, and military deeds were used to justify family honour via the chronicle of the founder of the noble house. The ideals of crusading (the struggle against

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the infidel) and re-conquest (recovery of the territory lost by the Christians during the period of Islamic rule) are also clearly visible in the literature of the period, whether in novelistic prose, historical works or epic romances. The Granadan sources that we possess for the 15th century, on the other hand, dwell less on such themes. More pages are given over to accounts of the decadence of the Nasrid dynasty than to exaltation of military values. The conventional war of conquest was conditioned by a series of factors which often made it a less than ideal way of proceeding for the Castilians. Among these factors were those of domestic political circumstance, the state of relations between the two kingdoms, shortages of men, the economic viability of keeping soldiers on a war footing for long enough periods, and the possibility of minting enough money to pay their wages. There were also limitations associated with the strategies that were used. There had to be careful evaluation of the technical capacity to undertake certain types of operation, such as long sieges, and supply issues had to be addressed, especially when actions were carried out at a certain distance from the base of operations. The dangers of various possible reactions by the Granadans also had to be taken into account.3 As a result of all this, the 15th-century war of conquest was practically reduced to one campaign for each new sultan’s reign. These campaigns were essentially used as a means of consolidating Castilian power in Granada, aiming either to punish rebellious sultans who refused to pay parias or to promote royal candidates proposed by the Castilians.4 The situation of conflict within Castile during the early 15th century made it more difficult to kindle desire for war against Granada, and, as in the 14th century, there were very few calls for holy war against Islam. However, there were three periods of Christian campaigning personally led by the Castilian crown. Each of these campaigns was given papal sanction and awarded crusade status. Firstly, there was the offensive led by the infante Don Fernando as regent of the realm which led to the capture of Antequera (1407–1411); then in 1431 there was the campaign of La Higueruela, led by

3 F. García Fitz, Castilla y León frente al Islam. Estrategias de expansión y tácticas militares (siglos XI–XIII), Seville, 1998, p. 62. Although García Fitz’s study covers an earlier period, much of its theoretical approach is valid for the 15th century, allowing for differences in the art of warfare. Until a similar study appears for the Late Middle Ages, there can be no doubt that this book remains the chief work of reference. 4 See J. de Mata Carriazo, “La vida en la frontera de Granada”, Actas del Primer Congreso de Historia de Andalucía Medieval, II, Córdoba, 1978, pp. 277–301; J. L. del Pino, “Las campañas militares castellanas contra el reino de Granada durante los reinados de Juan II y Enrique IV”, Actas del V Coloquio Internacional de Historia Medieval de Andalucía, p. 673, for further information on economic aspects of the campaigns.

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Álvaro de Luna on behalf of Juan II;5 and finally the campaign against the Granadan Vega headed by Enrique IV at the start of his reign (1455–1457). To these can be added the counter-offensives organised by the Granadans themselves, like that of 1446–1447, which resulted in the loss of several strongholds previously conquered by the Christians.6 During the reign of Juan II the war against Granada was always headed by a figure other than the king, and this did little to boost the monarch’s symbolic legitimisation. Juan II’s non-participation went against long-established norms in the peninsular realms. Absence of royal leadership allowed for the rise and ideological justification of the two men who exerted most political influence in Castile: the infante Fernando de Antequera during the king’s minority and Don Álvaro de Luna during the rest of Juan’s life. Interestingly, both men had a clear awareness of the dynasty’s role at the head of the kingdom. They transmitted their sense of this role through symbolic gestures like the besamanos or hand-kissing ceremony in which Fernando offered his triumph to Juan II and his mother the queen regent after returning from the Antequera campaign, or the presence of Juan II in Córdoba at the head of Castilian troops before the battle of La Higueruela. (The king did not take part in the campaign itself.) Fernando’s offensive against the Nasrid kingdom had first been planned by his brother Enrique III, who died in Toledo, where he had intended to preside the Cortes summoned to approve subsidies for the war. Fernando assumed leadership of the army and its preparations, but he met with a number of difficulties in finding finance for the campaign because of the refusal of the queen and co-regent of Castile, Catalina of Lancaster, to divert funds from the public treasury for that purpose. There were also difficulties of governance within Castile during the campaign, because of confrontations between the two co-regents over control of the royal council. Eventually there was even discussion of splitting the kingdom into two separate spheres of influence, with Fernando insistent on retaining his control over cities that could be used as operation centres and army headquarters for the troops on the frontier. The decision to go ahead with the crusade of 1407 in the face of opposition from the queen regent and others had disastrous consequences for the

5 See J. Torres Fontes, “La historicidad del romance Abenámar, Abenámar”, AEM, 8, 1972–73, pp. 225–226. 6 F. Vidal, Historia política, p. 175; L. Suárez Fernández, Enrique IV de Castilla, pp. 69–70; M. A. Ladero, “El reino de Granada y la corona de Castilla en la Baja Edad Media” in Historia de Granada, pp. 204–210.

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organisation of the campaign. Fernando presented it as a continuation of the great Hispanic feat of arms against Muslims, but he was unable to resolve serious practical problems like the lack of money to pay his soldiers, the scarcity of siege armaments or the poor training of his troops. The campaign was planned as a war of positions, whose aim was to occupy key fortresses on the frontier by means of sieges and carry out surprise cavalry raids. All of this combined with the deployment of a defensive fleet in the Strait of Gibraltar intended to prevent the arrival of enemy reinforcements from the North of Africa. However, the final outcome of the campaign was a poor one: failure in Huércal, victory in Torre-Alhaquime, the conquest of Pruna, Zahara and other neighbouring fortifications, and an unsuccessful end to the campaigning in Setenil, which it proved impossible to take by siege.7 Nor was this all: Don Fernando’s return was overshadowed by accusations of embezzlement and the illegal minting of devalued coinage to pay his troops without the knowledge of the royal council. Fernando, who was now ill with fevers, was forced to face the Cortes and an investigation committee.8 He was in no position to refuse to come to terms and sign truces with Granada, and found himself unable to re-start the offensive until 1410, by which time he had taken control of the government organs of Castile through an internal coup that neutralised the supporters of Queen Catalina. Learning from his mistakes, the infante now switched to the more efficient idea of carrying out one single operation on the Granadan frontier, which was to be the conquest of the great fortress of Antequera. The siege lasted from February to September 1410. On this occasion Fernando had sufficient weapons and artillery troops, well-prepared soldiers and a coherent plan of attack. The blockade was combined with regular attacks on the walls of the fortress, and when Granadan reinforcements arrived under the command of Yusuf III they were successfully beaten back at the battle of Boca del Asna, thus ensuring the siege’s effectiveness. A pitched battle of

7

Don Fernando’s campaigns are narrated in the following chronicles: A. García de Santamaría, Crónica de Juan II, pp. 94–197, 292–416; Crónica de Juan II, pp. 286–302, 315–335; Refundición, pp. 16–19. See J. Torres Fontes, “La regencia de Fernando de Antequera y las relaciones castellano-granadinas (1407–1416)”, Miscelánea de Estudios Árabes y Hebraicos, XIV–XV/1 (1965–66), pp. 137–167; XVI–XVII (1967–68), pp. 89–145; XXI (1972), pp. 37–84, and XXII (1973), pp. 7–31; “Moros, judíos y conversos en la regencia de Fernando de Antequera”, CHE, XXXI–XXXII (1960), pp. 60–97; “La regencia de Don Fernando de Antequera”, AEM, I (1964), pp. 375–429; M. Arribas Palau, “Fernando de Antequera y sus relaciones con Granada y Marruecos”, AEM, 9 (1974–79), pp. 531–549; A. Echevarría, Catalina de Lancaster, pp. 93–117, 141–144; R. Salicrú, El sultanat, pp. 21–32. 8 A. García de Santamaría, op. cit., pp. 118–120, 199–242; Fernán Pérez de Guzmán, Crónica de Juan II, pp. 289, 302–308.

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this kind, considered minor, occurred as an undesired encounter between the besiegers of a stronghold and an army of reinforcements that arrived to defend the besieged, and which they were forced to face on open ground. For the aggressors, the pitched battle was one possible means of concluding a campaign of conquest, whereas for the defenders it was an attempt to prevent a loss of territory.9 Fernando achieved success at Antequera, and he lost no time in capitalising on it. If at first his thoughts probably did not go beyond the idea of strengthening his position alongside the Castilian king, Fernando soon saw the chance to use his military success as a propaganda weapon in his career towards the throne of Aragón. The impact of this conquest on the kingdom of Granada was crucial in the long period of peace which followed. This peace was favoured by Castilian interests in Aragón, which eased the signing of truces and commercial treaties between both Christian kingdoms and Granada. From 1410 to 1428, truces were renewed with each of the successive Granadan sultans, Yusuf III, Muhammad VIII and Muhammad IX. None of these sultans adopted a warlike stance towards Castile, and they all contributed with their paria payments towards covering the expenses of the struggles of Juan II and Álvaro Luna against Juan and Enrique, the sons of Fernando I and infantes of Aragón. In the fight for internal control of Castile, 1428 was the year of Luna’s triumphant victory. As far as Granada was concerned, it marked the start of active Castilian interventionism in the designation of Nasrid sultans. Álvaro de Luna was blessed with a subtle understanding of politics and he appreciated the need for a change of direction in traditional Castilian policy towards Granada. However, what triggered off this new policy was the struggle for the throne between Muhammad VIII and Muhammad IX. Both sultans asked for assistance in the form of Castilian troops in order to seize the throne, without either of them ever realising the consequences this would have for the Nasrid sultanate. The combination of Castilian and Tunisian forces which supported Muhammad IX was achieved by negotiations carried out by Yusuf b. Sarraj, and these forces succeeded in their attempt to put Muhammad IX back in power,10 with Muhammad VIII remaining surrounded in the Alhambra for more than a year. In the meantime, further Castilian commitment to Granada was suspended as a result of the entry of 9

F. García Fitz, Castilla y León frente al Islam, p. 294. A. García de Santamaría, op. cit., CODOIN, C, pp. 3–36; P. Carrillo de Huete, Crónica del halconero de Juan II, ed. J. de M. Carriazo, Madrid, 1946, pp. 57–58; Refundición, pp. 56–70; El Victorial, pp. 328–329; P. A. Porras Arboledas, Juan II, pp. 147–148. 10

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Aragonese and Navarran troops in Castile. In early 1430, Muhammad VIII himself sought aid from the Castilian court,11 ushering in a period which saw a double offensive—at the same time that the Castilians sought confirmation of Muhammad IX’s status as a vassal of their king and informed him of his opponent’s intentions, the truce agreements of Majano were signed and a war was proclaimed against the sultan which started in March of the following year.12 Preparations were already well under way and the order had been given to commence hostilities in the form of a frontier campaign when the situation was dramatically altered by the execution of Muhammad VIII. This left the throne in the hands of Muhammad IX without him needing to sign any agreement obliging him to the crown of Castile. The Castilian campaign of erosion nevertheless went ahead, in a clear effort to weaken Muhammad IX. Economic or erosive warfare was two-pronged: the devastation or razing of fields was combined with the signing of truce agreements which conceded important financial advantages to Castile and slowly bled the Nasrid kingdom of its wealth, as well as ensuring that such wealth could not be used to finance armies and the upkeep of fortified strongholds. Such an approach to one’s adversary had been recommended in war treatises of the 13th century as a way of debilitating the enemy before proceeding to direct confrontation. The limited operations carried out with such an aim were known as algaras or aceifas. They consisted, firstly, of looting raids which guaranteed food supplies for the army and, secondly, of the systematic destruction and razing of enemy land. The groups of soldiers who carried out these actions were protected by a series of knights and foot soldiers whose purely military

11 In March 1430, “estando el rey allí en Astudillo, el día que se acabaron de fazer las onrras del duque de Arjona, vino allí al rey un cavallero moro de Granada, del rrey Pequeño, y traya consigo çinco de cavallo, que venía fuyendo del rrey Izquierdo. Y llegó al rey saliendo de misa, y besóle la mano; y dixóle que venía a él de parte del rrey Chiquito, que era legítimo y verdadero rrey de Granada, a le fazer saber que el rrey Izquierdo le avía prendido, y que le suplicava le diese ayuda para sallir de la prisión. Y que con su favor cobrase el rreyno. El rey mostró que le pesava mucho dello, y que lo rremediaría.” Refundición, p. 95. Crónica de Don Álvaro de Luna, p. 71. P. A. Porras Arboledas, Juan II, pp. 148–163. 12 “E ordenó el condestable que como se pregonase por el real del rey la tregua con Aragón e Navarra, juntamente se pregonase la guerra con los moros e reyno de Granada, porque las gentes estobiessen prestas para el año venidero, ca estaban ya en fin de agosto; e porque los enbaxadores moros del rey de Granada, que allí eran por estonçes, lo supiesen, los quales fueron muy tristes después que lo supieron.” Crónica de Don Álvaro de Luna, p. 119; Crónica del halconero, p. 70; Refundición, p. 101. For accounts of these events, see J. E. López de Coca, Revisión de una década, pp. 65–75; M. Rojas, La frontera, pp. 180–185; R. Salicrú, El sultanat, pp. 257–332; F. Vidal, Historia política, pp. 161–167.

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function was one of vigilance.13 Following these principles, in May 1431 Luna’s troops devastated the fields of the Granadan Vega, while Juan II stayed behind at his base in Córdoba. Ridwan Venegas then proposed to the king in Córdoba another new candidate to replace the dead Muhammad VIII. This was Yusuf ibn alMawl (“Abenalmao”), already mentioned in Chapter One, who promised to swear vassalage to the king of Castile if he were to become sultan, and who claimed that a number of fortified towns were willing to surrender to him. Yusuf ibn al-Mawl’s suggestion was rapidly accepted, and on this occasion Juan II himself went to meet the new candidate at the royal encampment of Casería de los Vidrios, close to the capital, after taking crusader vows together with his principal knights, and after the preaching of a crusade bull.14 Yusuf ibn al-Mawl went out to the king’s encampment to meet Juan II in the company of a large retinue of some five hundred knights, who will be discussed later. What had begun as a campaign of erosion now turned into something much more significant: a pitched battle for the crown of Granada, with Christian and Muslim troops lined up to face one another.15 Although the subsequent victory of La Higueruela was a minor one compared with other Castilian triumphs, it turned out to be the only pitched battle of this period.16 This sort of confrontation on open ground between two great armies led by their kings was always considered by medieval chroniclers one of the most significant events in the history of a monarch’s reign. Indeed, its importance was such that it was commonly used as a way of dating documents for the royal chancellery, and would become the subject

13

F. García Fitz, Castilla y León frente al Islam, pp. 65–66, 162–163. Refundición, p. 119. 15 “Este día [20 June], estando en este rreal, pasóse al rey un ynfante moro que se llamaba Abenalmao, fijo del rey Mahomat, el qual de derecho, después de la muerte del rrey Chiquillo, era [verdadero] rrey de Granada. E al rey plogo mucho dello, e rreçebiólo muy bien.” Crónica del halconero, p. 104. Refundición, p. 121. The square brackets, from the Refundición. There is another version in G. Díaz de Games, El Victorial, ed. R. Beltrán Llavador, Madrid, 1994, p. 525: “E estando allí el rey (en su real), vino a él un caballero moro que dezían Abenalmao; hera pariente muy çercano del rey de Granada. E vinieron con él otros caballeros moros, e besaron la mano del rey, e que querían ser suyos, e fazer su mandado. El rey resçibiolos bien, e dio a Abenalmao el título de rey: mandole se llamase rey de Granada. El condestable llego algunas vezes con él fasta çerca del Alcazar Genil, donde estava grand gente de moros, enbiándoles dezir que lo resçibiesen por rey; si no, que ellos lo resçibirian por fuerça, aunque non quisiesen. E aunque se movieron sobre ello algunos tratos, al cabo non se acordaron de lo resçebir aquella vez.” See also F. Vidal, “Historia política”, pp. 161–164. Th ere is a much more confusing interpretation of the dates and events of the campaign in P. A. Porras Arboleda, Juan II, pp. 175–189. 16 Crónica de Don Álvaro de Luna, pp. 122–140; Refundición, pp. 114–123. 14

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of romances and popular legends perpetuating the deeds of participants on both sides. Legislation insisted that it was on the occasion of such events that the king’s vassals should be particularly careful about fulfilling their military obligations. The grandiose nature of such operations made them the most unusual and least used tactic during the entire period of confrontation between Christians and Muslims in the peninsula. The realisation of a pitched battle implied a prior arrangement between two opponents prepared to settle their differences once and for all in a predetermined place at a predetermined time, delimiting the political consequences of the result for both victor and vanquished.17 Such battles could be considered veritable judgements of God, or appeals to divine justice to legitimise the winner of a conflict by placing all the military resources of a kingdom at stake. To the Castilians, La Higueruela meant all of this and a great deal more. For the Granadans, the issue at stake was the divine legitimisation of one of the two candidates to the throne, although both of them were more or less illegitimate in dynastic terms. In a decision without precedent, the first of these men, Muhammad IX, brought all of his troops out of the city—the chronicles give a possibly exaggerated figure of four thousand Granadan knights and two hundred thousand foot soldiers—to face on open ground the Christians allied with Yusuf IV ibn al-Mawl.18 In Castilian accounts, the Christian advance was slowed by internal disputes between the counts of Niebla and Ledesma, as also by an alleged attempt to assassinate Álvaro de Luna which forced the constable to withdraw from the battlefield.19 After the great symbolic confrontation between the two sides and the victors’ subsequent triumphal march on the city, the Castilians left their candidate, now Yusuf IV, to conquer the inland strongholds of the kingdom. This task was carried out over the months up to December 1431, with the support of some of the Castilian frontier troops. This explains why the campaign did not have a significant economic impact on Granada—it would have made little sense to leave a trail of destruction in the territory 17 For a definition of the types of pitched battle and their various particularities, according to the Partidas, see F. García Fitz, Castilla y León frente al Islam, pp. 279–288, 291, 303, and M. Alvira Cabrer, 12 de septiembre de 1213. El jueves de Muret, Barcelona, 2002, pp. 201–209, and for its interpretation, pp. 229–407. For the minor pitched battles, see Boca del Asna, supra. On occasions, a cavalry raid could turn into a pitched battle if the raiders were intercepted by the enemy. 18 Even the treatise-writer Ibn Hudayl does not consider the possibility of a battle of this kind between two Muslim candidates to the throne. The numbers of soldiers are given in Crónica de Don Álvaro de Luna, p. 133. 19 Crónica de Don Álvaro de Luna, pp. 134–136; Crónica del halconero, pp. 104–106; Refundición, pp. 116–123.

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promised to a vassal king. According to Luna, the mobilisation of his large army alerted the Muslims, who took refuge in their fortresses, making it impossible to take hostages.20 The battle of La Higueruela left a unique graphic document on the makeup of the Castilian royal army and the role played in it by the Moorish knights. This is the enormous fresco painting in the Sala de Batallas of the monastery of San Lorenzo del Escorial, based on a near-contemporary representation of the battle. The original canvas painting has been attributed to the Florentine Dello Delli, who worked as court painter to Juan II at some time before 1446. The canvas, which was 130 feet long, was later found rolled up in a chest in the Alcazar of Segovia and was ordered to be reproduced by Philip II, who thereby conserved for posterity an important item in the history of Luna’s royal propaganda.21 In the image, the armies appear in their characteristic arrangement in ranks, and the Moorish knights are seen as Juan II’s guard, together with a large number of troops a la jineta on both sides. The third period of conquest occurred in 1454 when Enrique IV started his reign with a series of four campaigns against Granada. These campaigns, carried out shortly after his coronation, had several aims, but were not designed to achieve the total conquest of the Nasrid kingdom.22 From the Castilian point of view, this series of campaigns was seen as an undertaking with favourable propaganda implications for a new king with enough money to finance them adequately. As well as pleasing the nobles by presenting them with a way of achieving new privileges, Enrique was able to obtain the backing of Rome, and diplomatically avoided the obligation to

20 The constable apologised to the king in a letter: “E tomáranse muchos más, sy [no] porque estaban todos alzados en la çibdad, por quanto fue avisado el rrey de Granada de mi entrada, por dos moros peones que abían venido a vuestros rreynos, con un cavallero moro que se pasó acá, e se fueron desde el camino para Granada. Por lo qual envió mandar que todos se alçasen a las fortaleças; e por tal manera, que pocos pareçieron, ansy por caminos como por logares. En otra manera, según la tierra que habemos follado, no podría ser syno que truxiéramos muchos presioneros e despojo.” Crónica del halconero, p. 97. 21 P. Silva Maroto, “El arte en España en la época del primer marqués de Santillana” in El marqués de Santillana, 1398–1458. Los Albores de la España moderna. El Humanista, Hondarribia, 2001, pp. 183–185. 22 According to M. A. Ladero Quesada, Castilla y la conquista del reino de Granada, p. 202, and W. Phillips, op. cit., p. 54, the conquest of the small kingdom turned out to be tremendously difficult and expensive, causing the king to incline towards an alternative strategy that “would bring maximum benefits from a minimum of cost and effort”. My own view is that it is doubtful that Enrique IV even considered attempting such a conquest, but simply continued the Granadan policy of his predecessors, and sought to bring about the vassalage of its rulers. See A. Echevarría, “Enrique IV de Castilla, un rey cruzado”, Espacio, Tiempo y Forma, 17, 2004, pp. 143–156.

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take part in or finance crusading operations in the Middle East. As far as Granada was concerned, the raids were a response to the support promised in a new vassalage contract with Enrique IV signed by the new sultan, Saʿd. Thus it was that the campaign, which had been planned within the circle of the nobles as siege warfare, became the best example in this period of economic and erosive warfare, and one which would later evolve along diplomatic channels. The state of upkeep of Castilian fortresses when Enrique IV first came to the throne must have been fairly calamitous, judging by the number of protests in the Cortes about the lack of funds and the ruinous condition of buildings, which had been poorly maintained during times when war was not regarded as imminent.23 All of this advised against any military action that might provoke a counter-attack on Castilian positions. The duration of the campaign, which was conditioned by legislation and supply needs, needed to be about three months, including the time it took to arrive in Granada, and this cannot have left time for much manoeuvring. This type of warfare, which was favoured by the king, had been practised systematically during the reign of Fernando III, and followed the military principle that it was better to devastate the region around a fortress when a direct siege became difficult because of the strength of its defences, its position or the number of its defenders.24 The warfare of gradual erosion was, in other words, seen as a phase preceding that of siege warfare. However, Enrique IV preferred to combine this approach with use of the diplomatic channel, with a view to bringing about a vassalage pact and peacefully leaving a new sultan in place who would be close to Castile. By avoiding open conflict, Enrique IV was following the authors of military treatises regarded as maximum authorities in his time, from Vegetius to Juan Gil de Zamora, Don Juan Manuel or the pseudo-Aristotelian Poridat de Poridades. All of these authors argued that battle engagements should be avoided at all costs and be replaced by alternative military arts that provided greater benefits at the expense of less effort.25

23 This matter was discussed in the Cortes sessions of the period, especially those of Valladolid, in 1420; Ocaña, 1422; Palenzuela, 1425; Burgos, 1430; Palencia, 1431; Zamora, 1432; Madrid, 1433; Madrigal, 1438; Olmedo, 1445; Valladolid, 1451 and Ocaña, 1469. For the tenancy of castles, see M. C. Quintanilla Raso, “La tenencia de fortalezas en Castilla durante la Baja Edad Media”, En La España Medieval, V–II, 1986, pp. 861–895; M. J. García Vera and M. C. Castrillo Llamas, “Nobleza y poder militar en Castilla a fines de la Edad Media”, Medievalismo 3 (1993), pp. 19–38, esp. pp. 32–35. 24 F. García Fitz, Castilla y León frente al Islam, pp. 123, 144, 147. 25 Cf. F. García Fitz, Castilla y León frente al Islam, pp. 311–312.

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The reactions were diverse. The frequent skirmishes carried out by parties of undisciplined noblemen anxious to show off their abilities became a threat to royal authority over the troops.26 Such authority was further undermined by the expression of hostile opinions against the “limited” warfare favoured by the king. Waging this kind of warfare did not allow the nobles to take control of new lands which they could pass on to their youngest sons and it therefore deprived them of military prestige. For their part, the more intolerant members of the clergy could not understand why Castilians should want to approach the Muslims without seeking to conquer and convert them.27 The foreign observer Jörg von Ehingen, by contrast, regarded the Castilian campaigns as very hard-fought affairs. Von Ehingen wrote in his diary that the king had prepared conscientiously for the campaign and was able to gather an army of 70,000 soldiers such as had “never before been seen by any Christian”. Von Ehingen was impressed by the knights of Santiago, and described the capture of various towns and cities and the deaths of numbers of infidels. His description of one siege emphasises the number of good Christian soldiers who died in combat and the consequent impossibility of waging such warfare for extended periods. But Enrique, according to von Ehingen, also followed the tactics of his forebears: “We then passed through the realm of Granada, and we destroyed and burnt and killed wherever we went, so that nothing was left behind us, for all was devastated.”28 In the case of the action so described, the strongholds of Estepona and Jimena were successfully conquered. One other campaign was carried out during Enrique IV’s reign. Taking advantage of his journey to Seville to solve the crisis of the archbishopric and the conflict between the two noblemen who between them controlled the city (the frontier lords par excellence, the Count of Arcos and the Duke of Medinasidonia), Enrique IV travelled on to Ceuta to meet Alfonso V of

26

F. García Fitz, Castilla y León frente al Islam, pp. 324–326. W. Phillips, Enrique IV, p. 56. Of the contemporary chroniclers of these events, Alonso de Palencia is the writer who most fiercely criticises the king’s actions, in Crónica de Enrique IV, I, p. 170. Alonso’s detailed descriptions of the campaigns and the king’s reactions to the Muslims can be found in vol. I, pp. 70–73; 103–108; 114; 133–139; the truces, p. 145; the embassy to the Pope to negotiate the payment of décimas for the war on the Turk, p. 157. Such an account can be contrasted with the explanation offered by D. Enríquez de Castillo on the refusal to allow private skirmishes, in Crónica de Enrique IV, p. 107. The same positive analysis can be found in the Compendiosa historia hispanica by Rodrigo Sánchez de Arévalo. Trame goes so far as to describe Sánchez de Arévalo’s chapter on Enrique’s victories as “extravagant praise”, in R. H. Trame, Rodrigo Sánchez de Arévalo, Spanish Diplomat and Champion of the Papacy, Washington, 1958, p. 117. 28 The Diary of Jörg von Ehingen, ed. M. Letts, London, 1929, pp. 37–38. 27

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Portugal in January 1464 in search of a matrimonial alliance. After passing through Gibraltar, the occupation of which he granted to a follower of Beltrán de la Cueva, the king wrote an angry letter to the royal council from Écija in which he complained about the state of defences on the frontier. Immediately afterwards, he gathered his troops and led a brief razing and felling campaign in the Vega which sought to force Saʿd to accept the terms of a new truce agreement and make the corresponding paria payments.29 This attack may also have been intended to destabilise the Granadan kingdom with the aim of smoothing the way for another coup by Muley Hacén, who in September of that same year finally succeeded in dethroning his father and proclaiming himself sultan. The nature of frontier warfare was such that it could take place at any time, given that it formed part of the war of erosion and was permitted by kings even when they were not directly involved in it. Localised military actions undertaken by noblemen from towns close to the frontier in the form of a cavalry raid or lightning attack were undoubtedly much more effective in the long-term than the mobilisation of the enormous apparatus required by a fully-fledged state army, and it was by means of such actions that most of the strongholds which fell during this period were conquered. If a raid was localised and very brief (three days at most), it could even be carried out during a truce period without affecting truce negotiations. In the words of García Fitz, “used in a systematic and repeated manner, [a raiding mission] compensated for the inferiority of the direct offensive strategies when used against solid defensive ones, and provided a tool that was adequate and in step with the volume, intensity and technical capabilities of available forces.” The strategic destabilising role of the frontier raid also improved the chances of success of subsequent broader offensives, and the constant threat of looting and destruction which they represented served to undermine enemy morale.30 Frontier expeditions from either side of the border had several other aims apart from that of weakening the enemy. They were, for example, used to seek out food supplies or to punish those who had not paid parias or had been the cause of some other grievance in the frontier region. They were also used for economic reasons, with the aim of making off with booty in the form of money or in kind. The variability of these objectives helped

29

L. Suárez, Enrique IV, pp. 271–273; F. Vidal, “Historia política”, p. 190. For the frontier war, I follow the explanations, applicable to the 15th century, in F. García Fitz, Castilla y León frente al Islam, pp. 62–63, 69–71, 74, 77, 80–87 and 217. 30

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to unite the interests of participants in raiding missions with those of the monarchy, permitting a form of collaboration that would eventually bring down the Nasrid kingdom. Profits from these expeditions were shared out among their major sponsors—the great frontier lines of nobles, the local municipalities and the king or sultan—and participants in the raid. It must be remembered that the raids were also a form of economic activity for the social groups whose pre-eminence depended on their military function, whether they were the knights of the local concejo or members of the great noble families. Preparing for a raid was relatively simple for experienced campaigners, and their short duration (usually one or two days) made them an ideal way of achieving an acceptable result in exchange for relatively little effort. The frontier region became crowded with men who specialised in this sort of attack, known as almogávares, as well as their guides, or adalides. Raiding parties could be made up of anywhere between six and fifty men, to guarantee the speed of their operations, and raids were usually organised at moments of maximum political weakness of the governing powers. This happened for two reasons: firstly, because raids were a way of continuing to destabilise the enemy during the periods of enforced truces signed by the authorities and secondly because the risk of counter-attack by a sovereign’s powerful army was significantly reduced at such times.31 The expugnación or surprise assault on a castle was one of the commonest forms of attack during frontier struggles in this period, and there are many occasions when such assaults cannot be considered part of the siege warfare encouraged by royal powers. Though characterised by a small number of raiders, with rudimentary technical means and scarce financing, these assaults could be fast and effective, especially if the assailants had assistance from within the fortress itself and could rely on the surprise factor or carry out their attacks at night. Many examples of such attacks are cited in contemporary chronicles, whereas there were a comparatively scarce number of fully-fledged sieges, which were largely reduced to those carried out by the infante Don Fernando during his campaigns of 1407 and 1411, as mentioned earlier.32

31 J. Torres Fontes, “El adalid en la frontera de Granada”, AEM, 15 (1985), pp. 345–366; M. Rojas Gabriel and D. M. Pérez Castañera, “Aproximación a almogávares y almogaverías en la frontera con Granada” in Estudios de Frontera. Alcalá la Real y el Arcipreste de Hita (coord. F. Toro and J. Rodríguez Molina), Jaén, 1996, pp. 569–582. 32 F. García Fitz, Castilla y León frente al Islam, p. 230 refers to the complexity of the operations and their low returns as a way of explaining the scarcity of this type of siege.

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Frontier warfare was predominant during several different periods. Between 1432 and 1438, the capitanes and the adelantado of the frontier undertook the conquest of numerous fortified points, taking advantage of the non-existence of truce agreements and Juan II’s lack of interest in mobilising his troops against Granada. After the failure of Yusuf IV, Juan was never again to commit his military resources or request a crusade bull in order to confront the Nasrids. Support for the next Castilian candidate, Ismael III (1446–1447), was only expressed through the deployment of localised frontier forces, rather than a full-scale army of the whole kingdom, as had happened in the case of Yusuf IV. The turbulent years between 1447 and 1449, when Castile was unsettled by the imprisonment of opponents to Álvaro de Luna and Juan II and the later anti-converso revolt in Toledo, were especially propitious for frontier counter-raids. Granadan forces took advantage of the reigning chaos at court and among the noblemen and leading figures on the border. The capture by the Granadans of the towns of Arenas, Benamaurel, Huéscar and Vélez in 1447 was followed by difficulties in Murcia with the Manriques, who used Muslim troops to threaten the city who advanced as far as Cieza and Montiel in 1448–1449. Another skirmish on the Sevillian frontier and the Castilian disaster of Hellín, under the command of Alfonso Téllez de Girón, coincided with an alliance between Juan of Navarre and Muhammad IX to form a common front against Juan II of Castile and, if possible, dethrone him. This sort of alliance of convenience with other nobles or kings was another characteristic feature of frontier warfare, and was completely circumstantial, but it served to undermine further the stability of Castile. Successive Granadan raids across the border followed, led by the young Muhammad X, who replaced his uncle at the head of the army. Prince Enrique’s repeated pleas to his father to allow him to lead an army that might bring peace to the Granadan frontier were made in vain, partly because of the impossibility of displacing troops at what was a hazardous moment for Juan II, and partly because of the elevated costs involved.33 The response came from Ismael III, who headed another uprising against Muhammad IX with assistance from the Castilian armies on the frontier, under the command of the adelantado Per Afán de Ribera, but he was once more unsuccessful in his attempt to take the throne. It was the Granadans themselves who buried his chances

33 Crónica del halconero, pp. 487–488, 494–498, 507–508, 534. P. A. Porras Arboledas, Juan II, pp. 262–268, 276–277. F. García Fitz, Castilla y León frente al Islam, p. 117.

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after his failure at the battle of Lorca or the Alporchones (1452), where the entire Granadan military elite lost their lives.34 Under Enrique IV, frontier warfare became completely prominent after 1462. This was due, firstly, to pressure from Aragón, and then to the Castilian civil war. Once he had managed to redirect Granadan affairs by diplomatic means, Enrique IV allowed all those who had interests on the frontier to organise their own local attacks. The uprising of the Abencerrajes and Muley Hacén thus unleashed a Castilian offensive on the various fronts of the Granadan frontier: in the north, from Jaén, troops were led by the constable Miguel Lucas de Iranzo; to the east, the Duke of Medinasidonia and the Count of Arcos captured Gibraltar and then Archidona a short time later. Apart from the Andalusian lords, the main protagonists of these encounters were the militias of the concejos. The raids continued even after Muley Hacén had been installed in the Alhambra, leading the new sultan to ask Enrique IV to bring his frontier troops under control if he wanted to obtain the truces he had requested. From 1465 onwards, these truce negotiations marked diplomatic relations between Granada and Castile, right up until the final offensive of the Catholic Kings.35 Another factor that could lead the kings of Castile to declare war against Granada was the pressing need for funds, which it was possible to obtain through the concession of crusade bulls signed by the Pope. Rome had an obvious interest in the Castilian campaigns, at a time of decline in eastern crusading activity because of the advances of the Ottoman Turks. From 1406, all royal campaigns against Granada were sanctioned by a bull of indulgences, together with all the other external signs that were conferred on a warring monarch, such as the pontiff ’s delivery of a specially blessed sword and hat. Attempts were made to limit the concession of the tercias de cruzada to prevent them from becoming a standard church tax, but with little success. Castilian monarchs were often accused of appropriating crusade subsidies, and such complaints were not without foundation: both Nicholas V and Calixtus III granted bulls for campaigns that never actually occurred, although they had been duly announced to Rome. Two bulls were promulgated in 1433 for a campaign that was never organised, even though a truce period had come to an end. Between that date and 1454 Nicholas V continued to grant indul-

34 J. Torres Fontes, “La intromisión granadina en la vida murciana (1448–1452)”, AlAndalus XXVII (1962), pp. 105–154; L. Seco de Lucena, “Cortesanos nasríes del siglo XV. Las familias de Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr e Ibn Kumasa”, MEAH, 7 (1958), p. 22. 35 B. Tate, op. cit., p. 107; F. Vidal, “Historia política”, pp. 187–193, replacing references to Ismael IV with the name of Muley Hacén, as suggested in the previous chapter.

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gences at fairly regular intervals. However, all the money that was thereby obtained, including incomes derived from the administration of the Order of Santiago, which was ceded to Juan II from 1453 on, went straight into the state coffers to finance the wars within Castile.36 Under Enrique IV, the Castilian ambassador Rodrigo Sánchez de Arévalo managed to obtain formal recognition from Rome that the Granadan campaigns had the status of a crusade parallel to that in the Near East, thereby excusing the presence of Castilians on the eastern front. The Council of Mantua granted the same privileges to crusaders at both ends of the Mediterranean, and the crown was authorised to receive funds from the sale of indulgences. In return, the king of Castile committed himself to fighting the Turks as soon as the Iberian Peninsula had been freed of all Muslims. A permanent military force was created with three thousand lancers and twenty thousand foot soldiers, paid by this means and through subsidies voted by the Cortes. Calixtus III also issued a bull which made Enrique IV Master of the Order of Santiago for fifteen years and Master of the Order of Alcántara for ten. Both posts brought important incomes and troops. The crusade itself was to have validity for a period of four years.37 A study of the real incidence of these bulls on the economic situation in Castile at this particular time has yet to be made. Neither has there been any attempt to compare their economic value with the income from trade between Castile and Granada during truce periods, which included the “diezmo y medio diezmo de lo morisco”, a customs duty paid in the free ports or towns between the two kingdoms which went straight to the Castilian state treasury.38

36 The Papal Bulls of Benedict XIII for Fernando de Antequera have not survived. During the reign of Juan II, the following bulls were promulgated: “Quoniam maligna”, by Martin V, 8 October 1421; “Salvator mundi”, “Intendentes ad”, “Cum dilectum filium”, and “Cum te hodie” by Eugene IV, 13 June 1431, once the campaign of La Higueruela had started; “Romani Pontificis providentia” and “Quidquid de carissimo” by Eugene IV, 1 May 1433, and “Romanus Pontifex” on 8 May of the same year. In spite of the lack of concrete results, Nicholas V was always generous: the bulls “In vinea Domini”, 30 May 1448 and “Sacrosancte catholice”, of the same year; “Sedis Apostolice”, 9 June 1449; “Miserator Dominus”, 6 October 1451 and “Sacrosancte Romane”, “Apostolice Sedis copiosa”, “Sedes Apostolica pia” and “Regis eterna qui”, 20 November; “Catholicis principibus”, 12 May 1452 and “Eximie devotionis”, 17 June. J. Goñi Gaztambide, Historia de la bula de la cruzada en España, Vitoria, 1958, pp. 342–354. 37 W. Phillips, Enrique IV, pp. 56–57. For Sánchez de Arévalo’s intervention, see R. B. Tate, Ensayos sobre la historiografía peninsular, p. 107. The bulls for this reign, according to J. Goñi Gaztambide, Historia de la bula, pp. 358–366, are: “Pater immense” and “Dudum integritatem”. 38 For the account books for the diezmo y medio diezmo de lo morisco of 1429–1433, 1446

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In Castilian relations with Granada, the third active front was the diplomatic one, better known in detail for the period of the Catholic Kings, but initiated in general terms during the reign of Juan II. Castilian diplomacy employed three basic tactics: the signing of truces during periods of peace with the sultanate, the subjection of the Nasrid kingdom to Castile through contracts of vassalage between the monarchs (a system that had been in use since at least the 13th century), and the debilitation of Nasrid power by proposing new candidates to the throne from collateral branches of the royal family. This last tactic was a novel approach that was made easier by divisions among the Granadans and by the perceived lack of legitimacy of the sultans produced from within the governmental system. The term “truce” evokes a state of latent warfare with periods of peace that were not understood to be lasting. In such a view, if a truce came to an end, either of the two sides might be thought willing to renew hostilities. The fact is that truce periods often lasted longer than those of open warfare, but they were a means of safeguarding the results of a war of erosion by placing psychological and economic pressure on the kingdom of Granada. They were also more acceptable as Islamic law was concerned. The terms of these periods of temporary peace followed a number of basic rules that could be altered under some circumstances, but which respected certain principles of duration, economic conditions and accessory clauses first laid out in the truce agreement signed by the infante Fernando after the fall of Antequera.39 and 1454, see M. A. Ladero, Legislación hacendística de la Corona de Castilla en la Baja Edad Media, Madrid, 1999, pp. 295–308; between 1453 and 1457, J. Abellán Pérez, Documentos de Juan II, docs. 334, 683–695. See also J. Abellán Pérez, “Jerez, las treguas de 1450”, p. 16. 39 The detailed clause also included the kingdom of Fez, and can be found in A. García de Santamaría, Crónica de Juan II, pp. 402–407. The truces for the periods which occupy us here have been studied individually or in small groups by several historians. The list that follows is chronological in terms of the dates of the truces concerned. M. Arribas Palau, Las treguas entre Castilla y Granada firmadas por Fernando I de Antequera, Tetuán, 1956; the truce agreement of 1410 is published in J. de M. Carriazo, “Un alcalde entre los cristianos y los moros en la frontera de Granada”, Al-Andalus, XIII (1948), pp. 65–70; J. Torres Fontes, “Las relaciones castellano-granadinas desde 1416 a 1432. I: las treguas de 1417 a 1426”, CEM, VI–VII (1978–1979), pp. 297–311; the truce of 1432 in L. Suárez Fernández, Juan II y la frontera de Granada, Valladolid, 1954; J. A. de Los Ríos, Memoria histórico-crítica de las treguas celebradas en 1439 entre los reyes de Castilla y Granada. Memorias de la Academia de la Historia, IX, Madrid, 1879; J. E. López de Coca, “Castilla, Granada y la tregua de 1443” in Estudios de Historia Medieval en Homenaje a Luis Suárez Fernández, Valladolid, 1991, pp. 301–313; J. Abellán Pérez, “Jerez, las treguas de 1450 y la guerra civil granadina” in Estudios sobre Málaga y el Reino de Granada en el V Centenario de la Conquista, ed. J. E. López de Coca, Málaga, 1987, pp. 9–17 and the same author edited the truce agreements of 1424, 1443 and 1452 in Documentos de Juan I, CODOM, XVI, Murcia-Cádiz, 1984, docs. 76, 231 and 319; J. A. García Luján, Treguas, guerra y capitulaciones de Granada (1457–1491). Documentos del Archivo de los Duques de Frías, Granada, 1998; J. Torres Fontes, “Enrique IV y la frontera de

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Truces normally lasted for between one and three years, a period of time which allowed for changes in the political situation and a re-evaluation of the convenience of renewing the truce or starting another war. The truces made with candidates to the Nasrid throne, which stipulated a period of five years before bringing in Castilian armed support were an exception. However, the death or dethronement of one of the monarchs who had signed a treaty brought automatic annulment and made a new agreement necessary. This difficulty could nevertheless be circumvented by specifying that the heirs of the respective states confirmed their agreement to a pact.40 For their part, the Granadan qadis watched over truce processes very carefully to ensure that they complied with Maliki legal doctrine. Thus it was that al-Bunnahi took the liberty of making veiled reminders to his sultan that the peace between 1350 and 1383 had been so long-lasting that it had exceeded the appropriate time span.41 The general clauses of truce agreements with Granada were similar to those of any peace treaty between Christian states. They obliged both kingdoms not to wage war on each other on land or sea during a stipulated period of time, and to support each other against their enemies. In the meantime, the frontier was kept open for the passage across it of alfaqueques and rescued captives, and such individuals did not need safe-conducts or specific

Granada (las treguas de 1458, 1460 y 1461)” in Homenaje al Prof. Carriazo, Seville, 1973, III, pp. 343–380, “Las treguas con Granada de 1462–63”, Hispania, XC (1963), pp. 163–199 and “Las treguas con Granada de 1469 y 1472”, CEM, IV–V (1979), pp. 211–236; the truce agreements are published in M. C. Molina Grande, Documentos de Enrique IV. CODOM, XVII, Murcia, 1988, pp. 267–268; J. de M. Carriazo, “Las treguas de Granada de 1475 y 1478”, Al-Andalus, XIX (1954), pp. 317–367; C. Perea, “La frontera concejo de Jaén-reino de Granada en 1476”, CEM, X–XI (1983), pp. 231–238; J. A. Bonilla and E. Toral, El tratado de paz de 1481 entre Castilla y Granada, Jaén, 1982. See also M. Rojas, La frontera entre los reinos de Sevilla y Granada en el siglo XV (1390–1481), Cádiz, 1995, pp. 158–160; P. A. Porras Arboleda, “Derecho de guerra y paz en la España medieval” in Recursos militares en la Edad Media hispánica, Los. Revista de Historia Militar-Extra. Madrid, 2001, pp. 335–359; M. A. Ochoa Brun, Historia de la diplomacia española, Madrid, 1995, III, pp. 95–283. 40 This only occurred during the reign of Juan I, who sought to abdicate the throne of Castile in favour of his son in order to concentrate on Portuguese affairs. This arrangement can be considered an exception, and only came into being because of the early, unexpected death of the king. See P. López de Ayala, Crónica de Juan I, in Crónicas de los reyes de Castilla, ed. C. Rosell, Madrid, 1953, vol. II, p. 142; “La Banda Morisca durante el reinado de Enrique III. Aproximación político-militar” in La Banda Morisca durante los siglos XIII, XIV y XV, ed. M. García Fernández, Seville, 1996, p. 28 and D. M. Pérez Castañera, “Las treguas y las suspensiones de hostilidades en la dinámica estratégica castellana frente a Granada (1369–1481)” in II Estudios de Frontera. Actividad y vida en la frontera, Jaén, 1998, pp. 677–678. 41 M. I. Calero Secall, “La justicia, cadíes y otros magistrados”, p. 373 and “La peste en Málaga según el malagueño al-Nubahi” in Homenaje al Prof. Jacinto Bosch Vilá, Granada, 1991, pp. 57–71.

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licences, unlike other inhabitants of the two realms. The alfaqueques were recognised as intermediaries in deals to exchange or purchase captives, and they acted as guides to the caravans of merchandise and freed slaves that moved back and forth between the two kingdoms. Truce agreements also contained detailed stipulations on terms for the return of captives, with or without properties—which had to be given back to the kingdom from which they had been taken, even when the captive was not—and how to deal with cases of murder and robbery. Truce agreements would also state that if domestic uprisings should occur, neither of the two monarchs could take advantage of the situation to seize castles belonging to the other. Each monarch was also obliged to inform the other whenever a knight or servant switched sides, and had to welcome and shelter such men when they returned to their original kingdoms. In the first truce there was no mention of the payment of parias, an issue which became fundamentally important after the treaty of 1421. The highest sums of money were paid during the reign of Muhammad IX, and varied between 8,000 gold doblas per annum if payments were made for several successive years, and between 11,000 and 13,000 if made at longer intervals—an amount roughly equivalent to 20% or 25% of the sultanate’s annual fiscal income.42 Agreements reached with candidates to the throne who had requested some form of aid from Castile could be even more demanding. One of the most important clauses, and one which appeared in all agreements, was that which required the release of Christian captives as a necessary pre-condition for the Castilian king to give his consent to a signing of the document: “and for the king of Castile to make this truce, the king of Granada was obliged to give him three hundred captives of the Christians he held captive in his kingdom”.43 The handing-over of captives not only reduced the amount of slave labour available to the sultanate, but, more significantly, it affected the amount of money that could be raised by releasing economically important hostages. It also reduced opportunities to exchange them for Muslim captives who had fallen into Christian hands. The return of captives was felt to be a political and religious humiliation and was a blow to the community’s treasury, which was forced to cover the costs of transporting these men across Granada to the frontier region. Sometimes, these deliveries of captives were not mentioned in the text of a treaty itself,

42 43

D. M. Pérez Castañera, “Las treguas”, p. 680. A. García de Santamaría, Crónica de Juan II, p. 406.

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but became the subject of a separate signed letter of obligation, thereby allowing the Granadan sultan to protect his public reputation as regarded his subjects.44 Accessory clauses to truce agreements could sometimes be as important as their general content, or perhaps even more so when there were economic implications. The most important of them regulated mercantile trade during the peace period, allowing the free flow of goods and merchandise through a number of free ports and towns agreed upon by both sides. These towns were located in strategic spots on the land and sea frontiers. The most important of these towns were Alcalá la Real, Lucena, Zahara, Antequera, Huelma, Teba, Priego, Pegalajar, Jaén, Baeza, Quesada, Alcalá de los Gazules, Hellín, Mula and Lorca.45 The only goods which were exceptions to these general rules were the so-called “productos vedados” or forbidden products, i.e. those of great importance for consumption and the arming of the populace of both states: cereals, livestock, horses and weapons.46 Other truce terms took account of the varying realities of life on the frontier, such as the clause stating that “all Christians living in lands of the Moor who wish to depart for Christian lands be given licence and permission [to do so]”. This clause affected, among others, Castilian religious figures in Granada like Alonso de Mella, a friar who was accused of heresy but had requested permission from Juan II to return to his native land. Other beneficiaries of such clauses were traders, elches and political refugees.47 The other way in which Castile used diplomatic means to subject Granada was through enforcement of vassalage pacts. The first Christian monarchs to force Muslims to sign vassalage contracts after their defeat by arms were Alfonso VII of Castile in the 12th century, who was largely unsuccessful in his aims, and, much later, Fernando III of Castile and Jaime I of Aragón. Fernando III used the strategy to subject those realms that could be termed as those of the Mudejars, i.e. Murcia, Niebla and Granada, whereas Jaime I did the same in Valencia, Albarracín and Segura. Given that it was always

44 As in the truce of 1439, signed on 15 April, and completed by a letter of obligation of 4 April which specifies the amounts of 24,000 doblas in parias and 550 captives. It is also common to find differences between the Arabic and Castilian texts of the truce agreements. J. E. López de Coca, “Castilla, Granada y la tregua de 1443”, pp. 302–303. 45 J. Abellán Pérez, Documentos de Juan II, CODOM XVI, Murcia-Cádiz, 1984, p. 339. 46 The limitations appear in all the treatises from 1424 on. For them, see the articles cited in note 33. 47 J. E. López de Coca, “Castilla, Granada y la tregua de 1443”, p. 310. For Alonso de Mella, see A. Echevarría, The Fortress of Faith. The Attitude towards Muslims in Fifteenth Century Spain, Leiden, 1999, pp. 75–76.

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the Christian kingdoms which dictated the policy of domination, it was a Christian legal formula which regulated such processes of subjection. Many historians have therefore considered Granada a vassal kingdom of Castile, forgetting one of the fundamental conditions of feudal vassalage contracts, the temporality of the vassalage bond. This was also applicable to vassalage agreements between persons of different religions, as is easily demonstrable. That is to say, when the vassal subjected himself to his lord, he swore to respect his obligations to him only during the lifetimes of both men. The death of one of them automatically dissolved the tie, and if there was a desire to renew it, such renewal had to be carried out with the successor of the defunct participant. This circumstance, taken together with failures to comply with the stipulated terms of the vassalage agreement, had a conditioning effect on relations between the Nasrid sultans and the Castilian monarchs. During the 15th century, whenever there was a change of occupant of the Granadan throne—and as we have seen, this happened very frequently—this new occupant would have had to renew his vassalage contract with the Castilian king in order for such vassalage to retain its effect, and the fact is that this hardly ever occurred. This explains why contemporary chronicles insist that the cause of campaigns against Granada was the attempt to obtain vassalage from a specific sultan, or to resort to the alternative of choosing a candidate to the Nasrid throne who had already agreed to swear vassalage to the king of Castile when he became sultan. The origins of this form of subjection to Castile can be traced back to the pact of Jaén of 1246, when Muhammad I agreed to what was seen from the Christian perspective as a feudal pact of vassalage, as Muhammad kissed the hand of Fernando III and allowed himself to be considered his vassal. In addition, Muhammad promised to make the payment of a tributo cierto, following the tradition of the parias paid by the kings of Taifa since the 11th century. Muhammad I considered this money a lordly loan paid out for the enjoyment of his land and recognition of the foreign domination of his possessions, in the strictest possible feudal manner. Apart from making this payment, Muhammad I committed himself to attending the king’s Cortes and to lending him military support when necessary (i.e. he agreed to give his lord auxilium and consilium). This led to his support for the Christian armies that conquered Alcalá de Guadaira, which was handed over to him by its inhabitants in order for him to pass it on to Fernando. He also played a key role in the conquests of Seville and Jaén. One important political advantage for Muhammad in this was the elimination of threats to Granada from either of the Christian kingdoms, since agreements between Castile and Aragón meant that the Aragonese could not continue their expansion

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towards the south without provoking a conflict with Castile, whose vassal Muhammad had now become.48 In the 14th century, the only sultans who were forced to swear vassalage to Castile to hold onto their thrones were those who found themselves in particularly difficult political situations: Muhammad III and Nasr, who reached agreements with Fernando IV, and Muhammad V, who became a vassal of Pedro I. By the 15th century the vassalage system was in decline, but remained as a general framework for diplomatic relations between the two kingdoms. The budget agreements contained in the pact of Jaén guaranteed Castile a constant flow of parias into its coffers, in addition to a period of peace on the southern frontier of the kingdom and a promise of military support from Granada against potential enemies. It was for this reason that the Castilians repeatedly sought, though unsuccessfully, to obtain recognition from Muhammad IX El Zurdo of his status as a vassal. However, this did not prevent the traditional negotiations of truce agreements from taking place. Such negotiations were beneficial to both sides, but they never committed the sultan definitively. None of the other briefly-reigning sultans who disputed his right to the throne (Muhammad VIII, Yusuf V, Muhammad X) ever became a vassal of Juan II. Only the four sultans from collateral branches of the family, chosen by the Granadan palatine aristocracy because of their maternal or indirect ties with the main branch, undertook to swear an oath of loyalty to the king of Castile in order to benefit from his military support. These sultans were Yusuf IV ibn al-Mawl and Ismael III during the reign of Juan II, and Saʿd and Muley Hacén during that of Enrique IV. With the exception of the first, all of these sultans had spent part of their lives as refugees at the Castilian court and were maintained at the expense of the Castilian royal treasury. Possibly because it was the first case, more is known about the conditions of the vassalage pact sworn by Yusuf IV than about any other. At first, after the conclusion of the battle of La Higueruela, Juan II authorised Yusuf to use the title of “king” of Granada,49 and invested him with the insignia of

48 L. G. de Valdeavellano, Curso de Historia de las Instituciones Españolas, Madrid, 1962/86, p. 251. For the pact of Jaén and its form, see A. García Sanjuán, “Consideraciones sobre el pacto de Jaén de 1246” in Sevilla, 1248, co-ord. M. González Jiménez, Madrid, 2000, pp. 715–722; F. Vidal Castro, “Historia política”, p. 87. On the previous non-existence of proper contracts of vassalage, see F. García Fitz, Relaciones políticas y guerra. La experiencia castellano-leonesa frente al Islam, siglos XI–XIII, Seville, 2002, pp. 34–76. 49 “Este santo acto en este sancto día pasado, el sennor rey dixo al ynfante Benalmao que le mandaba e mandó que dende en adelante él se llamase rrey de Granada, que él quería, con el ayuda de Dios e de su patrón Santiago, de le entregar e apoderar el rreyno. E que él lo toviese

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the Band, an emblem of the king of Castile based on the chivalric order founded by Alfonso XI. The Order of the Band had been founded to reward a limited number of lords and courtiers who had shown particular bravery and skill in knightly endeavours and had sworn unshakeable loyalty to their king. The extent of such lords’ commitment to the king was much more strictly stipulated than in a vague vassalage ceremony, because the chapters ruling the Order were extremely detailed with reference to the lending of assistance to the monarch, or attendance at meetings of the royal councils. Although the Order was in decline by the time of Juan II, there is certainly some symbolic importance in the fact that Yusuf IV was immediately made a member of it and had the emblem conferred upon him. This emblem was also later to be included in the coat of arms of all Nasrid kings.50 The vassalage contract was sealed in the castle of Arenas as soon as Yusuf IV’s victory in Granada seemed to be certain. Its conditions included the following statement: No consentir que ningun christiano se torne moro en el reino de Granada (. . .) de pagar al dicho nuestro sennor rey con mill e quinientos de cavallo pagados a costa nuestra, e gelos enviar a do el mandare en qualquier menester quel aya e entendiese que cumpla a su servicio. [. . .] Por quanto se puso en la carta del aravigo que se avia olvidado de poner en la castellana, que quando qualquier quel dicho sennor el rey de Castilla enbiare pedir los mill e quinientos de cavallo al dicho rey Yuçuf, que gelos enbie pagados de su sueldo para tres meses, e si mas tiempo estovieren el dicho sennor rey les mande pagar, e si al caso viniere, quel dicho rey don Yuçuf ayan de yr por su persona e con su poder al serviçio del dicho sennor rey, que vayan a costa suya del mesmo, e que viniendo por

por su mandado, porque él e los sus moros fuesen súbditos a él e a su mandado. E por le más ondrar, dióle un pendón que tenía de la su devisa de la Vanda, en sennal de ondra e sennorío en que lo entendía poner”, Crónica del halconero, p. 106. Refundición, p. 122, with the slight but important variation “por quel e los moros sus súbditos fuesen sus vasallos”. 50 It is not clear whether Pedro I of Castile had been the first to name a Nasrid a member of the Order. If it had been the case, Muhammad V would have been tied to the Castilian King even more closely than through a mere oath of vassalage. The articles of the Order of the Band would be modified in late versions to exclude non-Christians, but at first there was nothing to prevent them belonging to this circle of select knights within the royal circle. See M. Ceballos-Escalera y Gila, La Orden y divisa de la Banda real de Castilla, Madrid, 1993; I. García Díaz, “La Orden de la Banda”, Archivum Historicum Societatis Iesu, LX, 1991, pp. 29–89; J. Albarracín Navarro, “La Orden de la Banda a través de la frontera nazarí” in I Jornadas de Estudios de Frontera, Jaén, 1996, pp. 17–26; B. Pavón Maldonado, “Escudos y reyes en el Cuarto de los Leones de la Alhambra”, Al-Andalus, XXXV (1970), pp. 179–197 and, by the same author, “Notas sobre el escudo de la Orden de la Banda en los palacios de D. Pedro y Muhammad V”, Al-Andalus, XXXVII (1972), pp. 229–232; J. D. Boulton, The Knights of the Crown. The Monarchical Orders of Knighthood in later Medieval Europe, 1325–1520, Woodbridge, 2000, pp. 46–95. I have recently addressed the matter in “Painting politics in the Alhambra,” Medieval Encounters 14, 2008, pp. 199–218.

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su presona (sic) e a su costa con su poder commo dicho es al dicho serviçio [. . .] sea relevado de las veynte mill doblas.51 [No Christian is to be permitted to become a Moor in the kingdom of Granada. (. . .) the said lord our king is to be paid with 1,500 horses paid for at our cost, which are to be sent wherever he desires for whatever task is seen fit and that he understands will serve his purpose. [. . .] As for what was written in the Arabic version of the text but had been forgotten in the Castilian one, that when any person that the said lord the king of Castile should send to ask for the 1,500 horses from the king Yusuf, that they [the Knights] be sent with their salaries paid for three months, and if they remained for longer the said lord king will send payment for them, and if it were necessary for the said king Yusuf to go personally to the service of the said lord king, their costs will be paid for by him, and coming in person at his own expense as has been said to the aforementioned service, he shall be relieved of 20,000 doblas.]

The heading of the letter sent by Yusuf IV to Juan II on 20 January 1432 proclaimed all too clearly his dependence on the Castilian monarch: Al muy alto e mucho famoso esclaresçido príncipe don Johan, mi senor el rey de Castilla. E dentro de la carta dezía así: Sennor, el vuestro vasallo Juçab Venalmao, rrey de Granada, vesa vuestras manos e me encomiendo en vuestra merced. A la qual plega saver en como yo partí de Illora e fuy a la mi cibdad de Granada, e saliéronme a rreçevir toda la cavallería de Granada. Vesáronme la mano por rrey e por sennor, e entregáronme el Alfanbra. E, sennor, ésto fue por la graçia de Dios e por la vuestra buena abentura.52 [To the very high and greatly famous celebrated prince Don Juan, my lord the king of Castile. And within the letter it said: Lord, your vassal Juçab Venalmao, king of Granada, kisses your hands and I commend myself to your grace. You will be pleased to know how I left Illora and went to my city of Granada, and all the cavalry of Granada came out to receive me. They kissed my hand as their lord and king, and delivered the Alhambra over to me. And, lord, this was through the grace of God and your good offices.]

The terms in which other sultans swore vassalage to Castilian kings are not known, but it can be assumed that they would have been very similar to those in Yusuf IV’s pact. Such oaths provoked the displeasure of Granadan subjects, who found it hard to accept their sultans’ situation of dependence, to say nothing of the regular payment of expensive parias.

51

27–1–1432, AGS, Patronato Real, leg. 11, 124. The same can be found in the Crónica del Halconero, p. 118: “A tres días del mes de diciembre, anno del Sennor de 1431 annos, fue tomada Loxa por el rey Alinalmao, al qual rrey fizo tomar título el rey de Castilla el día que vençió la vatalla en la vega de Granada. E tomóla con su fuerça e ayuda, e con su dinero.” 52 Crónica del halconero, pp. 121–122; Refundición, p. 128.

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The negotiation of deals, truces and vassalage pacts at the highest level was carried out by individuals of very different condition in various posts. These individuals were normally different from the alfaqueques, emissaries of the concejos, fieles del rastro (guides in charge of ransoming captives) and members of the mendicant orders in charge of the minor negotiations deriving from the frontier struggles. The early phase of negotiations was usually carried out through an exchange of missives. Letters of diplomatic content were sent to the king, but also to those at court who might be considered mediators. Muhammad VIII even sent one such letter to the archbishop of Toledo himself, Sancho de Rojas, through Çayde Alamin—this letter will be discussed at greater length later.53 One consequence of Castilian interventionism was the establishment of a direct diplomatic channel linking the Granadan aristocracy and the king of Castile. It was the Granadan lineages themselves who ensured that this channel stayed permanently open, using either those members of their families who were employed as alcaides in the frontier fortresses, certain captives of some renown, or the palace functionaries who travelled to the Castilian court as ambassadors. One example of the first kind of intermediary can be seen at work during the offer of the surrender of Baza and Guadix in 1436, in exchange for the king of Castile designating a candidate to the throne in Granada. The ambassador to Juan II who made this offer may well have been the alcaide of Guadix, Homar Saraiquel, who remained at the court of Castile for a length of time—as did his son Ali—and died in 1446, presumably supporting the Castilian candidate to the Nasrid throne, Ismael III.54

53 R. Castrillo, “Una carta granadina en el monasterio de Guadalupe”, Al-Andalus, XXVI (1961), pp. 389–396. This author dates the letter in the year 1418. 54 “Estando el rey don Juan en Alcalá de Henares, anno de 1436 annos, vinieron envaxadores moros de Baça, e de Guadix. La envaxada hera esta que ayuso oyredes: que pedían al rey que les diese un rrey moro, qual a su merced pluguiese, e que lo rreçcibirían por rrey. E que farían guerra al rrey Esquierdo, rrey de los moros, por su mandado; el qual rrey Esquierdo era a la sazón rrey de Granada. El rey don Juan no se contentó del trato, e rrespondióles que si las fortalezas entregasen a quien él mandase, e con el poderío de la gente que él mandase, que a él le plazía de los rrecevir por sus súbditos e vasallos; en otra manera, que él les mandaría hazer la guerra crudamente, como a enemigos de la ffe. E con esta rrespuesta partieron para las çibdades de Baça e de Guadix. Pero todavía mandó el rey a Fernánd Álvarez, sennor de Valdecorneja, que hera capitán de la frontera de Jaén, e de Úbeda, e Baeça, que si los envaxadores moros de Vaça e de Guadix no viniesen con rrecaudo çierto, como el rrey don Juan les mandava, que fiziese la tala, por quanto se reçelava de alguno, por quanto era costunbre de se fazer las talas los annos de la guerra pasados en el mes de abril e mayo.” Crónica del halconero, pp. 226–227. Refundición, p. 201. For the alcaide of Guadix, who was given a salary of twenty maravedís a day during his stay in Castile, see AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1: 27.

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During the same period, and for the same reasons, Muhammad b. Abul-Qasim al-Hakim, the alguacil of Ronda, was also living in Castile.55 The serranía or mountain range of Ronda had a pattern of behaviour that made it quasi-autonomous from Granada in its relations with Christians. This centrifugal tendency was manifested in the numerous military operations undertaken by inhabitants of the region on their own behalf, and in their signing of local pacts with nearby Christian towns and villages.56 In the mid-15th century, the Banu l-Hakim continued to oppose the reigning dynasty by negotiating with the kings of Castile through interlocutors on the frontier. In the case of the truce of 1469, several members of the same Granadan family, who were alcaides of various fortresses, came to terms with representatives of the marquis of Villena: the sheikhs ʿInan ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿInan (“Ainen”), who was alcaide of Purchena; ʿAmmar ibn Musa (“Amir Abenámar”), alcaide of Huéscar and Rahhu ibn ʿAbd Allah (“Raho”), alcaide of los Vélez. These men also represented Abulhaya, alcaide of Vera. It is not impossible that there was some relation between the actions of these alcaides and the revolt led by their group against Muley Hacén a short time later.57 There were also representatives of the concejos among those entrusted with receiving paria payments and collecting captives, or with bearing messages from one side of the frontier to another. For such missions, literate individuals were employed who were capable of giving written accounts of what had occurred: for example, Ruy Gómez de Herrera, a scribe from Córdoba, was authorised to collect parias and captives by a recaudo bermejo, or letter from the Granadan chancellery written on red paper, dated 3 August 1444. Another option, less often used and usually reserved for more important business, was to hold vistas or inter-frontier meetings, in places considered safe by both sides, where the alcaides of several important cities met the members of concejos and aljamas.58

55 AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1: 50. The alguacil had a daily allowance of 13 maravedís, which amounted to an annual sum of 5,040 maravedís. He lost this allowance in 1446, when he returned to the kingdom of Granada, possibly to work actively in Ronda in favour of the Castilian candidate. 56 M. Acién Almansa, Ronda y su Serranía en tiempo de los Reyes Católicos, Málaga, 1979, vol. I, 52; M. Rojas Gabriel, op. cit., 110. 57 The different versions of the truce agreement can be found in J. A. García Luján, Treguas, guerra y capitulaciones de Granada (1457–1491). Documentos del Archivo de los Duques de Frías, Granada, 1998, pp. 82–92. 58 J. E. López de Coca, “Castilla, Granada y la tregua de 1443”, p. 312; M. Rojas Gabriel, La frontera, pp. 172–173.

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On the Castilian side, there were a number of individuals holding posts on the frontier who worked as intermediaries, as can be seen from the list in the letter of safe-conduct written by Juan II and granted to any Moor who wished to travel to speak to the infante Yusuf Abenalmao during the time he spent in Écija before the subsequent capture of Granada: “los condes, ricos omes, e a los mis capitanes e gentes de armas de la frontera e alcaydes de los castillos e casas fuertes”59 [the counts, rich men, and my captains and men of arms on the frontier and alcaides of the castles and strongholds]. Apart from the leading men holding these posts in the area, there were several others who had a more specifically mediating function. Firstly, there was an alcalde mayor between Christians and Moors—a “judge between kings”, as he was termed in Arabic—whose duty was to solve legal disputes between Castilians and Granadans, punish almogávares and evil-doers and return stolen goods. This post, which had scarce executive force, was held by the great lines of the Fernández de Córdoba and the Fajardo families, in Alcalá la Real and Murcia respectively, and in the region of Seville by members of the minor aristocracy such as Fernando Gutiérrez de Sandoval and his son Fernando de Sandoval, and by Antón González de Almonte, a scribe of the king and secretary to the Duke of Medinasidonia.60 The intermediaries who specialised in the exchange of captives were headed by the alfaqueques mayores, one on each side of the frontier, who co-ordinated the work of all those in each of the two areas. The post was held in Castile by Juan Arias de Saavedra, and later by his son Fernán Arias. These men, the lords of El Castellar and Zahara, were also on good terms with the alcaides of Ronda.61 The frontier nobility alternated its cavalry raids with the negotiation of truces and the mobilisation of castles or towns on the border in favour of one Nasrid candidate or another. The granting of the frontier manors to a social group that based its power on the practice of war acted as a safety valve for the king of Castile, but at the same time forced him to permit these nobles

59 P. A. Porras Arboledas, “Documentos cristianos sobre mudéjares de Andalucía en los siglos XV y XVI”, Anaquel de Estudios Árabes, III, (1992), p. 224. For examples, see those given in M. Rojas, La frontera, pp. 172–179. 60 J. de M. Carriazo, “Un alcalde entre los cristianos y los moros en la frontera de Granada”, Al-Andalus, XIII (1948), pp. 35–96; J. E. López de Coca, “Institutions on the Castilian-Granadan frontier, 1369–1482” in Medieval Frontier Societies, ed. R. Bartlett and A. Mackay, Oxford, 1989, pp. 127–150; M. Rojas Gabriel, La frontera, pp. 160–169; M. A. Ladero, “El reino de Granada y la corona de Castilla en la Baja Edad Media” in Historia de Granada, pp. 198–202. 61 M. Rojas Gabriel, La frontera, pp. 185, 386–389.

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a certain degree of autonomy in their dealings with the enemy. The nobles took part in and encouraged local agreements to make up for the absence of official truces at difficult times, as occurred in 1463.62 However, this aspect of the nobility’s relations with Granada has rarely been taken into account in analyses of the development of relations between the two kingdoms at state level, although there have been studies of its impact on the formation of family wealth and the networks of lineage influence. Neither should one underestimate the economic benefits of these activities which accrued to the great lords: they received incomes for holding fortresses on the king’s behalf, and to this money must be added the salaries they enjoyed for the frontier posts that they held, whether they were mediatory posts or of a military nature, as well as the booty gained in raids and the rewards obtained for the capture of strongholds, which often led to the recently conquered site becoming their estate.63 The succession from father to son in the military posts held by the frontier nobility eased contacts between families on either side of the border. The posts had jurisdictions of a varying nature. The adelantados mayores of Andalusia and Murcia, who were members of the Ribera and Fajardo families, had a wide area of dominion. A similar post was that of frontero mayor, the commander of troops paid by the king who manned the frontier on a continuous basis. In some areas there was a capitán or caudillo mayor, equivalent to the Arabic cabeceras, a man designated to direct military operations in each area. The role of intermediary could also be played by the Grand Masters of the military orders located in positions on the frontier, but the concession of these posts to royal favourites considerably reduced the effectiveness of the services performed by the orders on the frontier. One example of the collaboration of several of these figures can be seen in the plot which took Yusuf IV to the sultanate. The Master of Calatrava, Luis de Guzmán, played his part in this plot, and was not only given the task of aiding the pretender with troops but played a more active role as intermediary between Yusuf and Juan II, as is shown by his correspondence.64 In April 1432, Juan II received letters from Guzmán and the adelantado Diego de 62 M. Rojas Gabriel, “La capacidad militar de la nobleza en la frontera con Granada. El ejemplo de don Juan Ponce de León, II conde de Arcos y señor de Marchena”, HID, 22 (1995), pp. 501–503. 63 M. Rojas Gabriel, “La capacidad militar”, pp. 504–508. 64 A letter from Yusuf IV to don Luis de Guzmán asking him to move his troops to Zaleha, in the kingdom of Granada, was kept in the Archivo de la Orden, according to F. de Rades y Andrada, Chronica de las tres ordenes y cavallerías de Santiago, Calatrava y Alcántara, Toledo, 1572 (facs. Valencia, 1994), Chronica de Calatrava, f. 69.

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Ribera informing him that Yusuf, who was backed by the Abencerrajes, had travelled from Málaga to Granada, where he was welcomed, but that Yusuf ’s throat had been cut after control of the Alhambra had been handed over.65 Another example was Fernán Álvarez de Toledo, lord of Valdecorneja, who was capitán of the frontier region of Jaén, Úbeda and Baeza and featured in negotiations for the surrender of Guadix and Baza in 1436, when he wrote to the king from the frontier to inform him of the progress of the attacks and later agreements.66 For their part, the Cabçanís and the Banu l-Hakim of Ronda maintained cordial relations at all times with the Counts of Arcos and the lords of Marchena, Juan Ponce de León and his son Rodrigo. This relationship eased preparations for the uprising of Ismael III in 1446, which was co-ordinated from the court of Castile, but carried out in Granada by Alonso García, alcaide of Olvera—who represented Juan Ponce de León—and Enrique de Guzmán, Duke of Medinasidonia, another of the lords involved in frontier diplomacy. In the meantime, Pedro Fernández de Córdoba, lord of Aguilar and Priego, alcalde mayor of Córdoba and capitán mayor of the frontier in that region, was called upon to fight on another front in favour of Ismael III and, after the failure of Ismael’s bid for power, was authorised to negotiate a extension of the 1443 truce until 1449. Fernández de Córdoba would also later be entrusted with the task of negotiating the truces of the years 1452 to 1457. His son, Alfonso de Aguilar, maintained family involvement in the negotiation of these treaties in 1460 and 1461, during which period he represented Enrique IV and corresponded closely with the Duke of Medinasidonia.67 These contacts with Granadans were not restricted to the area of politics—as we will see later, it was those Granadan frontier lineages with the closest contacts in Castile which provided the king’s guard with converso knights, and the Castilian lords promoted and protected these knights in their own lands whenever the knights decided to settle in them. Finally, it should be pointed out that the king himself also participated in negotiations of the traditional truce agreements. This was particularly

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Refundición, pp. 131–132. Crónica del halconero, pp. 176–186; L. Galíndez, Crónica de Juan II, pp. 520–522. M. A. Ladero, “El reino de Granada y la corona de Castilla en la Baja Edad Media” in Historia de Granada, pp. 198–202; J. de M. Carriazo, “Cartas de la frontera de Granada”, Al-Andalus, XI (1946), pp. 109–119. 67 M. Rojas Gabriel, La frontera, pp. 174–175, 178–184; A. Labarta, “Cartas árabes malagueñas”, AEM, 19, 1989, pp. 614–618; M. C. Quintanilla Raso, Nobleza y señoríos en el reino de Córdoba. La Casa de Aguilar (siglos XIV y XV), Córdoba, 1979, pp. 90–98; J. E. López de Coca, “Castilla, Granada y la tregua de 1443”, p. 313. 66

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true during one of the most polemical journeys of the period, that made by Enrique IV to Gibraltar. After the Castilian conquest of Estepona in 1456, this stronghold became vital to Granadan interests, because it protected the western end of both the terrestrial and maritime frontiers. Enrique undertook a reconnaissance expedition in the area with three hundred mounted companions, among whom was Gonzalo de Saavedra, alcaide of Tarifa, a man well known to the Muslims who was given the task of announcing the king’s visit to the authorities in Gibraltar. Despite his opposition to Saʿd, the alcaide Ibn Kumasa (“Abencomixa” in Christian records) succeeded in obtaining a safe-conduct from Enrique which guaranteed his survival under the new sultan. It is not surprising, then, that when Saʿd broke his vassalage oath to Enrique IV and Muley Hacén rose against his father in 1462, Gibraltar was one of the first strongholds to fall under Castilian control, thanks to the collaboration of a converso. Shortly after that, Gibraltar was visited again by Enrique IV, this time for an interview with the king of Portugal, who was on his way back from Ceuta.68 Another occasion which may have been used by Enrique IV to carry out tasks of a diplomatic nature took place between 15 and 30 June 1457, during another of his campaigns. The chroniclers emphasised the fact that Enrique took 1,200 knights with him on his expedition to Cambil, but this was in fact a largely diplomatic expedition rather than a military one. The mission, which took place during the festival of Santiago, made the most of the fact that the alcaides of the city were related to the captain of the king’s Moorish knights, as we will see. Indeed, there was so little chance of physical danger on this occasion that the queen and her ladies in waiting were also allowed to attend.69 The king’s attitude led to criticism at court, but the possibility that agreements were reached with the inhabitants of the fortress behind the guise of a simple festival celebration should not be discounted. This is even more likely if we consider that Cambil was an especially troublesome area for constable Miguel Lucas de Iranzo, because it was a support point and base of operations for Granadan raids against Jaén, and the constable was forced to make frequent incursions against the castle, which was never captured because of the strength of its defences. The talas and attacks on the walls in 1462, 1469 and 1471 alternated with lavishly received embassies in

68 Crónica anónima de Enrique IV, pp. 55–56, 122, 136–137. No mention is made of the first visit, but the second is covered. D. Enríquez del Castillo, Crónica de Enrique IV, pp. 193, 208–209. M. Rojas Gabriel, La frontera, pp. 176–177. 69 Crónica anónima de Enrique IV, pp. 70–71; there is another version in Memorial de diversas hazañas (ed. J. de M. Carriazo), p. 45.

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Jaén and the constant exchange of envoys sent to solve the difficulties of living side by side, such as the taking of hostages, stealing of livestock etc.70 The last element of diplomacy used during this period has to do with the Muslim kingdoms of the north of Africa, and was practised by both Granadans and Castilians. Three groups were involved in such contacts: the Mamluks of Egypt, the Merinids of Fez and the Hafsids of Tunis. Of course, none of the aspirants to the Nasrid throne backed by Castile ever asked for or received aid from the Maghreb. Granada’s most productive relation was with the Hafsid sultan of Tunis, Abu Faris (1394–1434), during the reign of Muhammad IX el Zurdo. Muhammad IX sent an extraordinary ambassador to Tunis in 1421, no doubt because of the pirate attacks of “the Holy Moor” on Granadan coasts. But Abu Faris’s most important role occurred when he sheltered Muhammad IX and his followers after the sultan was deposed in 1427. Muhammad’s party fled to Tunis through Aragón thanks to the safe-conducts issued by Alfonso V, who also recommended several Granadans to Muhammad II of Tlemcen. Despite the facilities given by Alfonso V, who had his own plans to receive Muhammad at the court of Aragón, on this occasion it was Castile that negotiated with Tunis and the sultan was eventually able to return to his kingdom, landing in the port of Vera in October 1429. Muhammad IX’s desire to exercise control over contacts with Tunis became clear with his offer to the king of Castile to mediate in the negotiation of subsequent truces.71 That Muhammad IX was right to harbour doubts about Castilian intentions was confirmed when Juan II exerted pressure on Tunis not to interfere with Castilian policy in Granada in 1431 and 1432, during the years when Juan sought to impose Yusuf IV as sultan.72 Despite having promised neu-

70 Hechos del Condestable, pp. 76–78 for the expedition against Arenas, Cambil and Alhabar, then in the Cazorla mountain range and in Guadix, under the command of Alatar, a knight from Loja; for the embassy of 1463, in which the names of the alcaides are not cited, pp. 109–116; pp. 144–145, 452, 460–461. See also F. Vidal Castro, “Cambil islámico”, pp. 35–44. 71 R. Brunschvig, La Berbérie orientale sous les Hafsides. Des origines à la fin du XV e siècle, Paris, 1982, vol. I, p. 228; R. Salicrú, El sultanat, pp. 235–236, Documents, pp. 202–204, 227–231 and “Caballeros granadinos emigrantes y fugitivos en la Corona de Aragón durante el reinado de Alfonso el Magnánimo” in II Estudios de la frontera. Actividad y vida en la frontera, Jaén-Alcalá la Real, 1998, pp. 737–740; F. Vidal, “Historia política”, pp. 158–161. 72 “Estando el rey don Jhoan en Valladolid, comiendo el fornazo, según que es uso de los rreyes, juebes 24 días del mes de abrill de 1432 annos, llegaron al sennor rey envaxadores del rrey de Túnez, cristiano, e llamábanlos allá farfanes. Los quales truxieron envaxada al sennor rey de Castilla que el rrey de Tunes le asegurava de no dar al rrey Esquierdo de Granada ayuda contra él”, Crónica del halconero, p. 127. Refundición, p. 132. In the Refundición the following words are added: “Estos mensajeros truxeron cartas al conde de Luna, don

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trality, Abu Faris again favoured his old protégé, who requested Abu Faris’s mediation with Castile whilst negotiating with Alfonso V, who in exchange for his naval support wanted control of Gibraltar. A new wave of Granadan knights took refuge in Tunis in 1436 and 1437, travelling from Castile through Aragón, as will be seen later.73 The death of Abu Faris ended Tunisian interest in Granadan affairs. No other Nasrid sultan was to receive diplomatic or military aid from Tunis, let alone take refuge at its court. Muhammad IX concentrated thereafter on seeking economic support or jihad volunteer troops from sultanates at a greater distance from the Maghreb. With the Merinids of Fez in decline, Muhammad decided to turn to another great Mediterranean power, the Mamluks of Egypt. Abu Saʾid Yaqmaq al-Zahir received a Granadan embassy at Cairo on 16 and 17 December 1440, but responded cautiously to a letter requesting military aid to fight Castile, citing the distance of Granada from Egypt as an excuse. Egyptian assistance was therefore restricted to a certain amount of economic aid and military equipment for the Nasrid army.74 After this failure, there were no further Nasrid attempts to bring other governors from the Maghreb to their assistance, in part because of the internal problems which affected them. It can be said, then, that Granadan isolation from the rest of Islamdom dated from the start of the 1440s. From that date on, embassies requesting aid such as the last embassy of Muhammad IX were only sent at times of extreme desperation. In 1464, Saʿd sent a double petition to Khusqadam al-Zahir of Egypt and Uthman of Tunis, appealing to their implication in the jihad. Saʿd’s letter told of Christian conquests and praised the value of the strongholds seized by the enemy (Alicún, Gibraltar and Archidona), but his situation was undermined by the policy of his son Muley Hacén rather than

Fadrique, deste rey de Túnez; con los quales le enbió a dezir que si se quisiese pasar a Túnez, quél le ayudaría e daría favor para que conquistase el regno de Seçilia, pues avía seydo del rrey Martín su padre. Al conde plogo mucho deste mensaje, et vendió luego a Villalón al conde de Benavente por veynte mill florines. E así mesmo vendió a Arjona, al condestable, por otros veynte mill florines. E luego començó a entender en su pasada al rregno de Túnez. E desque los mensajeros del rey de Túnez ovieron acabado su enbaxada, el rey los despidió, gradesçiendo mucho al rrey de Túnez lo que le avía enviado dezir.” 73 R. Salicrú, El sultanat, pp. 302–310; Documents, pp. 310–316, 349–350, 359–364 and “Caballeros granadinos emigrantes”, pp. 741–748; F. Vidal, “Historia política”, pp. 158–161. 74 L. Seco de Lucena, “Embajadores granadinos en El Cairo”, MEAH IV (1955), pp. 14–16, Muhammad IX, pp. 192–198, 216; R. Salicrú, El sultanat, p. 366; F. Vidal, “Historia política”, p. 171.

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that of the Castilians, and the scarce aid sent by Uthman turned out to be of little use.75 Boabdil’s embassy to the Mamluk Qaʾitbay in October–November 1487, asking for troops after the fall of Málaga, was equally useless, if we discount the pressure that the Egyptian sultan brought to bear on clergy in Jerusalem in an effort to make them intercede before the Catholic Kings.76 The internal conflicts and foreign attacks suffered during the same period by the Banu Marin completely annulled their role in the politics of the Strait region. Further contacts with the Maghreb were limited to the eventual settlement in that region of those Granadan émigrés expelled from their homes who chose to live in the lands of Islam.

From the frontier to the court The mechanisms that regulated life on the frontier led to an interchange of men and ideas, and by the final years of the kingdom of Granada considerable numbers of people were travelling back and forth across the borders. The conversion of soldiers was common, with reports of such actions going back to the 13th century.77 The participation of renegades from Islam in the conquest of military strongholds on the Granadan frontier became a wellworn literary topos in the chronicles of the 15th century, as did the phrase “and a great number of Granadan knights then passed over to the king”: the expression is repeatedly used in all the chronicles, official or otherwise, written during the reigns of Juan II and Enrique IV. Most such knights were Muslims from important families who were unhappy with the sultan of Granada and who presented themselves in the Castilian royal encampment in order to convert to Christianity and place themselves at the service of the king of Castile. There were also men from the frontier region who took advantage of raids carried out by the Castilian armies to offer to arrange the surrender of a military stronghold and undergo religious conversion 75 L. Seco de Lucena, “Cuándo subió Muley Hacén al trono de Granada”, AA, XXII (1957), p. 26; R. Brunschvig, La Berbérie orientale, vol. I, p. 262; F. Vidal, “Historia política”, pp. 189–190. 76 H. del Pulgar, Crónica de los Reyes Católicos, ed. J. de M. Carriazo, Madrid, 1943, vol. II, pp. 395–397; R. Arié, Espagne musulmane, pp. 172–174; F. Vidal, “Historia política”, p. 203. 77 The first reports of towns being captured through the intervention of converts appeared during the conquest of Córdoba in 1236. R. Jiménez de Rada, Historia de los hechos de España, Madrid, 1989, p. 349; Alfonso X, Primera Crónica General de España, ed. R. Menéndez Pidal, Madrid, 1977, p. 729; Crónica latina de los reyes de Castilla, ed. L. Charlo, Cádiz, 1984, p. 93 is the only source which specifies that the traitor was a man who had converted to Christianity.

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in exchange for certain privileges.78 Such individuals usually moved their place of residence away from the frontier region. A number of the knights came from Andalusian fortresses. However, such men did not always switch sides together, but on an individual basis, normally on the occasion of the siege of a stronghold which they had helped to capture. If the individual in question was also a renegade or an elche, the betrayal of his former coreligionists would enable him to obtain the king’s pardon and that of the church concerning his previous apostasy.79 The military ambit seems to have been particularly conducive to this kind of process of adaptation, perhaps because an enemy’s bravery counted for more than his religion, and also because converts, protected by the monarch, went straight into a new army without any change to their rank or social status. Even so, those men who chose to switch loyalties and beliefs still had to settle into another social reality, developing an identity of their own within their new adoptive group—the Castilians—as they tried to maintain their status and at the same time find their way within the new networks of influence. The first upheaval which led to the passage of Granadan knights to Castile and Aragón occurred as a result of the period of harassment on the frontier fostered by Muhammad VII and the enthronement in 1408 of the prudent Yusuf III. This period was soon followed by the Castilian campaigns which saw the first conversions of Moorish knights. At first, the Granadan defectors entered the army of the infante Fernando on the frontier, probably at the worst moment of the campaign, when Fernando was forced to recruit men to justify continuing his offensive and its great expenses. In that period, the conversion of knights to Christianity is only documented as a reason for payments, which were made partly in kind. Fluctuations in Castilian policy towards Granada made it possible for troops from the Islamic kingdom to pass continuously to the other side from the time of the Antequera campaign, when the first conversions took place, until the period of Enrique IV’s campaigns in the Vega of Granada. The Antequera campaign saw a constant stream of men across the frontier, and there were many cases of voluntary conversion. During the conquest of Pruna,

78 After helping to capture a castle by betraying it, such men went on to work as guides, alfaqueques or adalides, depending on their previous backgrounds. For just a few examples, see A. García de Santa María, Crónica de Juan II de Castilla, pp. 100, 165–166, 267, 269, 337; Diego de Valera, Memorial de diversas hazañas, pp. 6, 9, 26; Crónica del halconero, pp. 97, 109. 79 As stated in Partidas VII, XXV–VIII.

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chapter two Al Maestre de Santiago se vino un moro de Pruna, e díxole que quería ser cristiano, que lo tornase cristiano e que él le mostraría cómo tomase a Pruna. E al maestre plogo dello, e tornóle cristiano. E fabló lo que le dixo el moro al maestre de Santiago con el maestre de Alcántara (. . .), e enviáronle al moro, que hera ya cristiano.80 [A Moor from Pruna came to the Master of Santiago, and told him that he wanted to become a Christian, asking to be made a Christian and that he would then show how Pruna could be taken. And the master was pleased to do so, and made him a Christian. And he spoke of what the Moor had said to the master of Santiago with the master of Alcántara (. . .) and they sent the Moor, who was now a Christian, to him.]

During the attack on Jaén by Muhammad VII in 1407, En el postrimero día que él combatió a Jaén, se vino a la çiudad, acabado de dexar el conbate, un morillo ladino que podía ser de edad de diez y siete años, poco más o menos el qual paresçe que bivía allá en Granada con Juan Calvo, un cavallero que era del rey don Pedro, rey de Castilla (. . .). E este morillo dixo el ardid de todos los que murieron, e del cavallero Roduán, que murió, e de cómo el rey lo quería deçercar. E dixo que se quería tornar cristiano, e llamáronle nombre Pedro. E los cavalleros que estavan en Jaén enbiaron a este Pedro al Infante, al real de sobre Setenil, para que lo viese, si le quisiese preguntar alguna cosa de la fazienda de los moros.81 [On the last day that he fought in Jaén, there came to the city, after leaving the combat, a cunning/bilingual little Moor who was about 17 years old and who seems to have lived there in Granada with Juan Calvo, a knight who was with the king Don Pedro, king of Castile (. . .). And this little Moor explained the plot of all those who died, and the knight Roduán, who died, and how the king wanted to lift the siege. And he said that he wanted to become a Christian, and they gave him the name of Pedro. And the knights who were in Jaén sent this Pedro to the Infante, to the encampment near Setenil, so that he could see him and ask him if he wished about the doings of the Moors.]

In Setenil, a converso de moro was among the troops of the constable Ruy López Dávalos and accompanied him in his first approach to the fortress. There was also the case of Fernán Sánchez, an almocadén in Priego, which had belonged to the Moors. On discovering that the alcaide Zaher was taking gifts from Granada to the infante Don Fernando, Fernán Sánchez made haste to write to the Christian leader urging him to beware of any present taking the form of a piece of clothing or food, because it might be poisoned, as in

80 A. García de Santamaría, Crónica de Juan II, p. 100; L. Galíndez, Crónica de Juan II, p. 287. 81 A. García de Santamaría, Crónica de Juan II, pp. 165–166.

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several recent cases of death in the Nasrid family. Another man who served the lords of Aguilar and Priego was “an elche who was once a Christian who they called Fernán Amor de Priego (. . .) and he told them how to win over the alcaide Monfarrache and the best elches of Granada.”82 After 1409 several Granadans earned salaries in Seville simply by converting to Christianity, i.e. without practising a trade of any kind or being of any practical use to the Christians. Several of the men named by Pedro Ortiz in the alcabala accounts of Seville would later appear on the pay roll of the king’s Moorish knights.83 From this time on there was an ever greater need for an institution that would somehow bring the Granadan converts

82 A. García de Santamaría, Crónica de Juan II, pp. 181, 269–270, 347–348; L. Galíndez, Crónica de Juan II, p. 313. 83 “A las personas que aquí serán contenidas, que ouieron de auer de sus raçiones e mantenimientos e vistuarios /f. 12 r/ del dicho año [1409], cada uno dellos las contías de marauedís e paño de Ypre que aquí se dirá en esta guisa: A Ruy López de Eçija, que fué moro e se tornó christiano, a razón de quinze marauedís cada día, que le montó çinco mill e cuatroçientos marauedís, e mas para su vistuario diez uaras de paño de Ypre. A Françisco Suáres Déçija, que fué moro e se tornó christiano, a razón de quince marauedís cada día, que le montó çinco mill e quatroçientos marauedís, e más para su vistuario diez uaras de paño de Ypres. A Johan Suárez Déçija, que fue moro e se tornó christiano a razón de quinze marauedís cada día, que le montó çinco mill e quatroçientos marauedís, e más para su vistuario diez uaras de paño de Ypres. A Miguel Déçija, que fue moro e se tornó christiano, a razón de quinze marauedís cada día, que le montó çinco mill e quatroçientos marauedís, e más para su vistuario diez varas de paño de Ypre. A Johan Suárez Déçija, que fue moro e se tornó christiano a razón de quinze marauedís cada día, que le montó çinco mill e quatroçientos marauedís, e más para su vistuario diez uaras de paño de Ypres. Que son todos los marauedis e paño de Ypre que los sobredichos ouieron de auer de las dichas sus raçiones e mantenimientos e vistuarios del dicho año en la manera que dicha es, veynte e siete mill marauedís e çinquenta varas de paño de Ypre. E mostrastes por testimonio signado de escriuano público, que conprastes las dichas çinquenta uaras de paño de Ypre en la dicha çibdat de Seuilla, a razón de çiento e quarenta e ocho marauedís la uara, que montaron en ella siete mill e quatroçientos marauedís. Así son todos con las dichas raçiones e mantenimientos, en la manera que dicha es, treynta e quatro mill e quatroçientos marauedís. (. . .) A Gómez Suárez, infante que fue de Benamaryn, que se tornó a la santa fe católica, seyendo moro, de su raçión del dicho año a razón de çinquenta maravedíes cada día, que le montó diez y ocho mill marauedís. A las personas aquí contenidas que se tornaron a la santa fe católica, que eran moros, de sus raçiones e vistuarios del dicho año, la contías de marauedís e paño que aquí dirá esta guisa: Johan Díaz de Salamanca, de su raçión cada día quinze maravedíes que le montó çinco mill e quatroçientos maravedíes e más para su vistuario diez varas de paño de Ypre. Johan de la Torre del Alhaquím de su raçión cada día quince marauedís, que le montó çinco mill e quatroçientos maravedíes e más para su vistuario diez varas de paño de Ypre. Ferrando de Archidona, de raçión cada día quinze marauedís, que montó çinco mill e quatroçientos marauedís, e más para su vistuario diez varas de paño de Ypre.

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together and this probably explains the origin of the idea of grouping the knights in a body which then developed into the king’s personal guard. The creation of a personal guard made up of paid troops of another religion was partly due to the lack of soldiers to form an army of any other kind,84 but other factors were also involved, such as the high degree of specialisation of some of these men in certain kinds of operations which it was necessary to incorporate into the royal army. The security offered by these men, who were solely dependent on the monarch, was also important, as was the very magnitude of the act of switching sides, which forced the Castilians to find a way of unifying the Granadans in such a way that they would serve Juan II’s interests more effectively. The guard seems to have become a well-organised unit in the 1420s. After 1430, however, there started to be payments of salaries to knights replacing those who had held posts in the guard but had since died. The royal guard became increasingly important during Juan II’s reign, as a result of the confrontation between his cousins the infantes Enrique and Juan of Aragón and the constable Álvaro de Luna, in their attempts to gain the king’s favour. The split in the nobility between the two factions complicated the availability of loyal troops to protect the king. This situation generated a complex web of political relations in which the position of Jews, Muslims and conversos, who generally sided with Juan II and Luna, was viewed with concern by those in some sectors. Initially, the confrontation led to an increase in anti-Judaism.85 Later, it also affected conversos and, then, as we will see, Muslims and converts from Islam. The Moorish knights were direct vassals of the monarch, of whose household they formed a part and from whom they received their raciones or

Johan Suárez Déçija de su raçión cada día quince marauedís, que le montó cinco mill e quatroçientos marauedís. E más para /f. 15 v/ su vistuario diez varas de paño de Ypre. Que son todos los dichos marauedís e paño que las dichas personas ouieron de aver de las dichas sus raçiones e vistuarios, en la manera que dicha es, veynte e vn mill e seysçientos marauedís e quarenta varas de paño de Ypre. E mostrastes por testimonio signado de escriuano público que costaron las dichas quarenta varas de paño, en la dicha çibdad de Seuilla, a çiento e quarenta e seys marauedís la vara, que montaron las dichas quarenta varas de paño de Ypre, al dicho presçio, çinco mill e ochoçientos e quarenta marauedís. Así son todos los marauedís que costó el dicho paño, con los dichos marauedís en dineros de las dichas raçiones veynte e siete mill e quatroçientos e quarenta marauedís.” M. A. Vilaplana, “Un ajuste de cuentas del alcabalero mayor de Sevilla Pedro Ortiz (1420)”, pp. 460, 471–472. 84 D. Ayalon, “Preliminary remarks on the Mamluk military institution in Islam” in The Mamluk Military Society, London, 1979, IX, p. 44. Ayalon refers at all times to Egypt or Turkey, and never relates this institution to any of a similar kind in Western Islamdom. 85 For the anti-Jewish stance of the nobility, see J. M. Monsalvo Antón, Teoría y evolución de un conflicto social: el antisemitismo en la Corona de Castilla en la Baja Edad Media, Madrid, 1985, pp. 88–90.

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allowances. They were therefore expected to display unconditional loyalty to Juan II, and until the end of the reign there is no evidence that they ever did otherwise. Their relations with Álvaro de Luna are more uncertain, although we can assume, given Luna’s participation in the selection of staff in the royal household, that he must have been one of those responsible for the idea of creating the monarch’s personal guard. This at least seems to have been the assumption of the procuradores de Cortes in Toro, in 1426, when they requested the dissolution of the guard of one thousand lancers who accompanied the king at all times, and which was the cause of great expense to the kingdom. At first an attempt was made that “at least three hundred lancers should be left which the Constable Don Álvaro de Luna had with him there, about which the king of Navarre and the other knights were displeased”. Finally, the decision was made that Luna should be permitted to retain only one hundred lancers, but it is not known whether this included the Moorish guard, or whether the Moors were part of the “guards, crossbowmen and huntsmen of Espinosa who were formed of old”, and who were accepted by both the procuradores and the nobles.86 Such attempts to reduce Juan II’s capacity for action help to explain why the king may have thought it necessary to have a guard at his disposal that was inaccessible to attacks by the nobility. Luna continued to have a significant armed force of some three thousand men in about the year 1434, and these men could be employed to serve the king whenever necessary. Although the chronicles do not specify whether any of these men were Moors or conversos, the original records reveal that this was indeed the case.87 When the conflict with Juan of Navarre intensified, as Juan seized Juan II from the small village of Rágama on 9 July 1443, steps were taken to isolate the king by dissolving his corps of guards: E otro día siguiente, a ystancia del rrey de Navarra e de los otros cavalleros suso dichos, partió el sennor rey para Madrigal, muy triste, e mandó a sus tronpetas e menesteriles que se fuesen a buscar su cobro, e asy mesmo el rrey de Navarra e los otros cavalleros mandaron a los criados e servidores del señor rey que se fuesen a sus tierras e casas e non estubiesen allí dende en adelante.88 [And on the next day, at the command of the king of Navarre and the other aforementioned knights, the lord our king left for Madrigal, very sadly, and he sent his trumpeters and other musicians to go and request their wages, and

86 L. Galíndez, Crónica de Juan II, p. 436. In 1440 there were further allusions to appointments made by Álvaro de Luna without the king’s knowledge, in ibidem, pp. 560–561. 87 Refundición, p. 167. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1: 50, 52. 88 Crónica del halconero, p. 438. For the conflicts of the years 1440 to 1445, see J. A. Porras Arboleda, Juan II, pp. 205–256; J. L. Martín, Enrique IV, pp. 30–45.

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chapter two the king of Navarre and the other knights sent the servants and attendants of the king away to their lands and homes and told them not to be present from then on.]

This order had significant consequences. On the one hand, it probably explains the defection of several members of the guard during the next two years. These were knights who returned to Granada without requesting the king’s licence (see Table 1). A second group, the exact size of which is unknown, “passed over” to the troops of Juan of Navarre, and their salaries were withdrawn because of their betrayal of their oath of loyalty to the king. Such was the case, for example, of Ruy Díaz de Mendoza, whose ración was withdrawn “saying that he had been in disservice to the king with the king of Navarre”. The same occurred to Juan de Sahavedra, Álvaro de Rentas, Juan Benedito and Juan García de Paredes.89 It is a sign of how unsettled the times were that all of these knights regained their salaries and privileges only a short time later, without suffering any kind of punishment. Another knight, Francés Navarro, “a servant of the king of Navarre” who had entered the king’s service as a member of the guard, took advantage of the confusion to flee to Granada in 1444. Table 1 Knights who returned to the kingdom of Granada without the king’s licence Name

Year

Alfonso Suárez Alcaide Martín de Torres Hamete Celani Ali al-Tasquq Gonzalo de Cogollos Fernando de Medina (Ali el Canel) Pedro del Burgo (does not state that he went to Granada) Mahomad Aben Çayd Francés Navarro Diego de Cogollos Mahomad or Hamede, alguacil of Ronda Pedro de Úbeda Alfonso de Guadix Pedro de Aguilar Abenamar

1438 1439 1442 1443 1443 1443 1444

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AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1: 24, 40, 44, 50 and 52.

1444 1444 1445 1446 1446 1449 1451 1452 (or earlier)

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To prevent further cases of desertion, a new precautionary measure was taken on the advice of Luna, then in his last period in government: the employment, between 1446 and 1453, of Muslim or Morisco servants of men close to the monarch, such as Luna himself, don Pedro de Acuña or the contador mayor Alonso Pérez de Vivero.90 These servants formed part of the military clientele of the great nobles, “companions in arms, paid by the lord, who did not usually live with him unless they were “continuos”, but who provided remunerated armed service”, in the words of Gerbet.91 The transfer of such men into the royal household demonstrates very clearly how precarious the crown’s situation had become. In times of insecurity, the king was forced to rely on the clients and servants of his most loyal advisers. Furthermore, between 1449 and 1453 it was the servants of Pérez de Vivero who climbed highest in positions around the king, confirming the relentless rise of the contador mayor, which eventually led to his own death and the fall of Luna.92 The inclusion of new men in the Moorish guard must have been fundamental when fighting the Granadan troops who accompanied Juan of Navarre in the attack on the town of Cuenca on 25 February 1449, which occurred as a result of the treaty signed by Muhammad IX and the infante against Juan II.93 1453, on the other hand, seems to have seen the start of a new trend, for it was in that year that special privileges were granted to the families of two knights, Juan de Tarifa and Juan Ramírez de Aguilar, who appear to have had another sort of proximity to the king. Their new position was based on the same kinds of bonds of loyalty which had led to the original creation of the Moorish guard. From that point on, posts in the guard began to be handed down from fathers to sons, and this phenomenon was accompanied by an inexorable process of conversion to Christianity of all the knights in the corps. The role of the Moorish knights as the king’s personal guard was strengthened during the reign of Enrique IV. Enrique scarcely employed any new knights, unless to replace men who had died, but preferred to retain the 90

Farax de Belvís and Juan de Medina were servants of Álvaro de Luna; Juan de Alcalá was a servant of Pedro de Acuña, and Çadala, Pedro de Archidona, Diego de Valladolid and Juan de Granada were servants of Alfonso Pérez de Vivero. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1: 41, 50, 52, 56 and 69. 91 M. C. Gerbet, Las noblezas españolas en la Edad Media, siglos XI–XV, Madrid, 1997, p. 277. 92 For this point, see P. A. Porras Arboleda, Juan II, pp. 285–295. 93 “El número de los quales [of the troops] sería fasta ocho mil onbres de pelea, onbres de armas e ginetes e vallesteros e lançeros, entre los quales venían muchos moros e navarros e aragoneses e catalanes, e otros de diversas naçiones.” Crónica del halconero, p. 514.

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same men who had joined the guard under his father or their sons. Thus, he reinforced the hereditary process that had already started to take place. The role played by these men in everyday life at court is unknown, but it seems likely that they took part in the hunting expeditions organised by Enrique in the woods around Segovia, or formed part of his retinue during the time he spent in that same city, judging by the existence of the magnificent Sala de Guardia Mudéjar (Hall of the Mudejar guard) in the palace of San Antonio el Real, later converted into a Franciscan convent.94

The origins of the Moorish guard In the Middle East, a long tradition had existed of employing soldiers of another religion in the ranks closest to a monarch from the times of the great Assyrian and Persian empires, and it was in a sense passed on to the Roman Empire, where the Pretorian guard performed similar functions. The idea was then taken up in all Mediterranean areas where there was a confrontation between Christianity and Islam. The recruitment of these personal guards could be carried out on an individual basis, accepting high-status knights who had been banished from other states or were forced to seek refuge for reasons of safety. Alternatively, recruitment occurred in a collective manner, with the taking on of companies of mercenaries led by a captain who placed themselves at the temporary service of a governor through a signed contract, or even through the use of slaves after wars, as was the case of the Mamluks. In the case of individual recruitments, the decision to serve a king could be accompanied by a personal commitment to religious conversion, and on such occasions the knight normally remained in his adopted land; in the case of group recruitments, a change in religion hardly ever occurred; and in that of slaves, such a change was compulsory and the individual was trained in the new faith and customs. The use of mercenary companies by both Christians and Muslims throughout the Hispanic Middle Ages does not mean that these knights always served in the personal guards of monarchs, and it is important to differentiate this use from others.95 The caudillo Ibn Hud of Murcia, for example, also had

94 D. de Colmenares, Historia de la insigne ciudad de Segovia y compendio de las historias de Castilla, Segovia, 1637 (facs. 1982–84), vol. II, p. 34. 95 The two main articles on this subject, J. Alemany, “Milicias cristianas al servicio de los sultanes musulmanes del al-Magreb” in Homenaje a Francisco Codera, Madrid, 1904, pp. 133–169 and A. Giménez Soler, “Caballeros españoles en África y africanos en España”,

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“nearly two hundred noble Christian soldiers who served him in exchange for payment”, one of whom was the banished knight Lorenzo Suárez, who had taken part in a stratagem to favour the Castilian king Fernando III.96 There were two immediate direct precedents for the Moorish guard of the kings of Castile within the Iberian peninsula: the guard of Christian elches of the Granadan sultan and the group of jenets under the orders of Pedro IV the Ceremonious of Aragón. Little is known about the make-up and workings of the guard of elches of the Nasrids, except that it probably dated back to the 13th century. Several factors underlay its existence: the cultural influences of the Maghreb and Eastern courts; Granadan sultans’ need to have loyal soldiers at their disposal who were free from family ties; the need for a mixed army to be able to confront Christian kingdoms; and the fact that it was impossible for these soldiers to create ties with political factions opposed to the sultan. Ibn Khaldun described the need for reliability and protection in the governor’s immediate circle because of the ambiguous norms of succession and, in some cases, the decrepit state of government in the Islamic community: What leads the sultan to surround himself with protégés and prefer them to former clients and freed slaves is the arrogance of the behaviour of the latter towards him, and their audacity in looking at him with the same eyes as his relatives and members of his tribe. The families of the old clients, who have formed part of the tribe for many years, brought up under the protection of the prince or of his grandparents, placed at the same level as the most illustrious households of the empire, become used to treating the sovereign with an annoying familiarity and extreme insolence; so that he ends by removing them and taking strangers into his service. Since the age in which he chooses

Revue Hispanique, 12, 1905, pp. 299–379, as well as being superseded, refer to mercenary troops in general and not to the specific case of corps of guards. To these articles the following studies have recently been added: C. Batlle, “Noticias sobre la milicia cristiana en el Norte de África en la segunda mitad del siglo XIII” in Homenaje al Prof. Torres Fontes, Murcia, 1987, vol. I, pp. 127–137; S. Barton, “Traitors to the Faith? Christian Mercenaries in al-Andalus and the Maghreb, c. 1100–1300” in Medieval Spain: Culture, Conflict and Coexistence, eds. R. Collins and A. Goodman, London/New York, 2002, pp. 23–45, and R. Salicrú, “Mercenaires castillans au Maroc au début du XVe siècle” in Migrations et diasporas méditerranéenes (X e–XVI e siècles), dir. M. Balard and A. Ducellier, Paris, 2002, pp. 417–434. One example of a group of Muslim mercenaries in Castile would be the Granadan armies who stayed in the court of Pedro I, for which see R. Arié, L’Espagne musulmane au temps des Nasrides, 1232–1492, Paris, 1990, p. 243. 96 Crónica latina de los reyes de Castilla, ed. M. D. Cabanes, Valencia, 1964, p. 117; Spanish transl. L. Charlo Brea, Madrid, 1999, p. 100. For more on this knight and his activities, see Alfonso X el Sabio, Primera crónica general de España, ed. R. Menéndez Pidal and D. Catalán, Madrid, 1977, pp. 731–733 and Don Juan Manuel, Libro de Patronio, in Prosa anterior al siglo XV, Madrid, 1952, pp. 399–400.

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chapter two them is fairly recent, they never come to enjoy a public reputation and always preserve their character as foreigners. This occurs in all empires which have entered into decline.97

The same principles had marked the appearance of personal guards in Islamic territories as in Christian lands. According to Ayalon, the beginnings of a system of personal guards made up of soldiers of another religion can be traced back to the Umayyad caliphate.98 Because of the active trade in slaves in Islamic lands, it was possible to build on what can be considered the classic example of the use of mercenary troops for a personal guard, i.e. the Mamluks, a study of whom would lie outside the realm of this book. This truly “military system of government” has a number of parallels with the use of soldiers of a different religion in states with strong dynastic governance. The first mass recruitment of slaves occurred in the 11th century, under the Abbasid caliph al-Mu’tasim, but contacts with the circumstances of different regions and the varying needs of different governors led to the development of several systems of Mamluk guards with slight variations among them. The most important of these systems were probably those of the Egyptians and Ottomans. The advantage of these knights over the previous tribal organisation of troops lay in their unconditional loyalty to their patron. This loyalty was boosted by the fact of their separation from their families, from their environment—normally at an early age99—and finally, from their religion. Their passage from captivity to a military school, where they were also given training in the Islamic faith, made them free men (because they were normally liberated before embarking on active service), tied by an oath to the king, and by a kind of brotherhood to the other members of the guard. The selection system and the opportunities for social promotion during their lifetime were two further elements to add to the privileged situation these men enjoyed. In short, they were “a very efficient military tool in the service of Islam and of [their] patron”,100 with proven loyalty in a wide range of circumstances.

97 Ibn Khaldún, Introducción a la historia universal, ed. E. Trabulse, Mexico, 1977/97, p. 369. 98 D. Ayalon, “Preliminary remarks on the Mamluk military institution in Islam” in The Mamluk Military Society, London, 1979, IX, p. 44. 99 For the problems deriving from the conversion to Islam of children or very young captives, see D. Wasserstein, “A fatwa on conversion in Islamic Spain”, Studies on Muslim-Jewish Relations, 1993, vol. I, pp. 177–188 and A. Fernández Félix, “Children in the frontiers of Islam” in Conversions islamiques, ed. M. García-Arenal, Paris, 2001, pp. 61–71. 100 D. Ayalon, “Mamlukiyyat” in Outsiders in the Lands of Islam, p. 327. This sense of

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After the collapse of the Umayyad caliphate in al-Andalus there is no evidence of personal guards of these characteristics having existed in the Taifa kingdoms, although there were Christian mercenaries under the command of their own captains in the regular army. It was not until the formation of the kingdom of Granada that the sultan’s guard of elches was created. Ibn al-Khatib recorded the changes made in the Nasrid army, firstly in an effort to adapt it to the Castilian heavy cavalry, and later to return, under Berber influence, to the use of light cavalry. This development was in turn copied by Granada’s northern neighbours: “Now they have changed this equipment for another that is simpler, with light cuirasses, golden helmets, Arab saddles [to ride a la jineta], leather shields and slim lances”.101 At the head of the elches there figured a captain of the guard, who according to Ibn Hudhayl commanded two hundred men and carried a standard.102 The structure and modus operandi of this guard of elches are likely to have resembled the Mamluk system in use in Egypt, given that the same term for its soldiers was employed: Ibn Khaldun uses the word ma’luyun, and Ibn al-Khatib mamalik. In 15th-century chronicles the elches are always portrayed as being close to their sultans, taken from the same group of men and fulfilling the functions of a personal guard.103 Perhaps the clearest notion that can be gained of the similarity between the Mamluks and the elche guard of the Granadan emirs is that which emerges from the writings of the early 15th-century Castilian traveller and ambassador Pero Tafur, who in his own way explains the Egyptian Mamluk system by reference to his understanding of the situation of Muslim soldiers in his own land and in Granada. The following passage makes it clear that this type of military institution, apart from playing a specific political role, worked as a perfect method of religious assimilation. In his visit to the sultan during his embassy to Egypt in 1437, Pero Tafur observes that: Walking along the streets I saw many peoples from one place and another, and I was told that they are the Mamluks, who are known here as renegade elches, a great crowd of people, these are the men who the Sultan orders to be purchased with his moneys in the Mediterranean and in all the provinces

brotherhood with other companions was upheld in the testimonies of the Mamluks of the Tunisian court in the 16th and 17th century. See J. Dakhlia, “Turc de profession”. Reinscriptions lignagères et redéfinitions sexuelles des convertis dans les cours maghrebines (XVIe–XIXe siècles)” in Conversions islamiques, pp. 156–162. 101 Ibn al-Khatib, Historia de los reyes de la Alhambra, ed. E. Molina and J. M. Casciaro, Granada, 1998, pp. 32–33. 102 Cf. M. J. Viguera, “El ejército”, pp. 440–441. 103 R. Arié, L’Espagne musulmane, Paris, 1990, pp. 244–245.

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chapter two where Christians are sold; and they take them there, turn them into Moors and teach them the law and how to ride and play with the bow; and they are examined by the Alfaqui mayor, given a salary, and sent to the city; no-one can be a soldier, or admiral, nor have honour nor a place at court unless he is one of these renegades, nor can a born Moor ride on horseback without dying for it. These are the men who receive all the honours of the cavalry, and their sons a little less, and their grandsons less, and from then onwards they are born Moors, this to increase their law, and for this reason they call them the augmenters of the law of Muhammad; the women do not have this prerogative, but a Moor will always receive a Christian woman without dowry more willingly than a Moorish woman, however endowed she may be, especially if she is a born Moor.104

However, the similarities between the Mamluk system and the elche guard noted by Tafur owe more to his personal interpretation than they do to historical reality. The personal guard of the Ottoman sultan probably had more in common with Tafur’s elches than the complex Mamluk system in Egypt ever did. Let us examine some of the points of comparison between Mamluks and Granadans which struck Tafur: whereas the former were purchased in Eastern slave markets or captured during naval raids, the elches came from Western slave markets and captures made during the war with Castile, as is shown by the number of cases of young sons of the nobility who were taken during raids and brought up as Muslims.105 Another common feature of the two systems, according to Tafur, was that after their death the soldiers could not pass on their belongings or rank to their descendants, given that it was illegal for all slaves to leave an inheritance. A Mamluk’s privileges died with him, causing Ayalon to describe them as a true “nobility of one generation”. Their sons constituted a class that found itself halfway between assimilation and the rest of society, and their grandsons did not enjoy any military or class privileges. Secondly, the Mamluks started from a privileged social position, and could not be educated in the same way as a captive child, completely at the service of a patron.106 As we will see, this was not the case of the elche guard of the king of Granada. As for the claim that the Mamluks received 104 P. Tafur, Andanças e viajes de un hidalgo español, ed. M. Jiménez de la Espada, Madrid, 1995, p. 53. 105 An example is provided by the case of the young Francisco de Berrio, a son of one of the regidores of Jaén, who was captured in his youth and sold to the arraez of Málaga in 1462. Despite his parents’ best efforts, he refused several times to re-convert to Christianity and denied that don Rodrigo was his father—a very typical characteristic of the Mamluks, who only recognised the ties binding them to their sultan and companions. See M. Rojas Gabriel, La frontera, pp. 216–217. Other cases can be found in J. de M. Carriazo, “Los moros de Granada en las actas del concejo de Jaén de 1479”, MEAH, IV (1955), pp. 81–125. 106 D. Ayalon, “Mamlukiyyat” in Outsiders in the Lands of Islam, pp. 328–329.

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land as a reward for their services (they were probably referring to the iqtaʿ system), we would need to know more about the Granadan elches to know whether this form of payment was also applied to them.107 Finally, the allusion to women can only be understood in the context of the sale of Christian slave women in the markets of Tunis, Salé, Cairo, or Constantinople, where they were bought as wives by renegades, Turks and Muslims in general. Most of these women later converted but were not freed, although they were allowed a collaborative role in the conversion of some Christians within their circle. Their chances of returning to the lands where they had been born were negligible compared with those of Christian men.108 Little evidence has survived concerning the integration of peninsular Christians in the Mamluk guards of governors of the Maghreb in this early period, although a great deal survives for later centuries. From Ibn Khaldun we know, however, that such troops existed, given the need for a diversified army that used the techniques and tactics of both heavy and light cavalry: We have just shown why a line of support is set up in the rearguard of the army, and have shown the confidence that this transmits to troops who fight with the method of attacking and fleeing. For that same reason the kings of the Maghreb took into their service and admitted European corps of men (ifrany) among their militias. For the system in question is peculiar to them, for in that country all combat is carried out in accordance with their own system; for this reason, for the said kings it proved a great advantage, in favour of their own interest, to place in the rearguard of their troops a strong line of support which could serve to protect the combatants. To form that line it was necessary to employ elements who were accustomed to standing firm on the field of battle, or else that corps would retreat, as occurs with warriors who do not know how to fight unless by successively charging forwards and retreating back again. If those in the rear line gave way, the sultan and all his troops would be dragged into defeat. Therefore the sovereigns of the Maghreb saw the need to form a corps of troops accustomed to fighting and holding their ground, and they chose them from among the Europeans. To make up the ring of soldiers who surround them, they likewise took troops of that race. They did, it is certainly true, make use of infidels; but those princes did not see any reason for reproach; they found themselves forced to do it, just as we have now explained to the reader, because of their fear of seeing the reserve corps that surrounded them flee and run away.109

107

M. J. Viguera, “El ejército”, p. 456. B. and L. Bennassar, Los cristianos de Alá. La fascinante aventura de los renegados, Madrid, 1989, p. 328. 109 Ibn Khaldun, Introducción a la historia universal, pp. 497–498. 108

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If the Granadan army was governed by the same principles, the work of the elches would have involved acting as the sultan’s bodyguard and as heavy cavalry in the Christian manner, complementing the agile jineta Nasrid cavalry troops. The institution of the jenets “de domo domini regis” emerged in Aragón during the 13th century, and had some similarities to the Moorish guard in Castile. The royal guard or geneta, made up of Muslim knights recruited in Granada or the Maghreb, must have had a deep significance as a “symbol of the multi-ethnic society of the crown of Aragón”.110 We know of an initial fifteen registered knights who received salaries from king Alfonso III (1285–1291), as well as sums of money for their horses. The captain of the guard, Abenadalil, in time became a vassal of the king and a life-long member of the royal household, and he was able to transfer his privileges to his son, thereby revealing patterns of religious assimilation, continuity and inheritance that were very similar to those later seen in the Castilian Moorish guard.111 Unfortunately, nothing is known of the evolution of the geneta guard during the period that followed, although it can be assumed that it continued to exist throughout the 14th century, given that in 1337 Benedict XIII advised the recently crowned Pedro IV of Aragón (1336–1387) not to surround himself with Muslims, nor to dress like them or allow himself to be trained in their war tactics.112 Despite this advice, Pedro IV used such knights to his advantage during the short reign of Ismael II (1359–1360). With the aim of counteracting the alliance between Castile and Granada and the Nasrid hostility that went with it, Pedro made an approach to Tlemcen at the same time that he authorised the Granadan knights in his service to go back to Granada. This may have been part of an attempt to overthrow Ismael II and re-orient Granadan foreign policy in favour of Aragón. This is certainly what was to occur under the next sultan, Muhammad VI, who

110

The expression is taken from M. T. Ferrer i Mallol, “La organización militar en Cataluña en la Edad Media” in Los recursos militares en la Edad Media hispánica, Madrid, 2001, p. 186. 111 E. Lourie, “A Jewish Mercenary in the Service of the King of Aragón”, Revue des Études Juives, 137 (1978), pp. 367–373 and “Anatomy of Ambivalence: Muslims under the Crown of Aragón in the Late Thirteenth Century” in Crusade and Colonization, Aldershot, 1990, p. 73. The most recent study of this guard, which was at first a group of mercenaries with their own captain and later became a fully-fledged personal guard, is that by B. Catlos, “Mahomet Abenadalill: a Muslim Mercenary in the Service of the Kings of Aragón (1290–1291)” in Jews, Muslims and Christians in and around the Crown of Aragón, Leiden, 2004, pp. 257–302. 112 M. T. Ferrer i Mallol, “La organización militar”, p. 186.

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organised a plot, possibly with Catalan aid, and overthrew Ismael on 13 July 1360.113 In addition to the presence of the mercenary troops who may have served at times in the medieval Castilian armies, there was another factor which made a Muslim presence in Castilian ranks commonplace from the 13th century on, and this was the participation in warfare of Mudejars from the peninsular realms. Indeed, one has to ask to what extent the Castilians, by welcoming Moorish knights at court, prevented the formation of a military elite of Mudejars which could have been prone to uprisings, especially in the frontier regions. The appearance of Mudejars in the royal mesnadas and those run by the concejos as subjects or vassals of the royal crown can be traced back at least as far as the 13th century. According to the Crónica de la población de Ávila (circa 1256), when the concejo militias of the city moved towards Soria to support Alfonso X against Jaime I of Aragón, they had a contingent of seventy Mudejar knights and five hundred foot soldiers. When an attempt was made to dissolve the Mudejar troops in exchange for a payment of 2,000 maravedís, the Mudejars appealed to the king and offered to pay the same fonsadera or war tribute as those who had stayed behind in Ávila, thus enabling them to keep their posts in the royal army. This episode has important social and religious connotations. If it is anything to go by, the fact of belonging to another faith was at first not necessarily a handicap to being able to take part in military operations within the structure of a concejo militia, especially when the attack was directed at other Christian armies. Mercenaries tended to act under the command of their own captain as a compact unit that did not mix with others in the same army, even if it were used as part of a larger formation. It is clear, however, that this type of unit aroused suspicion during the course of frontier wars, and it is therefore less common to find examples of such troops in Andalusia. There is a lack of later evidence in this respect, but what has survived is a complaint to the Catholic Kings by the Mudejars of Seville. They protested about the injustice of being prevented from accompanying the concejo armies to the war in Granada, while being nevertheless obliged to pay a resulting extra tax because of their non-participation.114

113 F. Vidal Castro, “Historia política”, p. 136; M. Becerra Hormigo, “La conexión catalana en el derrocamiento de Ismail II”, Miscel.lánia de Textos Medievals, 4: La frontera terrestre i marìtima amb l’Islam, 1988, pp. 301–317. 114 A. Collantes de Terán, “La aljama mudéjar de Sevilla”, Al-Andalus, I (1978), p. 155.

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The presence of Mudejars in the circle of the kings of Navarre provides another example of military collaboration in a group that was perfectly acculturated and almost completely assimilated. The Mudejars worked as engineers in the construction of war machines for encounters with Portugal, France and Aragón, and they accompanied the king as mesnaderos in a campaign against Aragón during the reign of Carlos II of Navarre.115 The choice of these troops was a sign of particular distinction, for this was a complex mission, whose object was to let Castile see that pacts with it were being fulfilled, at the same time that peace with Aragón was upheld. There is also evidence of the participation of Moorish troops in the attack led by Juan of Navarre on the town of Cuenca on 25 February 1449: . . . the number of which [i.e. the troops] was of about eight thousand fighting men, men of arms and riders and crossbowmen and lancers, among whom came many Moors and Navarrans and Aragonese and Catalans, and others from diverse nations.116

However, this is not the only record of Mudejars acting as a royal mesnada. It is known that the king of Navarre, even in times of peace, paid several Muslims a mesnadería, i.e. the sum which allowed wealthy men or hidalgos to keep a horse, arms and at least one companion on foot. In such cases, professional specialisation had gone so far as to make a society deem the Mudejars necessary elements in an armed force.117 It is interesting to note that these guard corps made up of Muslims or Moorish converts even included Jews in some cases. This peculiarity has been noted among the groups of jenets in the service of the king of Aragón in the 13th century, and it gave these guards a marked inter-confessional character.118 In the Castilian Moorish guard, there was the case of Fernando de Marruecos, son of the regidor Juan de Marruecos and possibly related to the alcalde Rodrigo de Marruecos, all of whom belonged to an important family of Jewish conversos who had settled in the city of Jaén and were linked to the constable Miguel Lucas de Iranzo.119

115 M. García-Arenal and B. Leroy, Moros y judíos en Navarra en la Baja Edad Media, Madrid, 1984, p. 43. 116 Crónica del halconero, p. 514. 117 Ibidem, pp. 63–64. 118 E. Lourie, “A Jewish Mercenary”, pp. 369, 373. 119 For the family, see Chapter Five. Juan and Fernando de Marruecos appear in AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1: 46.

CHAPTER THREE

THE KING’S “FOREIGN” GUARD

The royal army and the Moorish knights The creation of the Moorish guard was part of a general tendency among European monarchs to employ armed troops that were permanently available to them and solely dependent on their authority. The first type of military corps employed by royal armies was the personal body guard of monarchs themselves, whose mission, apart from protecting the king, was to accompany him on all his military campaigns. Generally speaking, Christian leaders never turned down the chance to use any of the various types of troop available to them, from noble or episcopal mesnadas headed by their own leaders to those of the military orders, the concejos and possible allied forces, which included Muslims. Such recruitment processes led to a tremendously heterogeneous army, which by its nature is difficult to quantify and study. Each of the separate units of which it was composed had its own leader and internal organisation, which were maintained when the army went on the move, and all of them expected to receive payment for services rendered on campaign: troops exclusively recruited for a specific campaign received the so-called soldadas, whereas those vassals who fought alongside their lord were given an acostamiento or stipend in the form of food, clothing and lodging.1 A more permanent maintenance payment was known as acostamiento or tierra, but was normally paid in cash. In order to understand how the Moorish knights acted and were organised, it is therefore necessary to know a little about the dynamics of the army in the first half of the 15th century. The development of a royal or state army as such, i.e. one characterised by a certain stability and clearly differentiated from the mesnadas or armed companies of vassals, was a relatively late phenomenon and is usually related to the birth of the modern State in Europe. During the 15th century, France, Castile and Aragón developed early models of what became permanent

1

R. Quatrefages, La revolución militar moderna: el crisol español, Madrid, 1996, p. 37; F. García Fitz, Castilla y León frente al Islam, pp. 137, 153; P. Contamine, La guerra en la Edad Media, Barcelona, 1984, p. 205; J. O’Callaghan, A History of Medieval Spain, pp. 601–602.

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standing armies in the following century. These armies had stable and professional military units of a certain continuity which were maintained over time as the individuals constituting them were replaced. They were paid by the State in periods of both war and peace, thus guaranteeing the permanent superiority of a specialised defence corps. Such organisations implied, on the one hand, the existence among the general populace of a sufficiently large number of young men without stable family ties who were willing to follow such a way of life, as well as a stable fiscal system that guaranteed the regular payment of the troops and was supported by taxpayers convinced of the need for that expenditure.2 The movement towards a standing army was based on the accumulation of the different corps of combatants permanently financed by the crown in various ways. At the height of the Middle Ages, royal armies were made up, firstly, of the old royal mesnadas of feudal origin, which became none other than the king’s personal bodyguard. These units were formed above all by cavalry troops, complemented in the 13th century by crossbowmen on foot and horseback, who had a loyal and vassal-like relationship with their monarch. These men lived in their own homes, and received a quitación or salary in exchange for their services, forming a permanent force of between 150 and 200 warriors.3 To these troops must be added the corps of the military orders, usually small but well-organised, highly trained and disciplined, who constituted a well-prepared elite on a state of permanent standby. The number of friar knights of the orders on campaign was generally similar to that of the royal mesnada, or sometimes slightly lower, and to their number must be added the shield-bearers and infantes who accompanied them. Finally, in situ the crown was able to draw on the garrison troops of the fortresses, which could vary between the fifty knights of the most important military bases and only two or three knights in the smallest watch towers. The average garrison had about ten knights and twenty or thirty foot soldiers.4 The general mobilisation of the male population which took place in Castile throughout the 14th century may have served as a precedent for the institutionalisation of a larger and more hierarchical army. In addition to 2 R. Quatrefages, La revolución militar, pp. 37–38; P. Contamine, La guerra en la Edad Media, p. 210. 3 Also known as milicia regalis palacii, militibus curie, militia regis, schola regis or domesticis suis, which in Castilian became known as the king’s mesnadas or simply mesnaderos. F. García Fitz, Castilla y León frente al Islam, pp. 88–89; M. A. Ladero, “La organización militar de la corona de Castilla durante los siglos XIV y XV” in La incorporación de Granada a la corona de Castilla, p. 198. 4 F. García Fitz, Castilla y León frente al Islam, pp. 91–97.

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the campaigns against Granada, there was the so-called “War of the Two Pedros” between Castile and Aragón (1356–1367), the civil war between the followers of Pedro I and Enrique II (1366–1369), and the campaigns against Portugal under Enrique II, Juan I and Enrique III. During the reign of Juan I, important measures were taken to guarantee the rapid deployment of men to be used in the war against Portugal by resorting to the figure of the royal vassal. These combatants, who were tied to the king by a contract of a semi-feudal nature, were paid an annual maintenance sum by the royal treasury in exchange for their permanent availability for war. The crown could thus dispose of a number of semi-professional soldiers spread throughout the realm who could be called up whenever needed. In the Cortes of Valladolid of 1385, agreement was reached concerning the weapons that all subjects between the age of twenty and sixty were expected to possess, depending on the amount of their acostamiento. This was in prevision of the celebration of alardes or displays—a tally of the troops with their armament and mount, in the form of a military parade—which took place six times a year, i.e. once every two months. Concern over military issues continued in the Cortes of Briviesca of 1387, where the order was given to draw up a list of all the lands granted in the kingdom as acostamiento to royal vassals, in order to discover how many lances their owners were able to contribute. The instruction was given that each owner be awarded 1,500 maravedis for the upkeep of lances, instead of the 600 previously given, to prevent a lack of troops deriving from the excuse that they were badly paid.5 The Cortes of Guadalajara of 1390 completed the military organisation of the kingdom by reforming the army and establishing the number of required available soldiers, both in the frontier areas and in the rest of Castile. The procuradores were to decide on the number of lancers that the king should maintain by granting land, and how much each concession was to be worth, in order to avoid abuses and the absences that had made it impossible to calculate the available royal forces accurately. The king’s military accounts were rationalised by a decision that in all the realms of Juan I there was to be a total of 4,000 armed and mounted Castilian lancers, who would receive 1,500 maravedis in land every year. Each lancer was to have one horse and one other mount, although the number of men accompanying him was not specified. In Andalusia there were to be 1,500 jinetes—or light cavalry lancers—with the same amount of land and the obligation to contribute two horses and weapons. In addition, there would be 1,000 mounted crossbowmen,

5

F. García Fitz, Castilla y León frente al Islam, pp. 91–97.

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with an acostamiento of 600 maravedis in land, who would provide two mounts, a sword, a helmet, and two good crossbows. All of these men were to be exempt from the payment of Chancillería taxes by the performance of their offices. In the Ordenamiento that was published concerning alardes, horses and mules, the order was given to carry out just one alarde a year, and the acostamiento payment per lancer was to be raised from 1,500 to 2,500 maravedis a year, as a result of a calculation of requirements. The order of the Cortes of Valladolid was also repeated, to ensure that it would be followed.6 The office of condestable (constable) as head of the royal army was also introduced by Juan I, under French influence, in about 1382. However, it was not until the later reign of Juan II that Álvaro de Luna gave this post its full significance.7 The measures taken by Juan I had to be revised once more in the Cortes of Madrid of 1393, the first to be held after Juan’s son Enrique III had reached the age of majority. This was because of evident abuses by the nobility. The laws passed in Guadalajara had apparently been applied, but the great lords had simply paid the acostamientos of the king to the number of vassals they already had at their disposal, and whom they were accustomed to taking with them whenever they heeded a royal call-to-arms. Thus knights now received 3,000 maravedis (1,500 from the king and another 1,500 from their lord), but instead of having two hundred lancers at his disposal as a result, the king had only one hundred, halving the number of troops available throughout the kingdom. The procuradores asked the king to remedy this situation and call the nobles to order and also suggested to him that, since Castile had current truce agreements with all surrounding kingdoms, an effort could be made to reduce military expenditure.8 However, this obviously did not occur because at the Cortes of Zamora of 1432, Juan II was faced with further complaints of a similar kind, and introduced punishments for soldiers who took part in alardes for more than one lord.9 After the Sentencia of Medina del Campo, on the eve of the civil war, and under pressure from the nobles, the small nucleus of the standing royal army, which had once been made up of some 3,000 men, was to be reduced to about 600 lancers.10 6 Crónica de Juan I, in Crónicas de los reyes de Castilla (ed. C. Rosell), vol. II, Madrid, 1953, pp. 132–133; Cortes de los antiguos reinos, vol. II, pp. 460–470. 7 J. O’Callaghan, A History of Medieval Spain, pp. 601–602. 8 Crónica de don Enrique III, in Crónicas de los reyes de Castilla (ed. C. Rosell), vol. II, Madrid, 1953, pp. 132–133; Cortes de los antiguos reinos, vol. III, p. 215. 9 For an hidalgo, the punishment was ten years in the naval arsenals (a figure which was later reduced to one year) and the loss of his land, and for others one hundred lashes, later reduced to thirty. Cortes de los antiguos reinos, vol. III, pp. 133–134. 10 Memorias de D. Enrique IV, vol. II, doc. 109. Cf. W. D. Phillips, Enrique IV, p. 78.

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Apart from their personal guards and the royal vassals, the monarch could rely for specific campaigns on the concejo militias, financed by the inhabitants of each municipality. These troops sometimes presented themselves in hermandades, or leagues already established in several municipalities with defensive and policing aims. Although these troops had a statute that was different from that of the royal cavalry, they were run in a similar way, and the organisation of their units followed the same pattern as those of the royal guard. Obligation to heed the royal call-to-arms depended on a citizen’s economic situation, and citizens were divided into one cavalry group and another of infantry. Knights had to render personal service to their king, but within the framework of their municipality. The local militias had to gather and travel to a meeting place established by the king. During troop movements, command was exercised by the authorities or their local delegates, under the standard of the town, and these same leaders were retained throughout the campaign. The only men deployed in special corps were the most specialised soldiers such as the gunners and sappers.11 The final group that must be mentioned is that of the private troops pertaining to individual lords. Such bodies did not take part in warfare in a uniform manner, and were organised in various different ways, depending on the extent of their proximity to the monarch. Generally speaking, they had a form of organisation that was based on that of the troops already mentioned, but were headed by the great lords, with all the resultant disadvantages that could accrue to the king at delicate political moments. Moreover, the availability of these troops was less reliable than that of the rest of the army, especially during the reigns of Juan II and Enrique IV, when confrontations with the noble coalitions became an endemic feature. As one of the seeds of a standing royal army, the monarch’s guard corps underwent an unstoppable rise in the whole of Europe from about 1350, and in some ways assumed the nature of a miniature version of a true army. Members were chosen from all over the country, from among skilled and experienced warriors who might be noblemen or mere citizens. The general European tendency to have a permanent personal guard also took root in Castile. According to Contamine, during this period, many princes were in the habit of surrounding themselves, for their greater personal safety, with one or several elite forces. The care taken over the choice of the riding gear used by these forces, as well as

11 I follow the outlines in R. Quatrefages, La revolución militar, pp. 45–47 and 51–53, excepting for the differences that occurred during the transition from the medieval army to the Renaissance model of the Catholic Kings.

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The process can be followed through the stipulations of Castilian monarchs after Alfonso XI, although the disturbances of the subsequent reigns make it difficult to trace a continuous line of development.12 When Enrique III died in 1406, the personal guard of the king was reduced to three capitanías of one hundred lancers for the protection of the royal family, which were soon replaced by a guard of two hundred lancers for the queen regent Catalina of Lancaster and Juan II, and another of the same size for the infante don Fernando de Antequera.13 This guard corps rose to one thousand lancers in 1420, because of the situation of political instability. The Cortes protested about this increase and in 1429, after the triumph of Álvaro de Luna over the influence of the infantes of Aragón, a return was made to the figure of 300, with royal spokesmen attributing the previous high number of men to the political needs of the time. The king’s guard could include two types of lancer units: one of “men of arms”, simple or double, made up of three or five people, with two horses or one horse plus another mount, and the lancer equipped with light armament, or a so-called jineta, which had just one mounted lancer who was probably accompanied by three other men.14 More data is needed in order to make an estimate of the total number of men in the king’s guard, which was increased again in the following decades as a result of political developments in Castile and imported French fashions.15 In general, it can be said that during the reigns of Juan II and Enrique IV the monarch’s personal guard was made up of the following corps: the monteros (huntsmen) of Espinosa (a group of 48 men since the times of Alfonso XI), the crossbowmen and huntsmen, both mounted and on foot, 12 P. Contamine, La Guerra en la Edad Media, pp. 207–209. I follow here the theory outlined by Contamine, which seems most plausible to me, despite the objections made in M. A. Ladero, “Recursos militares y guerras de los Reyes Católicos” in Los recursos militares en la Edad Media hispánica, Revista de Historia Militar-Extra, Madrid, 2001, p. 401 and “La casa real en la Baja Edad Media”, HID, 25 (1998), pp. 327–350, which only makes detailed reference to the guard of the Catholic Kings. 13 L. Galíndez, Crónica de Juan II, p. 278. 14 In Catalonia, these troops were known respectively as caballos de armas, made up of four or five people and caballos alforrados, which had three men and were armed a la jineta. M. T. Ferrer y Mallol, “La organización militar en Cataluña en la Edad Media” in Los recursos militares en la Edad Media hispánica, pp. 169–170. 15 R. Quatrefages, La revolución militar, p. 38; M. A. Ladero, “La organización militar”, p. 223. By way of comparison, a large cavalry raid could have one or two thousand knights, and two or three times that number of foot soldiers. A group of three hundred knights was considered too small to undertake a campaign of systematic destruction. F. García Fitz, Castilla y León frente al Islam, p. 140.

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of whom there were only twenty to forty individuals after Enrique IV’s reign; the ballesteros de maza (crossbowmen with maces) who guarded the king’s bed chamber; the guard of young noblemen who accompanied the monarch; and finally, the Moorish guard.16 The military functions of these corps essentially involved escorting and protecting the king and his bed chamber, although they sometimes carried out other special missions, such as the protection of the Jewish aljamas, for which they were paid an extra stipend.17 All of these corps seem to fit M. A. Ladero’s general description of royal guards: the king could resort to the royal guards without having to mediate with the nobles or the municipalities, which allowed him greater capacity for action. With part of the ordinary income of the crown it was possible to maintain a corps of armed men and jinetes who accompanied the king at court at almost all times in exchange for a salary. Besides these royal guards there would appear in the 15th century a number of men armed with new weapons (musketeers, gunners).18

The parallel existence of an increased number of corps in the king’s personal guard during the reign of Enrique IV can be seen as a further step towards a standing royal army, which was well-established by the mid-15th century. In this context, the Moorish guard can be seen as one more element in the late medieval army, carrying out light cavalry functions. The functional division of the late medieval army on the battlefield reflected to some extent the divisions in medieval society, and this division is in turn reflected in the written sources. In those records, infantry participation is often completely brushed over and is always shown as dependent on the army’s main weapon, the cavalry, but this is to forget that infantry troops were remarkably light, adept at manoeuvres in difficult terrain,

16 This type of distribution of the army basically coincided with that which accompanied the French sovereigns of the House of Valois and the Duke of Burgundy. See P. Contamine, La guerra en la Edad Media, pp. 208–209. 17 This last function was a responsibility of the huntsmen of Espinosa, according to the Cortes of Burgos of 1379. See D. Torres Sanz, La administración central castellana en la Baja Edad Media, Valladolid, 1982, pp. 277–278. The Jewish aljamas sent money to cover the extra payments for the troops during the Easter period. D. Nirenberg, Communities of violence: persecution of minorities in the Middle Ages, Princeton, 1996, pp. 205–209. 18 M. A. Ladero, “Logística y financiación en la Guerra de Granada” in La incorporación de Granada a la corona de Castilla, p. 677. The claim, therefore, that the professionalisation of the royal guards may have been achieved in Castile in about the period of the civil war of 1475–79 would have to be refined, even if it were admitted that at that time the components and command of the royal guards were almost completely renewed. E. Benito Ruano, “La organización del ejército cristiano en la guerra de Granada”, in ibidem, p. 644, defines the royal guards as “a kind of standing mini-army maintained as a professional corps by the crown.”

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and skilful in their handling of weapons like the knife, the lance and the crossbow, all of which were highly effective in hand-to-hand fighting. Their defensive labours complemented the cavalry’s attacking function, and they were indispensable in the protection of their leader, through their use of the surrounding tactic. The role of the army’s cavalry in battlefield encounters was always presented as decisive and occupied the most striking pages of the chronicles.19 According to Don Juan Manuel, the Christian armies based their success on the charging strength of their cavalry and the technical superiority of their weapons, which by the 15th century included advanced artillery. The Muslim forces tried to counteract these advantages by using their speed and mobility to avoid direct clashes, and through the efficient upkeep of their fortresses.20 However, it seems that by the end of the Middle Ages both sides were using a combined tactic of heavy cavalry and light cavalry a la jineta. The leading knights of the Castilian court were proud of their skill in both forms of riding, and royal and noble processions were made up of both types of riders, such as the one led by Álvaro de Luna on his return to the court at Turégano in 1428, which contained knights riding in the two styles. The constable himself was proud to be “called cabalgador (rider) in both saddles” i.e. a skilled rider in the two styles, as can be seen in his portrait.21 The pattern was repeated in the households of some of the great lords in the frontier region who were known to have Moorish tastes, such as the constable Miguel Lucas de Iranzo, whose guard dressed in the Moorish style, or indeed may have actually been made up of Moors, like that of the king: En pos dél yvan dos pajes de hedad de catorce o quinze años, muy moriscos, en sendos cavallos de la gineta, con muy ricos jaeces. Detrás destos yvan fasta treynta o treynta e çinco de los criados continuos de su casa, a cavallo, bien ajaehezados, vestidos e tocados a la morisca, las lanças en las manos e las adaragas embraçadas, todos en muy buena orden puestos. E así dio una buelta por la çibdad, e saliendo por la puerta Barrera, se puso delante las tiendas.22 [Behind him went two pages aged about fourteen or fifteen, very Moorish, each of them seated on a richly equipped horse. Behind these pages went about

19 F. García Fitz, Castilla y León frente al Islam, pp. 375, 378–379. For the role of the cavalry, both heavy and light, in the Castilian armies, see W. H. Prescott, The Art of War in Spain. The Conquest of Granada, 1481–1492, London, 1995, pp. 16–21, 62–65. 20 Don Juan Manuel, El libro de los Estados, ed. I. R. Macpherson and R. B. Tate, Madrid, 1991, pp. 221–236. Cf. F. García Fitz, Castilla y León frente al Islam, pp. 392–393. 21 G. Chacón, Crónica de Don Álvaro de Luna, pp. 68 and 207. 22 Hechos del condestable, p. 138.

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thirty or thirty-five of the regular servants of the household, on horseback, well-equipped and clothed and dressed in the Moorish style, with lances in their hands and their shields embraced, all in very good order. And in this fashion he went around the city, and going out through the gate of Barrera, he placed himself before the tents.]

Castile was not the only kingdom which sought to have an effective cavalry corps a la jineta. Influenced by their experience of the crusades, European armies started to use troops made up of men of other beliefs who specialised in the fighting systems of the Muslims. Such was the case of the Turcopoles, who employed Turkish combat tactics. They were composed of converts to Christianity who fought firstly in the Byzantine army and later in those of the crusaders. The phenomenon of the Turcopoles has been widely studied by J. Richard, who dates their appearance to the First Crusade, where they were an element in the Byzantine armies.23 The chroniclers of this crusade define them as Turkish in race but Christians in belief and customs. Crusade leaders began to use their services after the Antioch campaign, in which they were accompanied by them, and they went on to assume the functions of a light cavalry corps of archers wearing protective coats of mail, later becoming a fixed contingent in the Templar militias. In a series of documents relating to Mount Tabor, written between 1163 and 1180, there are several references to Turcopoles, or converts to Roman Christianity. Around 1270, the tendency to use converted Muslims, probably captives, as Turcopoles, had become generalised. These troops were still used in Cyprus during the conquest of Rhodes, and traces of their descendants can be detected well into the 15th century, either as salaried knights or beneficiaries of domains which may initially have been long-term concessions but later became hereditary. The religious identity of this guard is important: it accepted refugees from the Islamic armies who, once converted, fought against their old co-religionists. In Cyprus, moreover, Eastern Christians also fought as Turcopoles, sometimes alongside recent converts. Clear efforts were made by European armies to boost their light cavalry throughout the 14th and 15th centuries. It was on the eastern frontier with the lands of Islam, where this type of fighting was particularly necessary, that this development went furthest, with a leading role played by Hungarian

23

J. Richard, “Les Turcopoles au service des royaumes de Jérusalem et de Chypre: musulmans convertis ou chrétiens orientaux?”, Revue des Études Islamiques, 54 (1986), pp. 260–270.

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knights and the Venetian stradiotes.24 The latter, who were soldiers of Greek origin, must have reproduced fairly well the structure of guards in Islamic lands, judging by the description made of them by the French ambassador Phillippe de Commynes: The stradiotes are men of arms like those of the so-called jinetes, both those on foot and those on horseback dress like the Turks, except on their heads, where they do not wear the cloth which the Turks call the toliban; and they are very tough people, and they and their horses sleep outside at all times of the year. And all of them were Greeks and came from places possessed by the Venetians, some from Naples, Romania and Morea, others from Albania, from the area of Durazzo; and all their horses are good, and they are Turkish horses.25

These men were apparently armed with a small shield and a half-lance. Not for the first time, clothing is mentioned here as a distinctive feature of an armed corps, although in this case the troops were not Muslims but Orthodox Christians. The Moorish guard had the same characteristics as these cavalry corps a la jineta, as did the geneta of the Aragonese monarchy. Its internal hierarchy reproduced the complete ranking of a cavalry corps of the royal army. Each of its posts was perfectly defined, from the Partida II, XXII–XXIII, to the 15th-century treatise-writers like Alonso de Cartagena, who always use the Alfonsine code as a basis when describing appointments of army officials.26 The division of the Moorish guard into ranks and levels also owed much to the make-up of Islamic armies in other periods, which had a direct influence on Christian military organisation. Possibly under the influence of the Granadan guard of elches, the Moorish knights were directed by a captain of the guard, who as we have seen had two hundred men under his command. This figure roughly coincides with the data on the number of Castilian Moorish knights: in 1420 it was agreed that a guard of two hundred armed men would accompany the king at all times, though not all of them were to be jinetes, and neither did they all have to be Muslims or Moriscos.27

24 For the Hungarians, see G. Agoston, “Muslim-Christian Acculturation: Ottomans and Hungarians from the Fifteenth to the Seventeenth Centuries” in Chrétiens et musulmans à la Renaissance, ed. B. Bennassar, Paris, 1998. 25 P. de Commynes, Mémoires, ed. J. Calmette, Paris, 1924, III, pp. 163–164. Cf. P. Contamine, La guerra en la Edad Media, p. 165. 26 E. Lourie, “A Society Organized for War: Medieval Spain”, Past and Present 35 (1966), pp. 70–72. For more on this, see A. Echevarría, “La guardia morisca: un cuerpo desconocido del ejército medieval español”, Revista de Historia Militar, 90, 2000, pp. 55–78. 27 Refundición, p. 36.

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The Moorish raciones mention a group of approximately one hundred men, and the chronicle of Enríquez de Castillo speaks of one hundred and fifty knights under the orders of García de Jaén.28 The number of jinetes available at any one time may have varied as a result of deaths in battle, their absence on diplomatic missions or frontier actions, their return to the kingdom of Granada etc. An example of this is provided by events during the riots in Jaén in 1459, which coincided with the opposition of the grandees of the realm to the marquis of Villena and ended with a correría de los moros (attack on Moors) on 10 August. Among the troops in the city there were three hundred knights from the king’s Moorish guard, who acted as frontier guards in defence of positions left without supplies. Many of these knights died or were captured, leading to a large number of losses in the guard.29 Shortly afterwards, the constable Miguel Lucas de Iranzo took control of the city, but if the registers of the royal notary are anything to go by, there was no special effort to employ new knights to cover the losses. The captain of the Moorish guard had supreme authority over his troops. The post was awarded to a Muslim convert who enjoyed the king’s favour and was an influential figure in both Castile and Granada. He had certain judicial capacity over the knights under his command and was even able to give orders to the notary public of the king’s chamber when there was a lawsuit involving another knight.30 His rank can be compared to that of the captains of the royal guards of the Catholic Kings. 28 D. Enríquez del Castillo, Crónica de Enrique IV, p. 150; Crónica del Halconero, p. 109, speaks of 500 Muslim knights passing over to the army of Juan II in Córdoba, whereas the French ambassador Commynes, Mémoires, ed. J. Calmette, Paris, 1924, vol. I, p. 136, writes that 300 such knights were present at the interview between Enrique IV and Louis XI of France on the Basque border in 1463. However, not all of these knights can be considered members of the king’s personal guard, as this figure probably included members of the Nasrid royal family, accompanied by their retinues. 29 “En espeçial, quando el día de Santa Clara del año de çinquenta e seys el rey de Granada desbarató y prendió a don Juan Manrique, conde de Castañeda, que estava por capitan mayor en la dicha çibdad, con otros caballeros por mandado del dicho señor rey. E mataron ese día los moros muchos de los cavalleros que con él estavan por fronteros, e asimismo todos los más y mejores de la dicha çibdad de Jahén, e prendieron asaz. Y después, el mismo rey de Granada. Día de Sant Lloreynte año de mill e quatroçientos e çinquenta e nueve, vino poderosamente, e corrió la dicha çibdad de Jahén fasta la puerta Barrera, y en ella mataron algunos cristianos. Y ese día mataron y levaron cativos grand parte de los cavalleros y escuderos que en Jahén avían quedado; como quier que estavan por fronteros en ella fasta treçientos cavalleros ginetes de la guarda del dicho señor rey.” Hechos del condestable, p. 66. 30 “Garsia de Jahen, [. . .] pedio a mi el dicho escrivano que tomase e reçebyese juramento de lo susodicho en forma devida de derecho, e por virtud del las pregundtase sy sabia sy era fynado [. . .]. E yo el dicho escrivano tome e reçeby juramento en forma devida de derecho

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The second most important post in the guard was that occupied by the adalid, who was personally appointed by the king. The adalid specialised in guiding the troops, and needed to have knowledge both of the men at his service and of the terrain and appropriate military tactics in the frontier region. According to the second Partida, the adalid had to have a series of personal characteristics such as wisdom, prudence, stamina and loyalty.31 Treatise-writers like Alonso de Cartagena32 and Fernán Pérez de Guzmán33

sobre la dicha rason de lo susodicho [. . .]. E luego el dicho Garsia de Jahen pidio a mi el dicho escribano que gelo diese ansy por testimonio para guarda de su derecho. E yo dile este que fue fecho e paso ansy [. . .] yo, Pero Rodríguez de Sancta Marta, escrivano de camara del rey nuestro senor, e su notario publico en todos los sus regnos e sennorios . . .”. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 2, 187–188. Ed. J. E. López de Coca, “Caballeros moriscos . . .”, p. 131 (only f. 187v). 31 J. Torres Fontes, “El adalid en la frontera de Granada”, AEM, 15 (1985), pp. 345– 366. 32 “Cuatro cosas díxeron los antiguos que deven aver los adalides: la primera, sabiduría; la segunda, esfuerço; la tercera, buen seso natural; la cuarta, lealtad. E sabidores deven ser para guiar las huestes e saberlas guardar de los malos pasos e peligros. Otrosí deven ser sabidores dó han de posar las huestes e las cavalgadas, tan bien las paladinas como las que fazen ascondidamente, guíandolos a tales logares do fallen agua e yervas e leña, e do puedan posar todos de so uno. Otrosí deven saber los logares que son buenos para echar celadas tan bien de peones como de cavalleros, e de cómo deven en ellas estar callando e salir dende cuando oviesen menester. Otrosí les conviene que sepan muy bien la tierra donde han de correr e donde han de embiar las algaras: y esto por que lo puedan más aina y mejor fazer, e salir en salvo con lo que robaren. E otrosí cómo sepan poner las atalayas y escuchas, tan bien las manifiestas como las otras que llaman escusanas, e traer barruntes de sus enemigos y para aver siempre sabidurías dellos; e cuando desta guisa non lo pudiesen saber, dévense trabaiar por aver alguno dellos de aquel logar a quien quisieren fazer guerra, por que por ellos puedan saber ciertamente cómo están los enemigos y en qué manera los deven ellos guerrear. E una de las cosas que mucho deven catar es que sepan qué vianda han de levar los que fueren en las huestes y en las cavalgadas, e para cuántos días, e que las sepan alongar si menester fuere. E por ende los antiguos, que eran muy sabidores de guerra, tan grande era el sabor (sic) que avían de fazer mal a sus enemigos que levavan viandas troxadas en árguenas e talegas cuando ivan en las cavalgadas, e non querían levar otras vestias; y esto fazian ellos por ir más aina e más encubiertamente, E cuanto más onrados eran tanto más se preciavan e se tenian por mejores en saber sofrir afán e pasar con poco en tiempo de guerra. Y esto fazian por vencer sus enemigos, semejándoles que prez nin sabor deste mundo non era mejor que éste.” This is taken directly from the second Partida in A. de Cartagena, Doctrinal de los caballeros (ed. J. M. Viña Liste), Santiago, 1995, p. 51. 33 “Conosçen bien (a los moros) y saben armalles. Conosçen a qué tiempo y en qué lugar se ha de poner la guarda, dó conviene el escucha, a dónde es necesario el atalaya, a qué parte el escusaña, por dó se fará el atajo más seguro e que más descubra. Conosçe el espía, sabrála ser. Tiene conosçimiento de os poluos, sy son gente de pie y quál de cauallo o de ganado, y quál es de toruellino. Y quál humo de carboneros y quál ahumada; y la diferençia que hay de almenara a la candela de los ganaderos. Tiene conosçimiento de los padrones de la tierra y a qué arte toma y a qué mano los dexa. Sabe poner la çelada y dó yrán los corredores, y ceuallo sy les es menester. Tiene conoçimiento del rebato fechizo, y quál es verdadero. Dan auisos. Su pensar continuo es ardides, engaños y guardarse aquéllos. Saben tomar rastro y conosçen de qué gente, y aquél seguir. Tentarán pasos e vados, e dañallos e adoballos según fuere menester.

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took up this definition and applied it to the adalides of their own period, the former in a theoretical way and the latter in a more practical manner. Of the seven adalides included in the Moorish raciones, whose names are Antón Martines, Johan de Tarifa, Fernando de Perea, Juan Ramires, Alfonso Gutierres, Ruy Fernandes and el maestre (master) Benito, only Fernando de Perea and Alfonso Gutierres are actually designated more precisely as “adalid del rey”, but it can be safely assumed from their status as members of the royal household that the others must also have held the post. The adalides had functions in the Castilian Moorish guard and also in the geneta of Aragón, where in addition to belonging to the royal household as personal guards, they were employed as leaders of the almogávares in raids on the Valencian frontier during the 14th century.34 The post of adalid was an especially privileged one, for only a small number of them were appointed by the monarch. They had the same social treatment, rights and punishments as the knights, and took part in the solemn investiture proceedings of new members of their group.35 An adalid needed first to have been an “almogávar de caballo” or a Moorish knight, according to the terms laid out in the Fuero sobre el fecho de las cavalgadas. It seems likely, then, that royal adalides accompanied the monarch on his Andalusian campaigns, or even that they actually formed part of the Christian armies during some of these campaigns, as was certainly the case of Antón Martínez/Mahomad bin Far, who started to receive his ración in 1432, immediately after the attack on La Higueruela and coinciding with the fall of Yusuf IV.36 The next step down in the Moorish guard was occupied by Johan Lopes, previously known as Aly ben Mahomad, the only almocadén of the guard.37 The almocadén was a leader of infantry troops below the adalid and the almogávar in the hierarchy, in accordance with legislation from the period of Alfonso X. To hold this post it was necessary to have made at least three cavalry raids against a walled town. The almocadén had judicial capacities, as a group of three of them were able to stand in for an adalid and pass Y guían las huestes. Buscan pastos y agua para ellas y montañas o llanos para aposentallos. Conosçen la dispusición para asentar más seguro el real. Tentarán el de los enemigos. Yrán a buscar y traer lengua dellos, que es muy neçesaria. Tienen continuo cuydado de mirar el canpo, de noche los oydos desçolvados, de día los ojos no çerrados. Porque así es: debaxo de la pestaña del atalaya está la guarda del pueblo, gente y hueste.” E. Benito Ruano, “La organización del ejército cristiano en la guerra de Granada” in La incorporación de Granada a la corona de Castilla, p. 643. 34 M. T. Ferrer y Mallol, “La organización militar en Cataluña”, pp. 183–184. 35 J. Torres Fontes, “El adalid en la frontera de Granada”, pp. 352–354. 36 AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1: 28. 37 AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1: 26.

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sentences in the frontier regions. The qualities expected of these men were very similar to those looked for in an adalid, but with the addition of physical lightness, which was necessary during the rapid movements of foot troops.38 The almocadén must therefore have been responsible for leading the foot soldiers who accompanied the Moorish guard in battles. The generic name designating the rest of the cavalry troops in the Moorish guard who had no particular rank was that of “Moorish knights”. During battles the cavalry, both heavy and a la jineta, was deployed in rows, with a front row of jinetes lined up closely together and several rows deep, spread out across a wide space of ground so as to be able to make a co-ordinated charge in successive waves. The sight of the extended rows must have inspired considerable fear, and to this were added the tactical possibilities of such a formation. On the one hand, it prevented the enemy from surrounding from the flanks in a sweeping movement. In addition, it made it possible to make charges in various waves, which replaced each other as the formation broke down, and finally the troops could easily split into two wings to surround the enemy and attack it from behind. Another type of formation, narrower and deeper, allowed the troops to penetrate the enemy ranks head on, forcing a way through them and dispersing them. This tactic was known as a “tropel ” (lit. throng or mob). Finally, if the enemy itself went into a tropel formation, the troops had the ability to respond by assuming an arrow or wedge formation, which permitted greater penetration into enemy lines. The use of light cavalry made these attacks faster, and it has been calculated that in the conquest of Sardinia the proportion of jinete knights to heavy cavalry must have been about 100 jinetes to every 1,000 knights.39

38 “Almoçadenes llaman agora a los que antiguamente solían llamar cabdillos de las peonadas. Y estos son muy provechosos en las guerras, ca en logares podrían entrar los peones e cosas acometer que non lo podrían fazer los de cavallo. E por ende, cuand oviere ende algún peón que quiera ser almoçadén, ha de fazer de aquesta guisa: venir primeramente a los adalides e mostrarles por cuáles razones tiénenlo que merescen de serlo. Y entonces ellos deven llamar doze almoçadenes e fazerles jurar que digan verda si aquel que quiere ser almoçadén es omne que ha en si estas cuatro cosas: la primer que sea sabidor de guerra e de guiar los que con él fueren; la segunda, que sea esforçado para cometer los fechos y esforçar los suyos; la tercera, que sea ligero, ca esta es cosa que conviene mucho al peón para poder alcançar aina lo que tomar oviese, e otrosí para guarescer cuando menester fuese: la cuarta, es que debe ser leal, para su amigo de su señor e de las compañas que acabdillare, ca esto conviene que aya en toda guisas el que fuere cabdillo de peones.” A. de Cartagena, Doctrinal de los caballeros, p. 54. This also taken from the Partida II, XXII. E. Lourie, “A Society Organized for War”, p. 71. For the judicial capacities, also according to the Fuero de las cavalgadas, see J. Torres Fontes, “El adalid en la frontera de Granada”, p. 354. 39 M. T. Ferrer y Mallol, “La organización militar en Cataluña”, p. 171.

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Any of these types of armed fighting may have been practised by the Moorish guard, although these soldiers probably specialised above all in the tornafuye tactic of attack and withdrawal, which was complex due to its chaotic nature. For this speciality the Maghrebis and Granadans, and probably also the Castilians, usually employed European Christian troops in the rearguard, as if they were a fortified point, because they were accustomed to standing firm in a closed formation while the cavalry advanced and withdrew, attracting the enemy in order to destroy its troops: On the battlefield the Franks [Europeans] stand firm, it is their only aim, because they have been trained to fight in ranks; thus they constitute the most reliable troops of any peoples. Even so, the Maghrebi kings do not use them except against the Arabs and Berbers who they wish to bring to heel; but they take care not to use them in their wars against the Christians, preventing these auxiliary troops from conniving with the enemy and betraying the Muslims.40

The royal army as a whole was divided into large, separate corps of men as a way of improving manoeuvrability and allowing each group to have a distinct function within the totality. The vanguard had the task of standing up to initial enemy charges and initiating attacks; the central corps had to follow the vanguard and back it up; two wing formations were at the ready to surround the enemy and attack it from behind; the rearguard supported the rest of the army wherever it was necessary, formed a closed line of protection and, finally, was able to put together a group of reserve troops separated from the rest which could act in closed defensive formation.41 Unfortunately, we lack data on the place occupied by the Moorish knights within these different corps. Two other types of task were carried out in the army by Muslims or converts from Islam. The most specialised was that of cannoneer of the royal army (bombardero), with parallels in the kingdom of Navarre, where the artillery was in the hands of the Mudejars of La Ribera, who also designed and manufactured the “ingenios” or war machines used in defence, sieges and assaults on fortresses, as well as ladders and other instruments.42 In the case of Castile it is not clear whether the cannoneer Diego de Jerez actually designed and manufactured weapons or simply fired the cannons.43 In the

40 Ibn Khaldun, Introducción a la historia universal, p. 498; F. García Fitz, Castilla y León frente al Islam, pp. 385–387. 41 F. García Fitz, Castilla y León frente al Islam, pp. 387–388. 42 M. García-Arenal and B. Leroy, Moros y judíos en Navarra, pp. 27–28. 43 He was also named Moorish knight at the same time. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1: 64.

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records for Toledo there is reference to one Mahomad de Toledo, the son of the master of works of the royal alcazares, who was working as one of the king’s engineers in 1465, but these records do not specify what sort of engineering work he carried out.44 Three Moorish knights were also employed because of their musical skills, and served the king both as members of his guard and at private entertainments. These men were the atabaleros (kettledrummers) Benito González de Granada and Juan de Medina, and the trumpeter of the Count of Arcos, Pero Gonçales de Marchena.45 Among the privileges still enjoyed by the royal army was that of the right to hospitality, a feature of the displacements of the royal mesnadas. The soldiers’ rights sometimes clashed with those of the towns and cities, which were becoming more and more powerful. In Zamarramala (Segovia), there was a conflict between the local inhabitants and the royal army as a result of an attempt to accommodate members of the Moorish guard in the town. Such problems reflected the contradictions that existed in Castilian society. Enrique IV had made important fiscal concessions to the city of Segovia, including an exemption from maintaining the court when it was in the city, because of the elevated costs this implied for inhabitants of Segovia and its neighbouring villages. The episode probably took place during a winter truce in the civil war of 1467, at a time when there was a general lack of foodstuff in the area where the king’s troops were quartered. Propaganda directed against Enrique used the incident to discredit the monarch’s personal guard, branded “cruel Saracens” and criminals. On the contrary, a version by another chronicler loyal to the king refutes this interpretation and presents the conflict as a struggle with social overtones. In this view, the reaction of the town would have occurred regardless of whether the king’s guard had been Moorish or not, but we will never know to what extent the entry of these troops, dressed in Moorish clothing, may have provoked the violence of the local populace.46 The recruitment of Moorish knights started as a frontier phenomenon. Granada provided the royal army with numbers of jinetes throughout the entire existence of this institution, but then so did the other towns of the kingdom. It is difficult to judge how far the patronymics used as surnames

44

AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 4: 89. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1: 23, 40, 52 and 59. 46 Alonso de Palencia, Crónica de Enrique IV, vol. I, p. 192 criticises the king, whereas the Crónica anónima de Enrique IV de Castilla (1454–1474) is less negative. J. J. Echagüe Burgos, La Corona y Segovia en tiempos de Enrique IV, pp. 54, 81–83. 45

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reflected the place of origin or stable residence of these men, since in the 15th century an onomastic family system of surnames was not yet clearly established, but with some precaution these names can still be revealing. It is common to find a patronymic indicating origin in the first generation, while the second generation adopts the name of the city where the family had settled, or on occasions the surnames of the maternal line. In other cases, patronymics no longer referred to any town or city, but had become proper surnames.47 The approach we have carried out to the origins of the knights allows us to draw up a near-perfect map of the royal towns and cities of the kingdom of Castile. A deliberate policy of recruitment by the crown, aimed at gathering loyal Mudejar forces in the royal dominions, can only be assumed from the second quarter of the century onwards, when the numbers of men joining the guard ceased to be related to the movement of troops during campaigning in Andalusia, and there was a turn towards training a corps of soldiers loyal to Juan II and his constable, Álvaro de Luna. The incorporation of knights during the reign of Enrique IV was more regular and dominated by the hereditary transmission of posts and the formation of a more stable corps of guards, which supports the theory of an incipient standing royal army. The fact that the immense majority of the knights were from royal towns and cities, or which sought to achieve such a status (e.g. Baena, which ardently defended the idea that it belonged to the king when threatened with being turned into a lordly manor) strengthens the hypothesis of a royal intent behind the recruitment of the knights. Unfortunately, no document exists which might prove that the concejos were in any way involved in such a policy. Transformations in weaponry during the 15th century were reflected in the equipment of the Moorish knights, just as Moorish fashions were highly fashionable at court. Above all, this influenced the functional role they were expected to play on the battlefield and close to the king. All of this conditioned the choice of a style of riding, a la jineta, and of attire and weapons apt for light cavalry.48 The rider a la jineta used a lighter saddle than the traditional rider in any of the styles and used short stirrups, which allowed riders to bend their legs on either side of the horse, improving the mobility of their arms and making it easier to handle their weapons comfortably. Increasing the speed of the knight, who needed defensive equipment that

47

A. Echevarría, “La guardia morisca”, pp. 59–61, 74. J. P. Digard, “El caballo y la equitación entre Oriente y América. Difusión y síntesis” in Al-Andalus allende el Atlántico, Granada, 1997, pp. 236–240. 48

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was less heavy, favoured the usual tactic of the Islamic riders, i.e. the rapid attack or tornafuye, which was very successful during frontier raids, as well as being ideal for hunting expeditions. Not only the king and his guard, but also the nobles, when they rode a la jineta, dressed “a la morisca” with capellar (Moorish cloak), turban, marlota y borceguíes (Moorish smock and stockings), and were armed with light swords and lances. Part of the guard’s equipment became the object of important trading activity with the sultanate of Granada. The war needs of the Nasrids had caused a boom in the artisan industries producing iron and embossed leather. This was especially true of those which specialised in the production of arms (swords, daggers and lances), coats of mail, stirrups, saddles and shields, all of which were profusely adorned with precious stones, enamels, damascene and velvet. The arms manufactured in the royal workshops of Granada were used by the sultans and their armies, but were also highly valued by the Castilian nobility and royalty, who purchased these goods at steep prices or received them as diplomatic gifts.49 Castilian workshops gradually began to specialise in making items in the same style, and developed the ability to supply them to the court at a lower cost. The monarch’s need to arm his guard meant that Enrique IV spent large amounts of the royal household’s budget on the purchase of this type of items for his Moorish knights, in whose clothing he clearly delighted. A knight’s equipment consisted of Moorish spurs, a sword, a lance and a shield in red and green colours. The jineta sword, following the model of those presented to Juan II and the infante Enrique, Master of Santiago, in 1409, was narrower and shorter than the traditional Castilian weapon, but with a hilt that was both heavier, making the weapon easier to handle, and shorter, so that the warrior’s hand could rest against it when finishing off the blow. The pommel could be flat or rounded.50 The circular shield, introduced into the Iberian peninsula by the Zanata Berbers, was better than its Christian equivalent because of its flexibility, being made entirely of leather and without a wooden frame. If the material used in its construction was a cattle hide, such a shield was called an adarga vacarí, or daragas vasenas, a term often

49 The main manufacturing centres were Granada, Málaga and Almería, with secondary centres like Mondújar, Bentarique and Bérchules. C. Torres Delgado, “Aspectos generales de la población, las ciudades y la economía” in El reino nazarí de Granada, vol. VIII.3, p. 547. For the armaments as such, see M. J. Viguera, “El ejército” in ibidem, pp. 441–445. 50 R. Arié, “Sociedad y organización guerrera en la Granada nasrí” in La incorporación de Granada a la corona de Castilla, p. 182. See L. Galíndez, Crónica de Juan II, p. 313.

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used in the records. The Moorish guard carried shields that were lined with red cloth, and adorned with a round metal cap from which hung silk laces of the same colour.51

The Moorish guard as a court institution The choice of a certain person for a post as close to the king as that of one of his personal guards was necessarily couched in terms of “a personal and quasi-familiar nature, or of loyalty or commendation”.52 Positions in the king’s household and court required the monarch’s personal trust, especially at times of crisis such as occurred regularly throughout most of the 15th century. The Moorish guard entered into the category of offices of the king’s household and court mentioned in the Partida II, 9, 1: those of the Poridad, who guarded and maintained the king’s person, and protected and defended the land. As such, the guard had to be regulated by the same norms as other posts in the king’s immediate circle. After the Cortes of Toro of 1371, a more detailed classification was proposed which included more specifically late medieval posts like the royal huntsmen and crossbowmen. According to García Martín, several factors determined the capacity to occupy public posts: among the physical factors, the most important ones were age, sex, and the absence of illnesses; the moral requirements included values, religion, and economic and social factors.53 Of all these elements, the three which I would like to emphasise in particular are, in the following order, religion, age and social condition.

51 “El dicho dia [6. 12. 1462] en Agreda, pago mas por mi mandado a Gomes de Mena joyero, vesino de Segovia, por çinco daragas vasenas a dosientos e sesenta maravedíes por cada una, en que monto mill e tresientos maravedíes, de las quales fise luego merçed a Hamete, alamin e alcayde de Alixir, e a Mahomad de Talavera, e a Juan de Ximena, e a Pedro de Antequera, cavalleros moriscos que andan en la mi guarda con el dicho Garçia de Jahén mi capitan, e mas pago por el lienço colorado e cordones de seda que puso en las dichas daragas tresientos e veynte e çinco maravedíes, que son todos mill e seysçientos e veynte e çinco maravedíes. 1.625 maravedíes.” AGS, Casas y Sitios Reales, f. 307 v. The description matches that in R. Arié, “Sociedad y organización guerrera”, p. 183, and A. Soler del Campo, La evolución del armamento medieval en el reino castellano-leonés y al-Andalus (siglos XII–XIV), Madrid, 1993, pp. 89–92. 52 A. García Gallo, “Cuestiones y problemas de la historia de la Administración española” in Actas del I Symposium de Historia de la Administración, Madrid, 1971, p. 51. 53 J. M. García Marín, El oficio público en Castilla durante la Baja Edad Media, Seville, 1974, pp. 180–197.

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In principle, in order to hold a post in the royal household, both the Espéculo and the Partidas required the office-holder to be a Christian.54 As applied to Muslims, this prohibition affected municipal and royal alarifes as well as the masters of works, the numerous corredores de concejo and the Moorish guard, posts to which there are a large number of references in the records. That there was widespread failure to comply with this norm in both royal and municipal offices has been amply demonstrated, making it unnecessary to insist further on this point.55 It was not, therefore, strictly necessary for the Moorish knights to convert in order to occupy their posts, but such a tendency can in fact be seen in the surviving documentation. In the first place, there were the conversions of the knights who changed sides during the Castilian campaigns in Andalusia. Later, many of the knights who had not converted immediately were to do so more gradually, as their situation in Castile became more stable. As far as age is concerned, the required minimum varied between fourteen and twenty-five years old. The first generation of Moorish knights entered service when they were very young, judging by the career of Fernando Ortiz, who after forty-seven years of service was the oldest of the knights in 1455. Another case was that of Juan de Antequera, whose name first appears in 1421, with a ración that was renewed by the king (i.e. he had already served the king before) and who died in about 1446, after a career that lasted at least twenty-five years. As the posts started to become hereditary, the age of their occupants sometimes fell even further, as occurred in the case of Alfonso Vélez, the son of García de Jaén.56 There must have been a training period in the king’s household, as there was for the sons of the noblemen, but no trace of it has survived. Those knights who wished to convert may also have been initiated in the Catholic faith during such a period. The third main factor, the social background of the Moorish knights, turns out to be as diverse as that of their origin. As we have seen, firstly there were the Mudejars from the Mudejar communities or aljamas of Castile. A second group was made up of knights who were “Moors from the kingdom of Granada and other places”.57 This group must have included men from 54 Espéculo, IV, 2, 1 and Partidas VII, 24, 3. For this limitation and its exceptions, especially those concerning Jews, see J. M. García Marín, El oficio público en Castilla, pp. 188–189. 55 A. Echevarría, “Política y religión frente al Islam: la evolución de la legislación sobre musulmanes en el siglo XV”, Qurtuba, 4, 1999, pp. 45–72. 56 Fernando Ortiz: AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 3: 123r–v. Juan de Antequera: leg. 1: 20 and 70. Alfonso Vélez: leg. 2: 187–188. 57 The Sentencia of Medina del Campo, II, is in Memorias de don Enrique IV de Castilla, tomo II, Madrid, 1835–1913, p. 365.

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Morocco and elches who reconverted to Christianity. Some of them, according to the Sentencia, were former Moorish slaves of the king of Castile. Finally, a number of the knights were servants of leading figures at court, such as the bishop Juan de Acuña, Álvaro de Luna or Alonso Pérez de Vivero, whose dealings with the king I will try to explain later. All this diversity explains why some of the knights were Muslims and others were converts, and it is the reason why the institution is in some sources described as the “guardia de moros y moriscos” (“guard of Moors and Moriscos”). No specific references have been found to the possible Moorish slaves of the king, who seem to have been a completely separate group from the Moorish knights. All those members of the guard whose origins are traceable belonged to privileged social groups: as has been mentioned, the elches had been members of the sultan’s elite guard;58 several knights were sons of Muslim alcaides, such as Pedro, the son of the alcaide Farax, Fernán Álvarez de Guadix and Juan Álvarez de Medina, sons of Homar Saraiquel, alcaide of Guadix, or Juan, son of the alcaide Ali;59 others were North African knights related to the Banu Marin;60 there were also princes of the house of the Nasrids who had fled from the difficult circumstances of the Granadan kingdom, such as Abenámar.61 Farax de Belvis came from an illustrious elite Mudejar family with alcaldes of aljamas and cadis among its members,62 and Juan de Tarifa (Alí Barramoní) was from an important family of Valencian traders and had been an emissary of the Nasrid Yusuf III to Christian courts before his conversion to Christianity.63 Even the captives of Jaén released by Enrique IV in 1464 must have been prisoners of a certain category, since it was expected that they would serve to rescue Christian captives, and their custodians repeatedly begged the king not to redeem them for a lower price than that which they hoped to obtain.64 58

AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1: 17 and 21; leg. 3: 157–158; leg. 4: 297–298. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1: 18, 21 and 27; leg. 3: 603; leg. 4: 297–298. 60 Gomes de Valladolid, son of Gonzalo Alfonso de Benavente, cousin of the king of Benimerin, AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1: 39. 61 AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1: 44. 62 AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1: 50. 63 AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1: 53. R. Salicrú, El sultanat de Granada, pp. 58–61. 64 “El rey don Enrrique estando en Jaen se concordo con los moros con muy poca cosa que le fue dada, e como ya ninguna cossa temiesse de hazer que le pluguiesse, deseoso de la conpañia de los moros, rescato por poco preçio los moros mançebos cativos que en Jaen estavan en poder de algunas biudas e personas miserables que los tenian, para rescatar algunos fijos e parientes que los moros tenian cativos; ni por suplicaçiones ni por otra cossa el rey no dexo de los delibrar. A los quales mando dar cavallos e armas e vestir muy ricamente dando a cada uno dellos tanto sueldo que a los cristianos, y estos, que fueron veynte e çinco, ayunto a la muchedumbre de los otros que en su conpañia traya, no acordandosse del casso en Sevilla 59

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The ceremony of joining the guard must have occurred, like all other royal appointments, after the swearing of an oath, with the newcomer normally on his knees and with his hands held between those of the king. The oath reproduced the formula of the oath of vassalage, with the variations laid out in the Espéculo V, XI, 16–17, the Ordenamiento of the Cortes of Jerez of 1268 and the Leyes de moros for non-Christian officials.65 The oath included a promise to carry out “bien y lealmente”(efficiently and loyally) the duties conferred, and made reference to the duties of the post, the main duty in this case being that of defending the king’s person. A promise was also made to uphold the laws of the kingdom, respect the rights of its subjects, and fulfil a series of obligations towards the king contained in the Partida II, 9, 26: . . . que guardara cada una destas siete cosas. La una, la vida e salud del rey. La segunda, que guardara, por quantas partes pudiere, la su honrra e la su pro. La tercera, que segund su seso, que le dara buen consejo, e leal en todas las cosas quel ge lo demandare. La quarta, que le guardara bien su paridad, también de dicho. La quinta, que guardaran las cosas, que con el han de debdo, o pertenescen a su señorio. La sexta, que obedesceran su mandamiento en todas las cosas, quier gelo mande, por palabra o por carta, o por mandadero. La setena que fagan cada uno dellos su oficio bien e lealmente que por ninguna cosa que le pueda venir de bien ni de mal no fagan cosa contra esta iura si no que ayan la yra de Dios e del sennor a quien iurar deue. E despues que desta guisa ouieren iurado deuen envestir a cada uno de su oficio dando a cada vno alguna cosa sennalada de aquellas que mas le pertenescen por razon. [. . . he must guard each of these seven things. Firstly, the life and health of the king. Second, he must guard, whenever he can, his honour and his advantage. Third, he will give good advice in accordance with his abilities, and be loyal in all things that are asked of him. Fourth, he will guard well his Poridad, in word as well as in deed. Fifth, they will guard those things lent to them or which belong to his lordship. Sixth, they will obey his commands in all things, whatever is commanded, by word of mouth or in writing, or by means of a messenger. Seven, each of them must carry out their post efficiently and loyally and by reason of nothing that may occur, either good or bad, do anything to contradict the terms of this oath, and if not may the wrath of God and the lord to whom they have made that oath fall upon them. And when they have sworn the oath in this manner each should be invested in his post, and each of them given some outstanding gift of the kind most appropriate to them.]

acaecido, ni de la maravillossa señal que apareció en Extremadura, donde naçio una niña con barvas e dientes e muelas.” Crónica anónima de Enrique IV de Castilla, p. 139. 65 R. Pérez Bustamante, “El juramento de los oficiales del reino de Castilla, 1252–1474”, Moneda y crédito 129 (1974), pp. 215–217. The reference to the Leyes nuevas de moros is in Códigos españoles VI, Madrid, 1849, p. 226, law 29.

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Failure to comply with the terms of the sworn oath could lead to punishments of a spiritual or penal nature—offenders were seen as infamous perjurers, with all the attendant consequences—as well as the loss of the post and of royal favour, together with a possible economic fine. Once the oath had been made, a knight could be invested and begin to receive payment.66 Variations in the needs of the court meant that not all the Moorish knights were required at once: on the pay roll of Juan de Tordesillas there were only about twenty-five knights attending the king at the court of Segovia in 1462.67 For this reason, the knights sometimes spent periods of time in their places of residence, without this affecting the fulfilment of their duties.68 When the court moved from one town or city to another, a small number of men such as that mentioned in the case of Segovia seems to have been deemed appropriate to accompany the king, with these men travelling together with the other corps of guards already listed. On the other hand, all members of the guard, i.e. more than one hundred men, were called upon for the military campaigns in Granada. Irregularities in the knights’ payments (which are dealt with later) made it necessary for them to be maintained at the court’s expense when they were attendant, and could also explain why they possessed lands in their places of origin. The issue of the possession of more than one house is reflected in one of the legal conditions affecting the knights of the king’s household: Leys del titulo cuarto de la tercera Partida: Cómo los cavalleros que estovieren en frontera o anduviesen en palacio continuamente en servicio del rey non pueden ser personeros por otros. Cavalleros asoldadados que estoviesen en servicio del rey o de otros sus señores en frontera o en otro lugar, non puede ninguno dellos ser personero por otro en juizio en todo el tiempo que estovieren por mandado de sus señores en algún lugar do los mandasen ser, fueras ende si oviese alguno dellos a ser sobre cosas que perteneciesen a toda aquella cavalleria. Empero, después que se partiesen de aquel lugar do fuesen puestos e se fuesen para sus casas, o morando i bien podría ser cada cavallero personero por otro, si quisiesen ellos. Y eso mesmo

66 J. M. García Marín, El oficio público en Castilla, pp. 226–227; D. Torres Sanz, La administración central castellana, p. 67. 67 M. A. Ladero Quesada, “1462: un año en la vida de Enrique IV”, p. 263. 68 A different view is taken by J. E. López de Coca, “Caballeros moriscos al servicio de Juan II y Enrique IV”, p. 122, citing, among others, J. Rodríguez Molina, “Mudéjares agricultores en Jaén. Siglo XV”, Actas del IV Simposio Internacional de Mudejarismo. Economía, Teruel, 1992, p. 531. The Moorish knight Antón de Ximena—who, incidentally, does not feature in our list of Moorish raciones—possessed olive groves rented from the cabildo of the cathedral in La Bastida and other lands for the cultivation of crops, although he probably did not supervise them personally.

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chapter three pueden todos los otros que morasen en sus casas que non estoviesen señaladamente en servicio de su señor, así como desuso dicho es. Y esto es defendido por que non se embargue el oficio del señor por razón de tales personerías; otrosí, por que non estorvasen a los otros metiéndoles en costa por razón del poderío e de la conocencia que han con los de la corte.”69 [Laws of the fourth section of the third Partida: How knights who are deployed on the frontier or at the palace in the king’s continual service cannot be represented at court by others. None of the warring knights in the service of the king or others of his lords on the frontier or in any other place can represent another at court (in trial) in all the time that they are commanded by their lords to be in some place, unless any one of them has to testify concerning issues relating to the entire cavalry guard. However, once they have left that place where they are stationed and go home, each knight may represent another, if he so desires. And likewise, all those who remain in their homes, not being in their lord’s service [may be represented by another], as has been said. And this shall be so in order that the lord’s post not be embargoed by reason of such representations; and moreover, that they shall not trouble the others by making them go to great lengths by reason of the power and knowledge they have of those at court.]

Given the increasingly patrimonial tendency of the Castilian administration during the 15th century, it would be unusual if the Moorish knights were not a part of this process, and the records do indeed show how their posts passed from fathers to sons, especially in the second phase of the Moorish guard during the reign of Enrique IV. As has been shown by García Vera and Castrillo with reference to another social group, the nobles, one of the most interesting issues is that of discovering in what manner the different individuals came by the posts which they would later privatise and pass on to their sons, for although these posts were often awarded as the culmination of a long career, in many cases they were granted as a prize or recompense for certain services to the Crown, and on occasions were even used to purchase the loyalty of some noblemen.70

Two different procedures existed for ensuring the inheritance of posts as Moorish knights: their adjudication to sons of members of the guard in order to replace dead knights or those who had fled, and a true hereditary transmission of rights as a result of the father’s death or renunciation.71 At

69

Alonso de Cartagena, Doctrinal de los caballeros, p. 285. M. J. García Vera and M. C. Castrillo Lamas, “Nobleza y poder militar en Castilla a fines de la Edad Media”, Medievalismo 3 (1993), p. 20. 71 J. E. López de Coca, “Caballeros moriscos”, pp. 132–136 contains a table listing the different types of benefits granted to these knights, making it unnecessary to repeat that information here. 70

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all events, hereditary transmission became the most common practice after 1434, and even more common from 1443 onwards, until it became almost the only form of recruitment of Moorish knights during the reign of Enrique IV. The records provide data on four complete families, thirteen inheritances from father to son of posts in the guard, two cases of Moorish knights who were sons of fathers with a post close to the king but not actually members of the guard, and four in which the father’s post is not explained. One of the privileges of a position as member of the king’s household was that of official protection in the exercise of the post, i.e. the royal Chancillería became the only body able to pass sentence in a trial in which one of its members was involved.72 This prerogative affected the Moorish guard on several occasions, and went some way towards creating the image of Enrique IV as an Islamophile. The most striking cases were those in which knights had been involved in a disturbance of some kind, such as the Zamarramala incident or the rapture of a young Christian girl by the Moor Mofarras.73 But there were a number of other, more routine legal cases, such as those which dealt with the transmission of posts in the guard as a result of death or renunciation. Renunciation as a way of transmitting a post—normally from father to son—was a common procedure in the second half of the 15th century. Such a renunciation by one of the knights had to be authorised by the king, had a gratuitous character and had to be justified in some way. It also had to be made in presence of the man who would benefit from it. The system was influenced by that used in the transmission of ecclesiastical offices, where pacted agreements were forbidden, although in the secular system speculation in the conveyance of posts tended to be hidden, as becomes obvious from the lawsuits that appear in the records.74 These were complaints made to the king by the veteran knights Fernando Ortiz and Gonzalo Sánchez de Llerena.75 In both cases, the influential fathers of two Moorish knights had managed to achieve raciones for their sons by claiming the deaths of Ortiz and Sánchez de Llerena, the initial office-holders. These two knights were Juan de Tarifa, who made the claim for his son of the same name, and García Ramírez de Jaén on behalf of his son Alfonso Vélez. However,

72

D. Torres Sanz, La administración central castellana, p. 69. Diego de Valera, Memorial de diversas hazañas, pp. 10–11. 74 F. Tomás y Valiente, “Origen bajomedieval de la patrimonialización y enajenación de oficios públicos en Castilla”, Actas del I Symposium de Historia de la Administración, Madrid, 1971, pp. 133, 157. Cf. J. M. García Marín, El oficio público en Castilla, pp. 147–149. 75 Fernando Ortiz: AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1: 51; leg. 3: 123. Gonzalo Sánchez de Llerena: AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 2: 187–188; leg. 3: 393. 73

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neither of these deaths had actually occurred. Fernando Ortiz was therefore returned his ración. Gonzalo Sánchez, on the other hand, after having his allowance recognised and returned to him, was later forced to renounce it, presumably because of pressure brought to bear on him by García Ramírez de Jaén, in favour of his own son: Despues de lo qual por parte del dicho Alfonso Veles fue mostrada una renunçaçion del dicho Gonçalo Sanches del Herena fyrmada de su nombre e sygnada de escrivano publico e sennalada de los contadores mayores del dicho sennor rey por la qual se contiene quel dicho Gonçalo Sanches renunçio esta raçion en el dicho Alfonso Veles por cargos que del tenya por que despues que asy asentada por vacuaçion se fallo ser byvo e el de su propia volundat gela renunçio e traspaso segund que mas largamente se contiene en la dicha renunçaçion de que esta su traslado en el libro de los traslados.76 [After which on behalf of the said Alfonso Veles there was shown a renunciation of the said Gonçalo Sanches del Herena signed in his name and signed by the notary public and recognised by the accountants of the said lord our king in which it is said that the said Gonçalo Sanches renounced this allowance in favour of the said Alfonso Veles because of charges brought against him because after the post was adjudicated to him having deemed to have fallen vacant he was found to be alive and he renounced it of his own free will and it was transferred in terms explained at greater length in the said renunciation, which is to be found in the book of transfers.]

It is in fact highly doubtful that this decision was made freely, but the nature of the transfer required such wording to be used. However, not all renunciations were made in such an irregular fashion, and in the fund for Moorish raciones only 15% of transfers were carried out in this way. 25% of these operations were from fathers to sons or between close relatives. All of these occurred after the year 1431 (see Table 2). If we take into account the fact that the transmission of offices because of the death of a knight accounted for 43% of the total, and all occurred after 1417, it is clear that there was a process of consolidation of this corps of guards as a stable royal institution, with its own procedures for filling vacant posts.77 Specialised men were selected for each post, as in 1449, when the deceased Alfonso García was replaced by another kettledrummer, Juan de Medina, “the son of maestre Juan, a servant of the master of Santiago”.78

76

Footnote to the document AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 3: 393. The rest of the transfers, which are dealt with in other parts of this study, were either due to knights fleeing to Granada or other places, to their switching of allegiance to the forces of Juan of Navarre, or to other unspecified motives. 78 AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1: 52. 77

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Table 2 Hereditary transmission of posts as Moorish knights Due to death Of any knight Of a relative Total

Due to renunciation 43 3 46

Of any knight Of a relative

12 4 16

The patrimonial tendency reached its apogee in the case of Juan de Tarifa, who not only took charge of the delivery of letters and collection of the raciones pertaining to his sons, but was also able to recover the incomes he renounced in favour of his sons if they died before him, exactly as if these incomes were noble titles. His sons also had the right to receive his ración if he should die first.79 This special treatment of one of the most important knights in the guard can only be understood in the light of his political role during the reigns of Juan II and Enrique IV. Another widely employed procedure in the Castilian administration which may have been used in the Moorish guard was the employment of the figure of vassals of the king in the maintenance of a reserve body of personal guards. This allowed a number of men who did not wish to or who could not remain in the king’s service to be maintained on standby without the need to enrol them. The jinetes thus employed received a quarter-salary, the rest of the money being used to augment payments made to other knights, but such men were required to heed the king’s call whenever they might be needed. This system also contributed towards guaranteeing the existence of a group of qualified warriors, as well as allowing some sons to inherit their fathers’ posts. An applicant for a place in the reserve guard was introduced by the captain of the unit, former companions or some other person with influence at court.80

Salaries and gifts Payments of a military nature made by the king’s household (salaries, stipends, lands, occupation licences, payments and transfers to castles) were made to troops wherever they happened to be, through treasurers and paymasters 79

AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1: 51. R. Quatrefages, La revolución militar, p. 41. For an example of the new salary system, see AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1: 25. 80

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who were generally located outside the court. For this reason, the books kept by private tax officials, such as the accounts books of Pedro Ortiz, alcabalero mayor of Seville, for the year 1420, and the expense books of the king’s chamber such as that of Juan de Tordesillas,81 assistant at the royal chamber to Enrique IV, for 1462, are fundamental sources of information on the kinds of payments made. In addition, the royal Chancillería kept registers of the salaries (termed quitaciones or raciones) of staff of the royal household, made by the contadores mayores or royal accountants, and which continued to be made throughout his reign. In the case of the Moorish guard, salaries were registered in two provisions books of the royal chamber, under the heading “raciones moriscas”. These books recorded the incomes paid out to the individuals registered in them for diverse concepts, to be paid by the royal treasury.82 Whenever a new king was crowned, all those who had worked for his predecessor in the royal household were confirmed in their posts. It was at that time that all the information contained in the books was updated and registered, which explains why the Moorish raciones formed two books from the beginning of the reign of Enrique IV, which were later broken up. • The first book corresponds to the year 1455, and reflects the provisions made to all those knights who had received their offices from Juan II and who now sought confirmation by Enrique IV. The confirmations and the first payment order cover only the period between 1455 and 1457. • The second book, of which only a few odd pages have survived, corresponds to the year 1456, and contains payment orders for raciones until 1466, the year in which, as we will see, the guard seems to have been dissolved, all references to it in the royal Chancillería disappearing after that date. The headings of the payment orders (or provisions as such) are identical to those in the previous book. The name of Moorish raciones comes from the type of payment made to guards: a ración was a daily allowance, paid out for posts in some way relating to the king. This type of payment seems to have been seen as a sort of 81 The first of these books is in the Biblioteca Colombina of Seville, and has been edited by M. A. Vilaplana, “Un ajuste de cuentas del alcabalero mayor de Sevilla Pedro Ortiz (1420)”, HID, I (1974), pp. 419–501. The second is in the AGS, Casas y Sitios Reales, leg. 97, 199–317. See M. A. Ladero, “1462: Un año en la vida de Enrique IV, rey de Castilla”, En la España medieval 14 (1991), pp. 237–274 and “La casa real en la Baja Edad Media”, HID, 25 (1998), p. 349. 82 L. Suárez Fernández, “Un libro de asientos de Juan II”, Hispania, XVII (1957), p. 324.

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daily maintenance for the official, a payment for continuous and current services within the king’s household. This is the reason why these payments had to be made by the accountants of the royal chamber, which confirms the need to keep an accounts book at court.83 Moorish raciones occupied a specific place within the salaries of the royal household. Unlike other accounts books, which were kept according to territorial criteria, these records have an entity of their own. To begin with, they do not contain purely local references but records for individuals from the entire Granadan frontier region and several Castilian towns and cities. To these were added the names of a series of Muslims who were passing through the court and who had to be maintained because of their rank and the diplomatic services they had performed for the crown. Neither were these knights always paid in the same places. Given that they had to accompany the king on his travels, of which there were many in the first half of the 15th century, it is logical that they should figure in the books which the notaries of the king’s chamber carried with them at all times.84 Other figures close to the king can be found on the list of Moorish raciones together with the knights themselves, despite the fact that they were not members of the guard. Such figures include a tailor and several masters of works of the royal alcázares. Over time, raciones came to be paid out once a year, like quitaciones, and from that period onwards payments were made in the different places where collection of royal incomes was carried out: among them, Seville, Toledo, Cordoba, Cartagena or Galicia.85 The procedure for the payment of incomes can be explained as follows: in 1423, Juan II ordered that all favours which had not been recorded in the chamber books before that date should be duly recorded, i.e. that beneficiaries had to present the royal charter granting them a salary, so that it could be seen by the notaries, who would register it in their chamber books on payment of a tax. Those which were made from that date on and not recorded would be deemed worthless.86 Once the royal albalá or charter had been registered, the Moorish knights could be paid at court, until 1442, when the raciones were re-organised and responsibility for their payment was spread among 83 L. Suárez Fernández, “Un libro de asientos de Juan II”, p. 324; D. Torres Sanz, La administración central, p. 68; M. A. Ladero, La Hacienda Real de Castilla en el siglo XV, La Laguna, 1973, p. 53. 84 There is, however, a reference in AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 4: 88 to a moment at which the maintenance books were not held at court. 85 For the Jewish tax contractors, see M. A. Ladero, “Los judíos castellanos del siglo XV en el arrendamiento de impuestos reales”, Cuadernos de historia, 6 (1975), pp. 417–439. 86 Cedule granted in Madrid, 21–12–1423, AGS, Cámara de Castilla, Diversos, leg. 3: 18.

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the various tax officials of the kingdom.87 The registrars of the Chancillería had to sign both the register and the charters or letters, and charged either 100 or 200 maravedis for each registry.88 Such a system would have meant that the knights had to travel whenever they wanted to be paid their raciones, and this is something which they almost certainly would not have been able to do if they were on the king’s active service. The root of the problem seems to have been that there were not enough local tax officials to whom the libranzas or payment orders in favour of individuals living in their area could be sent. For this reason, there was a series of documents authorising a third person to receive payment of a ración on behalf of the title-holder of the post. Authorisation was sometimes granted to a member of the family, who on occasions travelled to receive several incomes at once, as was the case of Juan de Tarifa.89 The salaries came from those places where the product of the incomes and tributes belonging to the king was paid in, but there was no centrally unified system of a single cash register which served for all. Generally, attempts were made to carry out the payments in the nearest possible town, but because of the greater available liquidity in Seville as a result of the almojarifazgo and tax payments made into the royal treasury there, it was in that city where the greatest number of payments was made. Seville was followed in this list by Galicia and Toledo (see Table 3).90 In 1440 there was another administrative re-adjustment. This resulted from the crown’s financial difficulties and also affected the Moorish knights.91 From this date onwards, the salary usually paid to a knight fell to 3,600

87

The problem existed here that the accounts books were sometimes not held at court, as the accountant had not travelled with them. See appendix, doc. 99, AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1: 33, 35, 59, 61, 62, 66. 88 The sum of three maravedís which was charged during the times of Sancho IV had risen to one or two hundred by the reign of Enrique II. See M. Arribas Arranz, “Los registros de cancillería de Castilla”, BRAH (1968), pp. 178–179. 89 The phrase which always appears in the records is “He carried the letter himself ” or “The letter was carried by Juan de Tarifa, his father”. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1: 43, 51, 53 and 70. 90 This system was also the cause of complaints in the Cortes, e.g. in the Cortes of Valladolid of 1451. Cf. J. M. García Marín, El oficio público en Castilla, p. 272. The study of this tax during the 15th century is M. A. Ladero, La Hacienda Real, pp. 54, 141–146. 91 Juan II ordered the contadores mayores, mayordomos, contador de la despensa and raciones of the royal household not to pay or record any payment of maravedís etc which corresponded to the vacancies incorporated into the crown. There was a re-assessment of royal gifts and payments in an effort to reduce expenses and for that reason the number of payment orders fell by a third. In addition, the following year Juan II ordered no lifetime awards to be made except by royal order. Letter of 25 October 1440, AGA, Cámara de Castilla, Diversos, leg. 3: 78; Ordinance of Toledo, 20 September 1441. AGA Cámara de Castilla, Diversos, leg. 4: 17. Cf. M. A. Ladero, La Hacienda Real, p. 47.

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Table 3 Taxes, fiscal agents and payment of salaries (by kingdoms and in chronological order) Tax and place of payment

KINGDOM OF GALICIA Diezmos and alfolíes of Galicia Archbishopric of Santiago and/or Tuy KINGDOMS OF CASTILE AND TOLEDO Partido of the city of Toledo (alfolí ) Merindad of Burgos Partido of Huete Arcedianazgo of Toledo Alhóndiga Arcedianazgo of Madrid

Bishopric of Coria and Cáceres Bishopric of Badajoz Bishopric of Segovia (alcabalas and tercias) Bishopric of Osma Bishopric of Plasencia

Fiscal agent

Alfonso García de Madrid

Years

Number of Embargoes payments made

1455 1455, 1457–59

26 1

8

1455 1459–60, 1462 1459 1455–56 1455 1455 1455 1456 1457

16

1

Juan García de Villadiego

Fraym Abenxuxen Juan González de Palencia Ruy González de Palencia Alfonso González de Herrera García Vida, treasurer Fernando Alfonso de la Cava Fernando López del Rincón Alfonso López de Valladolid Pedro García de Segovia Fernando Gutiérrez de Valladolid Fernando López de Burgos Juan Rodríguez de Toledo Juan Rodríguez de Toledo Fernando González de León Gonzalo Rodríguez del Río Alfonso Díaz de Villareal Fernando Sánchez de Segovia Alfonso García de Toledo Gómez Fernández de Toledo Ruy Fernández de Alcocer Ruy Díaz de Toledo Alfonso García de Villanueva Lope Sánchez de Buitrago

Partido of Cuenca Salinas of Atienza Servicio y medio servicio Servicio y medio servicio on livestock of the realm KINGDOM OF MURCIA Diezmos and aduanas of Cuenca and Cartagena Alfonso Gutiérrez de Écija Bishopric of Cartagena (alcabalas and tercias) Pedro de la Ciudad

5 2 1 1 4

1459 1462 1457–58 1455 1459–60

2 3

2

1458 1458 1461 1462 1463 1463 1455 1456 1457

1

2

1 1 1

1463

1

1

1455

12

9

1456

1

1 1

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Table 3 (cont.) Tax and place of payment

KINGDOM OF ANDALUSIA Almojarifazgo of Seville • one twelfth • two ninths • two twelfths • five twelfths • one sixth • one eighth Partido de Écija (half ) Bishopric of Jaén Partido of Jerez de la Frontera • one third Partido on oil in Seville • two thirds • one sixth • one quarter Partido on timber in Seville • one sixth Alhóndiga of Seville Bishopric of Córdoba (alcabalas and tercias) Almojarifazgo of Córdoba Order of Santiago

Fiscal agent

Diego Fernández de Aguilar Alfonso Rodríguez de Baeza Ruy González de Sevilla Francisco Fernández de Sevilla Ruy González de Sevilla Gonzalo González de Sevilla García Viejo Fernando Núñez de Toledo Ruy González de Sevilla Fernando Núñez de Toledo Fernando Núñez de Toledo Fernando Núñez de Toledo Ruy González de Sevilla Fernando de León Gonzalo González de Jerez Ruy González de Sevilla Fernando de las Casas Francisco Fernández de Sevilla Gómez de Herrera Yuçaf Benveniste García Sánchez de Ciudad Gonzalo de Córdoba Sancho Sánchez de Córdoba Juan García de Larrea

Years

Number of Embargoes payments made

1458 1454 1455–59, 1464 1455–56, 1458 1458 1462–63 1455 1455

1 1 22 6 2 3 1 1

1456, 1462 1459, 1461–62

2 3

1456–57 1454 1455–57 1455–58 1460 1461 1460, 1462

1 1 10 5

1

1457, 1460 1455 1462

2 1 1

1

1455, 1461–62 1463 1465–66 1466 1460

4 1

3 3

23 7 2 5

2

1

Also mentioned as placing embargoes on incomes between 1463 and 1466, without mention of the city concerned: Pedro González de Bahamón, Gonzalo Rodríguez de Baeza, Pedro de Medina; Ruy Fernández de Jaén (1455).

maravedis, exactly one third less than the 5,400 maravedis previously earned. This salary is described in 1440 as “that which corresponds to the Moorish knights”.92 Furthermore, during the Cortes of Valladolid of 1445 a request was made to the king to suppress, or at least reduce, the amounts spent on clothing and maintenance by limiting awards of money for clothing to those officials who were with him throughout the whole year.93 However, a large

92 93

AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1: 34. J. M. García Marín, El oficio público en Castilla, p. 269.

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number of Moorish knights continued to earn raciones, paid in both money and cloth, probably by claiming that these raciones had been inherited from other knights. The financial difficulties of the royal treasury led to an increase in the number of unpaid raciones, plus a series of other irregularities. Bribery as a means of speeding up payment became common practice, as did the reduction of the ración by as much as 50% and failure to meet payment deadlines.94 Thus it was that the Moorish knights presented a petition to the Cortes of Valladolid in March 1447, asking to be paid their full raciones so that they could fulfil their duties in the proper manner. By this time, it seems that the contadores mayores were refusing to give money to knights’ proxies and demanding that those entitled to payment come to collect it personally. Credit agreements were no longer permitted either. According to the king, the tax officials were acting in this manner because of certain cases of fraud. After urging the contadores to make payments immediately, the monarch nonetheless ordered that the Moorish raciones which fell vacant should not be covered, instructing instead that they be consumed in the books, “salvo quando el tal cavallero morisco me fiziese algund serviçio señalado porque yo entienda que le deva proveer de qualquier rraçion que asy estoviere vacada” [except when the Moorish knight concerned has done some outstanding service for me and I understand that he should be given any ración that is vacant].95 Even so, the assignations that remained vacant and which the king re-awarded were to be equally divided between the royal treasury and the beneficiary until the end of his reign.96 That same year there was another complaint in Seville, when the Moorish knight Pero Sánchez de Carrión protested that he was being charged pechos concejiles (local tributes) that he was unable to pay, and asked the king to intervene.97 Shortly after the death of Álvaro de Luna, Juan II himself died and was succeeded by his son, Enrique IV (1454–1475). The lack of support within his own family and among the Castilian nobility led Enrique to look for new collaborators. His government began by ratifying his father’s functionaries 94

M. A. Ladero, La Hacienda Real, p. 55. Cortes de los antiguos reinos de Castilla y León, Madrid, 1866, vol. III, pp. 559–561. Cf. J. E. López de Coca, “Caballeros moriscos”, pp. 124–125. 96 M. A. Ladero, La Hacienda Real, p. 48. 97 AMS, Actas Capitulares (1447), f. 8, cit. A. Collantes de Terán, “La aljama mudéjar de Sevilla”, p. 150 and edited by J. E. López de Coca, “Caballeros moriscos”, p. 130. For their part, the municipalities had lodged complaints at the Cortes of Zamora of 1432, denouncing that some vassals, companions of knights and officials of the royal household had refused to pay taxes in the towns where they lived, alleging that they were exempt from such payments because of the offices they held, and that the king had backed the procuradores. Cortes de los antiguos reinos, vol. III, p. 151. 95

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in their posts, and went on to create new grandees of Spain among the lower nobility in an attempt to reduce the power of the high aristocracy. Within such a system he surrounded himself with new allies like his friends Juan Pacheco, the Marquis of Villena, Pacheco’s brother Pedro Girón, Miguel Lucas de Iranzo and Beltrán de la Cueva.98 Enrique’s coronation took place on 23 July 1454 in Valladolid, and his first appointments and confirmations were made between 1455 and 1457.99 The first administrative measures of the reign were important: to begin with, the nobles were allowed to earn their favours and payment orders for incomes of the crown collected in its domains. The decision was also taken to allow individuals accredited with royal favours and payment orders to act as contractors’ guarantors.100 These measures had an indirect effect on the entire working of the royal administration, because even the lowest posts in the royal household permitted the presentation of raciones as deposits, and this also affected the Moorish guard.101 Like his father, Enrique IV insisted that any privilege not recorded in the books was to be considered invalid.102 The procedures followed in his father’s reign remained in force, but after 1460 it can be seen that almost all the raciones were embargoed. As usual, there were cases of payment not made, placing the knights in difficult circumstances, as had occurred in 1447, and no doubt occurred again during the Granadan campaign at the start of the new reign.103 98 99 100

W. D. Phillips, Enrique IV, pp. 46–47. W. D. Phillips, Enrique IV, p. 47. M. A. Ladero, El siglo XV en Castilla. Fuentes de renta y política fiscal, Barcelona, 1982,

p. 83. 101 In many of the records there is a note in the left margin: “Tiene alvala para los dar en fiança” or “Entregados . . . por fiança”. See the already cited case of Juan de Tarifa, whose money was embargoed because he had himself been a guarantor: AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1: 53. 102 Cedule of Enrique IV, AGS, Cámara de Castilla, Diversos, leg. 3: 99. Furthermore, offices could not be granted and recorded until an oath had been sworn and an official homage had been made to the king, according to an albalá of Juan II, AGS, Cámara de Castilla, Diversos, leg. 4: 64. 103 This is suggested by Enrique IV’s letter to the archbishop of Toledo on 9 February 1464, written in Écija, ordering payments to be made to those serving on the Granadan frontier. AGS, Estado, Castilla, leg. 1–1, fol. 126. It is published in L. Suárez Fernández, Juan II y la frontera de Granada, Valladolid, 1954, p. 47, and explains the procedure reasonably well: “El rey. Muy reverendo en Christo padre, arçobispo amigo e muy amado marques e obispo amigo e Alvar Gomez, ya sabeis como quando de mi vos partisteis se libraron nominas en blanco para Juan de Tordesillas para pagar esa gente que en esa frontera esta en mi servicio el sueldo que se les deviese fasta en fin de deziembre. E porque agora yo he sabido que se quexan porque non son pagados, e que estan en nesçesydad de dinero, sy asy es dad orden como se finchan las nominas e sean pagados fasta en fin de diciembre, segund se contiene en las nominas, çerca de lo qual yo escrivo a Pedro Arias para que enbie a los pagadores para que fagan cuenta con ellos para que la cosa se despache, e asi mismo escrivo a Juan de Tordesyllas para que lo pague segund que de alla viniere lleno. Las nominas fueron en poder de Alvar Gomez. Despachese luego para que la gente no se quexe. De Eçija a 9 de febrero, año de

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Table 4 Annual salaries earned by Moorish knights 1455–1466 More than 7,200 maravedis 7,200 maravedis Between 5,400 and 7,200 maravedis 5,400 maravedis 4,320 maravedis 3,600 maravedis Less than 3,600 maravedis

8 10 4 25 35 71 4

All of this had a direct effect on the number of Moorish raciones. Table 4 shows the range of salaries earned by the knights between 1455 and 1466. Let us try to trace the evolution of these salaries and the reasons for their fluctuations, leaving to one side the values of the amounts of cloth granted to some of the knights. The knights who converted around the year 1408 received a daily ración of 12 maravedis (4,320 per year) and 12 varas (1 vara = approx. 80 cms.) of Ypres cloth, whereas in 1409–1410 the amount rose to 5,400 maravedis a year and 10 varas of cloth, i.e. the monetary rise slightly overcompensated the loss of two varas. From that year on, salaries oscillated between these two sums, until the application of the restrictive measures of 1440. Those men who received more than 5,400 maravedis were usually Granadans who found themselves in the kingdom of Castile as a result of some circumstance or other, and it can be deduced that they were granted larger sums than the rest because of their social status. Thus García Venegas, Abenámar, Pedro the son of the alcaide Farax and Juan, the son of the alcaide Alí, all received 7,200 maravedis per year. Other exceptions, because of their accumulation of incomes and privileges, were Juan de Tarifa and Juan Fernández de Aguilar and their families, but the records make it clear that they were given exceptionally favourable treatment because of the special services they had rendered the king or prince Enrique. There were only three other exceptions to this rule: Diego de Valladolid, the son of Pedro de Valladolid, who received his father’s ración; Pedro de Archidona, who received that of Miguel de San Vicente; and Pedro de Alcalá, who received the ración pertaining to Abenámar some time after the latter had left the kingdom. Careful study would have to be made of their cases

[14]64. E dese orden como se conformen los pagadores con los capitanes para juntamente lo paguen. A la honra de vosotros presto el rey. Por el rey al muy reverendo en Christo padre arzobispo de Toledo, su amigo, e al su muy amado marques de Villena e al obispo de Calahorra, su amigo, e Alvar Gomez, su secretario, e a los de su Consejo.”

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in order to decide whether these men also performed special services for the king, but bearing in mind the law of 1447 mentioned above, it seems likely that this may have occurred. With some exceptions, the rest of the salaries are roughly determined by the nature of the posts occupied by the knights in the guard (see Table 5). More specialised posts such as those of adalid or cannoneer commanded salaries that were equal to or slightly higher than those of the standard Moorish knights. Musicians received lower sums, no doubt because of the reduced hazard involved in their work. There was also a varied group of servants of several noblemen from within the circle of the monarch. These servants received differing amounts of money which probably depended on the nature of the services they performed. The raciones of the Moorish guard were not particularly high compared with those of other professions or posts, although López de Coca may have underestimated their importance,104 compared with those of other members of the king’s guard and his royal crossbowmen etc. For example, in the accounts books for Seville the Moorish knights feature as earning 15 maravedis a day, but the other knights who received pay owing to them from 1403 received only 50 maravedis per month, and the crossbowmen just 25. Later, in 1462, a Portuguese guard of the royal chamber earned 7,350 maravedis in various gifts,105 and within the Moorish raciones, the alcaide mayor de los moros and master of works of the fortresses earned 7,200 maravedís a year, the same as Juan de Tarifa,106—this was an amount that clearly reflects a recognition of the nature of their work. Outside the court, it is interesting to compare these salaries with those for other trades and posts during the same period. For example, the accountants of the chapter of the cathedral of Burgos earned no more than 1,000 maravedis a year in the period between 1454 and 1471; the notaries of the same cathedral chapter, in spite of the specialised nature of their work, received no more than 2,465 maravedis.107 Bearing in mind that some of the Moorish guards also enjoyed possession of properties in their places of origin,108 it can be

104 J. E. López de Coca, “Caballeros moriscos”, p. 124. The very same letter used by this author makes it clear that, in addition to their ración, the Moorish knights enjoyed a series of exemptions from pechos and other taxes, as did all those who received raciones from the king. This undoubtedly helped to improve their economic status. 105 M. A. Ladero, “1462: Un año en la vida de Enrique IV”, p. 268. 106 AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1: 51. 107 A. Mackay, Money, Prices and Politics, pp. 154–155. 108 J. E. López de Coca, “Caballeros moriscos”, p. 124 citing J. Rodríguez Molina, “Mudéjares agricultores en Jaén. Siglo XV”, IV ASIM: Economía, Teruel, 1992, p. 531.

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Table 5 Comparative salaries for posts within the Moorish guard Name

Post

Salary

Juan de Tarifa Antón Martínez Juan de Tarifa Fernando de Perea Juan Ramírez Alfonso Gutiérrez Ruy Fernández Maestre Benito Juan López Pero González de Marchena Juan de Medina Alfonso García Benito González

adalid adalides

7,920 maravedis 5,400 maravedis and varas of cloth

almocadén trumpeter kettledrummers

3,600 maravedis 3,600 maravedis 3,600 maravedis

kettledrummer

Diego de Jerez Several

bombardier knights (1408)

Several

knights (1409–10)

García Venegas Abenámar Juan Borça

Granadan knights

4,320 maravedis and 15 varas of cloth 3,600 maravedis 5,400 maravedis 4,320 maravedis and 12 varas of Ypres cloth 5,400 maravedis and 10 varas of cloth 7,200 maravedis

Farax de Belvis Çadala Pedro de Archidona Diego de Valladolid Juan de Granada

servant of a member of the Royal Council servant of a member of the Royal Council servant of a member of the Royal Council servant of a member of the Royal Council servant of a member of the Royal Council servant of a member of the Royal Council

5,400 maravedis 5,040 maravedis 3,600 maravedis 7,200 maravedis 3,280 maravedis 2,900 maravedis

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seen that they were far from being a dispossessed class of individuals, even if the unstable political situation during the 15th century came to affect them, as it affected everybody else. The presentation of varas of cloth as gifts when a Muslim converted is a custom that appears in the accounts of Pedro Ortiz, and which found its way into the raciones of the Moorish guard, as did references to the occasional presents which the king gave to some knights on particular feast days, or the gifts given to members of the Granadan royal family who happened to be visiting the Castilian court. The custom remained in place until the reign of the Catholic Kings, who gave gifts to the leading Granadan figures who converted to Christianity after the conquest of the city.109 This practice of gift-giving may have been related to orders instructing changes in the converts’ way of dressing which enabled them to integrate more completely in the new society. This became more popular as the century went on, but proved to be useless as an integrative measure and generated a passive resistance among the conversos which left its trace in the Inquisitorial records. Moreover, as we have seen, the Moorish guard kept its style of clothing “a la morisca” as a means of identification, so that the gifts of cloth to its members may just as easily have been intended to provide them with the means to dress in such a style. The amount of cloth given to members of the guard was normally about ten or twelve varas of Ypres cloth, although in some cases it was only five and in others went as high as twenty-four. The average market value of this cloth fell from 80 maravedis in 1446 to 60 in 1457, and the raciones were therefore increased by amounts that varied between 300 and 1,920 maravedis, depending on the number of varas of cloth and their price.110 Compared with cloth of Bruges, which cost 180 and 220 maravedis respectively in the same two years, and cloth of Courtrai, which cost 130 and 170,111 the investment was a modest one. Because of the record books of the diezmo de la mar of the kingdom of Galicia, these cloths are known to us as “paños de la mar”, defined there as “escarlatas e paños de Melines e Ypres e Brujas e Contrays

109 M. A. Ladero, Los mudéjares de Castilla en tiempo de Isabel I, Valladolid, 1969, pp. 284–292. The nature of these cloths has been studied by P. Iradiel, Evolución de la industria textil castellana en los siglos XIII–XVI, Salamanca, 1974, pp. 121–123, and T. Puñal Fernández, “El ordenamiento de precios y salarios”, pp. 284–289. 110 AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1: 42 and 70. 111 See A. Mackay, Money, Prices and Politics, p. 142. I have made a calculation of the average based on the records available, but there was variation in the prices, as is made clear in T. Puñal Fernández, “El ordenamiento de precios y salarios”, pp. 311–312, 315–316.

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e Eltrias, e Bernis, e Mostrenillères, e Londres, e Ceseres e Bristoles”, i.e. they came from trading with Flanders and northern France, and could be requisitioned at anything up to twenty-two leagues from the ports if they were not officially sealed.112 The difficult circumstances of the kingdom, which was in the throes of the early stages of a civil war after the year 1462, are clearly reflected in the payments made to the Moorish knights. The embargoes imposed after that date have already been mentioned. In addition to this, the knights who wanted their payment had, logically enough, to go to the ports and customs authorities of those parts of the kingdom that remained loyal to the king and did not join the leagues of nobles. From 1463, a systematic embargo was placed on all payments to the knights, leaving no remaining evidence on them from this date on. There are only two exceptions to this: the payment made in Cordoba to Ruy Díaz de Berrio (doc. 15) and another made in an unspecified location “from where his charter of privilege is taken” to Lope, master of the alcázares of Madrid (doc. 88). Such lack of detail in the surviving records gives some idea of how difficult it can be to trace evidence of payments during this period.113 On the other hand, there is evidence that during the year 1462 the king made a series of “gifts” or extraordinary payments to several members of his Moorish guard, to be paid for by his chamber—in other words, out of his own personal expenses. There is a lack of similar data for other years of his reign, and it is not therefore possible to know whether these gifts were common or should be seen as special favours. In support of the first idea it can be said that the accounts of the king’s chamber refer to gifts made by the king on the occasion of feast days and special events, such as Christmas. Indeed, these entries appear in the king’s private accounts as another of the luxuries permitted to him, along with payments to the queen Doña Juana’s favourite maidservants, presents for his mistress doña Guiomar, his sister Isabella and his brother Alfonso, his hunting expenses, the beasts in the estates where he kept zoos, and so on. On the other hand, it may have been that the king, finding himself unable to fulfil his obligation to maintain the Moorish knights by providing them with arms and clothing appropriate to the representative role they played at court, decided to palliate the effects of the economic crisis affecting the royal

112

M. A. Ladero, La Hacienda Real, pp. 121–124. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 3: 157–158, 390, 449, 469, 489, 601–603; leg. 4: 139, 516, which correspond to docs. 4, 6, 8, 10, 13, 17 and 91 in the appendix to this book. 113

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treasury by using his own private wealth to pay them. It is also possible that the knights had to go to Granada to support the infante Muley Hacén, who had just rebelled against his father, and that Enrique IV therefore put aside certain sums to supply some members of his Moorish guard with special equipment and personnel, including a former black slave of the infante. He also covered expenses incurred by the captain García de Jaén during the visit of Granadan ambassadors, who had no doubt gone to prepare the ground for the Castilian plot to support Muley Hacén. In May 1462, six Muslim knights from Granada stayed in his household, and in late October of that same year, the captain of the Moorish guard personally attended ʿAli b. Sulayman, who arrived with letters from Granada.114 In August, several of the king’s Moorish knights received helmets, beavers, armour, collars of mail and armoured and saddled horses, or assistance to buy them, probably with the aim of backing the Granadan infante.115 Muley Hacén himself was another beneficiary of royal munificence: pago mas en dos dias del dicho mes de setiembre al dicho Rodrigo armero por un par de coraças de asero seysçientos e por un capaçete quatroçientos e çinquenta maravedíes e por un par de goçetes e una falda e un gorjal todo de asero mill e quatroçientos e çinquenta maravedíes, las quales dichas armas dio e entrego luego por mi mandado el dicho Juan de Tordesillas al infante Mule Hamed moro que anda en la mi guarda en mi serviçio con el dicho Garçia de Jahen mi capitan.” [I also pay on the second day of the said month of September to the said Rodrigo, armourer, 600 maravedis for two steel cuirasses and 450 maravedis for a cask and 1,450 maravedis for two collars of mail and a skirt and chain mail for the neck, all made of steel. These said arms were given at my command by the said Juan de Tordesillas to the infante Mule Hamed, Moor, who is in my service in my guard with the said Garcia de Jahen my captain.]

114 The king ordered him to be paid 1,500 maravedís for his food and on 26 October granted him another two thousand maravedis to be given to four Granadan Moors for their maintenance. AGS, Casas y Sitios Reales, leg. 97: 252 v, 300 r. See M. A. Ladero Quesada, “1462: Un año en la vida de Enrique IV, rey de Castilla”, p. 257; J. E. López de Coca, “Caballeros moriscos”, p. 123. 115 The following knights received armour and saddled horses, valued at between 2,000 and 3,600 maravedís each: Hamet Jacob, Juan de Tordesillas, Ali el Negro, Alonso de Granada and Hamet de Cambil. Horses and armour were given to García de Alcalá, Alonso de Barrasa, Alicaçor and Pedro de Aguilar. Armour alone was given to Maçote el negro, Francisco de Miranda, Juan de Alcalá, Gonçalo de Baeça and Luys de Pernia. In September armour and collars of mail from an armourer in Valladolid were granted to the knights Juan de Tordesillas, Hamet de Loxa and Hamete de Talavera. AGS, Casas y Sitios Reales, leg. 97: 270 r–v, 271 r, 285 r. For these types of armaments, see A. Soler del Campo, La evolución del armamento, pp. 105–109, 133–155.

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The king’s gifts were very specific: horses, armaments and clothing in line with jineta usage, with rich cloth adorned with valuable embellishments. As we have seen earlier, the knights of the Moorish guard dressed in a Granadan style, which made it easier for them to ride as they did, in a manner which was appropriate both for fighting and the hunting expeditions of which Enrique IV was so fond.116 Whereas in the 13th century it was the Nasrid guard that copied the style of clothing favoured by Christian knights,117 the accounts of the chamber assistant of Enrique IV, Juan de Tordesillas, make it clear that in the 15th the Christian light cavalry was influenced by Granadan military fashions. García de Jaén received a few days before Christmas twelve high quality varas of cloth (six of high-quality Rouen cloth with a yellow seal and another six of high-quality brown Bruges cloth) and 8,000 maravedis for a horse, no doubt as a reward for services rendered during that year. The king added various shields for other members of the guard.118 In all accounts of religious conversion in the 15th and 16th centuries, a change of clothing was recognised by both communities as a symbol of the convert’s new status and religion. However, in this case we are confronted with an apparent paradox: the Moorish knights, whether they had converted or not, retained the Muslim style of dress, riding and arms. The varas of cloth in their salaries together with the king’s gifts would help to create an aesthetic pattern with implications that went far beyond mere folklore or anecdote. The general perception of the Moorish guard at court and among the populace was based on the same external appearance that made such a striking impact on foreign ambassadors. For example, Enrique IV provided one of his Moorish knights with the following complete set of equipment: a turquoise hooded cloak made of London cloth, a sheepskin garment, a doublet, a pair of breeches, and a hood made of Rouen wool of lesser quality, plus a horse and its saddle, Moorish spurs, sword, lance, a shield covered in red and green, a pair of borceguíes or laced boots with straps and one pair of shoes.119 The origin of the knight concerned was, once more, the frontier region:

116

D. Enríquez del Castillo, Crónica de Enrique IV, p. 135. Ibn al-Khatib, Historia de los reyes de la Alhambra (ed. E. Molina and J. M. Casciaro), Granada, 1998, p. 32. 118 See AGS, Casas y Sitios Reales, leg. 97: 209 r, 270 r, 287 r, and for the captain’s horses, 307 v and 304 r. 119 AGS, Casas y Sitios Reales, leg. 97: f. 212 r, 260 v–261 r. Cf. M. A. Ladero Quesada, “1462: Un año en la vida de Enrique IV”, p. 274. 117

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chapter three E que dio mas por mi mandado en dies y siete dias del dicho mes de junio çinco varas de panno de Londres turquí de que se fiso un capus para un moro negro que se llama Maçote, que me avia presentado el conde de Cabra, que avia sido del infante moro fijo del rey de Granada. El qual yo mande encavalgar e dar armas para que andudiese [sic] en la mi guarda con los otros cavalleros moros que andan en mi guarda, del qual capus le fise merçed. [And also by my command were given on the 17th day of June five varas of turquoise London cloth from which were made a hooded cloak for a black Moor called Maçote, who had been presented to me by the count of Cabra, and who had belonged to the Moorish infante, son of the king of Granada. I ordered this man to be given arms and made a knight so that he would form part of my guard with the other Moorish knights in my guard, and I made a gift to him of the hooded cloak.]

The symbolic message that Enrique IV may have wanted to transmit to his subjects was related to the crown’s political propaganda. The king’s greatness was displayed by his wealth and by recognition of his supremacy over Granada, even when that supremacy was still only theoretical. There may have been other more practical aesthetic reasons: the need to rely on trained light cavalry forces who were appropriately equipped, and the magnificence and variety of the corps of guards that surrounded the king at court and on his travels. This style was imitated by others in the court circle, such as the constable Miguel Lucas de Iranzo, who during the Christmas of 1463 ordered half of the knights of his house to dress as Moors in order to stage a mock-battle against them, at the end of which the Muslims converted to Christianity.120 The combination of these two aspects is revealing, and helps to confirm the impression that the Moorish guard served as a vehicle for the conversion of Muslims to Christianity. This subject is covered in more detail in the next chapter.

120

Hechos del condestable, pp. 98–100. The interpretation of these festivals in the context of the frontier lands of Jaén is from T. Ruíz, “Elite and Popular Culture in Late FifteenthCentury Castilian Festivals” in City and Spectacle in Medieval Europe, ed. B. A. Hanawalt and K. L. Reyerson, Minneapolis, 1994.

CHAPTER FOUR

THE CONVERSION OF THE MOORISH KNIGHTS

Conversion and baptism The contacts thus produced by these foreign groups are the most important, for they led not only to borrowing but to fusion and to new developments; but there were others, as for instance those due to military service abroad and to slavery . . . These external circumstances led not to any definite crossing of religious frontiers, in which an old spiritual home was left for a new once and for all, but to men’s having one foot on each side of a fence which was cultural and not creedal. They led to an acceptance of new worships as useful supplements and not as substitutes, and they did not involve the taking of a new way of life in place of the old. This we may call adhesion, in contradistinction to conversion. By conversion we mean the reorientation of the soul of an individual, his deliberate turning from indifference or from an earlier form of piety to another, a turning which implies a consciousness that a great change is involved, that the old was wrong and the new is right. (A. D. Nock, Conversion: The Old and the New in Religion from Alexander the Great to Augustine of Hippo, Oxford, 1972, pp. 6–7.)

The nature of conversion is difficult to define, given that the word itself can cover a range of different meanings that may include an intense personal experience leading to a change of religion, a process of mystical illumination within the heart of a religion in which a person has been brought up since birth, or the mere acceptance of a faith imposed by external circumstances. Conversion processes can be individual or collective, free or imposed, and no case necessarily involves the complete renunciation of a previous way of life or an immediate transformation of the social environment of the convert or converts. Bulliet’s studies of conversion to Islam insist on the importance of their social character, since the subjects of the study, groups of individuals in the Middle East during the early medieval period, are defined by their nationality or tribal allegiances as much as in religious terms. Allowing for chronological and terminological differences, one of Bulliet’s most important contributions lies in the definition of another two types of convert: the ecstatic, whose previous religion had not lived up to his spiritual expectations, causing his discontent and who sometimes became a zealot after his change of religion, and a majority of non-ecstatic converts, i.e. individuals who were

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generally satisfied with their previous religious life and who converted for mundane rather than spiritual reasons. For non-ecstatics, the greater the resemblance between their lives in the new religion and the way they used to live in their previous faith, the happier they will tend to be.1 Bulliet tends to believe that most cases belong to the second group, though perhaps without bearing in mind that ecstatic converts often leave accounts of their reasons for changing religion.2 In the case of the Moorish guard, the issue must remain open to debate, for no personal testimony was ever recorded which might lead us to favour one or the other of the two types. The divisions between different types of conversion postulated by Nock and Bulliet are in any case difficult to apply to the Hispanic Middle Ages, because many of the converts to Christianity from Judaism and Islam were probably somewhere between the tendencies I have just outlined. It is difficult to know to what extent any individual’s attitude was one of conversion or adhesion, i.e. whether he took an ecstatic or a non-ecstatic position, because we almost always lack a convert’s own account of personal experiences. In fact, these were exactly the same kinds of problems of interpretation faced by the Christian monarchs of the realms of the Iberian peninsula in their contacts with the Jewish and Mudejar communities found in their territories.3 Given its situation of political dominance, the Christian religion was of course the one that achieved the greatest number of conversions within the Hispanic realms during the 15th century. This was aided by the fact that Jews and Muslims found themselves in positions of clear minority in almost all of those realms, except Valencia. In some cases the conversions can be attributed to personal conviction, in others to social pressure, the influence of the cultural norms of the majority, or an attitude of conformity with a given situation. Some of these factors must have been present in the 1 R. Bulliet, Conversion to Islam in the Medieval Period, Cambridge, Mass., 1979, pp. 33–36. For criticism of the validity of this study in the Iberian peninsula, see M. Penelas, “Some remarks on conversion to Islam in al-Andalus”, Al-Qantara, XXIII (2002), pp. 193–200. 2 This is the case of the numerous treatises written between the 12th and 15th centuries by renowned conversos, who felt the need to justify their change of religion to members of their new community and who therefore make attacks of one kind or another on the faith they have just abandoned. The best known examples in the Iberian Peninsula were Pedro Alfonso de Huesca, Anselmo Turmeda, Pedro de la Cavallería and Alonso de Cartagena. Their works have been edited as follows: Pedro Alfonso de Huesca, Diálogo contra los judíos (ed. various authors), Huesca, 1996; M. de Epalza, La Tuhfa, autobiografía y polémica islámica contra el cristianismo de ’Abd Allàh al-Taryumàn, Rome, 1971/Madrid, 1993; Pedro de la Cavallería, Zelus Christi contra iudeos, saracenos et alii inimicos Christianae fidei, Venice, 1592; Alonso de Cartagena, Defensorium unitatis Christianae, ed. M. Alonso, Madrid, 1973–75. 3 J. Muldoon, “The conversion of Europe”, in Varieties of Religious Conversion in the Middle Ages (ed. J. Muldoon), Gainesville, 1997, pp. 2–3.

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conversions of the Moorish knights, and they represent a final step in the process of acculturation and integration of religious minorities in Castilian society. As well as these factors, the “class perspective” must also have been important, i.e. the opportunity to maintain an acquired social status which could no longer be guaranteed by the minority to which the knights belonged.4 Within the group there must have been individuals who, lacking a charismatic experience of conversion, only changed religion voluntarily if they felt that their social status was under threat, of if they saw an opportunity to maintain or improve it.5 The dividing line is in any case never very clear, and individuals may well have had interests of various types at the same time. This itself was often the cause of feelings of misgivings towards newcomers among the receiving group. The Moorish guard provides extraordinary material for the study of specific cases of voluntary changes of religion in the period before the mass conversions of Muslims imposed during the reign of the Catholic Kings, although this apparent freedom should not make us forget the obvious pressures to which Mudejars were subjected in Castile. As we will see, the voluntary conversions of the 15th century were the direct forerunners of the royal policy of mass conversion in the 16th. They were also related to the offers of conversion made to the Mudejar elite of towns and cities conquered by the Christians during the 11th century. It remains to be seen precisely how such conversions affected an individual’s social standing and his assimilation into, or exclusion from, a hegemonic social group. The reduction of cultural distance between groups (acculturation) does not necessarily lead to a reduction of the social distance between them (assimilation).6 However, conversion may have made it easier to uphold status in another religiously defined society, respecting its social 4 M. de Epalza, “Les morisques vus à partir des communautés mudéjares précédentes” in Les morisques et leur temps, Paris, 1983, pp. 29–41 and “Musulmans originaires d’alAndalus dans les sociétés hispaniques européennes: mozarabes, mudéjares, morisques, crypto-musulmans (XIe–XVIIIe siècles)” in Chrétiens et musulmans à la Renaissance, ed. B. Bennassar and R. Sauzet, Paris, 1998, pp. 149–162; M. García-Arenal, “Rapports entre les groupes dans la péninsule Ibérique. La conversion des juifs à l’islam (XIIe–XIIIe siècles)” in Minorités religieuses dans l’Espagne médiévale, Revue de l’Occident musulman et de la Méditerranée 63–64 (1992), p. 92. 5 R. Bulliet, “Conversion to Islam and the Emergence of a Muslim Society in Iran” in Conversion to Islam, ed. N. Levtzion, New York, 1979, p. 33. Bulliet returned to the same theme in “Conversion Stories in Early Islam” in Conversion and Continuity, ed. M. Gervers and J. Bikhazi, Toronto, 1991, p. 127. 6 M. García-Arenal, “Rapports entre les groupes”, p. 92. There is more on this issue in T. F. Glick, and O. Pi-Sunyer, “Acculturation as an Explanatory Concept in Spanish History”, Comparative Studies in Society and History, 11 (1969), pp. 136–154.

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standing and even increasing chances of promotion in certain social sectors. Specifically, whereas judeoconversos or converts from Judaism specialised as notaries, secretaries and tax collectors in the Castilian state administration, conversos de moro or converts from Islam took to military activities, both at court and on the frontier. In the reigns between that of Juan II and the Catholic Kings, it was still possible for converts from both religions to gain promotion and occupy court posts without great difficulty, as we have seen in the previous chapter.7 However, conversion processes could also develop mechanisms to isolate the recently converted group. These were intensified in the cases of renegades such as the elches, with a space being created around them to “shut them off ” from other Muslims and Christians.8 This also made it impossible to return to the group of origin whenever there was a turn in the course of events, as occurred in the case of the Moorish knights when the dissolution of the guard was first discussed—in Granada, conversion to Christianity by Muslims was punished by death, just as conversion to Islam was punished by Christian legislation. The problem of living permanently in a Christian environment such as the Castilian court was analysed by Muslim jurists of the period, who in some cases recommended emigration to Islamic lands, a course of action that was, however, only rarely taken by Castilian Mudejars.9 Life on the frontier raised the same problem of living close to the infidel, even if one maintained a residence in Muslim territory. All of the Islamic legal codices

7

M. P. Rábade Obradó, Una elite de poder en la corte de los Reyes Católicos: los judeoconversos, Madrid, 1993, p. 26. For the Turkish Mamluks, social promotion was one of the main reasons for changing faith, but this was not the case in the Iberian peninsula in the 15th century. B. and L. Bennassar, Los cristianos de Alá, pp. 421–426. 8 M. García-Arenal, “Introduction” in Conversions islamiques, Paris, 2001, p. 11. 9 The different schools of Islamic law took different positions regarding the obligation of Muslims living under Christian governments to emigrate. The characteristic flexibility of the system of jurists who emitted fatwas allowed Muslims to choose to respect one opinion or another. Whereas the most cited view was that of al-Wansarisi, who was opposed to remaining in non-Islamic countries because of the impossibility of fulfilling the basic precepts of Islam, there were other contemporaries who took a different line. A good summary of all this can be found in K. Abou el-Fadl, “Islamic Law and Muslim Minorities”, Islamic Law and Society, 1,2 (1994), pp. 141–187. See also F. Maíllo Salgado, “Del islam residual mudéjar” in España, Al-Andalus. Sefarad: síntesis y nuevas perspectivas, Salamanca, 1990, pp. 134–136 and by the same author, “Algunas consideraciones sobre una fatwa de al-Wansharisi”, Studia Historica, II (2), 1985, pp. 181–191; K. A. Miller, “Muslim minorities and the obligation to emigrate to Islamic territory: two fatwas from fifteenth century Granada”, Islamic Law and Society, 7,2 (2000), pp. 256–287; J. P. Molénat, “Le problème de la permanence des musulmans dans les territoires conquis par les chrétiens, du point de vue de la loi islamique”, Arabica, XLVIII.3 (2001), pp. 392–400.

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translated into Romance languages during the 15th century paid attention to the diverse circumstances of conversion to Christianity, but from different angles. The Llibre de la suna e xara10 was especially concerned with the situation and rights of women whose husbands had converted to Christianity, and seems to assume a selective conversion by men that is confirmed by Christian chronicles and documentary records. The Breviario sunni by Yça Gebir reflects the situation of the Mudejars, recommending obedience to one’s parents even if they were already Christian believers and loyalty to one’s lord although he were not Muslim, given that he would inherit a Muslim’s goods on his death if the Muslim had no offspring. Yça also recommended an application of the ban on living in Christian lands (a ban which he himself did not respect), and an avoidance of Christian practices and customs, such as their clothing and images, considered idolatrous. Above all it was in chapter 51, on heretics, renegades and suspect individuals, that he wrote in favour of severe measures (death by stoning) against blasphemers and those who swore against the Sunna, three days in prison for those who repented, and the same for any who practised another religion in secret.11 Despite the prohibitions and punishments, there were basically two types of Muslims who sought conversion to Christianity in the kingdom of Castile: the Mudejars who did so from personal conviction, and the adventurers, mercenaries, and men of fortune who lived on the geographical and political frontier of the Nasrid kingdom.12 In the case of the renegades 10 “XXXI. Si lo moro se farà cristià durant lo matrimoni. Si durant lo matrimoni entre lo marit e la muller [lo moro] se serà feit cristià e aprés havrà còpula carnal ab la dicta sarrahina, deu ésser apedregada segons Çuna; e açó car haqué marit, com en continent que lo marit seu se fà cristià lo matrimoni de aquells sia separat segons Çuna. (. . .) CCCXII. Si durant lo matrimoni lo marit serà feit cristià. Si durant lo matrimoni entre lo marit e la muller lo marit ser feit cristià, la muller, segons oppinió de alguns savis, no pot demanar l’acidach dels béns del marit, com, en continent com aquell és feit cristi’s, lo matrimoni fou separat segons Çuna. Altres savis dien que la muller pot demanar lácidach dels béns del marit jat-sia serà feit cristià, com parella no sia remaasa entre aquells, e.n tot temps de lur vida no sia durat lo matrimoni. En aquella mateixa manera sie entès del spòs, com del marit, com l’acidach sia deute seu e per deute sis haüt.” C. Barceló, Llibre de la sunna e xara, Córdoba, 1989, pp. 8, 88. 11 P. de Gayangos, Tratados de legislación musulmana, Memorial Histórico Español, 5, Madrid, 1853, pp. 250–252, 383–384; G. Wiegers, Islamic Literature in Spanish and Aljamiado. Yça of Segovia, his Antecedents and Successors, Leiden, 1994, pp. 124–133. As an adaptation of the Kitab al-Tafri ʿ by Ibn al-Jallab, the Leyes de moros reflected the juridical tradition of the Maliki school on this issue since the tenth century. Ibn al-Jallab, El tratado jurídico de al-Tafrí ʿ de Ibn al-Jallab. Manuscrito aljamiado de Almonacid de la Sierra, ed. S. Abboud-Haggar, Zaragoza, 1999, vol. I, pp. 13–33, II, p. 571. 12 M. García-Arenal, “Introduction”, p. 12. For frontier conversions, see E. Pérez Boyero, “Los mudéjares granadinos: conversiones voluntarias al cristianismo (1482–1499)” in Actas del II Congreso de Historia de Andalucía, Córdoba, 1991–94, vol. V, pp. 381–392, one of

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who were witnesses to how the Castilian frontier was gradually advancing southwards, the desire to avoid the death penalty decreed by the Castilian Fuero Real as a punishment for apostasy was undoubtedly a factor of paramount importance.13 From the Christian perspective, conversion was a form of reinsertion in society as a Christian res publica, with all the privileges that this entailed. Given that the Fuero real (1252–1255),14 which reflected the general sentiment both in Castile and the rest of Europe on the conversion of Christians to Islam, made it punishable by the death penalty, it was necessary to foresee the possibility of reconciliation,15 especially if a renegade rendered some great service to the Christians which resulted in important benefits for the community. The Partida VII (título XXV)16 is therefore given over to extending the legislation contained in the Fuero real, and explains the terms under which such reconciliation became possible. The only way it could find of justifying the conversion of a Christian to Islam was through a sudden attack of madness in those who had lost a relative or their possessions, or who had gone mad as a result of their own evil nature. The punishment was the confiscation of goods, which could revert to an individual’s family; if found within the kingdom, he was to be executed. Other punishments, which were the few to deal with voluntary conversions between 1482 and 1500, and in individuals from every social group. To contrast the conversions of men of arms and the Moorish guard, pp. 386–390. 13 Opúsculos legales de Don Alfonso el Sabio, Madrid, 1836, p. 117 (Lib. IV, tit. I, ley I). 14 “Ningun christiano non sea osado de tornarse iudio, nin moro, nin sea osado de fazer su fijo moro o iudio. Et si alguno lo fiziere, muera por ello. Et la muerte desde fecho sea atal que sea de fuego”, Libro IV, tit. I. Alfonso X, Fuero real, ed. A. Palacios, Barcelona, 1991, p. 108. 15 “Acontecer podría que algunos de los que renegassen la fe catholica, e se tornassen moros se trabajarian de fazer algund granado servicio a los christianos, que se tornaría agrand provecho de la tierra; e porque los que se trabajassen de facer tal bien como este sobredicho non finquen sin gualardon tenemos por bien, e mandamos que les sea perdonada e quita la pena de muerte, que diximos en la quarte ley ante desta que devian rescebir, por razon del yerro que fiziessen. Ca asaz daria a entender el que tal cosa fiziesse que amava a los christianos e que se tornaria a la fe catholica silo non dexasse por verguença, o por afruenta de sus parientes, o de sus amigos. E por ende mandamos e queremos que le sea perdonada la vida, maguer finque moro. E si despues que oviesse fecho tal servicio a los christianos como sobredicho es, se arrepintiesse de su yerro, e tornasse a la fe catholica, mandamos e tenemos por bien que sea otrosi perdonada la pena del enfamamiento, e non pierda sus bienes, e que ninguno non sea osado dende en delante de gelo retraer, nin de le empecer en ninguna manera, e que haya todas las honrras, e que use de todas las cosas que los christianos han e usan comunalmente, bien assi como si nunca oviesse renegado de la fe catholica.” Alfonso X, Partida VII, XXV. I have used the Salamanca edition of 1555 (facs. 1974), fols. 76v–78v. 16 See M. Ratcliffe, “Judíos y musulmanes en las Siete Partidas de Alfonso X”, Alfonso X el Sabio, vida, obra y época, Madrid, 1989; and D. Carpenter, “Alfonso el Sabio y los moros”, Al-Qantara, 7 (1986), pp. 229–252.

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specifically directed at the honour of the renegade, were defamation and incapacity in the eyes of the law, which made it impossible for him to give evidence at trial, hold public offices, make a will, inherit, donate or buy and sell goods. From all this it can be seen that the apostate was basically forced to give up his juridical personality and virtually obliged to live in Islamic lands. Only some exceptional service to the Christian community could free him from these punishments. In the case of such an event, he would be pardoned and would recover all that had previously belonged to him. This law could be applied especially to those who helped the Christian troops seeking to conquer fortresses on the frontier. There were several examples in the centuries that followed, although it is not always possible to know what rewards were received by the informers. Other knights who posed a special problem when they converted were the elches of the Granadan guard. These knights were also considered apostates, even when their conversion to Islam had occurred when they were children. The word elche has traditionally been interpreted in Spanish as a synonym of “turncoat or renegade”, a sense which it did indeed assume after the 16th century. However, 15th-century Castilian documents and chronicles show a more nuanced meaning.17 The Arabic term from which the word derives, ʿilj, was applied to infidels in general, i.e. to non-Arab barbarians who were not Muslims, and the word had inherently pejorative overtones. With the rise to power of the Almoravids and the Almohads, in the 12th century, the term began to designate those “Christian slaves, jinetes, who formed part of the emir’s closest circle”, and who had often been educated in the sultan’s own household. Some, but not all, of these men later converted to Islam.18 According to Lapiedra, these men must have been the troops or retinues of the caliphs or emirs, trained by strongly Arabised and Islamicised former Christians. This broadly coincides with the definition given by Pero Tafur of the Mamluks, “los que acá llamamos elches renegados [those whom we call here renegade elches]”, when describing the personal guard of the Nasrid sultans. It must have been this meaning that passed into Castilian

17 E. Sáez and J. Torres Fontes, “Dos conversiones interesantes”, Al-Andalus, IX (1944), pp. 510–512. In the conversion certificate of Cristóbal de Chillón, in Alcalá la Real, dated 4 October 1483, there is a confirmation that “tornadizo” was not the same as “elche”, as it states “e se junto con un elche que se dezia Bexir . . .”, whereas such a term is never used to refer to the convert. 18 E. Lapiedra Gutiérrez, Cómo los musulmanes llamaban a los cristianos hispánicos, Alicante, 1997, pp. 189–190, 223, 244. For the initial meaning in Arabic, F. Maíllo Salgado, “Diacronía y sentido del término elche. Contribución al estudio del medievo español y de su léxico”, MEAH, XXXI (1982), p. 81.

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vocabulary during the 15th century, and which can be summarised according to the sources as a “Christian captive converted to Islam (normally in his youth), who carries out military or private functions close to the Muslim sovereign”.19 One way for these men to commute the death penalty, if they had not rendered any great service to the Christian community, was by making a pilgrimage to the Holy Sites, as is shown by the story of two renegades from Egypt who were ordered by the Pope to make pilgrimages after having reneged before the Great Turk.20 King Fernando el Católico even promised the elches after the capitulation of Granada that they would be able to continue to practise their Islamic religion if they did not wish to return to the Christian faith.21 In this context, it becomes easier to understand the following statement by Fernán Pérez del Pulgar, which would otherwise seem an exaggeration given that he himself had witnessed the reconciliation of renegades under Juan II: por las coronicas de Castilla se lee que quando los moros ganaron toda la tierra por pecados del rey don Rodrigo é traicion del conde don Julián, muchos cristianos fueron tornados a la secta de Mahomad, cuyos nietos y descendientes nos defendieron é defienden la tierra é son asaz contrarios a nuestra ley, ca tanto quedó en España poblado de ellos como de los moros. É yo vi en este nuestro tiempo quando el rey don Juan el segundo hizo guerra a los moros, con su rey Izquierdo divisos los moros, pasaron acá muchos cavalleros moros, é con ellos muchos elches, los quales aunque libertad habian asaz para ya lo hazer nunca uno se tornó á nuestra fe porque estaban ya afirmados y asentados desde niños en aquel error. E aun algunos dellos que acá murieron ansí estaban ya endurecidos en aquella malaventurada seta é presos en aquel error, que aun en el artículo de la muerte, quando ya non esperaban gozar de aquellas carnales delectaciones, ni habian temor de los moros estando en tierras de cristianos, murieron en su mala é porfiada seta, lo qual les vino de ser criados é envejecidos en ella.22

19 I base these remarks on P. Carrillo de Huete, Crónica del halconero, p. 109, and D. de Valera, Memorial de diversas hazañas, pp. 6, 9, as opposed to the tornadizo Moor Alí el Curro on p. 26. In the Crónica de Juan II by Alvar García de Santamaría there are frequent references to Moors who “turn” to Christianity (in the words of the chronicle), but none of them are defined as an “elche”. In this sense, the original meaning of the term may not have changed as much as is suggested in F. Maíllo Salgado, “Diacronía y sentido del sentido elche”, pp. 82–98. The nuance of military slave continues in the records until at least 1490/1500. The idea of “elche” as equivalent to “renegade” or “the son of a renegade” takes over thereafter. 20 Hechos del condestable, p. 97. 21 “Yten es asentado y concordado que si algún cristiano o cristiana se oviere tornado moro en los tiempos pasados, ninguna persona sea osado de los amenguar ni baldonar en cosa alguna, e que sy lo fisieren que sean castigados por sus altesas”, M. Garrido Atienza, Las capitulaciones, p. 280; cf. A. Galán, “Las conversiones al cristianismo de los musulmanes de la corona de Castilla: una visión teológico-política”, ASIM VIII, vol. II, p. 632. 22 F. Pérez de Guzmán, Generaciones y semblanzas, p. 61. This should not be taken out of

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[it can be read in the chronicles of Castile that when the Moors won all the land on account of the sins of the king don Rodrigo and the treachery of the count don Julián, many Christians were converted to the sect of Mahommad whose grandsons and descendants defended and defend our land for us and are completely contrary to our law, for Spain was populated by them as much as it was by the Moors. And I saw in our own times when the king don Juan the second made war on the Moors, and the Moors were divided under their king “el Izquierdo” [the Left-Hander], that many Moorish knights passed over into our kingdom and with them came many elches, not one of whom, despite having complete freedom to do so, ever converted to our faith because they had been set and confirmed in their error from the time when they were children. And even some of those who died here were hardened in that ill-fated sect and prey to that error, so that even at the moment of death, when they were no longer able to look forward to an enjoyment of their carnal delights nor had any reason to fear the Moors because they were living in Christian lands, they died in their evil and stubborn sect, which derived from their being brought up and having grown old in it.]

As López de Coca has correctly pointed out, there were only two elches among the Moorish knights of the guard.23 These men, who must have returned to the religion of their ancestors, were Pedro, the son of the alcaide Farax, an elche knight from the house of Granada who arrived in Castile in 1409, and Fernando de Tarifa, “que fue elche e se vino del regno de Granada a reconçiliar con nuestra sancta fe [who was an elche and who came from the kingdom of Granada to be reconciled to our holy faith]” in 1431. To these two names must be added that of the famous Gilaire, whose controversial personality has been the subject of several studies, but who does not appear—at least under that name—on the list of Moorish knights, despite the fact that his time at court coincided with the period of their existence.24 At first, the authorities—both civil and religious—did not question the sincerity of the conversions of Jews and Muslims to Christianity. The policy adopted from the 13th century onwards was that of encouraging such conversions without checking on them. In this context, it is difficult to make judgements about convictions or the reliability of the conversions of the

context: the author, writing of the converso bishop Pablo de Sta. María, gives his opinion that first generation conversos are never very good believers, but that their children and grandchildren are much better. For that reason, he writes, it would be best to separate them from their parents to educate them properly in the faith. 23 This disproves what I had maintained in a previous article. A. Echevarría, “Los elches en la guardia de Juan II y Enrique IV de Castilla”, ASIM VI, Teruel, 1995, pp. 422–423 and J. E. López de Coca, “Caballeros musulmanes al servicio de Juan II y Enrique IV de Castilla”, p. 120. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1: 17, 21; leg. 3: 157–158; leg. 4: 297–298. 24 The most recent account of this figure is in R. Salicrú, “Nuevos mitos de la frontera”, pp. 497–505.

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Moorish knights. For one thing, no autobiographical account of such an experience has survived. The most complete testimony is that of the knight Fernando Ortiz, who made a claim before Enrique IV in 1455. In it he explained that 47 years earlier, i.e. in 1408, he had left Granada in order to convert to the Christian faith in Castile, and that at that time he was awarded a ración, like other Granadan knights who also converted: Me fiso relaçion por su petyçion que ante mi en el mi consejo presento disiendo que ha quarenta e syete annos quel se paso de Granada e se torno cristiano, e el rey don Iohan de gloriosa memoria mi sennor e padre, que Dios aya, le fiso merçed de una raçion de 12 maravedíes cada dia, que le monto al anno 4.320 maravedíes, e para su vistuario 12 varas de ypre, segund que se dio a los otros cavalleros moriscos que entonçes se tornaron cristianos. E desde el dicho dia de cada anno le fue librada la dicha su raçion e vistuario.25 [He told me in his request before my council that he passed over from Granada forty-seven years ago and became a Christian, and the king don Juan of glorious memory, my lord and father, may God protect him, awarded him an allowance of 12 maravedis a day, which amounted to 4,320 maravedis a year, and 12 varas of Ypres cloth for his clothing, as was given to other Moorish knights who became Christians at that time. And from that said day on he was given the said allowance and clothing every year.]

Among such converts were three men who later appear on the roll of Moorish knights: Gómez Suárez, Juan Díaz de Salamanca and Juan (Suárez) de Écija.26 The only records which reflect changes in religion are those from the first period of the Moorish guard, during the shared regency of Fernando de Antequera and Catalina of Lancaster: “Gonzalo Ruiz de Castellar que fue moro e se tornó cristiano”, “Fernando de Tarifa, que fue elche e se vino del reyno de Granada a reconçiliar con nuestra sancta fe, “por cuanto el dicho Juan de Tarifa, seyendo moro, se torno cristiano” etc, are frequently used expressions.27 After 1436, there were no further express references to the moment of conversion, although the names adopted by some knights when they passed from one religion to another are specified. It is extremely difficult to locate the baptism certificates of these converts, mainly because of the disappearance of the corresponding parish records and also because there were no great collective public baptism ceremonies

25

AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 3, 123r–v. M. A. Vilaplana, “Un ajuste de cuentas del alcabalero mayor de Sevilla Pedro Ortiz (1420)”, pp. 460, 471–472. In the Moorish raciones they appear in the documents AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1: 20 and 28. 27 AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1: 17, 18, 20, 23, 53 and leg. 3: 157–158, 390, 603. 26

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like those held in a later period, in the 16th century.28 It seems logical to assume that responsibility for catechising and subsequent baptism would have been placed in the hands of the army chaplains, in those cases where Muslims passed over to the Castilian army during a campaign against Granada and expressed their desire to change faith at that time. The battle for the conversion of Muslims had been fought by the mendicant orders since the 13th century, although they had done no more than take up the baton passed on to them by the fathers of the Orthodox Church and the Orders of Cluny and Cister. Both the chaplains and the royal confessors who accompanied the army during its campaigns against Granada were usually Franciscans or Dominicans, orders with a special interest in this type of mission.29 The work carried out by the mendicant orders as “campaign catechisers” should be added to the list of labours they undertook in their offensive against Islam. These labours included the writing of treatises, the study of languages at special schools in order to combat the religious “enemy” more effectively, or preaching en masse to groups of Jews and Muslims with the permission of royal licences. As late as the 16th century, in Oran, newly converted Muslims were still handed over to the Dominicans, who ran a monastery in the region.30 Through baptism, old Muslims were accepted in the church by means of a series of steps and rituals that served to identify them as members of the Christian religion. The first of these steps was the adoption of a Christian name, which was normally that of their owner in the case of captives, or that of a religious sponsor or the saint whose day it happened to be when the conversion took place.31 One exceptional piece of evidence has survived

28 B. Vincent, “Musulmans d’Espagne au XVIIe siècle et conversion” in Conversions islamiques, pp. 201–202. 29 This is what occurred in the case of the conquest of Seville by Fernando III, or in the plot to burn down the royal encampment of Fernando de Antequera in 1410. See R. García Villoslada (dir.), Historia de la Iglesia en España, Madrid, 1982, vol. II, 2, p. 131, and A. García de Santa María, Crónica de Juan II en Castilla, p. 339. For the 15th century, J. M. Nieto Soria, Iglesia y génesis del Estado moderno en Castilla (1369–1480), Madrid, 1993, pp. 140–150, shows the complete predominance of Franciscan and Dominican confessors at court, although from the reign of Juan II there were also some Hieronymites. 30 B. Vincent, “Musulmans d’Espagne”, p. 199. 31 For the names of Muslims before converting, the Christian names they preferred to adopt and the interventions of sponsors and godfathers, see A. Labarta, La onomástica de los moriscos valencianos, Madrid, 1987; I. Mendes Drumond Braga, Mouriscos e Cristaos no Portugal Quinhentista, Lisbon, 1999, pp. 54–59 and S. de Tapia, La comunidad morisca de Ávila, pp. 86–92. B. Vincent has written several articles on this subject: “Les morisques et les Prénoms Chrétiens” in Les Morisques et leur Temps, Paris, 1983, pp. 57–70, “El nombre cristiano de los moriscos” and “El padrinazgo y los moriscos”, both in Minorías y marginados en la

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concerning the baptism of converts in the 12th century, which is that of the Jew Pedro Alfonso, author of the Disciplina clericalis. Given that conditions are unlikely to have changed much in the following centuries, it seems best to quote him directly: Thus, when I had arrived, with the aid of divine providence, to such a sublime degree in this faith, I removed the veil of falsehood and tore off the tunic of iniquity, and I was baptised in the cathedral of the city of Huesca, in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, being cleansed at the hands of Esteban, glorious and legitimate bishop of the said city. At the time of the baptism, apart from all that I have already said, I swore my faith in the apostolic saints and the Catholic Holy Church. This occurred in the year of our Lord of 1106, in the year 1144 of the Era, in the month of June, on the day of the deaths of the apostles Peter and Paul, by reason of which, because of the veneration and memory of that apostle, I adopted the name of Peter. My godfather was Alfonso, glorious king of Spain, who took me from the holy font, because of which, adding his name to that of mine that I have already cited, I took the name of Pedro Alfonso.32

In the case of the Moorish knights, evidence of processes of conversion and baptism has come down to us through several documents, in which joint mention is made of the Muslim name previously used by the knight and of the new Christian name he adopted (see Table 6). The Islamic names follow the same pattern as in other groups of Mudejars and Moriscos studied by Labarta, Laliena and Tapia, among others. As is habitual, the names of the Prophet and his companions predominate: Muhammad, in its various forms, ’Ali, and Ahmad (Hamede, Hamete) are frequent. Other common names are Yusuf (Yuça), Qasim (Caçim, Caçin, Caçia), Faray (Farax) and Hisham (Yçami).33 The name Cyla probably corresponds to Salih (Çale), a name more commonly used in Castile than in Valencia.34 The remaining names left to be identified are Darra Heme (possibly Abraham, from the Arabic Ibrahim) and El Cal Horra, which may have been a reference to the man’s statute of freedom.

España del siglo XVI, Granada, 1987, pp. 31–45; 73–82. See also C. Laliena Corbera, “La antroponimia de los mudéjares: resistencia y aculturación de una minoría étnico-religiosa” in L’anthroponymie, document de l’histoire des mondes méditerranéens médiévaux, Rome, 1996, pp. 143–166. 32 Pedro Alfonso de Huesca, Diálogo contra los judíos, Huesca, 1996, p. 6; Spanish transl. p. 198. See also M. García-Arenal, “Dreams and Reason: Autobiographies of Converts in Religious Polemics” in Conversions islamiques, pp. 103–104. 33 A. Labarta, La onomástica de los moriscos, pp. 64–76, 81–82, 84, 88–90, 92. C. Laliena, “La antroponimia”, pp. 153–165. 34 S. de Tapia, La comunidad morisca de Ávila, p. 89.

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Table 6 Names of converted knights (only in cases where both names figure) Muslim names

Christian names adopted on converting

Year of admission into the guard

Caçia el Mayor Fecochon Darra Heme Yçami of Granada Mahomad bin Far Ali ben Mahomad Ali Barseno Nyl Ali Arcamoní/ Arramoní Hamede Harchayn

Juan de Córdoba Juan, son of the alcayde Alí Juan de Antequera Pero Fernández de Jerez Antón Martínez Juan López Juan Álvarez de Medina Juan de Tarifa

1410 1417 1421 (for the second time) 1424 1432 1434 1434 1436

Alfonso Fernández de Valladolid Diego de Puelles Juan de Medina Fernando de Alcántara Rodrigo de Madrid Fernando de Medina

1440

Cyla Ali Aben Asdalla Yuça Mondéjar El Cal Horra Ali el Canel Mahomad Abenaça Ali Barredo Mahomad de Asyl Hamete Benaçatin Mahomad Hamede el Cabry Mahomad ben Sa

Pedro de Madrid Rodrigo de Guzmán Alfonso Álvarez de Tordesillas Juan Sánchez de Valladolid Juan de Saavedra Juan Fernández de Aguilar García Venegas

1441 1441 (year of his death) 1442 1442 1443 (he passes over to Granada) 1444 (year of his death) 1444 (year of his death) 1444 1444 (for the second time) 1445 1446 1446–52 (year of his death)

In some cases the king himself is known to have sponsored the new converts, as occurred with Ramiro de Ávila,35 the son of Juan Ramírez, who joined the guard in 1431; or Ruy Díaz, “el que vuestra señoria tornó cristiano” [he whom your lordship turned Christian],36 who took part in the conquest of Huéscar together with Rodrigo Manrique, the comendador of 35 “Ramiro de Ávila, ahijado del rey nuestro señor es fijo de Juan Ramires”. If this refers to Juan Ramírez de Alcalá, he was probably the brother of four other knights: Fernando de Alcalá, García de Alcalá, Luys de Alcalá and Johan Calayn. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1: 23; leg. 2: 187–188. 36 J. de M. Carriazo, “Cartas de la frontera”, pp. 96–98. This is probably the same Ruy Díaz de Berryo who passed over to Castile from Granada at the same date, but it is not possible to identify him exactly for lack of information with Ruy Díaz al-Jayar, the father of the Moorish knight Diego, who joined the guard in 1442. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1: 33.

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Segura and father of the well-known poet Jorge Manrique. The prevalence of the name Juan among the Moorish knights was probably a result of this royal sponsorship, or at least to the direct relationship between the knights and the king. The second most common name was Fernando, from which it seems logical to deduce that the regent Fernando de Antequera may also have sponsored men. Others were sponsored by leading figures at court: Fernando Díaz de Toledo by his namesake, the relator or court memorialist; Diego de Baena by the marshall Diego Fernández de Baena; and Ruy Díaz de Mendoza by the nobleman of the same name. Some knights were named after frontier lords, such as the maestre Alonso Fernández, alfaqueque to the alcaide of Alcalá don Alonso Fernández de Aguilar. Some were even named after leading members of the clergy.37 The acceptance by the Christians of Juan Fernández de Aguilar and his subsequent baptism must have been blessed by the exceptional mediating recommendation of Alfonso Fernández de Córdoba, lord of Aguilar and alcalde between Christians and Moors, who was also alcaide of the fortress and alcalde mayor del concejo in Alcalá la Real,38 one of the free towns open to trading between the two kingdoms, where he lived for many years.39 Another convert, whose name is not known, but who was definitely sponsored by Miguel Lucas de Iranzo, was the nephew of the alcaide of the castle of Arenas who had assisted in its capture.40 A comparison of these names with those in baptism records from 1500– 1502 in various areas of Castile shows that the most common of them coincide almost exactly. These are Juan, Fernando (more common in 1455–56), Pedro, Alonso and Diego.41 The surnames adopted by the knights faithfully reproduce those of their sponsors, although they display the same problems of standardisation as the rest of medieval Castilian onomastics.42 37 AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1: 33, 50, 58, 70. A. García de Santamaría, Crónica de Juan II, pp. 257–258. It is impossible to be sure, but there is reference in the records to a Lope Fernández de Santa María, who may have been sponsored by one of the bishops of this name. 38 L. Galíndez, Crónica de Juan II, p. 373. A. Echevarría, Catalina de Lancaster, pp. 194–195. 39 He also had the tenancy of the castles of Priego, Locubín and Barcas. For this figure, see M. C. Quintanilla Raso, Nobleza y señoríos, pp. 69–77. 40 “Todo lo qual industriava un moro, sobrino del alcayde del dicho castillo, que se avía venido a Jahén, al dicho señor condestable, e lo avía fecho tornar cristiano”, Hechos del condestable, p. 97. 41 S. de Tapia, La comunidad morisca de Ávila, p. 91. Compare with the totally Castilianised names cited by M. A. Ladero Quesada in “Nóminas de conversos granadinos (1499–1500)” in Estudios sobre Málaga y el reino de Granada en el V Centenario de la Conquista (ed. J. E. López de Coca), Málaga, 1987, p. 297 and by the same author, “Los bautismos de los musulmanes granadinos en 1500”, ASIM VIII, Teruel, 2002, vol. I, pp. 501–503, 509–510. 42 The claim by M. P. Rábade Obradó, Una elite de poder, p. 37, that the surnames used

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This list of names provides convincing proof that conversion took place on a massive scale in the Moorish guard. It is, however, harder to trace the fulfilment of other requirements which would demonstrate the true insertion of the group in its new environment. For this to occur, they would have had to abandon Islamic practices with regard to customs, food, clothing etc. The doctrines of the Catholic church and Islam concerning the passage from one religion to another were radically different. Whereas conversion to Islam only needed an individual to perform an act of submission to Islam before a witness and required no preparatory training, the Church laid down the need for a process of indoctrination which in principle had to occur before the baptism ceremony, except in mass conversions like those overseen by fray Vicente Ferrer through his sermons or disputes. If we assume that those who learnt the catechism must have been required to know at least the same doctrine as other Christians, this would have involved them learning the Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, the Hail Mary and the Ten Commandments.43 In doubtful cases, the convert could request reliable proof of his baptism, in the form of an acta or certificate. These judicial certificates appeared at the height of the conversion phenomenon as a way of sanctioning that an individual belonged to the society of the majority. Their existence in Castile and Catalonia in the 1480s must be regarded as more exceptional, until such time as further discoveries are made. The documents specified the sex, marital status and original religion of the convert, as well as confirming that the convert had changed religion of his own free will. They also gave a description of the conversion ceremony and in some cases the name of the convert’s godfather or sponsor: “el dicho Juan demando por sy el dicho bautismo e respondio en uno con el dicho sennor Gomez Manrrique a todas las preguntas que le fueron fechas por el dicho cura rrequeridas en el dicho sacramento”.44 by conversos are irrelevant in a period when the use of surnames was still not general is in complete contradiction with what is demonstrated by the baptisms of conversos de moro. 43 For the previsions of the councils regarding this point and the contents of the catechisms of the period, see J. Sánchez Herrero, “La literatura catequética en la Península Ibérica, 1236–1553”, En La España Medieval V, II (1986), pp. 1051–1119. The order given by Hernando de Talavera, the archbishop of Granada, in about 1500, in which he responds to a consultation made by inhabitants of Albaicín about the Christian usages they were expected to observe, includes crossing oneself, the Lord’s Prayer, the Hail Mary, the Creed, and sending their children to church to learn to read, sing and pray. See M. A. Ladero Quesada, Granada después de la conquista. Repobladores y mudéjares, Granada, pp. 464–466. 44 E. Sáez and J. Torres Fontes, “Dos conversiones interesantes”, Al-Andalus, IX (1944), p. 509. The document corresponds to the conversion on 14 September 1481 of Juan de Castilla, whose godfather was Gómez Manrique. It can be found in AMM, Libro registro de cartas de los Reyes Católicos (1478–88), f. 74 r–v.

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One of the tactics most commonly employed by the Church during the 15th and 16th centuries was to concentrate on converting the governing and intellectual elites as a first step towards bringing about a religious change in the rest of the group. In reality, the conversions of Moorish knights can be seen as part of a similar pattern, because the knights enjoyed an elevated social position. Those who came from Granada had already formed part of the court circle there, and they maintained their status in Castile. Equally, those from the Mudejar communities of Castile held posts in the aljamas or had certain privileges in their towns or cities. The conversion of the elite opened the way for them to occupy court and ecclesiastical posts, which they were able to hold because of the salvation they had obtained through their processes of baptism.45 Another generally applied mechanism for the insertion of the most privileged Moriscos in society was to encourage their marriage to Christian women of good families. The children of such marriages would usually take the surname of their mothers. This is what occurred in the case of Alfonso Vélez, son of the captain of the guard García de Jaén and Constanza Vélez de Mendoza, cobijera or lady in waiting to queen Juana. Numerous other cases could be cited in the period after the mass conversions of the Granadan Mudejars.46 It is interesting to note that although mixed marriages between Christians and Jews or Muslims were strictly forbidden, such marriages were actually encouraged when a converted former Jew or Muslim was involved. There can be no doubt about this point: the clergy saw these marriages as another way of assimilating and acculturating the Jewish and Mudejar elites, and believed that the Christian education given by mothers to their children would play an important role. The loss of endogamy broke isolation from the Christian group, and helped bring down one of the main barriers to 45 This was the view of Alonso de Cartagena, Hernando de Talavera and fray Pedro de Quintanilla. G. Magnier, “La visión de Pedro de Valencia de un cristianismo sin divisiones” in ASIM VIII, pp. 678–679; A. Galán, “Las conversiones al cristianismo”, p. 630; J. M. Monsalvo Antón, “Herejía conversa y contestación religiosa a fines de la Edad Media. Las denuncias de la Inquisición en el obispado de Osma”, Studia Historica II, 2, 1984, p. 110. 46 Among the most well-known cases are those of the de Granada Venegas family. Don Pedro de Granada, married doña María Venegas, of the family of the lord of Luque, and their son Alonso de Granada Venegas married doña Juana de Mendoza, a lady in waiting to Queen Isabella and a relative of the count of Tendilla. Cf. J. A. García Luján and R. V. Blázquez Ruíz, “Don Fernando Muley de Fez. Una información genealógica (1596) del linaje Granada Venegas.” ASIM VIII, pp. 733–740. Another example was that of the alcaide of Lanjarón and veinticuatro of Granada, don Juan de Baeza, who married Juana de Contreras and whose oldest son took the name of Juan Hernández de Contreras. Cf. A. García Pedraza, Actitudes ante la muerte en la Granada del siglo XVI. Los moriscos que quisieron salvarse, Granada, 2002, vol. II, pp. 921–929.

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religious assimilation. The expectation was that within three generations the step from one religion to another would be completely achieved, including a transformation of the most deeply rooted customs.47 Regrettably, we know nothing about the fates of the Muslim wives and daughters some of these men had in the period before they converted. It is not known whether these women followed the men in their change of religion or stayed behind in their places of origin, divorced and dispossessed of family belongings.

Families of conversos The accounts that follow are the stories of individuals or families. They do not cover all the Moorish knights, but they do provide a fairly wide sample of the most representative ones, i.e. those who are mentioned most often in the records, and they serve to illustrate the process of assimilation to which I have just been alluding. Some families can be followed over the three generations that marked successful integration in Castilian society, and their acculturation is demonstrated by their professions, their ways of life and the final testaments they drew up before dying. These examples will also show the continuance of ties between conversos and Muslims. Just as it has been shown that relations between renegades and Christian captives were maintained,48 so the ties between conversos de moro and Muslims were not ended by baptism, even in the cases of the most firmly convinced converts. Having said this, it will be seen that conversions generally took place at a certain geographical distance from the convert’s place of origin, in order to avoid unnecessary friction.49 Such ambiguities of conduct were possible in the period before the conquest and fall of Granada. However, the incorporation into Castile of a huge number of Granadan Mudejars led to a hardening of attitudes among the clergy and the lay authorities in favour of the separation of Muslims and recent converts, who had lost part of their function as intermediaries between the two cultures. An end to previous norms of behaviour and ways of life was marked by the mass conversions of 1500–1502. 47 This view continued to be held down to the 17th century. It was, for example, propounded by fray Pedro de Valencia, who proposed mixed marriages as a way of solving many of the problems associated with the Moriscos and the statutes of limpieza de sangre. See G. Magnier, “La visión de Pedro de Valencia”, p. 675. G. P. Castile, “Analysis of Enduring Cultural Systems” in Persistent Peoples, ed. G. P. Castile and G. Kushner, Tucson, 1981, p. XVI. 48 B. and L. Bennassar, Los cristianos de Alá, p. 433. 49 M. García-Arenal, “Dreams and Reason”, p. 94.

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The Banu Marin family Of the knights who converted in 1410, the most important was unquestionably Gómez Suárez, who was no less than an “infante de Benamaryn”. This man received his name after the mayordomo to queen Catalina of Lancaster and received a salary until the time of his death.50 Gómez Suárez may have originally been from the sultanate of Fez rather than the kingdom of Granada. Fez was then in the throes of a civil war between the followers of Abu Saʿid Uthman III and the pretender to the throne, Saʿid. It is possible that Gómez Suárez belonged to the reigning family, and then fled to Granada as a refugee.51 During his time in Castile, Gómez Suárez became involved in a series of activities which might be described as subversive, or perhaps even in the practice of espionage: he travelled widely between Castile, Granada and the aljamas of the Mudejars of Aragón. During the negotiations that preceded the truce of 1421, shortly after Muhammad IX had taken over the caliphate, Gómez Suárez was detained in the mountain range of Eslida, where he was accused by one Mahomat Rubaydi of spreading propaganda in favour of the Granadan troops among the Mudejar aljamas of the mountains of Valencia.52 According to his accusor, Gómez Suárez had shown the Mudejars a letter from the sultan of Granada in which it was said that he had a large number of armed men on the frontier ready for an imminent attack. Gómez Suárez’s aim, according to Mahomat Rubaydi, was to persuade the Muslims of the region to take part in an uprising. The suspect was arrested by the Baile, together with his companion Juan de Alcalá, and taken from Eslida to Valencia, where he was imprisoned.53 50 AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1: 20, leg. 3: 390. See A. García de Santamaría, Crónica de Juan II, p. 396. 51 For the complex situation in Fez at this time, and its relations with Castile, see R. Salicrú, “Mercenaires castillans au Maroc au début du XVe siècle” in Migrations et diasporas méditerranéenes (X e–XVI e siècles), dir. M. Balard and A. Ducellier, Paris, 2002, pp. 427–434, and the numerous works by M. Arribas Palau on the subject, cited in this article and in R. Salicrú, El sultanat de Granada, pp. 504–505. 52 R. Salicrú, El sultanat de Granada, pp. 39, 53, 58–61, 180. The proclamation was published and edited by W. Hoenerbach, “Cuatro documentos mudéjares originarios de Cataluña y Levante” in Homenaje al Prof. Darío Cabanelas, vol. I, Granada, 1987, pp. 370–371. The Catálogo de los Manuscritos árabes y aljamiados de la Biblioteca de la Junta, dir. J. Ribera and M. Asín, Madrid, 1912, contains a fragment of the proclamation. There is disagreement among specialists about whether he intended to spark off war against the kingdom of Aragón, or was being used as a means of introducing a clause allowing mobility for the Mudejars in the new truce that was being negotiated. 53 R. Salicrú, El sultanat de Granada, pp. 181–184. This is most likely to have been Juan Ramíres de Alcalá, who appears in AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 2: 187–188, although there

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Gómez Suárez’s contacts at the court of Castile led to the intervention of Queen Maria of Aragón herself, who interceded on his behalf before the baile Joan Mercader at the request of don Fernando López de Estúñiga. An order to release the prisoner was made but does not seem to have had much effect, for in February it needed to be repeated both to the governor Vidal de Blanes and Mercader. The second order contains further details of Gómez Suárez’s life: it seems to have been widely known that he had passed over to don Fernando’s side during the siege of Antequera, taking with him twelve other knights, seven of whom had been baptised and had converted to the Catholic faith “by their own will, without any induction at all, solely through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit”. These facts coincide with those in other sources, such as the accounts books of the alcabalero of Seville who was given the task of paying Gómez Suárez’s first raciones. The queen, “wanting to favour the holy Catholic faith and to set an example to those who might come to her”, ordered his release for several reasons, saying that it had proved impossible to find sufficient proof of the knight’s guilt, and that he was living in the streets of Valencia begging for alms, having no means of defending himself, and ordered the charges against him to be withdrawn. López de Estúñiga insisted that insufficient evidence against this Morisco knight had been found, but it is possible that he had been acting on behalf of the Castilians, who had an interest in provoking unrest in the kingdom of Aragón in order to prevent it from allying with Muhammad IX. After this incident, Gómez Suárez returned to the court of Castile, where he remained until his death in 1432.54 Other evidence survives from this first period concerning a cousin of the “rey de Benamaryn”, Gonzalo Alfonso de Benavente, father of the Morisco knight Gómez de Valladolid.55 This convert’s sponsor was probably Juan Alfonso Pimentel, the count of Benavente, whose surname he assumed.

was another Juan de Alcalá in the Moorish guard in 1446, AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1: 41. A description of the events is given in R. Salicrú, Documents, pp. 101–102. 54 M. A. Vilaplana, “Un ajuste de cuentas”, p. 471; R. Salicrú, Documents, pp. 114–115, dated 4 January 1422; El sultanat de Granada, pp. 182–183. 55 “Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala firmado de su nombre, el anno que paso de 1447 annos los 19 maravedíes que del tenia cada dia el dicho su padre, primo del rey de Bennamaryn, e las 12 varas de ypre que el dicho Gonçalo Alonso del dicho sennor rey tenia cada un anno para su vistuario, por quanto gelos renunçio, que le montan al anno 6,480 maravedíes”, AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1: 39.

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The Al-Barramoní family Of all the knights, Alí Arramoní (or Barramoní) had one of the most complex career paths, both during his time as a Muslim and after his decision to pass over to Castile, where he founded a presumably powerful family of conversos. His political activity, carried out between Valencia and Granada during an initial phase and between Granada and Toledo in the second, provides us with precious data to help understand the dynamic generated by having “one foot on each side of a cultural barrier”, to use the words of Nock cited at the head of this chapter. Records of the al-Barramoní family in Valencia date back to the mid-14th century. They may have been a clan of Valencian traders with business interests in Granada, or viceversa, Granadan traders with interests in Valencia. Alternatively, there may have been two branches of the same family located in two different realms for commercial reasons—this was a common practice, as we will see in the case of the Bellvís family. Indeed, this last explanation seems the likeliest, given that members of the al-Barramoní family lived in both areas during different periods. For instance, in 1355 the cadí of the Moorish quarter of the city of Valencia was the merchant Fat al-Barramoní, who translated from Arabic to Catalan or Aragonese the carta de población of Fondeguilla and Castro, together with Abrahim Avenxuay, alcadí of Játiva and veterinary surgeon of the queen. Alí Barramoní, a son or brother of the merchant Fat, also worked in the wheat trade with the Maghreb, and is known to have traded in Hunein, Ceuta and Oran between 1380 and 1383.56 The family maintained its importance during the first decade of the 15th century as a result of the labours of the apothecary Azmet Barramoní and Ament Barramoní. The most important member of the clan, the trader and ambassador Alí Barramoní, seems to have made Granada his place of residence for at least part of the year, and his diplomatic and commercial missions led him to travel constantly in Valencia and Aragón. In 1405 he acted as alfaqueque, taking a large number of captives from Granada to Aragón after the signing of a truce agreement. On 26 February 1406, Alí al-Barramoní again acted as messenger for the king of Granada. A year later, the Baile General of the kingdom of Valencia granted him a safe-conduct

56 C. Barceló, Minorías islámicas en el País Valenciano. Historia y dialecto, Valencia, 1984, p. 147; M. Ruzafa García, “Elites valencianas y minorías sociales: la elite mudéjar y sus actividades (1370–1500)”, Revista d’Història Medieval, 11 (2000), p. 176; J. Bordes and E. Sanz, “El protagonismo mudéjar en el comercio entre Valencia y el Norte de África durante el siglo XV: intercambio de culturas”, ASIM VIII, vol. I, p. 280, n. 19.

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to travel to Alcudia, in Barbary, describing him as a “serrahí de Granada”. The document also covered his son Abrahim and another thirteen Granadan Muslims ransomed in Valencia, “per vigor dels capítols de la treva que és stada fermada entre lo senyor rei e lo rei de Granada”. Between 1409 and 1410 Alí al-Barramoní was again in Barcelona, at the same time as the negotiation of a truce which never came to be signed, as a result of the death of Martín The Humane. It was at this time that the famous proclamation was made inciting Muslims to emigrate to Granada. The Granadans were initially prepared to send military aid to Jaime de Urgel in his attempt to take the Aragonese throne, but eventually revised their strategy completely.57 As in other cases of Moorish knights, we know nothing about the career of Alí Barramoní during the years that followed, but we can assume that he was a supporter of the opponents of Muhammad IX, because if he had served Yusuf III it seems logical that he would have backed Yusuf ’s son Muhammad VIII, or Yusuf IV. This must have been the reason why he emigrated to Castile, presumably with the knights led by Abenámar who also left Granada. It seems that he was the same Alí Arramoní who “siendo moro, se hace cristiano” in Castile in 1436, assuming the name Juan de Tarifa, receiving in exchange his ración of 4,320 maravedis and twelve varas of cloth. It is striking that the conversion of Juan de Tarifa and his family did not occur in Valencia, where they had a home and carried out most of their various activities, but in the kingdom of Castile.58 From that time on, the knight Juan de Tarifa enjoyed favourable treatment: he was paid his ración in Toledo, a privilege granted to very few members of the Moorish guard; between 1444 and 1446 he managed to place his three sons Pedro de Soto, Diego de Baena and Juan de Tarifa, all of whom had also converted, in the guard and in 1453 his ración was raised to 7,290 maravedis, one of the highest salaries in the corps of knights. Moreover, his sons were able to inherit his ración and, as I have mentioned previously, he managed to have himself recognised as heir to his sons’ raciones if they

57 J. Hinojosa Montalvo, “Las relaciones entre los reinos de Valencia y Granada en la primera mitad del s. XV” in Estudios de Historia de Valencia, 1978, p. 95; M. Ruzafa García, “Elites valencianas y minorías sociales”, p. 178. The safe-conducts themselves are in ARV, Bailía 1144, f. 125, 190; C. Barceló, Minorías islámicas en el País Valenciano, p. 40; R. Salicrú, “Mudéjares y cristianos en el comercio con Berbería: quejas sobre favoritismo fiscal y acusaciones de colaboracionismo mudéjar, una reacción cristiana a la defensiva”, ASIM VIII, p. 285. 58 AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1: 53; P. Carrillo de Huete, Crónica del halconero de Juan II, p. 235; Refundición, p. 206, shorter but without variations; for the expedition led by Abenámar, Vid infra.

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should die before him. Juan de Tarifa clearly had great freedom of movement within the kingdom of Castile, because it was he who presented his sons’ letters and collected the money for the raciones corresponding to them, all of whom lived in Toledo. He probably had business dealings in Toledo which enabled him to act as a guarantor of other knights,59 but the nature of these dealings is unknown. The Berrio family Another converso knight, who joined the guard in 1431, was Ruy Díaz de Berrio,60 a homonym of the lord of Carcabuey. Originally from Priego in Córdoba,61 Díaz de Berrio formed part of the military guild of San Ildefonso, founded by Alfonso Fernández de Córdoba and his mother and tutor doña Leonor de Arellano on 4 July 1426 en pro e onrra de los vezinos e moradores de la dicha villa de Priego e para defendimiento della contra los moros enemigos de la fe, et porque la dicha villa esté poblada de cavalleros, por los quales la tierra es defendida, e porque los vezinos e moradores della puedan mas seguramente bevir e labrar e criar.62 [in favour and honour of the inhabitants of the said town of Priego and for the defence of it against the Moorish enemies of the faith, and in order to people the said town with knights, by whom the land is defended, and so that the inhabitants of it might be able to live, work the land and breed in greater safety.]

59 “Enbargado es por mandado de contadores por que se desligo de mancomun con Garsia Fernandes cavallero morisco el anno de [14]44 en 8.500 dineros quel dicho Garçia dio en fiança de su raçion e vistuario el dicho anno de [14]44; e el dicho Juan de Tarifa se obligo [en] su fiador”, AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1: 53. 60 AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1: 4, 516. 61 M. Peláez del Rosal and M. C. Quintanilla Raso, Priego de Córdoba en la Edad Media, Salamanca, 1977, p. 195. I do not relieve this was the lord of Carcabuey himself, as is suggested by M. C. Quintanilla Raso, Nobleza y señorío en el reino de Córdoba, p. 86, for palaeographical reasons: the lord of a territory could not feature among the co-signatories together with mere knights, and behind jury members and alcaides. It is however quite likely that this lord may have sponsored a Moorish knight from the circle of the lords of Aguilar, as he had probably also done in the case of Juan Ramírez de Aguilar. For the history of the Berrio family, see P. A. Porras Arboledas, “La aristocracia urbana de Jaén bajo los Trastámara: los Mendoza y los Berrio”, En La España Medieval, XIII, 1990, pp. 271–301, especially pp. 284–297, and E. Toral Peñaranda, Los Berrios y sus enlaces, Jaén, 2000. See also L. Seco de Lucena, “Documentos árabes granadinos I”, Al-Andalus VIII, 1943, p. 417. 62 M. Peláez del Rosal and M. C. Quintanilla Raso, Priego de Córdoba en la Edad Media, p. 196.

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The members of the guild were obliged, as was the custom, to keep a horse and arms, and various protocols were established for the release of captives from among their ranks. Ruy Díaz de Berrio must have joined the royal guard during the campaign as a result of the need for men with local knowledge of the frontier region, and he was sponsored by the Fernández de Córdoba family, who were loyal supporters of Juan II and Álvaro de Luna. He may have been the knight who took part in 1434 in the capture of the fortress of Huéscar, together with Rodrigo Manrique: an adalid by the name of Ruy Díaz “al que vuestra señoría tornó cristiano”63 was given the task of preparing the assault on the walls by ladders. He also reconnoitred the terrain, and instructed the besiegers on the best way to enter the castle. The Ramírez de Jaén family Juan Ramírez, “que alias antes que se convirtiese . . . se llamo el-Calay Abencerraje, alcalde de Cambil” [who was called el-Calay Abencerraje, alcalde of Cambil, before he was converted], came from the line of the al-Uqayli, “de la gente del castillo de Cambil” [of the people of the castle of Cambil].64 The Ramírez family were said to be cadís and alcaldes to the Moorish kings, possibly in an attempt to extol their origins, and appear in Christian records as lords of the ancestral home of Andar Alcalay.65 Equally, according to declarations made by Morisco witnesses, the family was exempt from paying the almagran to the kings of Granada—a fact that would confirm their elevated social status. The centre of their domain, the castle of Cambil, located to 63 P. Carrillo de Huete, Crónica del halconero, pp. 166–168; L.de Barrientos, Refundición, pp. 156–158; J. de M. Carriazo, “Cartas de la frontera”, pp. 96–98; J. Torres Fontes, “El adalid en la frontera”, p. 351. 64 Informaciones genealógicas sobre Fernando de Aranda y Medrano y sus mujeres Francisca de Mendoza y Leonor María de Eslava, ordenadas por la Inquisición en 1610, f. 137 v. Here it is wrongly stated that the man who married Constanza Vélez de Mendoza was Juan the father rather than the son. For the falsifications of the family line to avoid problems with the Inquisition, see A. Echevarría, “García Ramírez de Jaén, un converso de moro al servicio de los Reyes Católicos” in Hommage à l’École d’ Oviedo d’Études Aljamiado (dir. A. Temimi), Zaghouan (Tunis), FTERSI, 2003, pp. 211–212. 65 I have been unable to identify this place name. The Abencerrajes played a vital role in the early 15th century in the defence of the Nasrid frontier, and had a reputation for courage in the jihad. In 1364 a member of the family, Abu Ishaq b. Abi ʿAbd Allah ibn Sarraj, was commander of the alcazaba of Ronda and governor of its important military sub-division. In 1419 they staged their first revolt against Ali al-Amin, the regent of Muhammad the Small, by means of the members of the family who governed in Guadix and Illora. See EI, Ibn al-Sarradj (J. D. Latham).

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the south of Jaén, was termed hisn in Arabic sources.66 This fortress and the neighbouring one of Alhabar were described by al-Maqqari as two adjoining fortresses so close to each other that their inhabitants whisper secrets in each others’ ears, the separation between them being the sandbar of the river which flows clear and calm and they are well defended and endowed with a wall which surrounds them like a ring.67

Cambil passed into Christian hands for the first time during the expedition led by the infante don Pedro, the regent of Alfonso XI, against the sultan Ismael I, an event dated as having occurred in the year 1316 by Arabic sources and in 1311 by the Crónica de Alfonso XI. In April 1369, Muhammad V re-captured the two fortresses and included Cambil and Alhabar on the border line with Granada, taking advantage of the civil war in Castile during which he supported Pedro I.68 The situation remained unchanged until the reign of Juan II. It is reasonable to suppose that the entry which figures for the date 1417 in the accounts books for the Moorish raciones under the name Juan, son of the alcaide Ali, corresponds to the Juan Ramírez mentioned in genealogical data concerning the family.69 The time of his passing over to the Christian side coincided with the signing of a truce between Castile and Granada, requested by Yusuf III, which was to last two years.70 The acceptance of Juan Ramírez and his baptism must have been overseen—if we bear in mind the surname he assumed and the relations suggested by the genealogical data on

66 A fortified location with few inhabitants which co-ordinated the use of several ma’qil or simple castles where the local population could take refuge in times of danger. 67 Al-Maqqari, Nafh al-tib min gusn al-Andalus al-ratib (ed. Ihsan Abbas), Beirut, 1968, v. 6, p. 374. Cited in F. Vidal Castro, “Cambil islámico: datos para su estudio” in 550 Aniversario de la toma de Huelma (1438–1988). VI Jornadas de estudios de Sierra Magina, Huelma, 1992, p. 31. 68 Ibn al-Jatib, al-Ihata fi ajbar Garnata, ed. M. A. Inan, Cairo, 1978, v. 1, p. 389; Historia de los reyes de la Alhambra, ed. E. Molina and J. M. Casciaro, Granada, 1998, p. 89; Crónica de Alfonso XI, ed. F. Cordá in Crónicas de los reyes de Castilla, ed. C. Rosell, Madrid, 1953, v. 1, p. 180. Cited in F. Vidal Castro, “Cambil islámico”, pp. 33–34. 69 “Juan, fijo del alcayde Aly, que se solia llamar quando moro Fecochon. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cade dia para su mantenimiento anno de 1417 annos, por quanto se torno a nuestra sancta fe los 20 maravedíes que del solia tener en raçion cada dia Fernando Alfonso de Carrion ques fynado e se vino a tornar cristiano, que le montan el anno 7.200 maravedíes, e mas para su vestuario cada anno dieciseys varas de ypre”. The payment records are for the years 1455, 1457–60 and 1463. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 18 and 3, 603. 70 Crónica del serenísimo príncipe don Juan, segundo Rey deste nombre, ed. L. Galíndez de Carvajal, in Crónicas de los reyes de Castilla, ed. C. Rosell, Madrid, 1953, vol. II, p. 373. Cited in A. Echevarría, Catalina de Lancaster, Hondarribia, 2002, pp. 194–195.

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him—by one of the Ramírez Arellano family, lords of Los Cameros.71 From this time onwards, descendants of this individual would bear the surname Ramírez or one of the following patronyms: “de Jaén”, relating to the city where they had settled, “de Cambil”, which indicated where they had come from, or “de Alcalá”, a deformation of the Arabic nisba Alcalay or al-Uqayli. Some members of the family even varied in their use of one or another of these names at different times of their lives. Little else is known about Juan Ramírez, except that he acted as adalid to the king and that he took with him to Castile his sons Fernando de Alcalá, García de Alcalá and Pedro Ramírez de Cambil.72 It is more difficult to know whether the knights Luis de Alcalá and his brother Johan Calayn were also members of the same family.73 All of these men joined the Moorish guard and served the king directly. 71 This reference may be no more than an attribution intended to establish the prestigious Christian lineage with which he wished to be associated, as explained above. Informaciones genealógicas, f. 145 v. 72 “Fernando de Alcala, fijo de Juan Ramires, cavallero morisco. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala firmado de su nombre, anno de 1438 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno, 12 maravedíes de raçion cada dia, que le montan al anno 4.320 maravedíes e las 15 varas de ypre que Alfonso Suares tenia de raçion, por quanto se paso al regno de Granada e que le acreçento el rey mas el anno que paso de 1453 annos los 10 maravedíes quel dicho su padre tenia en raçion cada dia por su adalid y que le montan al anno 3.600 maravedíes, en manera que son por todos 7.920 maravedíes”, AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1: 25. “Garsia de Alcalá, cavallero morisco, fijo de Juan Ramires. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala firmado de su nombre, anno de 1442 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno, los 10 maravedíes que Hamete Çelani, cavallero morisco, tenia cada dia para su mantenimiento, e se libravan de dos en dos meses, por quanto el dicho Hamete Çelani se torno al regno de Granada, que le montan al anno 3.600 maravedíes. E que le acreçento el rey el anno que paso de 1453 annos los 12 maravedíes que de su merçed tenia Benito, fijo de Cristoval Fernandes el Beatyed, por quanto es fynado, que le montan al anno 4.320 maravedíes. E que le acreçento el rey mas el dicho anno de [14]53 10 varas de ypre que de su merçed tenia Diego Gonçales de Carmona, por quanto es fynado, que son por todos los maravedíes e panno 7.920 maravedíes e 10 varas de ypre.” AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1: 68. “Pedro Canbil, cavallero morisco. Mandole le rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala firmado de su nombre, anno de 1442 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno, los 15 maravedíes que Ysmael el Chatrio, cavallero morisco, tenia cada dia para su mantenimiento, que le montan al anno 5.400 maravedíes.” AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1: 67. Identification of this knight was made possible by the data in the Informes genealógicos, f. 149 v, and the document AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1: 24, mentioned below. 73 The family relationships are not as clear in the records as in other cases, but the name Calayn seems to provide a clue: “Iohan Calayn, hermano de Luys de Alcala, cavallero morisco. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia 12 maravedíes que le montan al anno 4.320 maravedíes e mas 10 varas de ypre para su vistuario cada anno por su alvala firmado de su nombre, anno de 1447 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno, quel dicho su hermano solia tener, por quanto es fynado, e que su merçed mandava que non se consuman de la mitad desta raçion e vistuario por virtud de la hordenança, por que la primera semejante raçion e vestuario se consumiese en esta meramente.” AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1: 48.

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García de Alcalá would later be known as García Ramírez de Jaén. The date of his conversion is not known, but he joined the Moorish guard in 1442, with an initial salary of 3,600 maravedis which in 1453 rose to no less than 7,920, making him one of the best-paid men in the guard. It was probably during this period that he became captain of the guard, which would justify his salary, far greater than that of his own father. Several references to his leadership of the Moorish guard have already been made, whether at the head of three hundred knights in battle or a group of twenty-five confidants in the king’s personal guard at court. The Ramírez de Jaén family’s ties with their relatives in Granada were not severed, and this enabled them to play the role of intermediaries in the sort of Castilian diplomacy described in previous chapters. Juan II and Enrique IV found them to be valuable interlocutors in their dealings with the disgruntled sectors of the Granadan aristocracy. Cambil was used as a negotiating point and also as a starting point for the incursions made by pretenders to the Nasrid throne sponsored by the Castilian crown. Between 1431 and the truce agreements of 1439, Cambil opted to follow Yusuf IV ibn al-Mawl in his revolt against Muhammad IX, either because of pressure from the Christians or due to the promise of some sort of agreed reward.74 Once the Nasrid kingdom had been pacified, the fortress served as a shelter for Muslims escaping from the nearby strongholds taken by the Christians in the offensive of 1437–38, such as Huelma or Mata Begid. Since Huelma was itself declared a “free port” in the truce agreements signed in 1439, it can be assumed that in the years that followed frontier relations were peaceful and based on trading activity. The next attempt to place a pretender backed by Castile on the Nasrid throne occurred only six years later, when Ismael III destabilised Yusuf V’s rule from Cambil. On this occasion the aspiring sultan came directly from the court of Castile, and may therefore have had contact there with the Ramírez de Jaén family. The choice of Cambil as a starting point for this revolt was not a coincidence. The appointment of a visir from the family of the Abencerrajes with influence in the region impeded Ismael’s intentions for the time being, and he was forced to return to Castile until 1446, when he was able to take over the throne for a year and a half. In January 1455, Cambil and the Abencerrajes again supported a vassal of the Castilians, Abu Nasr Saʿd, and Enrique IV entered the kingdom of Granada for his first campaign as sovereign, making Jaén his organisational

74

L. Seco de Lucena, Muhammad IX, sultán de Granada, Granada, 1978, p. 110.

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centre of operations.75 Among the algaradas that took place, there was an encounter between the knights of the jineta of Jaén and the captains of the Abencerrajes, which ended with the flight of the former, among whom were the Ramírez de Jaén. The existence of family ties between the combatants in this episode (conversos from Jaén and Abencerrajes from Cambil) might explain the mass flight of knights who in theory were accustomed to frontier clashes like those of Jaén, and it might also explain the absence of later reprisals against them by the king’s officials.76 In the next campaign, the episode of the court in Cambil took place which I have already mentioned above. During this episode, García Ramírez de Jaén may have conducted interviews with members of his own family, though these were the kind of contacts which the pro-Isabelline Christian chronicles were never to recognise. The extent of Enrique IV’s favourable treatment of García de Jaén can be seen from the numerous gifts made by the king in reward for the knight’s many services, and also from the position he was able to reach in Christian society as a result of the links he established with the ruling oligarchy of Jaén. His marriage to Constanza Vélez de Mendoza, cobijera to queen Juana,77 brought him into a situation of privilege in the city. His father-in-law, Alonso Vélez de Mendoza—whose name was given to the couple’s first son—was a veinticuatro (permanent member of the local government) of Jaén and alguacil, and these posts gave García Ramírez de Jaén the opportunity to succeed him in the veinticuatría of the city. It is also likely that he inherited

75 J. E. López de Coca, “Revisión de una década”, pp. 61–90 and F. Vidal Castro, “Historia política”, pp. 164–165 and 174–175. 76 “Quel ynfante Ysmael, fijo del rey Çiriça, a quien el rey avia fecho muchas merçedes, entro por correr la çibdad de Baeça con dos mill e quinientos de cavallo e con fasta quatro mill peones, el qual enbio por corredores con çierta gente dos hermanos llamados los Abençerrajes, cavalleros avidos entrellos por muy buenos, y el ynfante y el alguazil de Granada quedaron en la çelada en el puerto que se dize de Torres. E como la nueva viniesse a Jaen, de solamente la entrada de los Abençerrajes con fasta quatroçientos de cavallo e la gran presa que llevaban, el conde de Castañeda salio de Jaen con çiento onbres darmas e dozientos ginetes, e passo por el puerto que se diçe del Carretón, que se llama la Hoya Escobeda, a fin de esperar alli a los moros para pelear con ellos en un llano que ally se faze, e por mas se certificar dela gente que los moros trayan, enbio dos adalides para que mirasen la trocha e reconociesen que gente podrian ser. (. . .) E como los cavalleros de la gineta de la çibdat de Jaen, de quien traya cargo un cavallero de Segovia llamado Pedro de Cuellar, vieron los moros, bolvieron luego a fuyr de tal manera que Pedro de Cuellar, su corregidor, no los pudo detener; e como el era buen cavallero e onbre fijodalgo, bolvio con algunos pocos que con el quissieron bolver, e allí fue muerto, e algunos de los que con el bolvieron”, Crónica anónima, vol. II, pp. 59–60. 77 J. A. Bonilla and E. Toral, El tratado de paz de 1481 entre Castilla y Granada, Jaén, 1982, p. 48 and J. E. López de Coca, “Caballeros moriscos”, pp. 119–136, especially p. 123, n. 28. This is confirmed by the Informaciones genealógicas, f. 138 r, 145 v and 146 r.

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houses and properties. Firmly established in the city, García Ramírez de Jaén spent at least part of every year there. His elevated position is reflected in an official order of 12 April 1462 which was made with the intention of soothing the disagreements that occurred in the city whenever procuradores for the Cortes were elected. It established a rota system of pairs of representatives which the knights swore to respect. García Ramírez’s name appears in the second turn of representatives together with that of Juan de Mendoza, probably his brother-in-law.78 At the same time, the captain accompanied the court on some of its travels and figured at the head of the king’s Moorish guard whenever it was required. In 1462 he is repeatedly mentioned in the accounts book of the royal assistant Juan de Tordesillas, on the occasion of the Christmas gifts made by Enrique IV to the staff in his service. García received twelve varas of high-quality cloth (six of superior Rouen cloth with the yellow seal and another six of superior brown Bruges cloth) and 8,000 maravedis to buy himself a horse.79 García Ramírez de Jaén’s role in Enrique IV’s policy towards Granada was not limited to acting as an intermediary with the sultan’s ambassadors, a role which in Aragón was carried out by Mudejars and not conversos.80 In 1464 Enrique IV granted him tenure of the castle of Pegalajar, which was situated at the centre of the Andalusian oil trade route, on one of the main lines linking the kingdom of Granada with Jaén.81 This was a dangerous area which could only be entrusted to a person of proven loyalty, making it even more likely that the relationship between the king and his captain was a very close one—and the king addressed García as “mi muy amado el capitán Garçi Ramirez de Jaen”.82 García must also have possessed considerable wealth in order to take on such a task, which, as we saw in previous 78 He is mentioned immediately after such important figures as Juan de Mesía, lord of la Guardia, and the comendador Juan de Pareja. J. Martínez de Mazas, Retrato al natural de la ciudad y término de Jaén, Barcelona, 1978, p. 481. 79 See Chapter Three. 80 AGS, Casas y Sitios Reales, leg. 97, 252 v. See M. A. Ladero Quesada, “1462: un año en la vida de Enrique IV”, p. 257; J. E. López de Coca, “Caballeros moriscos”, p. 123. 81 This castle was mentioned in times of the expedition of Fernando III in 1244, PCG, v. 2, p. 744. Cited in F. Vidal Castro, “Cambil islámico”, p. 33. In 1470 it suffered several raids by the Granadans, who burned down the arrabal or surrounding suburb. P. de Escavías, Hechos del Condestable, pp. 455–456. R. Arié, El reino nasrí de Granada, p. 192. 82 “Y ansimismo se hallan en el officio de Antonio de Talavera escrivano del concejo de Jaen desde el año de mill y quatrocientos y sesenta y quatro en adelante como el dicho capitan Garci Ramirez de Jaen fue alcalde de la fortaleça de Pegalajar por el rey don Enrique el quarto, siendo frontera de moros, y como se tiene dicho en las cedulas que le despachava le ponia a mi muy amado el capitan Garci Ramirez de Jaen.” Informaciones genealógicas, f. 149r.

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chapters, was an expensive one. This was not the only case where a captain of a royal guard was entrusted with the tenure of an important fortress on the frontier.83 In the meantime, García’s brother Pedro Ramírez de Jaén had managed to find a place for his son Juan de Jaén in the Moorish guard, and had obtained favours from the concejo of the city.84 Another knight who may have been related to the family was Hamete de Cambil. García Ramírez therefore settled in Jaén as captain and later as a veinticuatro of the city.85 He remained in Jaén after the dissolution of the Moorish guard, as we will see later. The circle that formed around the constable Miguel Lucas de Iranzo proved particularly favourable to men like García, who was not only opposed to the court faction that accused the king of Islamophilia, but had shown himself to be one of Enrique IV’s most loyal men in warfare on the frontier. García Ramírez’s profound knowledge of relations between Castile and Granada, and of the languages and politics of the area, were providential in his accumulation of wealth during the Granada campaign of the reign of the Catholic Kings. During the years 1474 and 1475 Jaén was already in a state of alert, well before preparations for war had begun. There were problems in the Granadan areas of Baza and Guadix, and the Christian area of Huelma. However, once they had been resolved, the authorities of Jaén refused to send troops from their Hermandad to the Catholic Kings because the king of Granada was known to be concentrating his artillery troops in Cambil in order to make an attack on Pegalajar and Jaén. By that time García Ramírez de Jaén was no longer alcaide of the castle, Pegalajar had been left without provisions for some years, and its walls had fallen into a state of disrepair. García himself intervened in the concejo meeting and voted together with other jurados and regidores in favour of the refusal to obey the royal order to send troops from the city. He was also paid 4,000 maravedis for a horse to replace one which had been killed by the Moors, as agreed by the jurados or

83

For these functions and the way they worked in the case of Francisco Enríquez, another converso de moro, see A. Echevarría, “Biografías de conversos: historia de una doble marginación” in Biografías e identidades marginales en la cultura islámica medieval (co-ord. C. de la Puente), EOBA, XXI, Madrid, 2003, pp. 215–241. 84 “Juan de Jahen, fijo de Pero Ramires de Canbil, cavallero morisco. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala firmado de su nombre el anno que paso de 1454 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno los 10 maravedíes que del dicho sennor rey tenia en raçion cada dia Alfonso de Baeça, cavallero morisco, por quanto es fynado, que le montan al anno 3.600 maravedíes e mas las 10 varas de ypre que tenia en cada anno para su vestuario.” AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1: 24. The favours are mentioned in Informaciones genealógicas, f. 149 v. 85 J. de M. Carriazo, “Los moros de Granada en las actas del concejo de Jaén de 1479”, MEAH, IV, 1955, pp. 81–125.

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jury members Fernando de Leyva (who was probably his brother-in-law then) and Martín de Espinosa with the Granadan authorities.86 García intervened again during the diplomatic negotiations with Granada of 1481.87 During campaigning, he may have been one of the captains who took part in the attack launched from Antequera to raze the land around Malaga in 1484,88 and again the following year, in a raid which came even closer to the city of Granada. He was almost certainly one of the advance party which went to the castle of Cambil,89 his place of origin, when letters were delivered there announcing the imminent arrival of Isabella and Ferdinand within eight days. It was for this reason that he and other knights were later accused of having withdrawn from combat during the course of the attack on the fortress. Fortunately, García was able to produce a certificate from the corregidor of Jaén stating that all of the accused men had left as part of his troops on 8 September 1485 to besiege Cambil and Alhabar, two days before the other noblemen. García was at this time facing the prospect of possible dismissal from all his municipal and court posts.90 The eventual 86 P. A. Porras Arboleda, “La frontera del reino de Granada a través del Libro de Actas del cabildo de Jaén de 1476”, Al-Qantara XIV (1993), p. 148. 87 J. A. Bonilla and E. Toral, El tratado de paz de 1481, p. 48. 88 Ferdinand and Isabella called up the knights of Jaén for this action. See M. Garrido Atienza, Las capitulaciones para la entrega de Granada, Granada, 1910, doc. III, pp. 163–164. The letter/charter is dated 20 December 1484 and is kept in the Archivo del Marqués de Corvera. It contains references to García Sánchez (instead of Ramírez) de Jaén and Ruy Díaz de Berrio. 89 The account of the sieges of these castles can be found in F. del Pulgar, Guerra de Granada, ed. J. de M. Carriazo, Madrid, 1943, II, pp. 197–200 and A. Bustani (ed.), Fragmento de la época árabe sobre noticias de los reyes nazaritas, Larache, 1940, pp. 18–19. Cited in F. Vidal Castro, “Cambil islámico”, pp. 36, 44. 90 An instruction of the Catholic Kings sent to Jaén on 8 October 1485 gave the order to discover which inhabitants had failed to go to the siege of Cambil and Alhabar, and to punish those who had done so, accompanied by a list of all the knights and leading men of the city who had attended: “. . . e por que ahora somos informados que Rodrigo de Sotomayor, e Gomez Coello, e Luis de Peralta, e el capitán García de Jaén, e Rui López de Mendoza, e Pedro de Mendoza veintiquatros de la dicha ciudad no fueron a nos servir en la dicha guerra, e en el dicho sitio e cerco de Cambil e Alhabar, e todos ellos no fueron con el dicho nuestro corregidor a meter el bastimiento de Alhama, donde agora es ido por nuestro mandado, según vos enbiamos a mandar, por lo qual es nuestra merced de los suspender de los dichos oficios de veintiquatrias, e que los dichos caballeros que no fueron manferidos para ir al dicho bastimiento de Alhama pierdan sus armas, e caballos.” They were indeed suspended, but appealed against the decision and won a pardon: “Los expresados Diego de Carbajal y Francisco Manuel comisionados por Sus Altezas para lo que queda referido, procedieron con efecto a suspender de sus oficios a Rodrigo de Sotomayor, Gomez Coello, Luis de Peralta, el capitán García de Jaén, Ruy López de Mendoza, y Pedro de Mendoza, veintiquatros de esta ciudad; pero sintiendose agraviados recurrieron a sus Altezas con certificacion del corregidor Francisco de Bobadilla, en que aseguraba este que habian partido con el para el dicho cerco en el día 8 de septiembre, dos dias antes de que partieran los demas fijosdalgo, y que estu-

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capture of the twin castles meant the end of hostilities against Jaén from the mountains around it, and led to the evacuation of all Muslims from the strongholds of Arenas, Montejícar and Iznalloz. Many of these inhabitants fled to Granada, and the alfaquís of the capital publicly lamented the loss of these strongholds in very forceful terms. By this period the powerful captain and veinticuatro of Jaén had lost his first wife Constanza Vélez de Mendoza and had re-married within the same social group of Old Christians. His second wife was María de Leyba or Leiva, the daughter of Pedro de Leiva, another veinticuatro of Jaén, and the sister of the comendador of Lopera, don Luis González de Leiva. The bride’s dowry was a generous one, but was considerably bettered by the money given her by García.91 The knight’s wealth was estimated at about eight hundred thousand maravedis, according to his will. The couple had the following children, probably in this order: Luis, Luisa, García Ramírez, Catalina, María and Francisca. All of these children, except García, bore their mother’s surname and married into the families of the local oligarchy—the Berrio, Cabeza de Vaca and Messía families—without their converso background appearing to have made any difference to their social acceptance. In 1492, García Ramírez must have taken part in the capture of the city of Granada where, according to his own testimony, he made arrangements for the time of his death in accordance with Church canons. However, the knight lived on for a few more years. In 1493 he brought a lawsuit against Fernando Arias de Saavedra on behalf of his nephew Luis de Saavedra, and another against Gonzalo de Toledo over the ownership of a black Moor.92 To judge by the date of his final will and testament, García Ramírez must have died in Jaén on about 5 October 1498.93

bieron en el hasta tomar los castillos de Cambil y Alhabar, y que no los habían puesto con los demás fijosdalgo, de que sentian notorio agravio. Por esta razon los nominados jueces en 17 de mayo de 1486, los declararon libres y exentos de culpa, y que habian cumplido como buenos caballeros, fieles y leales vasallos, etc”, J. Martínez de Mazas, Retrato al natural de la ciudad de Jaén, pp. 113–118, 492–507. 91 Thirty thousand maravedis, to which were later added another ten thousand inherited from her father, as against the eighty thousand maravedis given by the bridegroom. García seems to have received a pension in maravedis from the Catholic Kings, both in Andújar and in Jaén, as well as possessing properties in Andújar and houses in Jaén “que son en el dicho arraval linde de casas de Pedro Sanches de Valençuela y las calles de el Rey nuestro Señor”. 92 1493, febrero, 4. Archivo Histórico Provincial de Jaén. Protocolo 1, f. 190v. Cf P. A. Porras Arboledas, “Documentos sobre musulmanes y judíos en archivos señoriales y de protocolos (ss. XV y XVI)”, Cuadernos de estudios medievales y ciencias y técnica historiográficas, XVI (1991), p. 145. 93 His wife, María de Leiva, inherited the 220,000 maravedis corresponding to her as a result of her matrimonial contracts, and would retain ownership of half of the patrimonial

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His son Alonso Vélez de Mendoza, who represented the third generation of knights from this family to serve in the Moorish guard, enjoyed a comfortable situation. In 1460 he was granted the Moorish knight’s ración which until then had belonged to Gonzalo Sánchez de Llerena, after presenting a written document providing evidence of the latter’s death that was signed by the notary Pero Fernández. Despite a protest made by Gonzalo Sánchez himself, who turned out still to be alive, in which he asked to be given back his post, the pressure exerted by García de Jaén eventually resulted in the ración being awarded to his son.94 Not content with this outcome, the captain also made a grant to Alonso at the time of his marriage “en paños y en dos cavallos con sus atabios y en una jaça (sic) de plata y con quince mill maravedíes que cargo para quitar su xuro sesenta y siete mill y seiscientos maravedíes” [of cloth and two horses with their attire and a silver jaça and 15,000 maravedis which he paid to eliminate his oath [of inheritance of ] 67,600 maravedis], which he added to the inheritance left by his dead mother. He also inherited from his father the veinticuatría of Jaén, which would be passed on to his descendants, amongst whom was his son Gaspar Vélez de Mendoza, comendador of Santiago. The Fernández de Aguilar family Juan Fernández de Aguilar, whose name before conversion was Hamede el Cabrí, was already a member of the guard by 1446. His original name indicates that he must have lived in the Cabra region, which was part of the dominions of the Fernández de Córdoba family, whose two branches were divided between the manors of Cabra, Priego and Aguilar. At his baptism, Hamede assumed the king’s first name, the surname of the lord who probably sponsored him and the toponym of the town where he established his residence. His three sons, who must have converted at about the same time, adopted three of the most common names in the house of Aguilar (Pedro,

houses belonging to the family in the arrabal of Jaén, close to the convent of San Francisco, as well as her maintenance in bread, wine and oil for a year. The rest of the captain’s fortune went to the children of his second marriage. He left them a third of his inheritance, and the other half of the houses of the arrabal. The children of María de Leiva received 67,600 maravedis each in order to leave them the same amount of money as their brother Alfonso Vélez de Mendoza, who acted as the executor of the will. 94 AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 2: 187–188 and leg. 3: 393. Ed. A. Echevarría, “Conversión y ascenso social en la Castilla del siglo XV: los casos de Farax de Belvís y García Ramírez de Jaén”, ASIM VIII, Teruel, 2002, pp. 561–564. See also J. E. López de Coca, “Caballeros moriscos”, pp. 122–123.

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Alfonso and Diego) and either the surname “de Aguilar” or “de Córdoba”, as a sign of their tie to the household.95 The services rendered to the king and prince can be related to the activities of Alfonso and Pedro Fernández de Córdoba, lords of Aguilar in the periods 1424–41 and 1441–1455 respectively, in favour of Juan II, during his capture by the infante.96 This was especially true of Don Pedro, who supported the prince Don Enrique during the crisis, gathering aid for him from all over Andalusia. Pedro was later to take charge of the negotiations with Granada of the truces of 1446–1449 and 1452–1457.97 The Fernández de Aguilar family must have continued to serve the royal household throughout the reign of Enrique IV, and must also have risen within the guard, as in 1476 the three knights, Pedro, Alfonso and Diego, then resident in the town of Zafra belonging to the Order of Alcántara, requested from Queen Isabella the confirmation of their occupation of the posts of adalid, previously held by their father.98 This confirms the continuance of members of the Moorish guard in the army and in the frontier region, although the request does not make any reference to the title of Moorish knight held by their father Juan Fernández de Aguilar, but only to that of adalid, a term devoid of negative connotations related to his conversion or service under the previous monarch.99 The Jewish converso López de Marruecos family The Jewish converso López de Marruecos family was already established in Jaén by the year 1457, and several of its members held important posts in the city. Juan de Marruecos was a royal secretary and a regidor of the city and acted as fiscal agent for the diezmo y medio diezmo de lo morisco.100 His relative Rodrigo de Marruecos was alcalde.101 Both men were close from

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AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1: 42, 60, 63–64, 72. For the financial and patrimonial situation of this family, see Chapter Three. 97 On the other hand, his relative Diego Fernández de Córdoba, Duke of Cabra (1435– 1512), took the side of the infants from 1444 onwards, which led him to lose his public posts. M. C. Quintanilla Raso, Nobleza y señorío, pp. 90–91, 97–98. 98 M. C. Quintanilla Raso, Nobleza y señorío, pp. 97–98. 99 AGS, RGS, 1476, noviembre, 28. Toro. f. 788. 100 AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 3: 562, paying him 8,400 maravedís per year for the post held between 1457 and 1459. As for the diezmo de lo morisco, in about 1444, see AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 2: 24. Cf. J. E. López de Coca, “Castilla, Granada y la tregua de 1443”, pp. 308, 311. 101 For Rodrigo de Marruecos, see Hechos del condestable, p. 62. He was probably the “maestre Rodrigo” who appears as a jury member of the city together with other conversos 96

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a very early period to the constable Lucas de Iranzo, and this led to the departure from the city of Rodrigo de Marruecos in 1461, as a result of the confrontations between Lucas de Iranzo and the local bishop, although he returned at a later date. The family performed a series of very different functions for Lucas de Iranzo, for Juan de Marruecos was adalid during his incursions into Granada, and negotiated the subsequent truces.102 By this time, his son Fernando, who was probably a second son and destined for a military career, had joined the Moorish guard of Juan II in 1444 and was confirmed in his post at the start of the reign of Enrique IV.103 The family was persecuted, firstly in the anti-converso riot of Jaén in 1473, after the death of the constable Lucas de Iranzo. Juan López de Marruecos and other members of his family were murdered by a mob in Torre del Campo, where Juan was the alcaide. His son Pedro de Torres, to whom he had probably delegated his post of regidor of the capital Jaén, was stripped of his office, but managed to be reinstated in 1477, the year in which he also received an official royal assurance. He was, however, forced to leave the post permanently the following year, under pressure from his colleagues. The Jewish conversos suffered the hostility of the people of Jaén for several years after the riot, and were excluded from the fulfilment of their military obligations for the concejo until three years later. There is no further news of Fernando de Marruecos, who may have died together with his father in the riot of 1473. Several members of the family were tried for Judaizing practices by the Tribunal of the Holy Office of Jaén between 1483 and 1505.104

Muslim knights: resisting conversion Not all the Moorish knights followed the path of conversion as a way of integrating into the kingdom of Castile. Indeed, not all of them sought such integration in their new environment. The Moorish guard thus sometimes comes to resemble a mixed bag in which all Muslims arriving at court were

in 1467. P. A. Porras Arboledas, Comercio, banca y judeoconversos en Jaén (1475–1540), Jaén, 1993, pp. 147–148; E. Toral Peñaranda, “Linaje de los conversos López de MarruecosVázquez” in Homenaje a Luis Coronas, Jaén, 2001, pp. 551–565. 102 Hechos del condestable, pp. 444–446. 103 AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1: 46. 104 AGS, RGS, 13–8–1477, f. 364. On the death of the head of the family, D. de Valera, Memorial de diversas hazañas, p. 79. The problems that Juan and Gonzalo López de Marruecos experienced with the Inquisition in 1505 are mentioned in L. Coronas Tejada, La Inquisición de Jaén, Jaén, 1991, pp. 22, 73.

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automatically placed and maintained at the king’s expense. A distinction can perhaps be made between the knights who passed over to Castile and remained there in the king’s entourage, converting at some point, and a second group made up of those men who crossed the frontier because of the struggles dividing the Nasrids, and whose ultimate aim was to move on to the Maghreb or defend the candidature of a particular individual. Such men did not convert and returned to the lands of Islam as soon as the political situation had improved. In addition to these two groups, it has to be said that there were those other troops supplied to Castile by Granada during periods of vassalage of one of the Nasrid kings. Such men could from time to time be found serving the king as part of his guard, but cannot be considered stable court members. Obviously, these different types of knight adopted different attitudes to the idea of voluntary conversion to Christianity. Only those who remained in the guard in a fairly stable manner, and especially their sons, took the step. There were also those who died in Castile, and whose raciones passed on to other Moorish knights. An acceptance of the Christian religion was made for personal reasons and, given the existence of the figure of the Mudejar, there was in theory no reason why the men who crossed the frontier should not have continued to be Muslims. Everything seems to have depended on whether they saw their stay in Castile as a permanent one, or by contrast regarded it as a transitory period during which they served particular political interests. The circumstances and names of the Muslim knights who did not convert are very diverse, and not always easy to uncover: Homar Saraiquel, alcalde of Guadix, received a ración that was inherited by his son, Juan Álvarez de Medina (previously Ali Barseno Nyl); Ysmael el Chatrio, who with such a name may have belonged to either of the two creeds; Hamete Çelani and Ali al-Tasquq, who both returned to Granada; Yuça Obeyd, servant to Çulema, cabecera or military leader of Mocafre; Mahomad Abenma; Farax de Belvís, discussed in more detail below; Hamede, alguacil of Ronda; Çadala, a servant of Alfonso Pérez de Vivero; Abenámar, who can probably be identified with the protagonist of the well-known romance, and Mahomad Alcayel.105 Other names also appear in the accounts books of Juan de Tordesillas, such as the infante moro Muley Mafamed; the moro negro Maçote, Mahomad de Talavera, Alí el negro, Hamet Jacob, Farax Dime and Hamete de Cambil.106

105 106

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AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1: 27, 33, 41, 44, 46, 50, 67, 68, 69; leg. 4: 88. AGS, Casas y Sitios Reales, leg. 97, f. 208r, 212r, 216v–217r, 260v–261r, 270r–271v,

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At no time during this period were any of the recent converts accused of insincerity or crypto-Islamic practices. Such worries had yet to assail the Castilian collective mentality. However, among the list of knights who decided to return to Granada without the permission of the king of Castile there were several conversos de moro whose sincerity on converting can surely be called into question. In the years between 1438 and 1452, the following men are mentioned as having made such a move: Alfonso Suárez, the alcaide Martín de Torres, Gonzalo de Cogollos, Fernando de Medina (previously Ali el Canel), Francés Navarro, Diego de Cogollos, Pedro de Úbeda, Alfonso de Guadix and Pedro de Aguilar. Nothing is known of the reasons that moved these men to change their religion and then later to return to Granada and their old Islamic faith. Those who settled in Castile with their families may have been disappointed in their hopes of improving their social status. Alternatively, they may have decided after being captured during warfare to switch religions so as to imporve their chances of returning to their places of origin more easily, given that they would not be subject to any form of vigilance. (Such explanations of their actions were often admitted in later years by men brought before the Inquisition.) Another possibility is that these men had not thought of converting when they first emigrated, but found themselves forced to do so by circumstance, and then decided to return to their homelands at a later date. Given the complete absence of personal accounts of such experiences, it is impossible to confirm or reject any of these hypotheses. What can be done is to follow the trajectories of those Moorish knights and their families who never thought of giving up their religion and values, or who thought it useless to do so in view of the attendant circumstances. The nature of their personal convictions, their comfortable situations within the Islamic community, the temporary nature of their time among Christians and the pressure exerted by the Mudejar community or their families in Granada are some of the factors that might explain why these men rejected the idea of converting to the majority religion. The self-interested use by the Christians of a number of individuals from the Mudejar and Granadan elites in their diplomatic and commercial negotiations, and as intermediaries in dealings with the Mudejar communities, certainly would have helped such knights to maintain their religious status.107

107

R. Salicrú, “Mudéjares y cristianos en el comercio”, pp. 286–288.

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The Al-Amín family The al-Amín family also became active in Castile at about the time of the campaigns led by the infante don Fernando in Andalusia. After the enthronement of Yusuf III, in May 1408, the brothers ʿAbd Allah, ʿAli and Saʿid/Çaide al-Amin, until that time alcaides of the Nasrid army, carried out several diplomatic missions in the kingdom of Castile.108 The first of the brothers to do so was ʿAbd Allah, who travelled to negotiate the terms of the truce of 1406 between Muhammad VII and Enrique III. Two years later he crossed the frontier and went to Guadalajara to speak to the queen and the infante Fernando, accompanied by the converso Master Alonso Fernández, the alfaqueque of the alcaide of Alcalá la Real don Alonso Fernández de Aguilar.109 ʿAbd Allah only succeeded in extending the truce agreements until April 1410. After the battle of Boca del Asna, the Granadans made haste to send letters to Alfonso Fernández de Aguilar through the second of the brothers, Çaide al-Amín, who went personally to the infante’s encampment, accompanied by the Castilian alfaqueque Diego Fernández. Çaide al-Amín seems to have had some sort of difficulty entering the encampment, judging by Yusuf III’s later references to the meaning of the word “alhaquequería” and the need to respect emissaries from the two sides. The negotiation was a difficult one, because the infante wanted parias and vassalage, something which not even the peaceable Yusuf III was prepared to concede. Yusuf in turn demanded an end to the besieging of Antequera, and during the third journey made by Çaide al-Amín, the Granadans, seeing that this was impossible to achieve, prepared a secret plan to raise the siege. These plans were discovered through the intervention of a second generation converso, Rodrigo de Vélez, the son of Pero Gutiérrez de Toro (previously Abderrahamel), who had met Çaide al-Amín in Vélez. His testimony is interesting for what it reveals about relations between conversos and Muslims: E falló que hera su pariente; e començó a preguntar Çaide Alamin por todo su linaje de aquel moro cuyo fijo se llamava Rodrigo, por ver si dezía verdad. Rodrigo, como los conosçia todos, contógelo. Entonçes lo creyó de todo en

108 See L. Seco de Lucena, “Alamines y Venegas, cortesanos de los nasríes”, MEAH 10 (1961), p. 127. 109 I follow here the account of events in A. García de Santamaría, Crónica de Juan II, pp. 257–258, 310–311, 330–332, 341–343, 402, 411; L. Galíndez, Crónica de Juan II, p. 309, 313, 324–325, 325–326. Cf. J. Torres Fontes, “La regencia de don Fernando de Antequera”, MEAH, XVI–XVII (1967–68), p. 136; R, Salicrú, El sultanat de Granada, p. 73.

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chapter four todo que hera moro. Rodrigo le rogó que por Alá no lo descubriese, que todos lo conosçian por cristiano, e si lo descubriese que moriría por ello; e Çaide lo aseguró. [And he found that they were relatives; and Çaide Alamin set about asking him about that entire line descending from the Moor whose son’s name was Rodrigo, to see if he was telling the truth. Rodrigo, who knew them all, told him about them. Thus he believed beyond a doubt that he was a Moor. Rodrigo begged him for the sake of Allah not to give him away, for he was thought by all to be a Christian, and he said that if he were discovered he would die for it; and Çaide promised that he would not tell.]

Not only did the truce remain unsigned, but Çaide Alamín left the encampment for Archidona before the attempted coup could be discovered. The converso Rodrigo changed his surname to “de Antequera” and was rewarded with a lifetime stipend. In spite of these events, Çaide Alamín was entrusted with negotiating another truce after the fall of Antequera, when he coincided with his brother ʿAli and, on the Castilian side, the alfaqueque Diego Fernández Abencaçin. This truce was eventually signed on 10 November 1410. Çaide himself was given the task of conducting released captives to Seville on 5 January 1411.110 Between 1413 and 1425, Çaide Alamín became the Granadan ambassador par excellence at the Castilian and Aragonese courts. He also displayed great political skill in managing to hold onto his position as alfaqueque mayor of Granada throughout the entire reign of Muhammad IX.111 He was in charge of the negotiation of truce agreements, and also of claims for infractions committed against them. When the infante Fernando was crowned as the Aragonese king and became responsible for the foreign policy of both that kingdom and Castile, Çaide Alamín was forced to conduct a series of meetings with Fernando in Aragón. After passing through Valencia in 1413, he was granted an interview with the king and even with Pope Benedict XIII in Tortosa—the latter mission was probably one of his most fascinating embassies, but one whose content remains unknown to this day. In 1414 and 1418 Çaide again obtained credentials for a renewal of the truce. After this later date, and the accessions to the throne of Juan II and Alfonso the Magnanimous, the Granadans once again had to negotiate with two Chris-

110 L. Seco de Lucena, “Alamines y Venegas”, p. 128; M. Arribas Palau, “Fernando de Antequera y sus relaciones con Granada y Marruecos”, AEM, 9 (1974–79), pp. 538–539; R. Salicrú, El sultanat de Granada, pp. 31, 43–44. 111 R. Salicrú, El sultanat de Granada, p. 73, 86–87, 96–99, 161. Mention is already made in these documents of his son Ibrahim, who accompanies him.

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tian kingdoms rather than one. In 1424, Çaide was authorised by Alfonso the Magnanimous to travel freely throughout Aragón in order to be able to fulfil his mission of negotiating the release of captives. The same freedom of movement was also granted to any other person to whom Çaide chose to delegate the task, such as a certain Huleyt of Vélez.112 Several years later, on 5 February 1429 Çaide was back in Castile again, negotiating the terms of another truce agreement. At some time after this date, and possibly as a result of the campaign of La Higueruela, Çaide’s son the alcaide Abrahen or Ibrahim was taken captive by the Castilians, and given a regular sum of money by the king for his maintenance.113 Unsurprisingly in view of his father’s occupation, Çaide’s son did not remain captive for long: the text of the 1439 truce included as one of its conditions the release of the alcaide Ibrahim Alamín. The king of Granada promised to pay a ransom for him of no less than 1,000 gold doblas, as well as committing himself to exchanging thirty Christian captives, whose names were to be freely designated by the Castilian sovereign.114 After his release, the alcaide transferred his ración of ten maravedis per day to his son Mahoma Aben Çayd. Ibrahim’s contacts with the Castilian court continued, however, for in early 1442 he returned as his father’s delegate to renew the truce that was due to expire in April of that year. The negotiations dragged on, in part because they coincided with the abduction of Juan II at Rágama, which left Ibrahim without an interlocutor. Although prince Enrique assumed responsibility for some frontier issues, he was not authorised to sign a truce agreement on his father’s behalf, in spite of pressure exerted by Muhammad IX. Once the situation had been regularised, an agreement was signed that would last until 1446, with a special clause that allowed all Christians living in “tierra de moros” to leave Granada with the sultan’s permission. The clause did not hold for Granadan Muslims living in Castile, and Mahoma Aben Çayd returned to Granada without Juan II’s licence and lost his right to receive his salary.115

112

R. Salicrú, Documents, pp. 137–138; El sultanat de Granada, pp. 194–195. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1: 46. Abrahen Abena Çayd is the alcaide Ibrahim. 114 J. Amador de los Ríos, Memoria histórico-crítica sobre las treguas celebradas en 1439 entre los reyes de Castilla y Granada, Madrid, 1879, pp. 68–70, 108–109 and 128–131; R. Salicrú, El sultanat de Granada, pp. 248–249, 362, 367; L. Seco Lucena, “Alamines y Venegas”, p. 131. 115 AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1: 46. For the situation in Castile, see J. E. López de Coca, “Castilla, Granada y la tregua de 1443” in Estudios de historia medieval en homenaje a Luis Suárez Fernández, Valladolid, 1991, pp. 307–310; M. C. Quintanilla Raso, Nobleza y señorío en el reino de Córdoba. La Casa de Aguilar (ss. XIV–XV), Córdoba, 1979, pp. 90–92. 113

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This is, then, another case of an important intermediary between the two kingdoms and the two religions being included on the list of the Moorish raciones. In this case, the man concerned was also a hostage whom the king no doubt wished to keep under strict surveillance. Obviously, the family was well thought-of at the Castilian court,116 where they had been frequent visitors, and this must have been the reason why it was deemed necessary to provide for the prisoner Ibrahim’s maintenance in keeping with his status for the duration of his stay in Castile. Clearly, his son Mahomad’s freedom of choice was debatable. He was probably forced to remain in Castile, and the instability of his situation explains the fact that neither of the two men seem to have considered the possibility of undergoing baptism and staying in the Moorish guard.

The refugee knights: Abenámar The three-way political game played out by Castile, Aragón and Granada gave rise to the migration of high-status knights from one kingdom to another, and also to the Hafsid kingdom of Tunis.117 Salicrú has established a relationship between the departure of Granadans from their kingdom and the three main periods of turbulence that occurred between 1419 and 1445. The first period was the first reign of Muhammad IX (1419–1427), which saw the flight of followers of the dethroned king Muhammad VIII; the second was Muhammad VIII’s second reign between 1427 and 1430, when Muhammad IX fled to Tunis, accompanied by his main followers who then conspired to bring about his return to Granada. The third period, that of the greatest number of emigrants from Granada, was that which coincided with the third reign of Muhammad IX between 1432 and 1445. There is no evidence that any individual from the Abencerraje line passed over to Castile or belonged to the Moorish guard during the first two waves of emigration, which included followers of Muhammad VIII and Muhammad IX seeking asylum in Tunis and which must therefore have included several members of the Abencerraje families.118 The first news we have of 116

As is stated in L. Seco de Lucena, “Alamines y Venegas”, p. 132. This was well demonstrated in the recent article by R. Salicrú, “Caballeros granadinos emigrantes y fugitivos en la Corona de Aragón durante el reinado de Alfonso el Magnánimo” in II Estudios de la frontera. Actividad y vida en la frontera, Jaén-Alcalá la Real, 1998, pp. 727–748. 118 R. Salicrú, Documents, pp. 202–204, 226–231; El sultanat de Granada, pp. 235–242; “Caballeros granadinos emigrantes y fugitivos”, pp. 737–740. 117

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the Abencerrajes refers to their passing through Valencia, from where they sought to board ships, and although they may have arrived at the port by crossing Castile, as Salicrú has suggested, the truce agreements signed with Granada would have made this route inadvisable, since they could have been discovered and returned to the Nasrids. Few of the knights who made up what Salicrú has called the “refugee wave of 1435 to 1438”, during the third period indicated above, actually remained in Castile. Most of them simply travelled through the kingdom to escape from Granada and be given a safe-conduct that would enable them to reach Valencia and sail for Tunis.119 One of the few who stayed in Juan II’s employment for some time, together with other knights from his own entourage, was Abenámar, from whom the famous frontier romance would take its name. Torres Fontes has shown the correlation between the historical figure of Abenámar and the legendary ballad, and arrived at the conclusion that the romance was written between July 1431 and November 1436, coinciding with the Muslim knight’s stay at the Castilian court. It is therefore unnecessary to insist on this point.120 Other sources have since confirmed parts of Abenámar’s life story which had previously been subject to mere hypothesis, permitting us to arrive at an outline sketch of the life of this Granadan caudillo, which nevertheless remains shrouded in myth and legend. The story began with the death of Yusuf IV and the recovery of the throne by Muhammad IX, in about 1432. War between Castile and Granada continued until the truce of 1439, and those Granadan dissidents who did not wish to take up Muhammad IX’s offer of a free pardon and return to Granada were employed in the Castilian king’s guard. Abenámar was given the salary of 7,200 maravedis corresponding to a Moorish knight of high social condition. In 1435 he must still have been at the court of Castile, for he is cited in a letter written by Juan II to his sister María, in which he asks her to detain an alfaquí who had fled from Castile, where he had been in the king’s employment “together with another Moor who claimed to be the cabecera Yahya Abenamar and other Moorish knights of the aforesaid king of Castile”.121 Abenámar must have stayed at court until 1436, when

119 R. Salicrú, Documents, pp. 349–350, 359–362; El sultanat de Granada, pp. 349–362; “Caballeros granadinos emigrantes y fugitivos”, pp. 741–748. 120 See J. Torres Fontes, “La historicidad del romance Abenámar, Abenámar”, AEM 8 (1972–73), pp. 242–256; R. Salicrú, El sultanat de Granada, p. 350. 121 AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1: 44. R. Salicrú, Documents, pp. 349–350; El sultanat de Granada, p. 352; “Caballeros granadinos emigrantes y fugitivos”, p. 744.

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chapter four Estando allí en la su villa de Yllescas, dieron sus petiçiones los capitanes de los cavalleros moros, en nombre de todos juntamente, pediéndole por merced que les diese liçençia para que se pasasen al rrey de Túnes. E al rey plógole dello, e diógela, e dióles su seguro. Estos moros eran fasta (. . .) e mandóles pagar todo el sueldo que les era devido, e mandóles dar para que se fuesen setecientos mil maravedíes. E los capitanes de estos moros eran el principal dellos Avenamar, el qual venía de linaje de los reyes de Granada, e su hermano.122 [Being there at his town of Yllescas, the captains of the Moorish knights made requests on behalf of all the others, asking for permission to pass over to the king of Tunis. And he begged the king for this licence, and was given it, and he gave his assurance. The number of these Moors was about (. . .) and the command was given to pay them all the salary that they were owed, and seven hundred thousand maravedis were given so that they would leave. And the leading captain of them all was Avenamar, who was of the linage of the kings of Granada, and his brother.]

In 1436 Abenámar’s brother, accompanied by another six knights, allegedly left Valencia to make a journey towards Granada. Many passenger lists for ships leaving the port of Valencia have survived from this period, but none of them contains any mention of these knights. The fact that their ración was allocated to another guard many years after their departure from Castile, in 1452, may have been related to the economic problems mentioned below, which led to money from raciones being used for the king’s own benefit. The Belvís/Bellvís family The rise of the Belvís family in Castile was marked by two main factors: the political and economic importance of the family in Aragón (there were Bellvís alcadíes generales of Aragón and Valencia during the 14th and 15th centuries)123 and its alliance with the most powerful men in Castilian politics.

122 Crónica del halconero, pp. 235–236. Refundición, p. 206, is shorter but without variations. There is another version in L. Galíndez, Crónica de Juan II, p. 529: “de Yllescas el rey se partió para Guadalaxara, donde vinieron a él ciertos caballeros moros de los cuales era capitán Abenámar, que habían estado con el rey a sueldo mucho tiempo, e demandáronle licencia para se pasar a Túnez. El rey gela dio e mandóles pagar todo el sueldo que les era debido, e hízoles merced para su camino de setecientos mil maravedíes.” 123 M. A. Varona García, “Judíos y moros ante la justicia de los Reyes Católicos. Cartas ejecutorias de la Real Chancillería de Valladolid (1476–1495)” in Proyección histórica de España en sus tres culturas, Valladolid, 1993, vol. I, p. 346. For their professional careers, see M. V. Febrer Romaguera, “Los Bellvis, una dinastía mudéjar de alcadíes generales de Valencia, Aragón y principado de Cataluña”, ASIM III, Teruel, 1989, pp. 280–281. For their private life, see J. Boswell, The Royal Treasure. Muslim Communities under the Crown of Aragón in the Fourteenth Century, New Haven, 1977, pp. 43–50. In Aragón the family used the surname Bellvís, and in Castile Belvís.

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During the 14th century, the Bellvís family, originally from the Borja region, was split into two branches, each of them involved in trade on either side of the frontier between Castile and Aragón. They had important trade links with Almería (records survive from around 1417) and from there they spread their interests to Italy, Tunis and Alexandria, where they were able to enter the spice market. The Bellvíses seem to have headed an important company, whose agents were located all over the Mediterranean between 1480 and 1490, and they therefore commanded huge sums of money, some of which they lent to the Aragonese king with a certain frequency. In exchange for this, they received numerous tax exemptions.124 When they moved to Castile, the Bellvíses chose to settle in two frontier locations with important Mudejar communities and trade fairs of a certain size to enable them to continue with their trading interests: firstly Medinaceli, which was crucially situated on the Jiloca route, the main line of communication between Valencia, the Castilian capitals, Zaragoza and the most active Mudejar communities of the Aragonese frontier, as well as being on a cañada real or livestock route, and later Guadalajara, on the same route towards the south. The Bellvís brothers and their sons were in a privileged situation within the Aragonese Mudejar oligarchy. Farax Bellvís, the king’s veterinary surgeon, occupied a number of posts in the royal aljamas (Huesca, Borja, Tarazona, Daroca and later Valencia), where he appointed his delegates. His son, Ovecar, was a member of the household of Prince Juan, and he established ties with the family of Yahya Bellvís on the other side of the frontier with Castile as a way of consolidating the networks of power recently created in his new domain.125 Back in 1362 the Bellvís brothers had already been involved in the negotiation of an agreement between the kings of Castile and Aragón. This had been at the time of the recovery of the throne by Muhammad V, aided by Pedro I, when diplomatic activity between Granada and Castile must have been particularly frenetic. In his turn, Pedro the Ceremonious hoped to achieve an alliance with the Granadans, with the intention of starting to wage war on the Castilian monarch again. Such an occasion seemed to have arisen when Farax Bellvís himself informed him that his brother Yahya had spoken to the Granadan messengers on their way back from the Castilian court, and that he thought agreement was possible.126 124 M. Meyerson, The Muslims of Valencia, pp. 107, 141–142, 317; M. T. Ferrer i Mallol, Els sarraïns de la Corona catalano-aragonesa en el segle XIV, Barcelona, 1987, p. 48, n. 36. 125 ACA, C 901, 288v. 1358, febrero, 16, Valencia. Cf. Boswell, The Royal Treasure, pp. 46, 80–81; M. V. Febrer Romaguera, “Los Bellvís”, p. 281. 126 His petition states literally: “fer liga amb nos contra lo Rey de Castella”, and is dated

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Until the mid-15th century there is a lack of documented news on the family in Guadalajara, but from that time on their rise became relentless. Before 1446, Farax de Belvís, the son of Yahya, was working for the most important man in the kingdom, as “criado del Maestre de Santiago D. Álvaro de Luna”.127 Such a criado or servant formed part of the military client system of the great nobles, as one of a group of armed men paid by the lord in exchange for armed service. Although such men did not normally live with their lord, there were some exceptions.128 The means by which the young Farax entered Luna’s employment is not specified, but he probably joined the Moorish guard as a result of the events which led his father, Yahya, to obtain from Juan II the post of alcalde mayor of the aljama de moros of Guadalajara. The circumstances of that appointment are not recorded, but it is said that it came about “because of the many and good services done by don Yahya de Belvís, Moor, inhabitant of the city of Guadalajara.”129 It seems highly likely that these services were directly related to the state coup of Rámaga headed by Juan of Navarre and his brother Don Enrique, the Master of Santiago, in 1443. The latter captured King Juan II of Castile, who was only freed by the crown prince Enrique after great difficulty, later confronting the troops of the infantes of Aragón in Olmedo. Lacking a proper army, the supporters of Juan II—led by his son Enrique, Álvaro de Luna and the marquis of Santillana—had to make use of every subject they were able to gather together, and this included the Mudejars. An intervention by Diego Hurtado de Mendoza (the son of Íñigo), in favour of Farax de Belvís several years later allows us to assume an early connection between this family and that of the Belvíses in the city of Guadalajara, donated by Juan II to prince Enrique in 1441. Moreover, Luna ended his banishment from court to take part in the battle, and if Farax de Belvís was at that time a member of Luna’s household he may well also have taken part in the warfare.130

12 August 1362. ACA, Cancillería, Reg. 1180, ff 64v-65r. Cited in M. T. Ferrer i Mallol, La frontera amb l’Islam en el segle XIV. Cristians i sarraïns al País Valencià, Barcelona, 1998, pp. 157–158. 127 AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1: 50. See my article, “Conversión y ascenso social”, pp. 557–558. 128 M. C. Gerbet, Las noblezas españolas, p. 277. 129 AGS, RGS, agosto 1446, f. 570 and Archivo Municipal de Murcia, Cartulario Real 1453–78, fols. 263–264. Edited by J. Torres Fontes, “El alcalde mayor de las aljamas de moros del reino de Castilla”, AHDE (1962), pp. 175–180. 130 The Mendozas had collected the pecho of the Jews and Moors of Guadalajara since 15 December 1393, and the Admiral Diego Hurtado de Mendoza (1365?–1404) had a Muslim physician from the city, Mahomat el Xartosse. AHN, Osuna, leg. 1873, n. 4; G. Wiegers,

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Another consequence of the family’s involvement in state affairs was the appointment of Farax de Belvís as a member of the Moorish guard of Juan II in 1446. He cannot have been a member for long, although his time in it may have enabled him to make contacts at court that later would prove useful. Far from converting to Christianity like other members of the guard, Farax continued his career in the same line as his father, working in the Castilian aljamas. When Yahya de Belvís died, Juan II named his son alcalde mayor of the aljamas de moros, a post which he had occupied by 1451. A year later Farax was also named repartidor of the servicio y medio servicio of the aljamas de moros of Andalusia, and his direct relationship with Álvaro de Luna is once more mentioned in the royal concession, in a manner that can hardly have been accidental.131 When Enrique IV became king of Castile, Farax de Belvís was confirmed in his post as a Moorish knight of the king’s personal guard and his name was inscribed in the accounts books, although he was only awarded the ración of 3,360 maravedis corresponding to the year 1455. The fact that Farax now occupied two important posts at the same time raises an interesting issue, for it is clear that he cannot have fulfilled the post of Moorish knight at Enrique’s side, except perhaps on a limited number of occasions and in a fairly symbolic manner. His position at court and as a Moorish knight follows the pattern of conceding the highest posts in the aljamas of Jews and Moors to the court elite of these two religious minorities.132 In the years that followed, Farax de Belvís maintained his privileged position alongside Enrique IV at the same time that he was confirmed in his post as alcalde mayor of the aljama of Guadalajara, as was testified by the notary

Islamic Literature, p. 61; J. J. Echagüe Burgos, La Corona y Segovia, p. 44. The possibility that the Belvís family had financed the troops of the marquis was recognised in the latter’s will, which contained an instruction to give what money remained to those Christians, Jews and Moors from Guadalajara who had loaned sums to him. F. Layna Serrano, Historia de Guadalajara y sus Mendoza, Guadalajara, 1993, vol. I, pp. 225–231, 239–243 and 333. 131 “Lo otro, por quel dicho señor rey don Juan nuestro señor e padre por los dichos serviçios que diz que le fiziera merçed del dicha alcaldia para el e para sus herederos e subseçores perpetuamente que despues del viniesen, e que dello le dieron privilejo por virtud del qual el señor rey don Enrique nuestro hermano avia fecho la dicha merçed al dicho don Farax e que por ello nos aviamos movido a gela confirmar.” ARCV, RCE, c. 29, 1. In 1451, he had two representatives in the aljama of the city of Ávila: Archivo Histórico Provincial de Ávila, Prot. 460, f. 178v; 3–1–1451, cf. S. de Tapia Sánchez, La comunidad morisca de Ávila, p. 66. 132 In the case of the Jews, the king’s physicians were usually appointed rab mayor de la corte, as happened with the maestre Samaya Alubel de Ávila and, later, the rab Jacó Aben Yunes (1471–88).

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Fernán Álvarez de Cuenca.133 In addition to exercising civil and criminal jurisdiction over all the Mudejars of the kingdom, Farax de Belvís was, as we have seen, allowed to choose delegates during his absence, and seems to have made use of this prerogative on more than one occasion.134 The personal fortune of the Belvís family must have been fundamental to the maintenance of the Castilian branch in the alcaldía of the aljamas, whereas their relatives occupied the alcadiazgo general of Valencia. Contact between the two branches of the family was maintained across the Aragonese frontier, where Farax de Belvís and another Mudejar, Abdallá Fronero, were detained in 1462. The episode, which was related to the payment of debts to Anchuela, one of the hamlets of Molina de Aragón, was settled by the intervention of the concejo of Guadalajara and the release of the riding gear and other belongings of the Mudejars.135 Farax de Belvís held onto his post and maintained the prestige of the Castilian branch of the family until the last decade of the 15th century. It was at this time that his tenure of his official post was challenged by a member of another of the most powerful Mudejar families of Castile, the Xarafí of Toledo. The close link between the Mudejar elite and changes in the fates of the reigning kings who protected them is amply demonstrated by the legal struggle which ensued between the Xarafís, who were ardent followers of Queen Isabella, and the Belvíses, supporters of Enrique since the beginning of his career. Farax de Belvís was eventually relieved of his post as alcalde mayor de las aljamas del reino, but was allowed to continue to hold his post in Guadalajara, a tacit way of acknowledging his previous status. The last legal case involving Farax de Belvís occurred after his death, the documents recording a sentence that was dated 27 July 1492.136

Other posts included in the Moorish raciones Apart from the knights, other men feature on the list of “raciones moriscas” who were just as close to the monarch despite the fact that they were not 133 1469, marzo, 1. Guadalajara. Archivo Municipal de Guadalajara, Correspondencia y Documentación General, AMGU 136486. 134 ARCV, RCE, c. 29, 1. 135 1462, marzo, 31. Guadalajara. Archivo Municipal de Guadalajara, Correspondencia y Documentación General, AMGU 142630. See also M. V. Febrer Romaguera, “Los Bellvís”, pp. 282–285, and M. Meyerson, The Muslims of Valencia, pp. 102–103, 107, 141–142, 185 and 317. 136 ARCV, RCE, 45–5, f. 2r–v.

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members of the guard. For instance, the tailor Gregorio, father of the knight Gabriel de Baeza, appears in the records of payments to his son. If we bear in mind Enrique IV’s taste for clothing it seems likely that such a tailor may have helped to secured the post for his son.137 Although such payments were usually made through the king’s chamber, Gregorio does not, however, appear in the accounts for 1462. Other posts or trades that appear in the raciones moriscas have to do with the upkeep of the royal domains (alcázares). Such is the case of the masters of works of the castles of Toledo and Madrid, well known from other sources. 1446 saw the appearance of Farax al-Çadafe, alcalde mayor de los moros and maestro mayor of the works of Toledo.138 His origins were probably modest, since Molénat has shown the existence in Toledo of a “maestre Farax Alçadafi, moro, gesero, albanni” [master Farax Alçadafi, Moor, plasterer, workman] exempt from paying certain aljama taxes since before 1435.139 This alcalde mayor also chose a lieutenant to represent him in the aljama of Ávila. Eventually, in 1452, the lifetime post was conferred on him of repartidor mayor of the servicio y medio servicio of the kingdom, as alcalde mayor of the kingdom’s aljamas.140 The document of 1452 raises a problem: in it Farax Alçadafe continues to feature as alcalde mayor of the kingdom’s aljamas instead of Farax de Belvís, who is nonetheless already mentioned in Ávila. The lack of data on Alçadafe from this date onwards makes it impossible to solve this problem. The spheres of influence of those who became alcaldes mayores of Castile in the years that followed are also revealed: Alí Xarafí, still with the title of alfaquí, controlled tax collection in the kingdom of Toledo, his place of residence; Hamete Carretón, who appears in other records as alcalde of the aljama of Valladolid,141 continued to control the finances of Old Castile, a region which later fell under the influence of the Belvís

137

Doc. 103. M. A. Ladero Quesada, “1462: un año en la vida”, pp. 240–241. A. Domínguez Casas, Arte y etiqueta de los Reyes Católicos. Artistas, residencias, jardines y bosques, Madrid, 1993, p. 65. See Appendix, doc. 67. 139 AGS, Mercedes y Privilegios, leg. 2, f. 398v. Cited in J. P. Molénat, “Alcaldes et alcaldes mayores”, p. 153. 140 Juan II ordered that “maestre Farax, alcalde mayor de las aljamas de los moros de los mis regnos sea mi repartidor mayor de los dichos serviçios e medios serviçios” (6 April 1452). Yepes. AGS, EMR, Mercedes y Privilegios, leg. 1, 155–156, and confirmed by Enrique IV in Medina del Campo, 14 June 1454. AGS, Mercedes y Privilegios 13, f. 10; 75, f. 23; 2, f. 398–399. Cited in R. Domínguez Casas, Arte y etiqueta, pp. 62, 177, and J. P. Molénat, “Une famille de l’élite mudéjare de la Couronne de Castille: les Xarafí de Tolède et d’Alcalá de Henares”, Mélanges Louis Cardaillac, Tunis, 1995, vol. I, p. 768. 141 A. Rucquoi, Valladolid en la Edad Media, Valladolid, 1982, vol. II, p. 507. 138

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family, and the Belvíses were active in the kingdom of Andalusia, theoretically a long way from their main areas of interest. All of these figures were from the Mudejar elite of the kingdom: Mi merçed e voluntad es e quiero e mando que agora e de aqui adelante para siempre jamas sean repartidores de los maravedis del serviçio de las dichas aljamas de los moros de los dichos mis regnos e sennorios me han de dar e pagar en cada anno las personas seguientes: que maestre Farax [Alçadafe], alcalde mayor de las aljamas de los moros de los mis regnos sea mi repartidor mayor de los dichos serviçios e medios serviçios. Asymesmo sean mis repartidores de lo su[sodicho] Farax de Belvis, criado del maestre mi condestable, e Ali el Xarafy e maestre Hamete Carreton en esta guisa: el dicho Farax de Belvis por el [reyno de] Andalusia e Ali Xarafe por el regno de Toledo e Hamete Carreton por el regno de Castilla Vieja. A los quales e a cada uno dellos do todo mi poder complido por que de aqui adelante en toda su vida sean repartidores de las dichas aljamas de los moros de los dichos mis regnos e sennorios commo dicho es, e non otro algund.142 [It is my command and will and I desire and order that from now onwards and forever the repartidores [men who distribute taxes among the community payers] of the maravedis deriving from the poll-tax of the said aljamas of Moors in my said realms and lands be paid to me by the following persons: that maestre Farax [Alçadafe], alcalde mayor of the aljamas of the Moors of my realms be my main repartidor of the said poll-tax and medio servicio. And that my repartidores of the abovementioned be Farax de Belvis, servant of the constable, and Ali el Xarafy and master Hamete Carreton in the following manner: the said Farax de Belvis in the kingdom of Andalusia and Ali Xarafe in the kingdom of Toledo and Hamete Carreton in the kingdom of Old Castile. To each of whom I give all of my powers so that from now onwards and for the whole of their lives they may be repartidores of the said aljamas of Moors in my said realms and lands as has been said, and that no other shall do so.]

In 1454 they were joined by Master Lope, son of Master Yuça, maestro mayor of the works of the castle of Madrid, who was later to become alcalde mayor of the aljama of Segovia. This new appointment may have been necessary because of Farax Alçadafe’s disappearance from the scene. Until that time, all alcaldes mayores of the realm had come from the city of Toledo, which had an important Mudejar community. These men all had social and economic prestige within the community—as we have seen, they were businessmen of one kind or another—and had numerous noble backers. Toledo was also one of the many seats of the court. Alçadafe held his posts until his death in Toledo on 22 June 1489, as was certified on 25 August to the contadores mayores or royal accountants by Doctor Antón Rodríguez de Lillo, royal

142

AGS, Mercedes y Privilegios, leg. 1, f. 155–156.

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chanciller and a member of the royal council. Nothing is known about Alçadafe’s artistic labours in the alcázar, but it seems reasonable to suppose that they would have been similar to those carried out by the Moorish maestros in the fortresses of Segovia and Madrid. Alçadafe’s son Mahomad de Toledo also worked for Enrique IV, as an engineer, and earned the same ración as his father.143 Unfortunately, there is no sign that he held the post of alcalde mayor or of the city of Toledo, despite the fact that the document is preserved in the section corresponding to this city, and not in the raciones moriscas: Toledo. Anno de 65. Mahomad de Toledo, fijo del maestre Farax, engennero del rey. Mostro una alvala del dicho sennor rey firmado de su nombre, fecho en esta guysa: (Nota al margen izquierdo: No se han de librar estos maravedis desta raçion al dicho maestre Mahomad por estos libros este anno de [14]66 ni de aqui adelante, por quanto se pasaron a los libros del mayordomo e contador de la casa, por virtud de una carta del rey nuestro sennor, que esta su traslado al comienço deste libro.) Yo el rey. Fago saber a vos los mis contadores mayores que mi merçed a voluntad es de tomar por mi engennero a maestre Mahomad de Toledo, fijo de maestre Farax, e que aya e tenga de mi en raçion cada dia con el dicho ofiçio treynta maravedis. Por quanto vos mando que lo pongades e asentades asy en los mis libros e nominas de las raçiones que vosotros tenedes, e libredes al dicho maestre Mahomad los dichos treynta maravedis de raçion con el dicho ofiçio este anno de la fecha deste mi alvala, e dende en adelante en cada un anno segund e quanto librades e las otras personas las semejantes raçiones que de mi tienen. Lo qual vos mando que fagades e cumplides non enbargante qualesquier leys e ordenanças que en contrario desto sean o ser puedan, con las quales e con cada una dellas yo dispenso e las abrogo e derogo en quanto a esto atanne, quedando en su fuerça e vigor para adelante. E non fagades ende al. Fecho ocho dias de enero, anno del nasçimiento de nuestro sennor Jesuchristo de mill e quatroçientos e sesenta e çinco annos. Yo, el rey. Yo, Alfonso de Badajos, secretario de nuestro sennor el rey lo fis escrevir por su mandado. Alvaro Ferrnandes Peres. (Tachado: 7.200) Por virtud de la qual dicha alvala del dicho sennor rey fueron puestos e asentados al dicho los dichos 7.200 maravedis, e monta que ha de aver desde ocho dias de enero que el dicho sennor rey le fiso la dicha merçed, fasta en fyn de desiembre deste dicho anno 7.040, los quales se libraron en esta guisa. 7.040 [maravedis]

143

1465, enero, 8. S. 1. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 4, 89.

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chapter four [Toledo. 1465. Mahomad of Toledo, son of master Farax, engineer to the king. He showed a written authorisation of the king signed in his name, which read as follows: (Note in left margin: These maravedis are not to be paid for this allowance to the said Mahomad through these books in this year of 1466 nor from now onwards, for they have been passed onto the books of the mayordomo and accountant of the household, by virtue of a letter written by the king our lord, the transfer being recorded at the beginning of this book.) I the king make it known to my royal accountants that it is my will and desire to take as my engineer master Mahomad of Toledo, son of master Farax, and that he be paid by me the daily allowance for that post of thirty maravedis. I therefore command you to record it thus in my books and the pay lists of allowances that you have, and to pay the said master Mahomad the said thirty maravedis of allowance for the said post in the year of the date of this authorisation of mine, and from now onwards every year as other persons are paid similar allowances by me. And all this I command you to do and carry out in spite of any laws or ordenances which might contravene it, since I dispense with and abrogate and derogate every one of them as far as this is concerned, although they remain in force from now onwards. And may this order be carried out. 8 January, the year of the birth of our lord Jesus Christ of 1465. I, the king. I, Alfonso of Badajoz, secretary to our lord the king had this written by his command. Alvaro Ferrnandes Peres. (Crossed out: 7,200) By virtue of which authorisation by the said lord our king the said 7,200 maravedis were recorded as due to the said [knight], and since the payment is to be made from the 8 January, when the said lord our king granted him the said allowance, until the end of December of this year, this amounts to 7,040, which were paid as follows. 7,040 [maravedis] ]

By 1452, the Master was Lope, the son of Master Hançe, master builder of the castle of Madrid.144 There are many references to this man and his father in later records. In 1454 he was named as “maestre Yuça de Segovia, maestro mayor de los mis alcaçares de la villa de Madrid”, when Juan II commanded maestre Lope, the son of the former, to become one of the Moorish repartidores of the Moorish aljamas of his kingdoms. Segovia

144

A. Domínguez Casas, Arte y etiqueta, p. 62. J. C. de Miguel, La comunidad mudéjar de Madrid, Madrid, 1989, pp. 78–79, and “Los alarifes de la villa de Madrid en la Baja Edad Media”, ASIM, IV, pp. 27–37, discuss the alarifes of the concejo, but do not identify them with this man. Id. records n. 87–88 in the Appendix.

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had an alcalde delegated by Mahomad al-Qaysi in about 1418, known as Master Yça, identified as Yça Gidelli or Yça de Segovia by Torres Fontes. If we accept this identification, and given that the inscription in the alcázar of Segovia that Wiegers relates to Yça Gidelli speaks of the “maestro Xadel, alcalde” in 1456, we can assume that he still held the post in the aljama of Segovia at that time. The date coincides with Yça Gidelli’s hurried return to Castile from Ayton in Savoy, Italy, where he was translating the Qurʾan for Juan of Segovia.145 Moreover, it is known that the death of his immediate superior, Mahomad al-Qaysi, took place before 1458. It can be assumed that Yça de Segovia had died by February 1474, when he was cited in an albalá or royal authorisation by which Enrique IV ordered Nuño de Arévalo, the recipient of orders and monies for the bishopric of Sigüenza, to pay certain sums related to works carried out at the fortress of el Pardo and another 3,050 maravedis to Master Lope, “the son of Master Yuçafe”, an inhabitant of Madrid and “maestro que fue de las obras del Rey Don Enrrique, que Santa Gloria aya”. References to this son, Master Lope, begin in the records of raciones moriscas mentioned above, in 1452, and with the appointment of repartidores mayores in 1454. His designation marked an important change in the policy of the monarch, who in previous documents had promised the other four repartidores that no more would be named. All of these figures were appointed by the monarch, had competence in affairs of civil and criminal jurisdiction and dealt with gathering the poll-tax (servicio y medio servicio) and other taxes that the monarchy imposed on the Muslim communities. It was essential to place such posts in the hands of men who inspired confidence. Master Lope’s career continued during the years that followed, whether as master of works of the castle of Madrid or, according to Domínguez Bordona, as director of the works carried out in El Pardo. In 1480, at the peak of his career, he was named alcalde mayor of the aljamas of Segovia and Madrid, although he was never admitted in the post by the Mudejars of Segovia, who opposed the existence of a Mudejar alcalde instead of being directly subject to the Christian jurisdiction which had been applied to them for several years.146 Master Lope was also mentioned as “maestro que fue

145 D. Cabanelas Rodríguez, Juan de Segovia y el problema islámico, Madrid, 1952, pp. 290, 292; G. Wiegers, Islamic Literature in Spanish and Aljamiado. Yça of Segovia, his Antecedents and Successors, Leiden, 1994, p. 148. 146 I analysed this issue in my article “Las aljamas mudéjares castellanas en el siglo XV: redes de poder y conflictos internos”, Espacio, tiempo y forma. Sección III—Historia Medieval, 14, 2001, pp. 93–112.

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de las obras del Rey Don Enrrique que Santa Gloria aya”, when the final settlement of these payments was made in Valladolid on 24 May 1482, during the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella. The master of works seems to have died by 26 August of that same year, the date on which Queen Isabella appointed Master Farax, a Moor, as the new alcalde mayor and repartidor of the Moorish aljamas in place of the deceased Master Lope. This Farax was the maestro mayor of the works at the castle of Toledo. Ferdinand and Isabella’s trust in their Muslim maestros cannot be any clearer. What, then, was the religious reality of the Moorish guard? Like 15thcentury Castile itself, the institution housed a variety of religious situations which were not then perceived as dangerous to Christian society. Conversos with very different backgrounds, from Banu Marin princes to rich aristocrats and Granadan merchants, musicians and even a number of Jewish converts, rubbed shoulders with Granadan knights of every possible allegiance in the Nasrid kingdom, as well as the families of ambassadors and the judicial elite of the Castilian Mudejar aljamas. The contacts made between these men and their relations with the monarchs marked the development of Castilian policy towards the Islamic minority, and created the possibility of a golden age for the Mudejar community. In this chapter, I have studied the factors that enabled a well-defined group of Muslims to integrate in Christian society through the practice of an elite profession that was of special interest to the Crown. However, these same circumstances led part of that society to reject the Moorish knights and wish to exclude them. The opposition movement eventually became so strong that it led to the dissolution of the Moorish guard, the subject of the last chapter.

CHAPTER FIVE

THE DISSOLUTION OF THE MOORISH GUARD

The civil war in Castile Reactions to the presence of the Moorish guard at court grew stronger and became more frequent throughout the reign of Enrique IV. Although the guard had been created and had expanded most rapidly during the reign of Juan II, it was later, in 1464 and 1465, when the league of nobles led by the marquis of Villena first provoked discussion of its possible dissolution. Those two years saw the atmosphere at court become increasingly rarefied. The struggle between the hereditary nobles and those of new creation had taken the country to the brink of civil war, the very situation which Enrique had sought to avoid. The issue of the succession to the throne became an excuse for the division of forces into two separate parties. During the winter of 1464–65 Enrique IV twice received representatives of the league of nobles in an attempt to negotiate with them. For its part, the league created a special commission to decide on the structure of the future government of the realm, and later proclaimed a manifesto containing a list of its demands.1 The text of this manifesto argued for an oligarchical system of control of the kingdom, and accused the king of inability to resolve the economic crisis. The first points mentioned in its list of demands, later to be repeated in the Sentencia of Medina del Campo of 16 January 1465, dealt with the situation of religious minorities at court. The commission requested, or virtually insisted, that all Jews and Muslims be expelled from Castile within a period of fifty days, and proposed that their properties be confiscated and used to pay the ransoms of Christians held captive in Granada. According to the nobles, the Moorish guard had been the cause of great scandal among the subjects of the realm and they demanded its immediate dissolution: . . . fue suplicado al dicho señor rey que apartase de si los moros que trae en su guarda, porque sus subditos e naturales estan dello muy escandalizados, e asimismo porque los dichos moros dis que fizieron muchas sinrazones, e que a su altesa ploguiese de los mandar apartar de sí e punir e castigar, sobre lo qual

1

J. L. Martín, Enrique IV, pp. 135–170; L. Suárez, Enrique IV, pp. 265–309.

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chapter five fablamos con el dicho señor rey, e a su señoria plugo que cerca de lo contenido en este capitulo sea proveido como comple al servicio de Dios e suyo e bien publico de sus regnos. Por ende nos, acatando el servicio de Dios e ensalzamiento de su santa fe, e por que la familiaridad e compañia con los dichos moros es muy defendida en derecho e por leyes reales, e la participación con ellos es muy peligrosa e dapnosa, e por emendar los dapnos e inconvinientes que de lo contrario se pueden seguir, ordenamos y declaramos quel dicho señor rey de aquí a cinquenta dias primeros siguientes eche e aparte de si e de su compañía e casa e corte a todos los dichos moros que trae en su guarda asi de a caballo como de a pie, e que agora nin en algund tiempo non los torne nin traya otros para la dicha su casa e guarda: e ordenamos e declaramos que los moros de los sobredichos que fuesen mudejares, se vayan en dicho tiempo a las morerias e casas e logares donde son vecinos e naturales, e que de aquí adelante el dicho señor rey non les de racion nin quitacion nin dadiva nin merced nin apostamiento a ellos nin a los otros, nin ellos la resciban de su señoria nin de otro por el; e los moros que son del regno de Granada e de otras partes, ordenamos e mandamos que si los tales moros son libres, salgan en el dicho tiempo de los regnos e señorios del rey nuestro señor e non esten nin tornen a ellos: e los que son esclavos del dicho señor rey, en el dicho tiempo los envien a las fronteras de los moros, para que por ellos se saquen cristianos de los que estan captivos quantos mas por ellos se puedan sacar, e los envien de tal manera que dentro del dicho tiempo salgan fuera del regno, lo qual se faga e compla de aquí a los dichos cinquenta dias. E si los dichos moros e qualquier dellos non saliere fuera de los dichos regnos desde el dia que esto fuere publicado en la corte del dicho señor rey fasta los dichos cinquenta dias primeros siguientes, o despues de idos se volvieren en cualquier manera, ordenamos e declaramos que qualquiera persona los pueda tomar e captivar por esclavos, e si se defendieren que los pueda matar sin pena alguna, e esa misma pena ayan los moros mudejares e otros moros qualesquiera si en algund tiempo vinieren a vivir o andovieren en la guerra e guarda de casa del dicho señor rey. E por quanto se dice que los moros han fecho en estos regnos en las partes e logares donde han andado muchos males e dapnos, declaramos e mandamos que los querellosos de las tales cosas lo vengan a decir e declarar al dicho padre general, el qual se pueda informar e informe de lo susodicho, o diputar persona que sepa la verdad de todo lo susodicho. E avida la dicha informacion en todo lo que declare cerca dello el dicho padre general e en el tiempo que lo limitare, el dicho señor rey sea obligado de satisfacer e satisfaga a los querellosos, segund en el tiempo que fuese declarado e limitado por el dicho padre general.2 [It was requested of the said lord our king that he remove the Moors that he has in his guard, because those who are his subjects and natives of his realms

2

Memorias de Enrique IV de Castilla, Madrid, 1835–1913, vol. II, pp. 343–344.

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are utterly outraged by them, and also by the fact that the said Moors are said to have done many wrongs, and his highness was asked to order them away from himself and punish them, and these matters were discussed with the said lord our king, and his lordship was asked in everything pertaining to the content of this chapter to fulfil the service of God and his own and the public good of his realms. Therefore we, in compliance with the service of God and to extol his holy faith, and because the familiarity and company of the said Moors is so well defended in rights and royal laws and association with them is very dangerous and harmful, and to correct the damage and inconveniences which might otherwise continue, we order and declare that the said lord our king within the next fifty days must expel and remove from himself and his household and court all the said Moors whom he has in his guard, both the horsemen and the foot soldiers, and that neither now nor at any time must he bring them back or bring new ones for his said household and guard: and we order and declare that those of the said Moors who are Mudejars be sent within the said period of time to the Moorish quarters and houses and places where they are from, and that from now on the said lord our king should not give wages or salaries or gifts or favours or postings to them or to any others, nor they receive anything from his lordship nor from any other on his behalf; and the Moors who are from the kingdom of Granada and from other places, we order that if they are free men, they must be allowed to leave in the said period of time from the realms and estates of the king our lord and not be in them nor return to them: and those who are slaves of the said lord our king, in the said time should be sent to the frontiers of the Moors, so that they can be exchanged for as many Christian captives as possible there, and they should be sent in such a manner that they are out of the kingdom within the said time period, and all this should be done and fulfilled within the next fifty days. And if any of the said Moors should not depart the said realms between the day that this order is published at the court of the said lord our king and the said next fifty days, or if after leaving they were to return in any manner, we order and declare that any person can catch them and take them captive as slaves, and if they defend themselves they may be killed without any punishment resulting, and the same shall apply to the Mudejar Moors and other Moors if at any time they come to live or make war or come to the guard of the household of the said lord our king. And because it is said that the Moors have done in these realms and the places where they have been much evil and harm, we declare and order that those affected by such things come to tell and declare their complaints to the said father general, so that he may be informed of the aforementioned, or appoint a person to discover the truth of all the aforementioned. And once all the information concerning such cases has been gathered by the father general in the time permitting it, the said lord our king should be obliged to satisfy those with complaints, within the time that the said father general declares and decides.]

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The mention in the text of “sinrazones” or wrongs and evil-doings seems to refer to the episode of the abduction of a young Christian girl by the Moor Mofarrax, mentioned by the chronicles in 1455. This abduction took place in Seville, during a period when the court was in that city. At the time the king was, as always, accompanied by his Moorish guard, and by a number of other Granadan knights, including the infante Muley Hacén and some of the sons of dignitaries from the Nasrid court who had been sent to him as hostages after the truce agreements reached with the sultan Sa‘d. (The nobles clearly made little effort to distinguish between these two groups of men, i.e. the Moorish guard and the Granadan nobles, each of which was tied to Enrique IV in a completely different manner, and with obligations and duties towards the king and his subjects that also differed greatly.) The version of events which appeared in the chronicles was that the Muslim knight Mofarrax or Mofarias, who was lodged in the household belonging to the merchant Diego Sánchez de Orihuela, fell in love with the Christian’s beautiful daughter, seized her by force and took her back with him to Granada. The complaints of the girl’s parents were greeted with indignation by the king—this was probably not a reflection of the favourable treatment he generally dispensed to Moors but rather a recognition of the fact that reclaiming the girl from a leading Granadan knight would place him in an awkward diplomatic situation that he preferred to avoid. At all events, the chronicles record an outraged popular reaction to the king’s attitude which was also keenly noted at court, and this incident became a cornerstone of propaganda directed against Enrique during this and later periods.3 Given that most of the Moorish knights were no longer even Muslims by 1464, a call for the dissolution of the corps of guards made little apparent sense at this time. It therefore seems reasonable to assume that there must have been other motives for such a direct attack by the league of nobles on the sovereign’s personal guard. It is, for example, quite possible that the protests reveal something about the growing importance of conversos in Castilian society during this period. It is even possible to draw parallels with the Toledan revolt led by Pedro Sarmiento against converts from Judaism in 1449, when a ban on the occupation of public offices by conversos was demanded.4 The manifesto of the nobles against Enrique IV demanded the

3 The Castilian form of the knight’s name suggests that he may have belonged to the family of the Abencerrajes, and was perhaps the son of the hayib Mufarrij. Crónica anónima, pp. 46–47; D. de Valera, Memorial de diversas hazañas, pp. 10–11; A. de Palencia, Crónica de Enrique IV, pp. 68–69. 4 J. M. Monsalvo Antón, “Herejía conversa y contestación religiosa a fines de la Edad

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suppression of the Moorish guard, which was, after all, another court office or trade occupied by conversos, in this case from Islam. The nobles’ demand for the dissolution of the guard was placed alongside others concerning issues such as the war on Granada, the establishment of an Inquisition office to examine all conversos, and a reiteration of the ban on Christians converting to Islam or Judaism. The importance of the role of such religious issues cannot be overemphasised. These statements were no doubt made as a concession to archbishop Carrillo as ways of restoring the health of a corrupt kingdom, understood during the Middle Ages as a manifestation of the decadence of the Christian community more generally. However, that these points should be given greater priority than others of more immediate political concern remains very striking. If we bear in mind that both the Moorish guard, as military support for the monarch, and the conversos, as an emerging class within the state administration, relied exclusively on the king and not on the nobility, then it becomes possible to see this invective against them more pragmatically, as a fully fledged attack on the powers of the monarchy, which was becoming increasingly authoritarian and less needful of support from the nobility and clergy in order to govern the kingdom. If such an interpretation were correct, this episode would become just another in the conflict of interests between the monarchy and the nobility over Mudejar subjects, and would fall neatly into the context of struggles between the two powers pointed out by Suárez Fernández.5 The fact that the Moorish guard was part of a system of law and state offices that was purely Christian does not mean that it did not have particularities that made it in some senses alien to that system, and this made a clash with the system more likely. One of its distinguishing features was that it possessed characteristics of both Christian and Islamic militias. More serious was the fact that a number of the knights did not belong to the Christian community. The Sentencia pointed an accusing finger directly at the group of men, previously mentioned, who had not converted to the Christian faith. The harshest clause of all those contained in the text was probably that which demanded that all free Muslims who remained in the king’s employment, whether they were Granadans or not, should lose their freedom

Media. Las denuncias a la Inquisición en el obispado de Osma”, Studia Historica, II, 2 (1984), p. 111. 5 In his well-known study Nobleza y monarquía. Puntos de vista sobre la historia castellana del siglo XV, Valladolid, 1975. I have outlined this same argument in “Mudéjares y moriscos”, in El reino nazarí de Granada, Historia de España (ed. R. Menéndez Pidal and J. M. Jover), vol. VIII.3, Madrid, 2000, p. 577.

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if they remained in their posts: “we order and declare that any person can catch them and take them captive as slaves, and if they defend themselves they may be killed without any punishment resulting, and the same shall apply to the Mudejar Moors and other Moors if at any time they come to live or make war or come to the guard of the household of the said lord our king.” Rarely were the rights of the monarch so openly violated as on this occasion, when it was proposed that his closest servants, enjoying his own special protection, might be made slaves by any mere subject of the realm. This was, moreover, a frontal attack on the rights of the Mudejars. These rights had been established in capitulations and fueros, and defended by the king himself. It is hardly surprising that Enrique IV was enraged when he was informed of the nobles’ demands.6 As far as the converted knights were concerned, the text’s demands were equivalent to not recognising the sincerity of their conversions. However, the conflict over the Moorish guard, the main victim of the measures adopted after the Sentencia of Medina, also affected the monarch’s image as head of the kingdom, as we have seen. Historians’ reliance on the chronicle of Alonso de Palencia has tended to tilt interpretations of events in favour of the nobility: writing after the dethronement of Ávila, which he was obliged to seek to justify, Palencia gave prominence to the accusations of Islamophilia directed against the king, and added to it the charge of homosexuality. Palencia even went so far as to make the highly improbable claim that the Master of Calatrava and the marquis of Villena had been encouraged by Enrique IV to convert to Islam.7 Accusations of Islamophilia were a common insult in the political propaganda of the period and had been directed at other monarchs who had sought to impose a policy of political centralism, such as Pedro I.8 Now Enrique IV’s alleged Islamophile leanings and his manner of waging war on Granada were used as propaganda in favour of the cause of the nobles. The fact was, however, that the king’s attitude towards Jews and Muslims was not very 6 For the Sentencia itself and the reactions it provoked, see R. Pérez Bustamante and J. M. Calderón, Enrique IV, pp. 171–178; M. D. C. Morales Muñiz, Alfonso de Ávila, rey de Castilla, Ávila, 1988, pp. 66–86. Neither of these books, however, sufficiently takes into account the role played in the league’s demands by the Moorish guard and the war on Granada. 7 A. de Palencia, Crónica de Enrique IV, p. 167; Gesta, pp. 108, 113. Cited in J. L. Martín, Enrique IV, pp. 224–225. 8 Froissart, Chronicles, chaps. 242, 245. Cf. E. Lourie, “A Jewish Mercenary in the Service of the King of Aragón”, Revue des études juives, 137 (1978), p. 373, which treats the accusation of hiring Muslim and Jewish troops in Granada and Portugal as an unfounded rumour promoted by supporters of the Trastámaras.

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different from the standard practice of his age and there is no reason to cast doubt on the personal nature of his convictions. His rapid approval of the proposal of friar Alonso de Oropesa to set up an Inquisition throughout the kingdom, his founding of several convents in Segovia, his support for the cause of the Franciscan convents and the proven existence of at least two personal confessors are just a few reasons to believe that Enrique was leading an actively Christian life.9 Even the Franciscan preacher Alonso de Espina, who had been the king’s confessor and was one of the most recalcitrant spokesmen for the idea of ending the presence of Islam in the Iberian peninsula, did not mention the king’s alleged pro-Islamic tendencies in any part of his work the Fortalitium fidei. On the contrary, Espina found much praise for Enrique’s efforts against the Muslims.10 What Enrique did possess was an obvious taste for Mudejar decoration and customs in his palaces and daily life, although it has to be said that in this he did not differ greatly from other members of his dynasty—the influence of Mudejar models was important in the aesthetics of the Castilian court, from Pedro I to the Catholic Kings. The testimony of foreign travellers like Philippe de Commynes or Leo of Rozmital should be interpreted with care: unused to the luxury and practices of the Castilian court, these travellers may have been overly impressed by customs which differed greatly from those of other European countries but were not necessarily Islamic as such. The travel accounts of Rozmital and his colleagues are full of contradictions and differ widely from the description written by the Slav Ehingen, who was used to travelling in Muslim territories and saw no reason to express surprise at the state of affairs at Enrique’s court.11 The guard was seen as an ever-loyal instrument in the king’s service, like its counterparts in Egypt, Turkey or Tunis. Juan II and Enrique IV resorted to the use of Moorish knights during the most awkward political periods of their reigns as another means of resisting the noble leagues backed by the infantes of Aragón. But it was not during Juan II’s reign when voices were raised against the royal policy of maintaining a Moorish guard. In the text of the complaint which the infantes of Aragón and their followers delivered to Juan II in 1440 expressing their opposition to Álvaro de Luna, there is not a single mention of this body of men, some of whom had been directly

9

The same view can be found in J. J. Echagüe Burgos, La Corona y Segovia, pp. 81–83. Fortalitium fidei, ms. 154, cathedral of El Burgo de Osma, f. 170 r–v. 11 W. D. Phillips, Enrique IV, pp. 81–89. See also A. Echevarría, The Fortress of Faith, pp. 18–27. 10

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appointed by Luna, in spite of the text’s repeated references to court posts and officials.12 The accusations of pro-Islamic tendencies directed at Enrique IV were, then, part of a web of political propaganda favourable to the parties of his brother Alfonso and, later, of Isabella. The attack on the Moorish knights in his guard, disguised as part of the struggle against Islam, was in fact intended to deprive Enrique of a very useful tool for defending royal autonomy at a time when it was under considerable threat. In 1465, the country was on the verge of a civil war and his adversaries were attempting to take from him one of his best and most independent military units. Considering that Juan II had made special use of his guard when he had been confined by his cousin Juan of Navarre, and that he had mobilised in his favour the Muslim servants of his intimates Álvaro de Luna and Alonso Pérez de Vivero, it is hardly surprising that the marquis of Villena—who had taken part in the earlier series of events as a favourite of the then prince Enrique—should move swiftly to attack the guard as part of a more general attempt to undermine Enrique IV.13 On 27 April 1465, the party opposed to the king dissociated itself from the monarch, in the ancient manner of the rebellious knight, by knocking down an effigy bearing the royal insignia and proclaiming the infante Alfonso as the new king. The events known as the “Farce of Ávila” paved the way for the beginning of a civil war in Castile which alternated with phases of the kind of diplomatic negotiations favoured by Enrique IV, who tried to spare his subjects the rigours of an open military conflict. Nevertheless, the king’s first response to this insurrection was to gather an army in Zamora which according to Enríquez de Castillo consisted of 80,000 foot soldiers and 14,000 knights, and in the view of Palencia had 20,000 foot soldiers and 800 knights (the second estimate seems more likely).14 The king had clearly succeeded in his policy of putting together a royal army of men from widely varying backgrounds which must have included the Moorish guard. Unfortunately, however, there is no written record describing the guard’s participation in the civil war; neither are there records of the men it must have lost during the conflict. After a phase of open conflict, both parties embarked on campaigns to attract as many towns and noblemen as possible to their cause, and itinerant court life was turned into a frenetic 12

L. Galíndez de Carvajal, Crónica de Juan II, pp. 560–562. For more on this, see A. Echevarría, The Fortress of Faith, pp. 195–196. 14 D. Enríquez del Castillo, Crónica de D. Enrique IV, p. 148; A. de Palencia, Crónica de Enrique IV, p. 181. Cited in R. Pérez Bustamante and J. M. Calderón, Enrique IV, p. 191. 13

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cavalry charge. However, it proved impossible to prevent a return to armed conflict. Enrique became acutely aware of the dangers when most of his closest collaborators abandoned him on seeing how slim his hopes were against the marquis of Villena, handing over as they did so the important bastion of Segovia. However, the loss of his favourite city and the sacking of its royal possessions caused a reaction from Enrique, who called together his army for the battle of Olmedo, which took place on 20 August 1467. Victory at this battle brought new followers to the king’s side, including the Hermandades of local citizens, an urban militia with great capacity for mobilisation and defence. The aid of these bodies of citizens, together with the death of Enrique’s brother Alfonso, did much to bring about the king’s final victory on 5 July 1468.15 The war brought great disruption to the institutions that governed the kingdom and to all levels of the king’s household. Many of the nobles opposed to the king lost their properties, and there were variations in the administrative posts. As far as we know, no payment of any ración was made to a member of the Moorish guard after 1465, and from 1467 onwards there were no further records of the Moorish guard as a separate body. This may be due to the loss of books from the king’s household during the difficult civil war period, but it is also quite possible that the king was obliged to give up his guard at this time, against his own wishes. Neither is it impossible that the Moorish guard was very severely affected by losses during the war—more would have to be known about the evolution of the military campaign, and the numbers of men involved, for such judgements to be made. Despite the apparent pacification of the kingdom and the treaties between the two court factions that were signed in the years that followed, Enrique IV’s power had been seriously weakened by the war. His moral authority was considerably diminished and the hesitancy of the steps he took to ensure his succession did nothing to improve his situation.16 In this state of affairs, some Moorish knights chose to fight under the king’s main defender, the constable Miguel Lucas de Iranzo, who had never abandoned his monarch and had been forced to leave the court on account of his confrontation with the marquis of Villena. Iranzo’s semi-autonomous position in Jaén, adjacent to the kingdom of Granada, and his continual raids on Nasrid territory, made the skills of the Moorish knights particularly well-suited to 15

For the events of the campaign, see J. L. Martín, Enrique IV, pp. 183–203 and R. Pérez Bustamante and J. M. Calderón, Enrique IV, pp. 175–233, where sources are also given. 16 J. L. Martín, Enrique IV, pp. 242–289; R. Pérez Bustamante and J. M. Calderón, Enrique IV, pp. 233–307; L. Suárez Fernández, Enrique IV, pp. 395–529.

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working under his command. Several of the knights therefore joined the local cavalry of Jaén, occupying the same sorts of posts that they had held in the royal guard. One example of such an individual would be a certain “Juan”, who had been a Moorish knight and served Iranzo after the dispersal of the guard.17 As we have already seen, the captain García Ramírez was based in the same city as a veinticuatro of the local government, as delegate to parliament (cortes) for Jaén and possibly a member of Iranzo’s raiding parties into his own lands. Finally, it might have been the case that fewer groups of Moorish knights were crossing the frontier into Castile by this time, because of the pacification of Granada by Muley Hacén and also as a result of the absence of a Castilian royal army on the Granadan frontier. Only the repression of the Abencerrajes ordered by the sultan in mid-1470 produced further immediate effects, as members of that particular family chose to flee Granada. However, on this occasion the fleeing knights did not seek refuge at the court of Castile, but within the Castilian frontier nobility, in the households of the dukes of Medinasidonia and the lords of Aguilar, until such time as they were able to return to Granada to support Boabdil.18 These members of the family must have been in Castile, or in Tunis, when mention was made of them in the truce agreement signed by Muley Hacén and Enrique IV in 1472:19 E que el dicho sennor rey non ayudará nin consentirá a persona de sus reinos que ayuden a vuestros contrarios e desobidientes los Abençerrajes nin a otras personas de vuestro reino que vos fueren desobidientes nin a la parte de ellos, nin su alteza resçibira ninguno de vuestros contrarios nin otros algunos de sus reinos, nin las cosas que troxieren robadas de vuestro reino.20 [And that the said lord the king shall not help nor allow any person from his realms to help your disobedient enemies the Abencerrajes, nor any other persons from your kingdom who were disobedient nor part of them, nor shall his highness receive any of your enemies nor any others of his realms, nor the things that they stole from your kingdom.]

17

Hechos del Condestable, pp. 417–418. Hernando de Baeza, Cosas que pasaron entre los reyes de Granada, ed. Müller, 1863: “puso tanto espanto en tierra que los que quedaban de los Abencerrajes, muchos de ellos se pasaron en Castilla; y unos fueron a la casa del duque de Medina Sidonia y otros, a la casa de Aguilar. Y ahí estuvieron, haciéndoseles mucha honra a ellos y a los suyos, hasta que el rey Chiquito, en cuyo tiempo se ganó Granada, reinó en ella, que se volvieron a sus casas e haciendas. Los otros que quedaron en el reino, poco a poco prendió el rey y dicen que, de sólo los abencerrajes, degolló catorce.” Cf. L. Seco de Lucena, Los Abencerrajes, pp. 35–36. 19 J. Torres Fontes, “Las treguas con Granada de 1469 y 1472”, pp. 235–236; J. A. García Luján, Treguas, guerras y capitulaciones, pp. 26–28, 95–105. 20 J. A. García Luján, Treguas, guerras y capitulaciones, p. 94. 18

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The Moorish guard disappeared as the first phase of Enrique’s reign was coming to an end. In the years after the civil war, that reign came to be increasingly dominated by the issue of the king’s succession. A entire period of life on the frontier and a whole way of understanding relations between Christians and Mudejars were also now brought to a conclusion. During the reign of the Catholic Kings, which initially saw a continuation of the policy of tolerance, there was a gradual implementation of the policies first outlined by Álvaro de Luna under Juan II—whose monarchy was centralised and did not rely on the power of the nobility—and later under Enrique IV. A true royal army became a reality, the conquest of Granada was concluded, and a new framework came into existence within which relations between Christians and Mudejars would be completely re-defined. Faced with the failure of a policy of acculturation and assimilation of the Mudejars, the Castilian monarchs took far more drastic decisions, which were to bring definitive changes to society in all the Spanish realms.

From Mudejar elite to Moorish elite: the legacy of the Moorish knights However, the transition of the converso Moorish knights to Castilian society had already been achieved. Faced with a lack of conclusive evidence to prove that the guard was completely dissolved in any one particular year, we are forced to confine ourselves to highlighting two clear signs of its disappearance: firstly, the presence of unconverted knights among the Castilian Mudejars, and secondly the indications in the records concerning the assimilation of baptised knights and their descendants in the spheres of society occupied by the Old Christians. The unconverted knights were able to survive by entering one of the Mudejar aljamas, either with or without a post of importance in the community, or by emigrating to Granada or the north of Africa. A lack of written evidence makes it difficult to assess how many men followed the last two paths, but the importance of the first is suggested by the presence in the Mudejar communities of a leading figure like Farax de Belvís, alcalde mayor de las aljamas de moros del reino. All the data that we possess for him makes reference to his occupation of posts at the head of Mudejar communities: he is seen consolidating his position in the Mudejar elite as repartidor (fiscal agent) of the servicio y medio servicio of the aljamas de moros of Andalusia in 1452, as alcalde de los moros de la aljama in Guadalajara after 1464, and finally alcalde mayor de las aljamas de todos los reinos, although his dispute

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with Abrahen Xarafí over this last post reveals the extent of the mistrust felt by the Catholic Kings towards a man who had worked for Enrique IV. Nevertheless, integration into 15th-century Castilian society of the conversos de moro who came from privileged backgrounds was an undisputed fact. The process can be summarised as a series of steps taken over three or four generations, as we have been able to see in the personal and family histories of several of the Moorish knights. Firstly came the conversion of the head of a family, a married man and member of the most privileged class, who went from Granada to Castile, or from a Mudejar aljama to another town or city. Such a man was sometimes accompanied by his wife and children, who on occasions were adults with families of their own. Baptism of this head of family was followed by the adjudication of a place at court, generally in the Moorish guard. The next step was the baptism of the second generation under the auspices of influential godfathers and patrons, which determined the family’s position in the place where they had chosen to reside. The baptised sons of Moorish knights joined the royal guard themselves and married Christian women of good families who could pass on their surnames and wealth to their children. These baptised knights behaved like Christians and had a certain amount of contact with the Church, but did not completely lose contact with their old co-religionists, against whom they were nevertheless willing to fight as part of the royal army if necessary. The personal wealth of these figures was often quite considerable. The third generation had Christian cultural referents as a result of the class solidarity created on the maternal side of the family. To avoid becoming the object of reprisals, the members of this generation often chose to settle in locations at some distance from the family’s place of origin. They gradually came to obtain places at court or posts in the local oligarchies, depending on the contacts of their progenitors. In order to complete their rise in Christian society and to ensure the continued existence of the networks of clients created by their predecessors, they made advantageous marriages (especially in the case of women) to members of the same social group or the lower nobility, who on occasions had similar converso origins to themselves. For example, all the children of García de Jaén from both his first and second marriages—except García Ramírez, who as a third son may have entered the church—bore their mothers’ surnames and married into the local nobility, without their converso origins ever representing a problem of any kind. By the fourth generation, assimilation was complete and some descendants of Moorish knights even became leading members of the clergy or military orders. After a certain date, prestigious genealogical histories were created for these families in an attempt to cover up their converso origins.

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During the reign of the Catholic Kings, the descendants of Moorish knights normally reached the second or third generation of the trajectory described, and their presence in various contexts can be traced through the records. One of the areas where they can be seen was as members of the royal guard, the institution that was most similar to the Moorish guard because of its functions and organisation, though without the same religious or cultural connotations. For example, as has been stated in Chapter Four, the knights Diego, Alonso and Pedro de Aguilar, who were sons of the Moorish knight and adalid, Juan Fernández de Aguilar. They resided in Zafra, a manor belonging to the military order of Alcántara, and requested from the Catholic Kings formal recognition of the good services carried out by their father and applied to become adalides in the royal guards, with respect for all their previous privileges. (This request was duly accepted.)21 At no point in their request was mention made of the fact that their father was a converso de moro, as is clearly stated in the Quitaciones de Corte or court salary lists from the period of Enrique IV. Another context in which the knights and their sons played a leading role was in the war against Granada, where they fought as part of the citizens’ cavalry corps. García Ramírez de Jaén’s presence in the frontier region and his extensive knowledge of relations between Castile and Granada, and of the language and politics of the area, were essential to his accumulation of wealth during the Granada campaign of the reign of the Catholic Kings. From the period of diplomatic negotiations with the Nasrid kings22 to his raiding activity in Granadan territory as part of the advance party which was sent to the castles of Cambil and Alhabar,23 his behaviour never seems to have been conditioned by his old religion. The social and cultural assimilation of these conversos was manifested in a series of Christian attitudes and customs which they rapidly incorporated into their everyday lives. In their religious and social behaviour, the rites of baptism, marriage and death were those which most exposed them to possible criticism from their fellow neighbours. On these occasions, an individual’s religiosity was placed on public display, and particular care had

21

AGS, RGS, 1476, November, 28. Toro. f. 788. J. A. Bonilla and E. Toral, El tratado de paz de 1481 entre Castilla y Granada, Jaén, 1982, p. 48. 23 Accounts of the besieging of the castles can be found in F. del Pulgar, Guerra de Granada (ed. J. de M. Carriazo), Madrid, 1943, II, pp. 197–200, and A. Bustani (ed.), Fragmento de la época árabe sobre noticias de los reyes nazaritas, Larache, 1940, pp. 18–19. Cited in F. Vidal Castro, “Cambil islámico”, pp. 36, 44. See also J. Martínez de Mazas, Retrato al natural de la ciudad de Jaén: su estado antiguo y moderno, con demostración de quanto necesita mejorarase su población, agricultura y comercio, Jaén, 1794 (facs. Barcelona, 1978), pp. 113–118. 22

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to be taken. In this period, before the founding of the Inquisition as an instrument of state control, the conversos de moro with whom we have been concerned left documentary traces of voluntary adaptation to the precepts of the Catholic church which are a testimony of the highest order when analysing later 16th-century policies of forced conversion and assimilation. Apart from baptisms, already analysed in the previous chapter, the most interesting case of such records is that of the wills that they drew up. These documents symbolised an individual’s decision to remain in his new faith, and were an assurance of orthodoxy at the hour of the hardest trial in life which was one’s own death.24 The only will of a Moorish knight which I have so far been able to locate, that of García Ramírez de Jaén, outlines how such adaptation to the Christian religion may have been carried out, and is very similar in its form and content to wills made out by Moriscos who converted after the conquest of Granada.25 Three groups of clauses were fundamental in the wills of conversos of a certain social position, whether former Jews or Muslims, if they wanted to demonstrate their loyalty to the church: those concerning the foundation of chapels, a request for masses to be said for their eternal repose, and the giving of alms to the poor. Bearing in mind the extent of the church’s interest in such displays of orthodoxy by conversos, as well as its interest in the economic incomes to be derived from the inclusion of these conditions, the possibility cannot be ruled out that such clauses were actually dictated to testators by a religious figure. The fact is that wills made by second-generation Jewish conversos are broadly similar to that of García de Jaén.26 García left instructions to be buried after his death in the chapel which he possessed in the monastery of San Francisco in Jaén, and asked for masses to be said for his soul and those of his parents in the same convent, the cathedral of Santa María la Mayor and in the churches of San 24 For new lines of research into this assimilated minority, see A. García Pedraza, Actitudes ante la muerte en la Granada del siglo XVI. Los moriscos que quisieron salvarse, Granada, 2002, vol. I, pp. 106–113. 25 Another example in A. García Pedraza, “La asimilación del morisco don Gonzalo Fernández el Zegrí: edición y análisis de su testamento”, Al-Qantara XV (1995), pp. 39–58. For the use of wills in Christian Granada as a means of religious control and unification, see the study by the same author, “El morisco ante la muerte. Algunas reflexiones sobre los testamentos otorgados por los moriscos granadinos (1500–1526)”, Mélanges Louis Cardaillac, Zaghouan, 1995, vol. I, pp. 337–352, and her recent work, Actitudes ante la muerte, vol. I, pp. 278–288. García Ramírez de Jaén’s will closely resembles that of another veinticuatro, on this occasion in Granada, Juan de Baeza, which is edited in vol. II, pp. 921–929. 26 M. P. Rábade, Una elite de poder, pp. 59–66, pointed out the abundant sums of money for pious works left by Jewish conversos, citing them as proof of their economic and social power. For the Moriscos, see A. García Pedraza, Actitudes ante la muerte, vol. I, pp. 278 and 286–287.

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Salvador in the old Alcazar, San Ildefonso and the Santísima Trinidad. He also left sums of money for works of charity, asking six poor men and three women to be assisted.27 The fall of the kingdom of Granada in 1492 brought an end to justification of the Mudejars’ existence in Castile, although it would take some years for this to become clear. Initially, the conquest of Granada brought about an important change in the situation of the Mudejars in Castile. This was because of the influx of a huge number of Granadan Muslims into the kingdom of the Catholic Kings. Until 1499 there seems to have been a clear desire on the part of both Granadans and the monarchs to respect the terms of the signed capitulation treaties, and almost all royal records preserved from this period are given over to guaranteeing the rights of the Mudejar community as accepted by the monarchy, and to Muslims’ respect for the limitations to be imposed upon them. The difficulties associated with integrating the Granadan Mudejars into the life of the kingdom were obvious: official institutions had to be extended to include Granada, providing it with organs of government and law courts dependent on the Castilian administration; efforts had to be made to promote huge linguistic change, since the Muslims of Granada mainly still spoke Arabic; property rights had to be re-arranged in such a way that the Granadans could maintain their way of life, but Christians could have access to land and houses which could be awarded to those who had taken part in the conquest, whether manor estates for the nobles or smallholdings for the rest of the troops. This adaptation process needed time and a great deal of money. The economic charges of 1495 and 1499 aroused the resistance of the Granadan Mudejars, who had learned that Castilian fiscal imposition could be as harsh as the Nasrid tax system had been. Archbishop Hernando de Talavera and the count of Tendilla, who were in charge of the government of Granada, both argued unsuccessfully against the tax measures. The combination of these measures and the intervention of Jiménez de Cisneros, the archbishop of Toledo, who wanted to speed up the policy of conversion of Granadan Muslims which had been handled so cautiously by Hernando de Talavera, was to break the previous equilibrium of gradual Mudejar assimilation into Christian society.

27 The monastery of San Francisco in Jaén was built on the site of the palace of king Fernando III, which was donated to the Franciscans by Pedro I, and was located in the quarter where García de Jaén also lived. J. Martínez de Mazas, Retrato al natural de la ciudad de Jaén, pp. 56–57, 68. García de Jaén’s will is edited and explained in more detail in A. Echevarría, “García Ramírez de Jaén”, pp. 224–231.

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From the year 1499 onwards, there was an initial movement from individual to mass conversion.28 The slow drip of baptisms as a result of the preaching of friars in Granada is reminiscent of the conversions of the Moorish knights, with the difference that the knights’ conversions took place in a largely Christian environment whereas in Granada the general context was still profoundly Islamic. The lack of appropriate teaching and the persistence of family ties with other Muslims were important causes of the failure of Cisneros’s plans for Granada. As we have seen, even when there were sincere individual conversions, both in the north of Castile as in the case of the Moorish knights and in the newly conquered kingdom, family ties were always hard to break. The archbishops of Granada were aware of how fragile and precarious many of the conversions were, and legislation from the period makes frequent mention of the need to separate the neophyte from his old co-religionists, in order to prevent him from falling under their influence. An edict ordering compulsory mass conversions was dictated in Castile in 1502, in response to the failure of Cisneros’s conversion policies and to the revolt that had started in the city of Granada and then extended to the Alpujarras in 1501.29 (Aragón and Navarre were initially excluded from the application of these measures.) At this time, two appeals for military assistance were also made by Granada, similar to those that had been issued in the previous century by Nasrid sultans. One of these appeals was sent to the Mamluk sultan and the other to the Ottoman ruler Bayacet II, and each of them pleaded for intervention to help the Granadan kingdom. A Mamluk embassy had met Ferdinand and Isabella in the autumn of 1489 but the Mamluks had decided not to intervene further, although they did continue to take an interest in the situation of the Mudejars. Later, a little before the general conversion edict of 1501, came the appeal to Bayacet II, which had 28 M. A. Ladero Quesada, “Los bautismos de los musulmanes granadinos”, p. 495. On the use of images for the conversion of Granadans, see the recent work by F. Pereda, Las imágenes de la discordia: política y poética de la imagen sagrada en la España del 400. Madrid, 2007. 29 The documents published by M. A. Ladero Quesada, Los mudéjares de Castilla en tiempo de Isabel I, pp. 210–213, 228–238 are interesting in this respect. See, by the same author, Granada después de la conquista, pp. 291–306. The mass conversions are dealt with in M. A. Ladero, “Nóminas de conversos granadinos (1499–1500)” in Estudios sobre Málaga y el reino de Granada en el V Centenario de la conquista, ed. J. E. López de Coca, Málaga, 1977, pp. 291–311 and G. Carrasco, “Huellas de la sociedad musulmana granadina: la conversión del Albayzín (1499–1500)”, En la España Medieval 30 (2007), pp. 335–380. For Aragón, see M. Meyerson, Els musulmans de Valencia en l’època de Ferran i Isabel, Valencia, 1994, pp. 42–86, and for Navarre, see M. García-Arenal, “Los moros de Tudela (Navarra) en torno a los años de la conversión (1515)” in Les morisques et leur temps, Paris, 1983, pp. 78–81.

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little effect either, except perhaps to soften the terms of the edict, which contemplated the possibility of Granadans emigrating to Muslim lands.30 Until the 16th century, the clergy devised no systematic plans for assimilating the Moriscos, but in all of the proposals that were drawn up thereafter there was an insistence on the measures I have already mentioned in order to bring about the total incorporation of the Moriscos in Christian society.31 Before that, it is possible that the relatively easy passage from one religion to another of the military elite at court may have served as inspiration for the preferred approaches of the confessors of Isabella. Since the 13th century there had been attempts to encourage the conversions of Muslim leaders, whether sultans, emirs or others, in the hope that they would be followed by their subjects. The measures for favouring the baptism of cadís, alcaides and Granadan dignitaries are therefore not surprising, but the case that was closest to hand for both Talavera and Cisneros was, without a doubt, that of the Moorish guard. Were the records to exist, it would be interesting to learn to what extent attempts were made to use the influence of former members of the guard to bring about conversions in other Muslim families. Another form of rupture with the Muslim past had also been prefigured in the case histories of the Moorish knights. This was the route of marriage to Christian women from leading families, a practice which broke up the Islamic family structure and its onomastic system, and placed the conversos de moro in new networks of family relations with Christians. As long as these conversions were voluntary and small-scale, this type of assimilation worked perfectly well, but in other contexts, such as areas of the kingdom of Granada inhabited only by Muslims, or in situations of mass conversion,

30 L. P. Harvey, Islamic Spain, 1250 to 1500, Chicago, 1990, p. 267. G. Wiegers and P. van Koningsveld, “An appeal of the Moriscos to the Mamluk sultan and its counterpart to the Ottoman court: Textual analysis, context, and wider historical background”, Al-Qantara, XX (1999), pp. 179–186. 31 L. Cardaillac, Moriscos y cristianos, un enfrentamiento polémico, Madrid, 1977, pp. 44–50; A. Redondo, “El primer plan sistemático de asimilación de los moriscos granadinos: el del doctor Carvajal (1526)”; R. Benítez Sánchez-Blanco, “Un plan de la aculturación de los moriscos valencianos: las Ordinacions de Ramírez de Haro (1540)”; J. B. Vilar, “Las Ordinaciones del Obispo Tomás Dassio. Un intento de asimilación de los moriscos de la diócesis de Orihuela”, and R. García Cárcel, “Estudio crítico del catecismo de Ribera-Ayala”, all in Les Morisques et leur Temps, pp. 159–168. In Portugal, on the other hand, there were no such plans, according to I. M. R. Mendes Drumond Braga, Entre a cristandade e o islao (séculos XV–XVIII). Cativos e renegados nas franjas de duas sociedades em confronto, Ceuta, 1998, p. 59. There are, however, some indications as to what might be done to encourage Muslims to convert more quickly in a royal judgement kept at the University of Alcalá, and edited in M. A. Ladero, “Los bautismos de los musulmanes granadinos”, pp. 505–507.

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the mechanism failed completely. Nonetheless, royal instructions were still framed so as to make it easier for such marriages to take place.32 As far as the military aspect was concerned, the end of the war on Granada meant an end to the need for almogávar knights on the frontier, and as a result many Moorish knights suddenly found it much more difficult to make a living, unless they could manage to join the royal armies that were sent to fight outside the Peninsula. Few are likely, however, to have remained active by this time, and they therefore probably lived out their lives peacefully in the lands once granted to them in recognition of their military services. The Mudejar troops of the concejos had been relieved of the duty to fight alongside their Christian counterparts during the war in Granada, and had been forced to replace their participation with an economic subsidy. Neither was there now a pressing need for bilingual interpreters, or for spies. In addition, once the conflict was over, castles were no longer entrusted to once-useful conversos de moro, because the risk of revolts and treachery had caused a re-think in royal policy.33 In the cases of those Moorish knights who had successfully entered Castilian society, acquiring a certain social position and a post in accordance with their skills, the processes of conversion, assimilation and acculturation were carried out in a model fashion, in spite of some difficult moments. This was partly because of their fluid relations with the court elite, in a cultural environment that was greatly influenced by the taste for Mudejar aesthetics and where Christians and Muslims had many customs in common. But the main reason why these processes occurred is simply that the members of the Moorish guard became necessary at a particular moment in time, and performed an important function within the framework of domestic Castilian in-fighting. Without their training as highly-skilled horsemen, and their polished courtly manners, they would never have been able to make the switch from one side of the geographical, religious and social frontier to the other with such ease. The combination of all these factors was unusual, and because it depended so much on historical circumstance, it could never last for very long. This is why it was so difficult for there to be continuity in the phenomenon of the Moorish guard, although its legacy and influ-

32 See B. Vincent, “La famille morisque”, HID, 5 (1978), pp. 469–483; F. A. Pareja Pareja, “Los matrimonios mixtos, una estrategia usada por el poder en el proceso de aculturación cristiana”, Qurtuba, 2 (1997), pp. 163–173. 33 See A. Echevarría, “Biografías de conversos: historia de una doble marginación” in Biografías e identidades marginales en la cultura islámica medieval (co-ord. C. de la Puente), EOBA, Madrid, 2003, pp. 215–243.

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ence can be seen in some of the vicissitudes of the conversion process of the Mudejars and attempts to assimilate the Moriscos during the 16th and 17th centuries. In fact, it is impossible to understand attitudes towards these two groups during the Spanish Golden Age without taking into account this earlier part of the story.

CONCLUSION

At the beginning of this book the question was posed, whether there had ever existed a historical period during which religious differences had not conditioned the daily life of human groups in Iberia beyond tolerable limits. In my belief, this study has shown that before the 15th century such a state of affairs was indeed possible. Despite the repeated efforts of various political and religious authorities, the minorities living in the Iberian Peninsula can be said to have enjoyed considerable room for manoeuvre, except at certain times of crisis. This does not mean that an idealised state of “convivencia”, first proposed in the 19th century as a supposedly inherent feature of Hispanic society, ever actually existed. Recent and not so recent studies have instead insisted on the role of political, social and economic convenience in relations between Christians and Muslims on both sides of the Mediterranean. Religion was not the primordial factor in social life, but it is clear that it constituted an identifying factor of the utmost importance, and also that it was used by the civil and religious elite as a means of control, with all that this implied for the minority groups. In studying a group of men marked by its military function, I have focused on relations in an area where there was unusual flexibility in contact between the two religions. A phenomenon of religious transference occurred which to some extent contradicted the state of war between the two sides. It should be remembered that the Hispanic case was not unique, and that the Moorish bodyguard was not a complete exception. During the Middle Ages, similar institutions could be found in all those states where there was close contact between Christianity and Islam. The kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula are thus an interesting but not unique instance, and not even the most important one if we consider the employment of men of different religion in the bodyguards of the central regions of the Eastern caliphates. However, in European history, where the battle against Islam took place mainly on the Western and Eastern fronts—Hungary and the Byzantine region on the one hand, Italy and the Iberian Peninsula on the other—these phenomena certainly constitute an interesting case. In the specific instance of Castile, it can be seen that during the 15th century a series of precedents were set, the full significance of which would only be revealed after 1475, under the Catholic Kings. Firstly, there was the issue of Castilian foreign policy towards the kingdom of Granada and its

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struggling Nasrid dynasty. Castilian interventions in Granada to promote and manipulate candidates to the throne and the lineages of certain leading figures—some of whose members moved temporarily to Castile and joined the royal guard—can be seen in all their intensity during the reigns of Juan II and Enrique IV, well before Ferdinand and Isabella used similar tactics to bring down the Nasrid emirate. A war of attrition, skilfully combined with the charging of parias, the redemption of captives—which reduced the amount of slave labour available to the Granadans—the specialisation of the kingdom’s trading activities in line with Castilian and Aragonese interests, and the commercial blockade on products of first necessity at decisive moments: these were all devices used by the Castilians to bring about the gradual reduction and defeat of Granada, and this process was initiated in the first half of the 15th century. The second development of interest was the formation of a royal army, which was based on the corps of guards surrounding the king. There was a timid attempt by Álvaro de Luna to protect Juan II with royal troops, blocked by the Infantes of Aragón, and then a steadier move towards a royal army under Enrique IV, an important change which led to its eventual definitive formation under the Catholic Kings. The specialised nature of the Moorish guard as light cavalry to be used against the Nasrid army was an important factor in the changing conduct of frontier warfare. Alongside the Moorish guard fought the monteros of Espinosa, plus the crossbowmen, both mounted and on foot, and the guard made up of young noblemen who accompanied the monarch and were always eager to engage in feats of arms that might improve their status at court. This main core of the royal mesnada became, during the civil wars after the death of Enrique IV and the war on Granada, a true standing army at the service of the monarch. (The one remaining corps, made up of the ballesteros de maza or crossbowmen armed with maces, was restricted to keeping watch over the king’s chamber and was of no immediate use on the battlefield.) The sons of those Moorish guards who remained, as converts, among the royal troops, occupied posts as captains and adalides in later frontier warfare. A third area of interest is that of the tactics used to encourage, bring about and apply the mechanisms of conversion which would turn Castile and Aragón into kingdoms of one sole religion. It must not be forgotten that despite supposed Aragonese tolerance of Mudejars, mass conversions of Jews took place in Aragón with a virulence that was equal to or even greater than that seen in Castile. It was only because of economic interests—once again—that Aragonese leaders were more inclined to oppose the mass conversion of their Mudejars and also the later expulsion of the Moriscos. The

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same can be said of the preaching campaigns directed at new converts from one religion or another, which were used with even greater enthusiasm in Aragón and Catalonia, where decrees forced those who had been baptised, and those assumed to be “baptizable”, to attend sermons many years before such a policy was introduced in Granada. As has been shown by the family histories included in this volume, assimilation of the Islamic minority in Castile involved initial voluntary conversion to Christianity and the subsequent maintenance of social status. Until well into the 15th century, furthermore, respect was shown for the wishes of those who decided not to convert for one reason or another, and such individuals were not penalised, either socially or economically. It was only during the reign of the Catholic Kings that a fast-track model of mass conversion without previous doctrinal training was imposed. This was the policy that led to a loss of privileges and thereby gave rise to the “Morisco problem”. The resulting loss of religious equilibrium in the kingdoms of Iberia would create difficulties for at least another century. Historians have often insisted on portraying the period in which Muslims lived under Christian rule as monolithic. But this was not the way it occurred. A very clear change took place between the period when Muslims were a majority grouping until the years when they had lost their preponderance and ability to negotiate. At the beginning of the 15th century it was still more important to be specially qualified or well-placed in order to carry out a function that would serve the interests of the king or kingdom—as is repeatedly stated in the headings of the documents that have survived—than it was to be Muslim, Christian or Jewish. However, toleration of the presence of followers of different religions at the royal court cannot be extrapolated to the rest of society. Socio-economic factors meant that Muslims, Jews and converts from both creeds experienced many difficulties in their relations with the popular classes. The links of such figures with the king were easily manipulated by the parties which sought power: as we have seen, the figure of the “Islamophile king” was used to undermine the monarch’s legitimacy during the upheaval of the years between 1463 and 1478. In the three areas I have mentioned, it is essential to grasp the way in which converts from Islam participated in the political and social life of Castile during the first two-thirds of the 15th century if we are to understand how a medieval kingdom came to be transformed into a modern state.

DOCUMENTARY APPENDIX

Features of the documentation The documents in the section known as “Raciones moriscas” (Moorish allowances or salaries) essentially refer to two professions: the Moorish knights who formed part of the personal guard of the Castilian monarchs and the masters of works who were employed in the royal residences. The documentation, which dates from the reigns of Juan II (1406–1454) and Enrique IV (1454–1474), is held at the Archivo General de Simancas within the following section: Escribanía Mayor de Rentas, Quitaciones de Corte, legajos 1 to 4. (This corresponds to the reign of Enrique IV.) Further records relating to the same individuals can be found in other sections of the Archive, such as “Mercedes y Privilegios” or “Patronato Real”. The “Raciones moriscas” have their own specific place within the documents of the Escribanía Mayor de Rentas de Castilla, since the name of this section of royal allowances was created at the same time that the documents themselves were composed. The documents relating to the “Raciones moriscas” were written on paper, using both sides of the sheets. These perforated sheets measure approximately 29.3 cm. by 21.5 cm. All the sheets are numbered in ink and have 17th-century Arabic numerals in the top right-hand corner. Only the documents in legajos 3 and 4 preserve their original pagination, and carry Roman numerals in the same position. On the whole, the papers show signs of having been written with some care and generally they are well preserved, with damage limited to the edges of the sheets. Records were kept in two books (corresponding to the years 1455 and 1456), which were dispersed among the four legajos, or bundles, of the series known as Quitaciones de Corte when the papers were transferred to Simancas. The records are therefore kept on perforated and separate sheets, with justified margins, and they are fairly consistent in appearance, except in the length of the entries that they contain. This is the reason for a certain variation in the number of lines on each page. There are some deletions, and a large number of marginal notes. The structure of each document is as follows: each page bears the heading “Raciones moriscas” and because it is a book of records, or a register,

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all references to an individual are noted together. Two individuals per page appear in the book for 1455 and only one individual and his payment orders, written over as many as four pages, in the book for 1456. Each entry is headed by an ornament, which accompanies the name of the recipient of the allowance. This includes the individual’s parentage, religious allegiance when appropriate, and the post he held in the royal household. In addition to this ornament there appears the abbreviation “contador”, to the side of which was later written the number of maravedis earned by the contador or royal accountant for registering the document. This was usually a sum of 100 or 200 maravedis. The first paragraph of each entry contains a brief account of the reasons why the allowance was conferred, plus the amount of money and clothing material which had been awarded to the individual. The total sum of the annual payment is written in the margin, at the same height. The paragraphs that follow show payments subsequently made, and the year and place in which they were granted. The right-hand margin again shows the total amount paid, in Roman numerals. Each entry concludes with the signature of the court clerk. References to marginal notes take the form of keys. The letter-type is mid-15th century “cortesana”—also known as rounded Gothic cursive—in lower case, with frequent joining-up but quite easily readable, and with abbreviations typical of the period. In transcribing these records I have followed the guidelines of the International Commission of Diplomacy. Original spellings have been maintained, except in the case of double “rr” spellings at the start of words and before consonants. Abbreviated words have been written in full, and I have included punctuation marks and capital letters where they ease an understanding of the text. I have respected the difference between “Fernando” and “Fernán”, in keeping with the distinction made in the records. Original accents have also been kept, except in the case of the word “dé” (from the verb “dar”), in order to avoid confusion with the preposition “de”. Given the large amount of numerical data, I have preferred to standardise its representation by using Arabic numerals throughout, even in those cases where the original text uses Roman numerals or spells a number out in words. Because of the special structure of the book of records, I have given all dates, plus the corresponding payment orders and the letters referring to them, at the head of each entry.

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Documents 1 1409, location unknown. 1455, November, 20. Avila. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 21. Raçiones moriscas. Pedro fijo del alcayde Farax, cavallero elche de la casa de Granada. Contadores 200 maravedis. Tiene en raçion cada dia 20 maravedis que le montan al anno 7.200 maravedis, los quales le puso el rey nuevamente, anno de 1409 annos. 7.200 maravedíes. [Pedro, son of the alcaide Farax, an elche knight from the house of Granada, has an allowance of 20 maravedis a day, amounting to an annual sum of 7,200 maravedis, renewed by the king in 1409.] Librose por carta del rey dada en la çibdad de Avila, 20 dias de noviembre, anno de 1455 annos en Alfonso Garsia de Madrid, recabdador mayor de la mitad de los diesmos e alfolis del regno de Gallisia, este dicho anno 4.800 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Pedro, e gelos libre en los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta Juan de Aguilar, por virtud de su poder. 4.800 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Tiene alvala del rey para los dar en fiança.) [A payment order of the king issued in the city of Ávila on 20 November 1455 instructed Alfonso Garsia of Madrid, high tax collector of the tithe and alfolis of the kingdom of Galicia, to be paid 4,800 maravedis. And that he take the money to the said Pedro and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by Juan de Aguilar, by virtue of his powers of proxy. (Marginal note: He has the king’s written authorisation to give them as guarantee.)]

2 1409, location unknown. 1457, February, 22. Palencia. 1458, February, 22. Madrid. 1459, December, 16. Madrid. 1459, December, 20. Madrid. 1460, July, 20. Valladolid. 1462, February, 23. Madrid. 1463, December, 20. Madrid. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 4, 297–298 (contemporary numeration: VIII; alternative numeration: 206).

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documentary appendix Raçiones moriscas. Anno de 1456. Pedro fijo del alcayd Farax, cavallero elche de la casa de Granada. Contadores 200 maravedis. Tiene en raçion cada dia 20 maravedis que montan al anno 7.200 maravedis, los quales le puso el rey nuevamente, anno de 1409 annos. 7.200 [maravedis]. (Nota al margen, tachada: Enbargados para el anno de [14]56 por Juan Nunnes de Toledo e Coria, por fianças. Alçose este enbargo por çedula de Gonçalo de la [ilegible] Otra nota: Tiene alvala del rey para los dar en fiança.) [Pedro son of the alcaide Farax, an elche knight from the house of Granada, has a daily allowance of 20 maravedis, amounting to an annual allowance of 7,200 maravedis, renewed by the king in 1409. (Marginal note, crossed out: Embargoed for the year [14]56 by Juan Nunnes of Toledo and Coria, as guaranteed. This embargo was lifted by order of Gonçalo de la [illegible] Another note: He has the king’s written authorisation to give them as guarantee.)] Librose por carta del rey dada en Palençia, 22 dias de febrero de [14]57 en Alfonso Lopes de Valladolid, recabdador de la quinta parte del alhondiga el anno de [14]56, los dichos 7.000 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Pedro, e gelos dé luego. Levo la carta el mismo, e por el Fernand Alvares de Madrid, por su poder que tiene Ruy Gonçales. 7.000 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Librose entero por çedula de contadores que tiene Ruy Gonçales.) [A payment order of the king issued in Palencia on 22 February 1457 instructed the said 7,000 maravedis to be paid by Alfonso Lopes of Valladolid, tax collector of the fifth part of the alhondiga for the year 1456. And that he take the money to the said Pedro, and give it to him. He took the letter himself, and for him Fernand Alvares of Madrid, on account of the authorisation held by Ruy Gonçales. (Marginal note: The entire payment was made by means of an accountants’ order held by Ruy Gonçales.)] Anno de [14]57. Librose por carta del rey dada en Madrid, 22 dias de febrero, anno de 1458 annos, en Pedro Garsia de Segovia, recabdador de la meytad del arçedianadgo de Madrid, el anno que paso de [14]57, los dichos 7.000. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Pedro, e gelos dé luego. Levo la carta Fernand Alvares. 7.000 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Librose entero por çedula de contadores que tiene Ruy Gonçales.) [A payment order issued in Madrid on 22 February 1458 instructed the said 7,000 to be paid by Pedro Garsia of Segovia, tax collector of half of the taxes of the archdeaconry of Madrid in the past year of 1457. And that he take the

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money to the said Pedro, and give it to him. The letter was taken by Fernand Alvares. (Marginal note: The entire payment was made by means of an accountants’ order held by Ruy Gonçales.)] Anno de [14]58. Librose por carta del rey dada en Madrid, a 16 dias de disiembre, anno de [14]59 annos en Francisco Fernandes de Sevilla, recabdador de los çinco dosavos del almoxarifadgo de Sevilla, el anno que paso de [14]58, 4.800 maravedis, e que recuda con ellos al dicho Pedro Gonçales e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta Alvar Lopes de Luçena. 4.800 maravedis. [A payment order of the king issued in Madrid on 16 December 1459 instructed 4,800 maravedis to be paid by Francisco Fernandes of Seville, tax collector of five-twelfths of the almojarifazgo of Seville in the past year of 1458, and that he take the money to the said Pedro Gonçales and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by Alvar Lopes of Lucena.] 297v

Anno de [14]59. Librose por carta nomina del rey dada en Madrid, a 20 dias de desiembre, anno de [14]59 annos en Ruy Gonçales de Sevilla, recabdador de los dos dosavos del almoxarifadgo de Sevilla, este dicho anno, los dichos 7.200 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Pedro, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador. 7.200 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Entero por çedula de contadores que tiene Pedro de Medina.) [A payment order issued in Madrid on 20 December 1459 instructed the said 7,200 maravedis to be paid by Ruy Gonçales of Seville, tax collector of two-twelfths of the almojarifazgo of Seville, this said year. And that he take the money to the said Pedro, and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by the said tax collector. (Marginal note: Entire [payment made] by means of an accountants’ order held by Pedro de Medina.)] Anno de [14]60. Librose por carta del rey dada en Valladolid, a 20 dias de jullio, anno de 1460 annos en Fernand de las Casas, recabdador de la meytad del partydo de la madera de Sevilla este dicho anno, los dichos 7.200 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Pedro, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta Alvar Lopes. 7.200 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Entero por çedula de contadores.) [A payment order of the king issued in Valladolid on 20 July 1460 instructed the said 7,200 maravedis to be paid by Fernand de las Casas, tax collector of half of the taxes on timber in Seville in this said year. And that he take the money to the said Pedro, and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by Alvar Lopes. (Marginal note: Entire [payment made] by accountants’ order.)]

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documentary appendix Anno de [14]61. Librose por carta nomina del rey en Madrid, a 23 dias de febrero, anno de 1462 annos en Pedro de Çibdad, recabdador de la meytad de las alcavalas e terçias del obispado de Cartajena el anno que paso de [14]61, los dichos 7.200 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Pedro, e gelos dé luego de los maravedis de las fianças. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador, por su poder de fiança. 7.200 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Entero por çedula de contadores que tiene Pedro de Tapya.) [A payment order of the king issued in Madrid on 23 February 1462 instructed the said 7,200 maravedis to be paid by Pedro de Çibdad, tax collector of half of the alcabalas and tercias of the bishopric of Cartagena in the past year of 1461. And that he take the money to the said Pedro, and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by the said tax collector, by virtue of his authorisation. (Marginal note: Entire [payment made] by means of an accountants’ order held by Pedro de Tapya.)] 298r

Anno de [14]62. (Nota al margen: Enbargados por Gomes de Herrera.) [Marginal note: Embargoed by Gomes de Herrera.] Anno de [14]63. Librose por carta del rey dada en la villa de Madrid, 20 de desiembre, anno de [14]63 en Gomes Fernandes de Toledo e Ruy Fernandes de Alcoçer, recabdadores de la mitad del obispado de Plasençia este dicho anno, los dichos 7.200 [maravedis]. E que recuda con ellos al dicho, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta el mismo. 7.200 maravedis. (Nota al margen, tachada: Enbargados por Pero Gonçales de Baamon.)

[A payment order of the king issued in Madrid on 20 December 1463 instructed the said 7,200 maravedis to be paid by Gomes Fernandes of Toledo and Ruy Fernandes of Alcoçer, tax collectors of half of the bishopric of Plasencia this said year. And that he take the money to the said [Pedro], and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. He took the letter himself. (Marginal note, crossed out: Embargoed by Pero Gonçales e Baamon.)]

3 1410, location unknown. 1457, November, 25. Madrid. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 18. Iohan de Cordova, quese solia llamar quando moro Caçia el mayor. Contadores 100 maravedis. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia para su mantenimiento anno de 1410 annos, e dende en adelante en cada anno 12 maravedis, que le montan al anno 4.320 maravedis, e mas para su vestuario cada anno 12 varas de ypre.

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4.320 maravedis. 12 varas ypre. [Iohan de Cordova, who as a Moor used to be known as Caçia the elder. The king ordered him to be paid a daily allowance for his maintenance in 1410, and 12 maravedis from that time on every year, which amounts to 4,320 maravedis per year, as well as 12 varas of Ypres cloth for his clothing every year.] Librose por carta nomina dada en Madrid, 25 dias de noviembre, anno de 1457 annos en Ruy Gonçales de Sevilla, recabdador de los dos dosavos del almoxarifadgo de Sevilla el anno que paso de [14]55, 3.600 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Juan de Cordova, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador. (Nota al margen: Enbargados por Ruy Gonçales de Sevilla, recabdador del seysmo del almoxarifadgo de Sevilla, por fianças. 1280 maravedis.) [A written payment order issued in Madrid on 25 November 1457 instructed 3,600 maravedis to be paid by Ruy Gonçales of Seville, tax collector of two twelfths of the almojarifazgo of Seville the past year of 1455. And that he take the money to the said Juan of Cordova, and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by the said tax collector. (Marginal note: Embargoed by Ruy Gonçales of Seville, tax collector of the sixth of the almojarifazgo of Seville, as guaranteed. 1280 maravedis.)]

4 1410, location unknown. 1458, September, 20. Ubeda. 1458, November, 16. Medina del Campo. 1459, November, 20. Madrid. 1460, June, 28. Valladolid. 1462, February, 15. Madrid. 1463, May, 10. Medina del Campo. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 3, 489 (contemporary numeration: III; alternative numeration: 17). Raçiones moriscas. Anno de 1456. Iohan de Cordova, que se solia llamar quando moro Caçia el mayor. Contadores 100 maravedis. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia para su mantenimiento, anno de 1410 annos, e dende en adelante en cada anno 12 maravedis, que le montan al anno 4.320 maravedis, e mas para su vistuario cada anno 12 varas de ypre. 4.320 maravedis. 12 varas de ypre. [Iohan of Cordoba, who as a Moor used to be known as Caçia the elder. The king ordered him to be paid a daily allowance for his maintenance, in 1410,

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documentary appendix and from that time onwards 12 maravedis, which amounts to 4,320 maravedis per year, as well as 12 varas of Ypres cloth for his clothing every year.] Anno de [14]57. Librose por carta nomina dada en Ubeda, a 20 dias de setiembre, anno de 1458 annos, en Juan Garsia deVilladiego, recabdador de los diesmos e alfolis del reyno de Gallisia, el anno que paso de [14]57, 3.600 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Juan de Cordova, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador e por el Juan de Aguilar. 3.600 maravedis. [A written payment order issued in Ubeda on 20 September 1458 instructed 3,600 maravedis to be paid by Juan Garsia of Villadiego, tax collector of the tithes and alfolis of the kingdom of Galicia in the past year of 1457. And that he take the money to the said Juan of Cordoba, and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by the said recaudador and by Juan de Aguilar.] Anno de [14]58. Librose por carta del rey dada en Medina, 16 dias de noviembre, anno de [14]58 annos en Juan Garsia deVilladiego, recabdador de los diesmos e alfolis del reyno de Gallisia, el dicho anno, los dichos 3.600 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Juan de Cordova, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta Juan de Aguilar por su poder. 3.600 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Enbargados por Juan Garsia de Villadiego, recabdador de los diesmos de Gallisia.) [A payment order of the king issued in Medina on 16 November 1458 instructed the said 3,600 maravedis to be paid by Juan Garsia of Villadiego, tax collector of the tithes and alfolis of the kingdom of Galicia in the said year. And that he take the money to the said Juan de Cordoba, and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by Juan de Aguilar on account of his authorisation. (Marginal note: Embargoed by Juan de Garsia of Villadiego, tax collector of the tithes of Galicia.)] Anno de [14]59. Librose por carta del rey dada en Madrid, a 20 dias de noviembre, anno de [14]59 annos en Juan Garsia deVilladiego, recabdador de los diesmos e alfolis del reyno de Gallisia el dicho anno, 3.600 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Juan de Cordova, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador. 3.600 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Enbargados por Juan Garsia de Villadiego.) [A payment order of the king issued in Madrid on 20 November 1459 instructed 3,600 maravedis to be paid by Juan Garsia of Villadiego, tax collector of the tithes and alfolis of the kingdom of Galicia in the said year. And that he take the money to the said Juan of Cordoba, and pay him the maravedis that

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he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by the said tax collector. (Marginal note: Embargoed by Juan Garsia of Villadiego.)] 489v

Anno de [14]60. Librose por carta nomina del rey dada en Valladolid, a 28 dias de junio, anno de 1460 annos en Juan Garsia de Palençia, recabdador de las dos terçias partes de la çibdad de Toledo e su partydo este dicho anno, 4.320 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Juan de Cordova, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador. 4.320 maravedis. [A payment order of the king issued in Valladolid on 28 June 1460 instructed 4,320 maravedis to be paid by Juan Garsia of Palencia, tax collector of two thirds of he city of Toledo and its taxes this said year. And that he take the money to the said Juan of Cordoba, and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by the said tax collector.] Anno de [14]61. Librose por carta del rey dada en la villa de Madrid, 15 dias de febrero, anno de [14]62 annos en don Yuçaf Bienveniste, recabdador de las alcavalas e terçias del partido del obispado de (tachado: Sal) Cordova, el anno que paso de [14]61 annos, 4.320 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. 4.320 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Enbargados por don Yuçaf Bienveniste, recabdador.) [A payment order of the king issued in Madrid on 15 February 1462 instructed 4,320 maravedis to be paid by don Yuçaf Bienveniste, tax collector of the alcabalas and tercias of the taxes of the bishopric of (crossed out: Sal) Cordoba, in the past year of 1461. And that he take the money to the said [Juan of Cordoba] and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. (Marginal note: Embargoed by don Yuçaf Bienveniste, tax collector.)] Anno de [14]62. Librose por carta del rey dada en la villa de Medina del Campo a bueltas de otras, 10 dias de mayo de [14]63 en Gonçalo Gonçales de Sevilla, recabdador de la ochava parte del almoxarifadgo de Sevilla, el anno de [14]62, 3.600 maravedis. E que gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta Alvar Lopes. 3.600 maravedis. (Nota al margen, tachada: Enbargados por Gonçalo Gonçales de Sevilla, para este anno. Otra nota: Entregado por çedula de contadores.) [A payment order of the king issued in Medina del Campo on 10 May 1463 instructed 3,600 maravedis to be paid by Gonçalo Gonçales of Seville, tax collector of the eighth part of the almojarifazgo of Seville in the year 1462. And that he pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by Alvar Lopes. (Marginal note, crossed out: Embargoed by Gonçalo Gonçales of Seville, for this year.

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documentary appendix Another note: Payment made by accountants’ order.)] Anno de [14]63. (Nota al margen: Enbargados por Pedro Gonçales de Baamon.) [Marginal note: Embargoed by Pedro Gonçales de Baamon.]

5 1413, location unknown. 1456, February, 10. Segovia. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 19. Juan, cavallero morisco. Contadores 100 maravedis. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia para su mantenimiento anno de 1413 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno 10 maravedis que le montan al anno 3.600 maravedis, e mas para su vestuario cada anno 10 varas de ypre. 3.600 maravedis. 10 varas ypre. [Juan, Moorish knight. The king ordered him to be paid a daily allowance for his maintenance in 1413, and from then onwards 10 maravedis a year, amounting to a sum of 3,600 maravedis per year, as well as 10 varas of Ypres cloth per year for his clothing.] Librose por carta del rey dada en Segovia 10 dias de febrero de [14]56 en Fernando Nunnes de Toledo, recabdador de la seysma del partydo del aseyte el anno que paso de [14]57 2.925, E que recuda con ellos al dicho Juan cavallero morisco, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta alvala Lopes de Luçena. 2.925 [maravedis]. [A payment order of the king issued in Segovia on 10 February 1456 instructed 2,925 maravedis to be paid by Fernando Nunnes of Toledo, tax collector of a sixth of the tax on oil in the past year of 1457. And that he take the money to the said Juan the Moorish knight, and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter of authorisation was taken by Lopes de Lucena.]

6 1413, location unknown. 1457, December, 25. Madrid. 1459, November, 20. Madrid. 1460, July, 20. Valladolid. 1462, February, 15. Madrid. 1463, May, 10. Medina del Campo. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 3, 601–602 (contemporary numeration: IIII).

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Raçiones moriscas. Anno de 1456. Juan, cavallero morisco. Contadores 100 maravedis. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia para su mantenimiento, anno de 1413 annos, e dende en adelante en cada anno 10 maravedis que le montan al anno 3.600 maravedis, e mas para su vistuario cada anno 10 varas ypre. 3.600 maravedis. 10 varas ypre. [Juan, Moorish knight. The king ordered payment of a daily allowance for his maintenance in 1413, and from that time onwards 10 maravedis to be paid every year, amounting to 3,600 maravedis a year, as well as 10 varas of Ypres cloth for his clothing every year.] Librose por carta del rey dada en Madrid, 25 dias de disiembre, anno de [14]57 annos, en Alfonso Garsia de Villa Nueva, recabdador de la meytad de las salinas de Atiença, el anno que paso de [14]56 annos, 2.000 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Juan cavallero morisco, e gelos dé luego de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la [carta] Rodrigo del Rio. 2.000 maravedis. [A payment order of the king issued in Madrid on 25 December 1457 instructed 2,000 maravedis to be paid by Alfonso Garsia of Villa Nueva, tax collector of half of the taxes on salt of Atienza in the past year of 1456. And that he take the money to the said Juan the Moorish knight, and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The [letter] was taken by Rodrigo del Rio.] Anno de [14]59. Librose por carta del rey dada en Madrid, a 20 dias de noviembre, anno de [14]59 annos en Juan Garsia deVilladiego, recabdador de los diesmos e alfolis del reyno de Gallisia, este dicho anno, (tachado: Juan morisco e) 2.400 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Juan, morisco, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador. 2.400 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Enbargados por Juan Garsia de Villadiego, recabdador por fianças.) [A payment order of the king issued in Madrid on 20 November 1459 instructed 2,400 maravedis to be paid by Juan Garsia of Villadiego, tax collector of the tithes and alfolis of the kingdom of Galicia this said year (crossed out: Juan Moorish and). And that he take the money to the said Juan, the Moorish [knight], and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by the said tax collector. (Marginal note: Embargoed by Juan Garsia de Villadiego, tax collector, as guaranteed.)] 601v

Anno de [14]60. Librose por carta nomina del rey dada en Valladolid, a 20 dias de jullio, anno

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documentary appendix de 1460 annos en Fernando de Leon, recabdador de la quarta parte del aseyte de Sevilla el dicho anno, los dichos 4.400 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador. 4.400 maravedis. [A payment order of the king issued in Valladolid on 20 July 1460 instructed the said 4,400 maravedis to be paid by Fernando de Leon, tax collector of a quarter of the oil of Seville in the said year. And that he take the money and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by the said tax collector.] Anno de [14]61. Librose por carta del rey dada en la villa de Madrid, 15 dias de febrero, anno de [14]62 annos en don Yuçaf Bienveniste, recabdador de las alcavalas e terçias del obispado de Cordova, el anno que paso de [14]61 annos, los dichos 4.300 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. 4.300 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Enbargados por don Yuçaf Bienveniste, recabdador de Cordova.) [A payment order of the king issued in Madrid on 15 February 1462 instructed the said 4,300 maravedis to be paid by don Yuçaf Bienveniste, tax collector of the alcabalas and tercias of the bishopric of Cordoba in the past year of 1461. And that he take the money to the said [Juan] and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. (Marginal note: Embargoed by don Yuçaf Bienveniste, tax collector of Cordoba.)] Anno de [14]62. Librose por carta del rey dada en la villa de Medina del Campo a bueltas de otras, 10 dias de mayo de [14]63 en Gonçalo Gonçales de Sevilla, recabdador de la ochava parte del almoxarifadgo de Sevilla, el anno de [14]62, 4.560 maravedis. E que gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta Alvar Lopes. 4.560 maravedis. (Nota al margen, tachada: Enbargados por Gonçalo Gonçales de Sevilla. Otra nota: Entregado por çedula de contadores.) [A payment order of the king issued in Medina del Campo on the other side of other letters on 10 May 1463 among others instructed 4,560 maravedis to be paid by Gonçalo Gonçales of Seville, tax collector of the eighth part of the almojarifazgo of Seville in the year 1462. And that he pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by Alvar Lopes. (Marginal note, crossed out: Embargoed by Gonçalo Gonçales of Seville. Another note: Payment made by accountants’ order.)] Anno de [14]63. (Nota al margen: Enbargados por Bartolome de Aguilar.) [Marginal note: Embargoed by Bartolome de Aguilar.]

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602r

Anno de [14]65. (Nota al margen: Enbargados por Gonçalo de Cordova, recabdador del almoxarifadgo de Cordova, el dicho anno por poder de fiança.) [Marginal note: Embargoed by Gonçalo de Cordoba, tax collector of the almojarifazgo of Cordoba in the said year by virtue of his power of proxy.] Anno de [14]66. (Nota al margen: Enbargados por poder de fiança por Sancho Sanches de Cordova, recabdador del almoxarifadgo de Cordova.) [Marginal note: Embargoed by virtue of his power of proxy by Sancho Sanches of Cordoba, tax collector of the almojarifazgo of Cordoba.]

7 1417, location unknown. 1455, November, 20. Ávila R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 18. Juan, fijo del alcayde Aly, que se solia llamar quando moro Fecochon. Contadores 200 maravedis. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia para su mantenimiento anno de 1417 annos, por quanto se torno a nuestra sancta fe los 20 maravedis que del solia tener en raçion cada dia Fernando Alfonso de Carrion ques fynado e se vino a tornar cristiano, que le montan al anno 7.200 maravedis, e mas para su vestuario cada anno dieciseys varas de ypre. 7.200 maravedis. 16 varas de ypre. [Juan, son of the alcaide Aly, who used to be known as Fecochon when he was a Moor. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid for his maintenance in 1417, when he converted to our holy faith, the 20 maravedis previously paid per day to Fernando Alfonso de Carrion who is dead and he came to turn Christian, and this amounts to 7,200 maravedis per year, and in addition 16 varas of Ypres cloth per year for his clothing.] Librose por carta del rey dada en la çibdad de Avila, 20 dias de noviembre anno de 1455 annos en Juan Garsia de Villadiego, recabdador mayor de los diesmos e alfolis del regno de Gallisia este dicho anno 5.653 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Juan fijo del dicho alcayde, e gelos libre sennaladamente en los maravedis de sus fianças donde gelos den e paguen a los plasos del rey. Levo la carta Juan de Aguilar, corredor, por virtud de su poder. 5.653 maravedis. [A payment order of the king issued in the city of Avila on 20 November 1455 instructed 5,653 maravedis to be paid by Juan Garsia of Villadiego, high tax collector of the tithes and alfolis of the kingdom of Galicia this said year. And that he take the money to the said Juan son of the said alcaide, and pay him accordingly the maravedis that he has guaranteed and pay him in accordance with the king’s instructions. The letter was taken by Juan de Aguilar, tax broker, by virtue of his power of proxy.]

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8 1417, location unknown. 1457, November, 25. Madrid. 1458, September, 20. Úbeda. 1458, November, 16. Medina del Campo. 1459, November, 20. Madrid. 1460, July, 20. Valladolid. 1463, May, 25. Medina del Campo. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 3, 603 (contemporary numeration: II; alternative numeration: 16). Raçiones moriscas. Anno de [14]56. Juan, fijo del alcayde Aly, que se solia llamar quando moro Fecochon. Contadores 200 maravedis. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia para su mantenimiento anno de 1417 annos, por quanto se torno a nuestra sancta fe los 20 maravedis que del solia tener en raçion cada dia Fernand Alfonso de Carrion que es fynado e se vino a tornar cristiano, que le montan al anno 7.200 maravedis, e mas para su vistuario cada anno (tachado: 6) 16 varas de ypre. 7.200 maravedis. 16 varas ypre. [Juan, son of the alcaide Aly, who as a Moor used to be known as Fecochon. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid for his maintenance in 1417, when he converted to our holy faith, the 20 maravedis previously paid per day to Fernand Alfonso de Carrion who is dead and he came to turn Christian, and this amounts to 7,200 maravedis per year, and in addition [crossed out: 6] 16 varas of Ypres cloth per year for his clothing.] Librose por carta nomina dada en Madrid, 25 dias de noviembre, anno de 1457 annos, en Ruy Gonçales de Sevilla, recabdador de los dos dosavos del almoxarifadgo de Sevilla, el anno que paso de [14]56, los dichos 6.000 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Juan, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador. 6.000 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Enbargados para el anno de [14]57 por Ruy Gonçales de Sevilla.) [A payment order issued in Madrid on 25 November 1457 instructed the said 6,000 maravedis to be paid by Ruy Gonçales of Seville, tax collector of two twelfths of the almojarifazgo of Seville, in the past year of 1456. And that he take the money to the said Juan, and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by the said tax collector. (Marginal note: Embargoed for the year 1457 by Ruy Gonçales of Seville.)] Anno de [14]57.

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Librose por carta del rey dada en Ubeda, 20 dias de setiembre, anno de 1458 annos, en Juan Garsia de Villadiego, recabdador de los diesmos e alfolis del reyno de Gallisia el anno que paso de [14]57, 5.600 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Juan, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta Juan de Aguilar. 5.600 maravedis. [A payment order issued by the king in Ubeda on 20 September 1458 instructed 5,600 maravedis to be paid by Juan Garsia of Villadiego, tax collector of the tithes and alfolis of the kingdom of Galicia in the past year of 1457. And that he take the money to the said Juan, and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by Juan de Aguilar.] Anno de [14]58. Librose por carta del rey dada en Medina del Campo, a 16 dias de noviembre, anno de 1458 annos, en Juan Garsia deVilladiego, recabdador de los diesmos e alfolis del reyno de Gallisia, el dicho anno, los dichos 5.600 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Juan, e gelos dé luego de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta Juan de Aguilar. 5.600 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Enbargados por Juan Garsia de Villadiego, recabdador de los diesmos de Gallisia.) [A payment order issued by the king in Medina del Campo on 16 November 1458 instructed the said 5,600 maravedis to be paid by Juan Garsia of Villadiego, tax collector of the tithes and alfolis of the kingdom of Galicia, in the said year. And that he take the money to the said Juan, and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by Juan de Aguilar. (Marginal note: Embargoed by Juan Garsia of Villadiego, tax collector of the tithes of Galicia.)] Anno de [14]59. Librose por carta del rey dada en Madrid, a 20 dias de noviembre, anno de [14]59 en Juan Garsia de Villadiego, recabdador de los diesmos e alfolis del reyno de Gallisia, este dicho anno, 6.000 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Juan, e gelos dé luego de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador. 6.000 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Enbargados por Juan Garsia de Villadiego, por fianças.) [A payment order issued by the king in Madrid on 20 November 1459 instructed 6,000 maravedis to be paid by Juan Garsia of Villadiego, tax collector of the tithes and alfolis of the kingdom of Galicia, this said year. And that he take the money to the said Juan, and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by the said tax collector. (Marginal note: Embargoed by Juan Garsia of Villadiego, as guaranteed.)] 603v

Anno de [14]60. Librose por carta nomina del rey dada en Valladolid, a 20 dias de jullio, anno de 1460 annos en Fernando de Leon, recabdador de la quarta parte del aseyte de

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documentary appendix Sevilla el dicho anno, 8.600 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador. 8.600 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Entero por çedula de contadores contada con los moriscos.) [A payment order issued by the king in Valladolid on 20 July 1460 instructed 8,600 maravedis to be paid by Fernando de Leon, tax collector of a quarter of the oil of Seville in the said year. And that he take the money and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by the said tax collector. (Marginal note: Entire [payment made] by means of an accountants’ order arranged with the Moriscos.)] Anno de [14]61. (Nota al margen: Enbargados por Ruy Gonçales de Sevilla, recabdador de la terçia parte del partido de Xeres.) [Marginal note: Embargoed by Ruy Gonçales of Seville, tax collector of a third of the taxes of Jerez.] Anno de [14]62. Librose por carta del rey dada en la villa de Medina del Campo a bueltas de otras, 25 de mayo de [14]63 en Gomes de Herrera, recabdador del partido del alhondiga de Sevilla, el anno de [14]62, 8.600 [maravedis]. E que gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta Alvar Lopes. 8.600 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Enbargados por Gomes de Herrera. Enbargados por Alfonso Cota. Otra nota: Entero por çedula de contadores.) [A payment order issued by the king in Medina del Campo on 25 May 1463 instructed 8,600 maravedis to be paid by Gomes de Herrera, tax collector of the tax of the alhondiga of Seville, in the year of 1462. And that he pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by Alvar Lopes. (Marginal note: Embargoed by Gomes de Herrera. Embargoed by Alfonso Cota. Another note: Entire [payment made] by accountants’ order.)] Anno de [14]63. (Nota al margen: Enbargados por Pedro Gonçales de Baamon.) [Marginal note: Embargoed by Pedro Gonçales de Baamon.]

9 1421, location unknown. 1457, November, 25. Madrid. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 20. Juan de Antequera, que llamavan quando moro Darra Heme. Contadores 100 maravedis. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia para su mantenimiento anno de 1421 annos, e dende en adelante en cada anno, 10 maravedis que le montan al anno

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3.600 maravedis, los quales le puso el rey nuevamente. 3.600 maravedis. [Juan de Antequera, who was known as Darra Heme when he was a Moor. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid for his maintenance in 1421, and from then onwards 10 maravedis every year, which amounts to 3,600 maravedis a year, a payment which the king renewed.] Librose por carta nomina dada en Madrid, 25 dias de noviembre, anno de 1457 annos en Ruy Gonçales de Sevilla, recabdador de los dos dosavos del almoxarifadgo de Sevilla el anno que paso de [14]55, los dichos 3.600 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Juan de Antequera, e gelos dé de los maravedíes de sus fianças. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador. 3.600 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Tyene alvala para los dar en fiança. Enbargados por Ruy Gonçales de Sevilla, recabdador del seysmo del almoxarifadgo de Sevilla por fianças. 3.600 maravedis. Tachado: Enbargados para el anno de [14]56 por Fernando Fernandez, recabdador de los cinco dosavos del almoxarifadgo de Sevilla por fianças.) [A payment order issued in Madrid on 25 November 1457 instructed the said 3,600 maravedis to be paid by Ruy Gonçales of Seville, tax collector of two twelfths of the almojarifazgo of Seville in the past year of 1455. And that he take the money to the said Juan de Antequera and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by the said tax collector. (Marginal note: He has the king’s authorisation to give them as guarantee. Embargoed by Ruy Gonçales of Seville, tax collector of the sixth of the almojarifazgo of Seville as guaranteed. 3,600 maravedis. Crossed out: Embargoed for the year 1456 by Fernando Fernandez, tax collector of five twelfths of the almojarifazgo of Seville as guaranteed.)]

10 1421, location unknown. 1457, February, 10. Palencia. 1458, December, 20. Medina del Campo. 1459, August, 18. Arévalo. 1459, August, 25. Arévalo. 1460, June, 28. Valladolid. 1462, February, 15. Madrid. 1463, May, 10. Medina del Campo. 1463, December, 10. Madrid. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 3, 449 r-v (contemporary numeration: VI; alternative numeration: 204). Raçiones moriscas. Anno de 1456. Juan de Antequera, que llamavan quando moro Darra Hene.

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documentary appendix Contadores 100 maravedis. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia para su mantenimiento anno de 1421 annos, e dende en adelante en cada anno, 10 maravedis que le (repetido: mo) montan al anno 3.600 maravedis, los quales le puso el rey nuevamente. 3.600 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Tyene alvala para los dar en fiança) [Juan de Antequera, who was known as Darra Heme when he was a Moor. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid for his maintenance in 1421, and from then onwards 10 maravedis every year, which amounts to 3,600 maravedis a year, a payment which the king renewed. (Marginal note: He has the king’s authorisation to give them as guarantee.)] Librose por carta del rey dada en Palençia, 10 dias de febrero de [14]57 en Francisco Fernandes de Sevilla, recabdador de los çinco dosavos del almoxarifadgo de Sevilla, el anno que paso de [14]56 annos, los dichos 3.600 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Juan de Antequera e gelos de luego de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta Alvar Lopes de Luçena. 3.600 maravedis. (Tachado: Embargados por Francisco Fernandes de Sevilla, recabdador de los 5 dosavos del almoxarifadgo de Sevilla por fianças. [14]61.) (Nota al margen: Embargados por Ruy Gonçales de Sevilla para el anno de [14]57.) [A payment order issued by the king in Palencia on 10 February 1457 instructed the said 3,600 maravedis to be paid by Francisco Fernandes of Seville, tax collector of five twelfths of the almojarifazgo of Seville in the past year of 1456. And that he take the money to the said Juan de Antequera and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by Alvar Lopes de Lucena. (Crossed out: Embargoed by Francisco Fernandes of Seville, tax collector of five twelfths of the almojarifazgo of Seville as guaranteed. 1461.) (Marginal note: Embargoed by Ruy Gonçales of Seville for the year 1457.)] Anno de [14]57. Librose por carta nomina dada en Medina del Campo, a 20 dias de disiembre, anno de [14]58 en Ruy Gonçales de Sevilla, recabdador de la seysma parte del almoxarifadgo de Sevilla, el anno de [14]57, los dichos 3.600 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Juan de Antequera e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador. 3.600 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Entero por çedula de contadores.) [A payment order issued in Medina del Campo on 20 December 1458 instructed the said 3,600 maravedis to be paid by Ruy Gonçales of Seville, tax collector of a sixth of the almojarifazgo of Seville in the year 1457. And that he take the money to the said Juan de Antequera and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by the said tax collector. (Marginal note: Entire [payment made] by accountants’ order.)]

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Anno de [14]58. Librose por carta del rey dada en la villa de Arevalo, 18 dias de agosto de [14]59 annos en Ruy Gonçales de Sevilla, recabdador de la quarta parte del aseyte de Sevilla, el dicho anno de [14]58 annos, los dichos 3.600 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador. 3.600 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Entero por çedula de contadores.) [A payment order of the king issued in Arevalo on 18 August 1459 instructed the said 3,600 maravedis to be paid by Ruy Gonçales of Seville, tax collector of a quarter of the oil of Seville in the said year of 1458. And that he take the money to the said [Juan de Antequera] and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by the said tax collector. (Marginal note: Entire [payment made] by accountants’ order.)] Anno de [14]59. Librose por carta del rey dada en Arevalo, a 25 dias de agosto, anno de [14]59 annos en Juan Garsia de Palençia, de las dos terçias partes de la çibdad de Toledo e su partydo, e Ruy Gonçales de Saias, recabdador de la otra terçia parte este dicho anno (tachado: 4.800 maravedis, 3.000), 2.400 maravedis a bueltas de la raçion de su fijo. E que le recuda con ellos, e gelos dé por terçios. Levo la carta Juan Sanches [Ma . . . syno]. 2.400 maravedis. [A payment order issued in Arevalo on 25 August 1459 instructed the payment of 2,400 maravedis as well as the allowance corresponding to his son to be paid by Juan Garsia of Palencia, tax collector of two-thirds of the city of Toledo and its taxes, and Ruy Gonçales de Saias, tax collector of the other third this said year [crossed out: 4,800 maravedis, 3,000]. And that he take the money and pay him in thirds. The letter was taken by Juan Sanches [Ma…syno]. 2,400 maravedis.] 449v

Anno de [14]60. Librose por carta nomina del rey dada en Valladolid, a 28 dias de junio, anno de 1460 annos en Juan Garsia de Palençia, recabdador de las dos terçias partes del partydo de Toledo este dicho anno, 3.600 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Juan de Antequera, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador. 3.600 maravedis. [A payment order of the king issued in Valladolid on 28 June 1460 instructed 3,600 maravedis to be paid by Juan Garsia of Palencia, tax collector of twothirds of the taxes of Toledo this said year. And that he take the money to the said Juan de Antequera and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by the said tax collector.] Anno de [14]61. Librose por carta del rey dada en la villa de Madrid, 15 dias de febrero, anno de 1462 annos en don Yuçaf Benveniste, recabdador del partydo del obispado de Cordova, el anno que paso de [14]61 annos los dichos 3.600 maravedis. E

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documentary appendix que recuda con ellos al dicho, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador. 3.600 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Enbargados por don Yuçaf Benveniste, recabdador de Cordova.) [A payment order of the king issued in Madrid on 15 February 1462 instructed the said 3,600 maravedis to be paid by don Yuçaf Bienveniste, tax collector of the taxes of the bishopric of Cordoba in the past year of 1461. And that he take the money to the said [Juan de Antequera] and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by the said tax collector.] (Marginal note: Embargoed by don Yuçaf Bienveniste, tax collector of Cordoba.)] Anno de [14]62. Librose por carta del rey dada en la villa de Medina del Campo a bueltas de otras, a 10 dias de mayo de [14]63 en Gonçalo Gonçales de Sevilla, recabdador de la ochava parte del almoxarifadgo de Sevilla, el anno de [14]62, 3.600 maravedis. E que gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta Alvaro Lopes. 3.600 maravedis. (Nota al margen, tachada: Enbargados por Gonçalo Gonçales de Sevilla. Otra nota: Entregado por çedula de contadores.) [A payment order of the king issued in Medina del Campo among others on 10 May 1463 instructed 3,600 maravedis to be paid by Gonçalo Gonçales of Seville, tax collector of the eighth of the almojarifazgo of Seville in the year 1462. And that he pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by Alvaro Lopes. (Marginal note, crossed out: Embargoed by Gonçalo Gonçales of Seville. Another note: Payment made by accountant’s order.)] Anno de [14]63. Librose por carta del rey dada en Madrid, 10 de disiembre de 1463 en el ques o fuere recabdador del partydo de Toledo, este dicho anno los dichos 3.600 maravedis. E que le recuda con ellos, e gelos libre en sus fianças. Levo la carta Juan de Tarifa. 3.600 maravedis. (Nota al margen, tachada: Enbargados por Pero Gonçales de Baamon.) [A payment order of the king issued in Madrid on 10 December 1463 instructed the said 3,600 maravedis to be paid by whoever is or might be tax collector of the taxes of Toledo for this said year. And that he take the money and pay him the money that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by Juan de Tarifa. (Marginal note, crossed out: Embargoed by Pero Gonçales de Baamon.)] Anno de [14]64. (Nota al margen: Enbargados por Gonçalo Rodrigues de Baeça.) [Marginal note: Embargoed by Gonçalo Rodrigues of Baeza.]

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11 1424, location unknown. 1457, November, 25. Madrid R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 26. Pero Fernandes de Xeres, que llamavan quando moro Yçami de Granada. Contadores 100 maravedis. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala anno de 1424 annos, e dende en adelante en cada anno los 10 maravedíes que del tenia en raçion cada dia e las 12 varas de ypre que del tenia en cada anno para su vistuario Fernando Gutierres de Carrión, cavallero morisco, ques fynado, que le montan al anno 3.600 maravedis, e mas las dichas 12 varas de ypre. 3.600 maravedis. 12 varas ypre. [Pero Fernandes of Jerez, who was called Yçami of Granada when he was a Moor. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him in 1421, and from then onwards every year the 10 maravedis paid every day and the 12 varas of Ypres cloth every year for his clothing corresponding to Fernando Gutierres of Carrión, the Moorish knight who is now dead, which amounts to 3,600 maravedis a year as well as the said 12 varas of Ypres cloth.] Librose por carta del rey dada en Madrid, 25 dias de noviembre, anno de 1457 annos en Ruy Gonçales de Sevilla, recabdador de la seysma parte del partydo del aseyte de Sevilla, el anno que paso de [14]55, los dichos 3.600 maravedis de raçion e vistuario. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Pero Fernandes, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador. 3.600 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Tyene alvala para los dar en fiança.) [A payment order of the king issued in Madrid on 25 November 1457 instructed the said 3,600 maravedis of allowance and clothing to be paid by Ruy Gonçales of Seville, tax collector of the sixth part of the taxes on oil in Seville in the past year of 1455. And that he take the money to the said Pero Fernandes and pay him the money that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by the said tax collector. (Marginal note: He has written authorisation to give them as guarantee.)]

12 1431, location unknown. 1455, November, 20. Ávila R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 17. Raçiones moriscas. Fernando de Tarifa que fue elche e se vino del regno de Granada a reconçiliar con nuestra sancta fe. Contadores 100 maravedis.

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documentary appendix Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia 12 maravedis por su alvala firmado de su nombre el anno que paso de 1431 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno, e mas para su vistuario cada anno 10 varas de ypre que montan 4.320 maravedis e mas las dichas 10 varas de ypre. 4.320 maravedis. 10 varas ypre. [Fernando de Tarifa who was an elche and who came from the kingdom of Granada to be reconciled to our holy faith. The king ordered a daily allowance of 12 maravedis to be paid to him by his signed authorisation in the past year of 1431, and from then onwards every year, and in addition 10 varas of Ypres cloth for his clothing every year, which amounts to 4,320 maravedis as well as the said 10 varas of Ypres cloth.] Librose por carta del rey dada en la çibdad de Avila a 20 dias de noviembre, anno de 1455 annos en Alfonso Garsia de Madrid, recabdador mayor de la mitad de los diesmos e alfolis de Gallisia este dicho anno 3.413 maravedis y 2 reales. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Fernando de Tarifa, e gelos libre sennaladamente en los maravedis de sus fianças que ha de dar en el dicho su recabdamiento. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador por virtud de su poder, e por el Juan de Aguilar, corredor. 3.413 maravedis (tachado: maravedis) (a la izquierda, tachado: contadores 33 maravedis, 2 dineros.) [A payment order of the king issued in the city of Avila on 20 November 1455 instructed 3,413 maravedis and 2 reales to be paid by Alfonso Garsia of Madrid, high tax collector of half of the tithes and alfolis of Galicia this said year. And that he take the money to the said Fernando de Tarifa and pay him aptly the money that he has guaranteed which he is to pay to the said [Fernando de Tarifa]. The letter was taken by the said tax collector by virtue of his authorisation and by Juan de Aguilar, tax broker. (On the left, crossed out: accountants 33 maravedis, 2 dineros.)]

13 1431, location unknown. 1457, November, 25. Madrid. 1458, December, 20. Medina del Campo. 1458, no date, Medina del Campo. 1459, November, 20. Madrid. 1460, June, 28. Valladolid. 1463, July, 30. Medina del Campo. 1462–66, no date, location unknown. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 3, 157r–158r (other alternative numeration: 45). Raçiones moriscas. Anno de [14]56 Fernando de Tarifa que fue elche e se vino del reyno de Granada a reconçiliar con nuestra sancta fe.

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Contadores 100 maravedis. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia 12 maravedis por su alvala firmado de su nombre el anno que paso de 1431 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno, e mas su vistuario cada anno 10 varas de ypre que monta 4.320 maravedis e mas las dichas 10 varas de ypre. 4.320 maravedis. 10 varas de ypre. [Fernando de Tarifa who was an elche and came from the kingdom of Granada to be reconciled to our holy faith. The king ordered a daily allowance of 12 maravedis to be paid to him by his written authorisation signed in the past year of 1431, and from then onwards every year, and in addition 10 varas of Ypres cloth for his clothing every year, which amounts to 4,320 maravedis as well as the said 10 varas of Ypres cloth.] Librose por carta nomina dada en Madrid, 25 dias de noviembre, anno de 1457 annos en Ruy Gonçales de Sevilla, recabdador de los dos dosavos del almoxarifadgo el anno que paso de [14]56 los dichos 3.600 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Fernando, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador. 3.600 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Enbargados por Ruy Gonçales de Sevilla para el anno de [14]57.) [A payment order issued in Madrid on 25 November 1457 instructed the said 3,600 maravedis to be paid by Ruy Gonçales of Seville, tax collector of twotwelfths of the almojarifazgo in the past year of 1456. And that he take the money to the said Fernando and pay him the money that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by the said tax collector. (Marginal note: Embargoed by Ruy Gonçales of Seville for the year 1457.)] /157v Anno de [14]57. Librose por carta nomina dada en Medina del Campo, a 20 dias de disiembre, anno de 1458 annos en Ruy Gonçales de Sevilla, recabdador de la seysma parte del almoxarifadgo de Sevilla el anno que paso de [14]58, 5.040 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Fernando de Tarifa, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador. 5.040 maravedis. [A payment order issued in Medina del Campo on 20 December 1458 instructed 5,040 maravedis to be paid by Ruy Gonçales of Seville, tax collector of a sixth of the almojarifazgo in the past year of 1458. And that he take the money to the said Fernando de Tarifa and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by the said tax collector.] Anno de [14]58. Librose por carta del rey dada en Medina del Campo, [laguna] anno de 1458 annos, en Juan Garsia de Villadiego, recabdador de los diesmos e alfolis del reyno de Gallisia el dicho anno 3.400 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al

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documentary appendix dicho Fernando, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta Juan de Aguilar. 3.400 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Enbargados por Juan Garsia de Villadiego, recabdador de los diesmos de Gallisia.) [A payment order issued by the king in Medina del Campo [lacuna] year of 1458 instructed 3,400 maravedis to be paid by Juan Garsia of Villadiego, tax collector of the tithes and alfolis of the kingdom of Galicia in the said year. And that he take the money to the said Fernando and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by Juan de Aguilar. (Marginal note: Embargoed by Juan Garsia of Villadiego, tax collector of the tithes of Galicia.)] Anno de [14]59. Librose por carta del rey dada en Madrid, a 20 dias de noviembre, anno de 1459 annos, en Juan Garsia de Villadiego, recabdador de los diesmos e alfolis del reyno de Gallisia este dicho anno, 3.600 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Fernando, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador. 3.600 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Enbargados por Juan Garsia de Villadiego, por fianças.) [A payment order issued by the king in Madrid on 20 November 1459 instructed 3,600 maravedis to be paid by Juan Garsia of Villadiego, tax collector of the tithes and alfolis of the kingdom of Galicia this said year. And that he take the money to the said Fernando and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by the said tax collector. (Marginal note: Embargoed by Juan Garsia of Villadiego, as guaranteed.)] Anno de [14]60. Librose por carta nomina del rey dada en Valladolid, a 28 dias de junio, anno de 1460 annos, en Juan Garsia de Palençia, recabdador de las dos terçias partes de la çibdad de Toledo e su partydo este dicho anno, 3.600 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador. 3.600 maravedis. [A payment order issued by the king in Valladolid on 28 June 1460 instructed 3,600 maravedis to be paid by Juan Garsia of Palencia, tax collector of twothirds of the city of Toledo and its taxes this said year. And that he take the money and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by the said tax collector.] Anno de [14]61. Librose por carta del rey dada en la villa de Medina del Campo, 30 de jullio de [14]63 annos, en Gonçalo Gonçales de Xeres, recabdador del partydo del aseyte de Sevilla el dicho anno de [14]61 los dichos 5.120 [maravedis]. E que recuda con ellos al dicho, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta Fernando de Cordova.

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5.120 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Enbargados por Gonçalo Gonçales de Xeres, recabdador.) [A payment order issued by the king in Medina del Campo on 30 July 1463 instructed the said 5,120 maravedis to be paid by Gonçalo Gonçales of Jerez, tax collector of the tax on oil in Seville the said year of 1461. And that he take the money to the said [Fernando] and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by Fernando de Cordoba. (Marginal note: Embargoed by Gonçalo Gonçales of Jerez, tax collector.)] /158r Anno de [14]62. (Nota al margen: Enbargados por Juan Garsia de Palençia, recabdador del partydo de Toledo.) [Marginal note: Embargoed by Juan Garsia of Palencia, tax collector of the taxes of Toledo.] Anno de [14]63. (Nota al margen, tachada: Enbargados por Pedro Gonçales de Baamon. Sin tachar: Enbargados por Gonçalo Rodrigues del Rio.) [Marginal note, crossed out: Embargoed by Pedro Gonçales de Baamon. Not crossed out: Embargoed by Gonçalo Rodrigues del Rio.] Anno de [14]64. (Nota al margen: Enbargados por Ruy Gonçales de Sevilla, recabdador del rey.) [Marginal note: Embargoed by Ruy Gonçales of Seville, tax collector of the king.] Anno de [14]65. [En blanco.] [No entry.] Anno de [14]66. (Nota al margen: Enbargados por Gonçalo de Cordova, recabdador del almoxarifadgo de Cordova, por fianças.) [Marginal note: Embargoed by Gonçalo de Cordoba, tax collector of the almojarifazgo of Cordoba, as guaranteed.]

14 1431, location unknown. 1457, December, 20. Madrid. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 23. Anno de [14]55. Ramiro de Avila ahijado del rey nuestro señor es (sic) fijo de Juan Fernándes. Quitaciones, 200 maravedis. Mandole el rey librar, anno de 1431 annos por su alvala los 12 maravedis que del tenia en raçion cada dia e las 12 varas de çestre que del tenia en cada anno

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documentary appendix para su vistuario Pedro de Alcala, cavallero morisco, por quanto gelos renuncio, que le montan al anno 4.320 maravedis, e las dichas 12 varas de çestre. 4.320 [maravedis]. 12 varas çestre. [Ramiro de Avila godson of the king our lord is [sic] son of Juan Fernándes. The king ordered in 1431 a daily allowance of 12 maravedis to be paid to him by his written authorisation, as well as 12 varas of cloth which Pedro de Alcala, Moorish knight, had every year for his clothing, and which he renounced, and which amounts to 4,320 maravedis per year as well as the said 12 varas of cloth.] Librose por carta del rey dada en Madrid, 20 dias de disiembre, anno de 1457 annos en don Frayme Abenxuxen, recabdador de las alcabalas de la çibdad de Toledo e su partydo el anno que paso de [14]55 los dichos 4.220 maravedis e mas 960 maravedis que son todos 5.280 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Ramiro, e gelos de luego de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta Juan Fernandes de Aguilar su padre. 5.280 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Enbargados por serviçio e montadgo.) [A payment order issued by the king in Madrid on 20 December 1457 instructed the said 4,220 maravedis plus another 960 maravedis which is a total of 5,280 maravedis to be paid by don Frayme Abenxuxen, tax collector of the alcabalas of the city of Toledo and its taxes in the past year. And that he take the money to the said Ramiro and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by Juan Fernandes de Aguilar his father. (Marginal note: Embargoed by servicio y montazgo.)]

15 1431, location unknown. 1457, December, 6. Segovia. 1459, May, 5. Segovia. 1463, May, 10. Medina del Campo. 1463, December, 20. Madrid. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 4, 516rv (alternative numeration: 208). Raçiones moriscas. Anno de 1456. Ruy Dias de Berryo, que se vino del reyno de Granada. Contadores 100 maravedis. Mandole el rey librar en raçion por su alvala firmado de su nombre el anno que pasado (sic) de 1431 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno 12 maravedis, que le montan al anno 4.320 maravedis e mas para su vistuario 10 varas de ypre. 4.320 maravedis. 10 varas ypre. (Nota al margen, tachada: Enbargados por Juan Rodrigues de Toledo, recabdador de Coria e Caçeres, por fianças.)

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[Ruy Dias de Berryo, who came from the kingdom of Granada. The king ordered by his written and signed authorisation a daily allowance to be paid to him in the past year of 1431 [sic], and from then onwards 12 maravedis every year, which amounts to 4,320 maravedis per year as well as 10 varas of Ypres cloth.] Librose por carta nomina dada en Segovia, 6 dias de disiembre, anno de [14]57 annos, en Juan Rodrigues de Toledo, recabdador del obispado e sedes de Coria e Caçeres, el anno que paso de [14]56 los dichos 5.120 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Ruy Dias, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador. 5.120 maravedis. [A payment order issued in Segovia on 6 December 1457 instructed the said 5,120 maravedis to be paid by Juan Rodrigues of Toledo, tax collector of the bishopric and sees of Coria and Caceres in the past year of 1456. And that he take the money to the said Ruy Dias and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by the said tax collector.] Anno de [14]58. Librose por carta del rey dada en Segovia, 5 dias de mayo, anno de [14]59 annos en Juan Rodrigues de Toledo, recabdador del obispado e sedes de Coria e Caçeres, el anno que paso de [14]58 los dichos 3.420 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Ruy Dias, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador. 3.420 maravedis. [A payment order issued by the king in Segovia on 5 May 1459 instructed the said 3,420 maravedis to be paid by Juan Rodrigues of Toledo, tax collector of the bishopric and sees of Coria and Caceres in the past year of 1458. And that he take the money to the said Ruy Dias and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by the said tax collector.] 516v

Anno de [14]62. Librose por carta del rey dada en Medina del Campo a bueltas de otras, 10 dias de mayo de [14]63 en Fernand Nunnes de Toledo, recabdador de la terçia parte del partido de Xeres de la Frontera, anno de [14]62, los dichos 5.120 maravedis, e que gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta Alvar Lopes. 5.120 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Enbargados por Fernand Nunnes de Toledo, recabdador de la terçia parte del partido de Xeres. Entero por çedula de contadores.) [A payment order issued by the king in Medina del Campo among others on 10 May 1463 instructed the said 5,120 maravedis to be paid by Fernand Nunnes of Toledo, tax collector of the third of the taxes of Jerez de la Frontera in the year 1462, and that he pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by Alvar Lopes.

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documentary appendix (Marginal note: Embargoed by Fernand Nunnes of Toledo, tax collector of the third of the taxes of Jerez. Entire [payment made] by accountants’ order.] Anno de [14]63. Librose por carta del rey dada en la villa de Madrid, 20 de desiembre de [14]63 annos en Garsia Sanches de Çibdad, recabdador de los dos terçios del almoxarifadgo de Cordova este dicho anno, los dichos 5.120 [maravedis]. E que recuda con ellos al dicho, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta Juan de Villa Real. 5.120 [maravedis]. (Nota al margen: Entero por çedula de contadores.) [A payment order issued by the king in Madrid on 20 December 1463 instructed the said 5,120 maravedis to be paid by Garsia Sanches of Çibdad, tax collector of two thirds of the almojarifazgo of Cordoba this said year. And that he take the money to him and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by Juan de Villa Real. (Marginal note: Entire [payment made] by accountants’ order.]

16 1432, location unknown. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 20. Gonçalo Ruys de Castellar que fue moro e se torno cristiano. Contadores 200 maravedis. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala firmado de su nombre anno de 1432 annos los 12 maravedis que del solia tener en raçion cada dia Gomes Suares el moço, e mas (repetido: e mas) 12 varas de ypre que tenia para su vistuario, por quanto es finado. E el dicho Gonçalo Ruys seyendo moro se vino a tornar cristiano, que le montan al anno 4.320 maravedis, e las dichas 12 varas de panno de ypre. 4.300 maravedis. 12 varas ypre. [Gonçalo Ruys de Castellar who was a Moor and turned Christian. The king ordered by his written and signed authorisation a daily allowance to be paid to him in 1432 of the 12 maravedis previously given as a daily allowance to Gomes Suares, and in addition 12 varas of Ypres cloth which he had for his clothing, because he is dead. And the said Gonçalo Ruys being a Moor came to turn Christian, and this amounts to 4,320 maravedis a year, as well as the said 12 varas of Ypres cloth.]

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17 1432, location unknown. 1457, November, 25. Madrid. 1458, May, 15. Medina del Campo. 1459, July, 10. Arévalo. 1459, November, 20. Madrid. 1460, June, 28. Valladolid. 1462, February, 20. Madrid. 1463, December, 25. Madrid. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 3, 390r–v (contemporary numeration: VII; alternative numeration: 205). Raçiones moriscas. Anno de 1456. Gonçalo Ruys de Castellar que fue moro e se torno cristiano. Contadores 200 maravedis. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala firmado de su nombre anno de 1432 annos los 12 maravedis que del solia tener en raçion cada dia Gomes Suares el moço, e mas 12 varas de ypre que tenia para su vistuario, por quanto es finado. E el dicho Gonçalo Ruys seyendo moro se vyno a tornar cristiano, que le montan al anno 4.320 maravedis, e las dichas 12 varas de ypre. 4.320 maravedis. 12 varas ypre. [Gonçalo Ruys de Castellar who was a Moor and turned Christian. The king ordered by his written and signed authorisation a daily allowance to be paid to him in 1432 of the 12 maravedis previously given as a daily allowance to Gomes Suares, and in addition 12 varas of Ypres cloth which he had for his clothing, because he is dead. And the said Gonçalo Ruys being a Moor came to turn Christian, and this amounts to 4,320 maravedis a year, as well as the said 12 varas of Ypres cloth.] Librose por carta nomina dada en Madrid, 25 dias de noviembre, anno de 1457 annos en Juan (sic) Gonçales de Sevilla, recabdador de los dos dosavos del almoxarifadgo de Sevilla, el anno que paso de [14]56, los dichos 5.040 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Gonçalo Ruys, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador. 5.040 maravedis. [A payment order issued in Madrid on 25 November 1457 instructed the said 5,040 maravedis to be paid by Juan (sic) Gonçales of Seville, tax collector of two twelfths of the almojarifazgo of Seville in the past year of 1456. And that he take the money to the said Gonçalo Ruys, and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by the said tax collector.] Anno de 1457. Librose por carta del rey dada en Medina del Campo, 15 dias de mayo, anno

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documentary appendix de 1458 annos en Ruy Gonçales de Sevilla, recabdador de los dos dosavos del almoxarifadgo e rentas menores de Sevilla, el anno que paso de [14]57 annos, 3.520 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Gonçalo, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador. 3.520 maravedis. [A payment order issued by the king in Medina del Campo on 15 May 1458 instructed 3,520 maravedis to be paid by Ruy Gonçales of Seville, tax collector of two twelfths of the almojarifazgo and minor incomes of Seville in the past year of 1457. And that he take the money to the said Gonçalo, and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by the said tax collector.] Anno de [14]58. Librose por carta del rey dada en Arévalo, 10 dias de jullio, anno de [14]59 annos en Ruy Gonçales de Sevilla, recabdador de la seysma parte del aseyte de (repetido: de) Sevilla, el anno que paso de [14]58 annos, 3.520 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Gonçalo, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador. 3.120 (sic) maravedis. [A payment order issued by the king in Arévalo on 10 July 1459 instructed 3,520 maravedis to be paid by Ruy Gonçales of Seville, tax collector of a sixth of the oil of Seville in the past year of 1458. And that he take the money to the said Gonçalo, and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by the said tax collector.] Anno de [14]59. Librose por carta del rey dada en Madrid, a 20 dias de noviembre, anno de 1459 annos en Juan Garsia de Villadiego, recabdador de los diesmos e alfolis del reyno de Gallisia el dicho anno, 5.040 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador. 5.040 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Enbargados por Juan Garsia de Villadiego por fianças.) [A payment order issued by the king in Madrid on 20 November 1459 instructed 5,040 maravedis to be paid by Juan Garsia of Villadiego, tax collector of the tithes and alfolis of the kingdom of Galicia in the said year. And that he take the money, and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by the said tax collector.] 390v

Anno de [14]60. Librose por carta del rey dada en Valladolid, a 28 dias de (tachado:jull) junio, anno de 1460 annos en Juan Gutierres de Palençia, recabdador de las dos terçias partes de la çibdad de Toledo e su partydo, este dicho anno, 3.600 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Gonçalo Ruys, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador. 3.600 maravedies.

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[A payment order issued by the king in Valladolid on 28 [crossed out: July] June 1460 instructed 3,600 maravedis to be paid by Juan Gutierres of Palencia, tax collector of two thirds of the city of Toledo and its taxes in this said year. And that he take the money to the said Gonçalo Ruys, and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by the said tax collector.] Anno de [14]61. Librose por carta del rey dada en la villa de Madrid, 20 de febrero de [14]62 annos en Fernand Sanches de Segovia, recabdador de las alcavalas e terçias del obispado de Segovia el dicho anno de [14]61 annos, los dichos 5.280 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta Rodrigo del Río. 5.280 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Enbargado por Gonçalo Rodrigues del Rio por sus fianças este anno de [14]61. Entregado por çedula de contadores.) [A payment order issued by the king in Madrid on 20 February 1462 instructed the said 5,280 maravedis to be paid by Fernand Sanches of Segovia, tax collector of the alcabalas and tercias of the bishopric of Segovia in the said year of 1461. And that he take the money to the said [Gonçalo Ruys], and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by Rodrigo del Río. (Marginal note: Embargoed by Gonçalo Rodrigues del Rio as guaranteed this year of 1461. Payment made by accountants’ order.)] Anno de [14]62. Librose por carta del rey dada a buelta de otras en la villa de Madrid, 25 dias de diciembre de [14]63 annos en Ruy Gonçales de Sevilla, recabdador de la quarta parte del partido del aseyte de Sevilla, el anno de [14]62, 3.500 [maravedis]. E que gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta Alvaro Lopes. 3.500 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Enbargados por Ruy Gonçales de Sevilla. Enbargados por Alfonso Cota. Entregado por çedula de contadores.) [A payment order issued by the king in Madrid on 25 December 1463 instructed the said 3,500 maravedis to be paid by Ruy Gonçales of Seville, tax collector of a quarter of the tax on oil in Seville in 1462. And that he pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by Alvaro Lopes. (Marginal note: Embargoed by Ruy Gonçales of Seville. Embargoed by Alfonso Cota. Payment made by accountants’ order.)] Anno de [14]63. (Nota al margen: Enbargados por Gonçalo Gonçales de Sevilla en fianças.) [Marginal note: Embargoed by Gonçalo Gonçales of Seville as guaranteed.]

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18 1430, location unknown. 1432, location unknown. 1434, no date, Sevilla. 1459, January, 3. Medina del Campo. (two letters) 1460, November, 15. Location unknown. 1460, December, 5. Valladolid. (two letters) R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 3, 393r–v (contemporary numeration: XI; alternative numeration: 302). Ed. A. Echevarria, “Conversión y ascenso social en la Castilla del siglo XV: los casos de Farax de Belvis y García Ramírez de Jaén”, ASIM VIII, Teruel, 2002, pp. 562–563. Raçiones moriscas. Anno de 1456. (Tachado: Gonçalo Sanches, vesino de Llerena, cavallero morisco. Finado. Contadores 200 maravedis. Mandole el rey librar por su alvala firmado de su nombre anno de 1432 annos los 15 maravedis que Diego Alfonso de Sancta Maria de Guadalupe tenia para su mantenimiento, e las 15 varas de çestre que tenia cada anno para su vistuario, por quanto el dicho Diego Alfonso gelos renunçio, los quales fueron puestos anno de 1430 annos en los moriscos e se mudaron en el arçobispado de Sevilla, anno de 1434 annos, que le montan al anno 5.400 maravedis, e las dichas 15 varas de çestre. 5.400 maravedis. 15 varas çestre.) [(Crossed out: Gonçalo Sanches, inhabitant of Llerena, Moorish knight. Dead. The king ordered by his written and signed authorisation that the 15 maravedis which Diego Alfonso de Sancta Maria de Guadalupe had for his allowance, and the 15 varas of cloth which he had every year for his clothing, and because the said Diego Alfonso renounced the allowance, be paid in 1430 by the Moriscos and be removed to the archbishopric of Seville in 1434, which amounts to 5,400 maravedis a year, and the 15 varas of cloth.)] (Nota al margen: Tiene alvala para los dar en fianças. Enbargados por serviçio e medio serviçio. Fiso el rey merçed destos maravedis por su alvala firmado de su nombre fecho a 15 dias de noviembre, anno de 1460 annos que tiene Pedro de Medina a Alfonso Veles fijo de Garsia Ramires de Jahen por fin e muerte del dicho Gonçalo Sanches de segund que mas largo se contiene el el traslado del dicho alvala de que esta su traslado junto con este pliego.1

1

See document 107.

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Despues de lo qual por parte del dicho Alfonso Veles fue mostrada una renunçaçion del dicho Alfonso Sanches del Herena fyrmada de su nombre e sygnada de escrivano publico e sennalada de los contadores mayores del dicho sennor rey por la qual se contiene quel dicho Gonçalo Sanches renunçio esta raçion en el dicho Alfonso Veles por cargos que del tenya por que despues que asy asentada por vacuaçion se fallo ser byvo e el de su propia volundat gela renunçio e traspaso segund que mas largamente se contiene en la dicha renunçaçion de que esta su traslado en el libro de los traslados.) (Marginal note: He has the king’s written authorisation to give them as guarantee. Embargoed by servicio and medio servicio. The king granted these maravedis by means of his written authorisation signed in his name on 15 November 1460, held by Pedro de Medina, to Alfonso Veles son of Garsia Ramires of Jaén due to the death of the said Gonçalo Sanches in accordance with the longer acount of the transferral of the said authorisation which can be found together with this sheet. After which, the said Alfonso Veles presented a signed renunciation by the said Alfonso Sanches of Llerena, signed also by the notary public and confirmed by the royal accountants of the said lord our king according to which the said Gonçalo Sanches renounced this allowance in favour of the said Alfonso Veles because of instructions which he had from him, for later after the vacant place had been filled he was found to be alive and he of his own will renounced it and it was transferred in the terms which are explained at greater length in the said renunciation contained in the book of transferrals.)] Anno de [14]57. Librose por carta del rey dada en Medina del Campo, a 3 dias de enero, anno de 1459 annos en Fernando de las Casas, recabdador de la meytad del partydo de la madera, el anno que paso de [14]57, los dichos 6.400 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Gonçalo Sanches, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta Juan de Villa Real. 6.400 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Librose entero por çedula de contadores que tiene Pedro de Medina.) [A payment order issued by the king in Medina del Campo on 3 January 1459 instructed the said 6,400 maravedis to be paid by Fernando de las Casas, tax collector of half of the tax on timber in the past year of 1457. And that he take the money to the said Gonçalo Sanches and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by Juan de Villa Real. (Marginal note: Entire payment made by accountants’ order held by Pedro de Medina.)] Anno de [14]58. Librose por otra carta dada el dicho dia en Medina del Campo, en Diego Fernandes de Aguilar, recabdador del un dosavo del almoxarifadgo de Sevilla, el dicho anno de [14]58, los dichos 6.400 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Gonçalo Sanches, e gelos dé de los maravedis de las fianças. Levo la carta Juan de Villa Real. 6.400 maravedis.

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documentary appendix [Another payment order issued in Medina del Campo on the said day instructed the said 6,400 maravedis to be paid by Diego Fernandes de Aguilar, tax collector of a twelfth of the almojarifazgo of Seville in the said year of 1458. And that he take the money to the said Gonçalo Sanches and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by Juan de Villa Real.] Anno de [14]59. Librose por carta del rey dada en Valladolid a çinco dias desiembre, anno de 1460 annos, en Fernand Gonçales de Leon, recabdador del obispado de Badajos, el anno que paso de 1459 annos, los dichos 6.750 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Gonçalo Sanches, e gelos dé de los maravedis de las fianças de su recabdamiento. Levo la carta Gonçalo Garsia de Llerena. 6.750 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Entregados por çedula de contadores.) [A payment order issued by the king in Valladolid on 5 December 1460 instructed the said 6,750 maravedis to be paid by Fernand Gonçales of Leon, tax collector of the bishopric of Badajoz in the past year of 1459. And that he take the money to the said Gonçalo Sanches and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by Gonçalo Gonçales of Llerena. (Marginal note: Payment made by accountants’ order.)] Anno de [14]60. Librose por carta del rey dada en Valladolid a çinco dias de desiembre, anno de 1460 annos, en Fernand Gonçales de Leon, recabdador del obispado de Badajos, este dicho anno, 6.750 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Gonçalo Sanches, e gelos dé por terçios. Levo la carta Gonçalo Garsia de Llerena. 6.750 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Entregados por çedula de contadores.) [A payment order issued by the king in Valladolid on 5 December 1460 instructed the said 6,750 maravedis to be paid by Fernand Gonçales of Leon, tax collector of the bishopric of Badajoz this said year. And that he take the money to the said Gonçalo Sanches and pay him in thirds. The letter was taken by Gonçalo Garsia of Llerena. (Marginal note: Payment made by accountants’ order.)]

19 1432, location unknown. 1457, November, 25. Madrid R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 28. Anton Martines, adalid, que llamavan quando moro Mahomad bin Far. Contadores, 200 maravedis. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala firmado de su nombre el anno que paso de 1432 annos, e dende en adelante en cada anno 15 maravedis, que le montan al anno 5.400 maravedis, e 10 varas de ypre mayor para su vestuario cada anno, que Juan Dias de Salamanca, cavallero morisco, solia tener, que es finado. 5.400 maravedis. 10 varas ypre.

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[Anton Martines, adalid, who as a Moor was called Mahomad bin Far. The king ordered by his written and signed authorisation in the past year of 1432 that a daily allowance be paid to him, and from then onwards 15 maravedis be paid every year, which amounts to 5,400 maravedis a year, and 10 varas of Ypres cloth for his clothing every year, which used to be held by Juan Dias of Salamanca, a Moorish knight who is now dead.] Librose por carta nomina dada en Madrid, 25 dias de noviembre, anno de 1457 annos en Ruy Gonçales de Sevilla, recabdador de los dos dosavos del almoxarifadgo de Sevilla, el anno que paso de [14]55, los dichos 6.200 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Anton Martines, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador. [A payment order issued in Madrid on 25 November 1457 instructed the said 6,200 maravedis to be paid by Ruy Gonçales of Seville, tax collector of two twelfths of the almojarifazgo of Seville in the past year of 1455. And that he take the money to the said Anton Martines and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by the said tax collector.]

20 1434, location unknown. 1457, November, 25. Madrid. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 26. Iohan Lopes almocaden, que le llamavan quando moro Aly ben Mahomad. Contadores 100 maravedis. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala firmado de su nombre, el anno que paso de 1434 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno 10 maravedis que le montan al anno 3.600 maravedis, e mas para su vistuario 3 pieças de ypre en cada anno, los quales tenia de su sennor Fernand Alvares de Eçija ques finado. 3.600 maravedis. 3 pieças ypre. [Iohan Lopes, almocaden, who was called Aly ben Mahomad when he was a Moor. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him by his written and signed authorisation in the past year of 1434, and from then onwards 10 maravedis every year, which amounts to 3,600 maravedis a year, and also 3 pieces of Ypres cloth for his clothing every year, all of which he used to hold from his lordship Fernand Alvares of Ecija who is dead.] Librose por carta nomina dada en Madrid, 25 dias de noviembre, anno de 1457 annos en Ruy Gonçales de Sevilla, recabdador de los dos dosavos del almoxarifadgo de Sevilla, el anno que paso de [14]55, los dichos 3.600 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Juan Lopes, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador. 3.600 [maravedis]. (Nota al margen: Enbargados por Ruy Gonçales de Sevilla, recabdador del seysmo del almoxarifadgo de Sevilla por fianças.)

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documentary appendix [A payment order issued in Madrid on 25 November 1457 instructed the said 3,600 maravedis to be paid by Ruy Gonçales of Seville, tax collector of two twelfths of the almojarifazgo of Seville in the past year of 1455. And that he take the money to the said Juan Lopes and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by the said recaudador.] (Marginal note: Embargoed by Ruy Gonçales de Seville, tax collector of the sixth of the almojarifazgo of Seville as guaranteed.)]

21 1434, location unknown. 1446, location unknown. 1457, November, 25. Madrid. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 27. Juan Alvares de Medina, que llamavan quando moro Ali Barseno Nyl. Contadores, 300 maravedis. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia, anno de 1434 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno 10 maravedis que le montan al anno 3.600 maravedis, e mas para su vestuario cada anno 1.200 maravedis, que son todos 4.800 maravedis; de los 40 maravedis que Fernand Peres de Roa, cavallero morisco, tenia en raçion cada dia, los 3.600 maravedis. E los 1.200 de los 40 maravedis que tenia en raçion cada dia Fernand Alvares, cavallero morisco, por quanto es finado. E que le acreçento el rey por su alvala firmado de su nombre, anno de 1446 annos otros 10 maravedis de los 20 maravedis que Homar [Saraiquel], alcayde de Guadix su padre, ques finado, tenia, que son todos 8.400 maravedis. 8.400 maravedis. [Juan Alvares de Medina, who used to be known as Ali Barseno Nyl when he was a Moor. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him in the year 1434, and from then onwards 10 maravedis every year, which amounts to 3,600 maravedis a year, and also 1,200 maravedis for his clothing every year, which is a total of 4,800 maravedis; of the 40 maravedis that Fernand Peres de Roa, Moorish knight, had as a daily allowance, the 3,600 maravedis. And the 1,200 from the 40 maravedis that Fernand Alvares, Moorish knight, who is now dead, had as his daily allowance. And the king increased this by his signed and written authorisation in the year 1446 by another 10 maravedis of the 20 maravedis that Homar [Saraiquel], his father the alcaide of Guadix, who is now dead, had, which is a total of 8,400 maravedis.] Librose por carta del rey dada en Madrid, 25 dias de noviembre de 1457 annos, en Ruy Gonçales de Sevilla, recabdador de los dos dosavos del almoxarifadgo de Sevilla, el anno que paso de [14]55, los dichos 3.600 maravedis, E que recuda con ellos al dicho Juan Alvares, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador. 3.600 maravedis.

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(Nota al margen: Enbargados por Ruy Gonçales de Sevilla, recabdador del seysmo del almoxarifadgo de Sevilla por fianças. 8.400 maravedis.) [A payment order issued by the king in Madrid on 25 November 1457 instructed the said 3,600 maravedis to be paid by Ruy Gonçales of Seville, tax collector of two twelfths of the almojarifazgo of Seville in the past year of 1455. And that he take the money to the said Juan Alvares and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by the said tax collector. (Marginal note: Embargoed by Ruy Gonçales of Seville, tax collector of a sixth of the almojarifazgo of Seville as guaranteed. 8,400 maravedis.)]

22 1436, location unknown. 1455, November, 28. Avila. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 28. Juan Borca, cavallero morisco, criado del condestable. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala firmado de su nombre el anno que paso de 1436 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno los 15 maravedis que tenia en raçion cada dia Juan de Eçija, morisco ques fynado, que les (sic) montan al anno 5.400 maravedis, e asy las dichas 10 (tachado: 5) varas de ypre quel dicho Juan de Eçija tenia en cada anno para su vestuario. 5.400 maravedis. 10 [varas ypre] (deteriorado por el horadado). [Juan Borca, Moorish knight, a servant of the constable. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him by his written and signed authorisation in the past year of 1436, and from then onwards 15 maravedis every year, which was the daily allowance of Juan de Eçija, a Morisco who died, which amounts to 5,400 maravedis a year, and also the said 10 (crossed out: 5) varas of Ypres cloth which the said Juan de Eçija had every year for his clothing.] Librose por carta del rey dada en la çibdad de Avila, 28 dias de noviembre de 1455 annos, en Juan Garsia de Villadiego, recabdador mayor de los diesmos e alholies del regno de Gallisia este dicho anno 4.123 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Juan Borça, e gelos libre en los maravedis de las fianças. Levo la carta Juan de Aguilar, corredor, por virtud de su poder. 4.133 maravedis, 2 dineros?. [A payment order issued by the king in the city of Avila on 28 November 1455 instructed 4,123 maravedis to be paid by Juan Garsia of Villadiego, high tax collector of the tithes and alfolis of the kingdom of Galicia this said year. And that he take the money to the said Juan Borça and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by Juan de Aguilar, tax broker, by virtue of his power of proxy.]

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23 1436, location unknown. 1453, location unknown. 1454, location unknown. 1455, March, 15. Location unknown. 1457, February, 10. Palencia. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 53. Iohan de Tarifa, adalid, que le llamavan quando moro Ali Arramoni.2 Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala firmado de su nombre, el anno que paso de 1436 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno 12 maravedis que tenia en raçion cada dia Alfonso de Eçija, ques fynado, que le montan al anno 4.320 maravedis, e mas las 12 varas de ypre que Alfonso de Eçija tenia en cada anno para su vistuario por quanto el dicho Juan de Tarifa, seyendo moro, se torno cristiano. E despues enbio el rey mandar el anno que paso de 1453 annos que sean librados al dicho Juan de Tarifa qualesquier maravedis quel del dicho sennor rey tenia o toviese en qualquier manera en las rentas de la çibdad de Toledo, en los recabdadores que son o fueren della, e que su merçed es que le non sea descontado terçio alguno. E que le acresçento el rey mas el anno que paso de 1453 annos los 12 maravedis e 12 varas de ypre que de su merçed tenia Fernando de Cordova, cavallero morisco, por quanto es fynado, que le montan al anno 3.600 maravedis, e las dichas 12 varas de ypre que son por todos 7.920 maravedis e 24 varas de ypre. E despues enbio el rey mandar por una su carta de facultad a los sus contadores mayores que son o fueren de aquí adelante que sy el dicho Juan de Tarifa finare, que los dichos maravedis queden en el fijo o fijas quel quisiere e los pueda renunçiar en ellos syn aver otro alvala nin mandamiento de su sennoria. E que despues sy los dichos sus fijos fallesçieren antes quel, que se tornen al dicho Juan de Tarifa. E otrosy que los maravedis que los dichos sus fijos agora tyenen o tovieren, que sy fallesçieren antes quel, tornen a el. 7.920 maravedis. 24 varas de ypre. (Nota al margen, tachada: Enbargados por mandado de contadores por que se desligo de mancomun con Garsia Fernandes cavallero morisco el anno de [14]44 en 8.500 dineros quel dicho Garçia dio en fiança de su raçion e vistuario el dicho anno de [14]44; e el dicho Juan de Tarifa se obligo [en] su fiador de los faser pennos segund [e mas l]argo en el poder e recabdo se contiene, que esta su traslado en fyn (tachado: deste) del anno de [14]54. Otra nota, sin tachar: Alçose este enbargo por çedula del rey que tiene Ruy Gonçales, fecha 15 dias de março de [14]55, en que dise que su voluntad es quel dicho enbargo non sea mas puesto, de que esta su traslado a fin deste libro.)

2 The crossed-out heading appears again on folio page 55, as follows: “Juan de Tarifa, adalid, que le llamavan quando moro Aly Arramoni. (Nota: Está adelante)” [Juan de Tarifa, adalid, known when he was a Moor as Aly Arramoni. (Note: It is placed infra.)]

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[Iohan de Tarifa, adalid, who was known as Ali Arramoni when he was a Moor. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him by his written and signed authorisation in the past year of 1436, and from then onwards 12 maravedis every year, which was the daily allowance of Alfonso de Eçija, who is dead, which amounts to 4,320 maravedis a year, and also the 12 varas of Ypres cloth which Alfonso de Eçija had every year for his clothing because the said Juan de Tarifa, being a Moor, turned Christian. And then the king ordered the payment to the said Juan de Tarifa, in the past year of 1453, of any maravedis that the said lord our king had or might ever have in any manner from the tax incomes of the city of Toledo, with the money to be paid him by the tax collectors who might be there, and instructed that his desire was that not a single third be reduced from this amount. And the king increased this by allocating to him in the past year of 1453 the 12 maravedis and 12 varas of Ypres cloth which were paid to Fernando de Cordova, a Moorish knight, who is now dead, which amounts to 3,600 maravedis a year, and the said 12 varas of Ypres cloth all of which is a total of 7,920 maravedis and 24 varas of Ypres cloth. And then the king issued an order by means of a letter to his royal accountants, whoever they are or might be from now onwards, instructing that if the said Juan de Tarifa were to die, the said maravedis should be given to whatever son or daughters he should desire and that he should be permitted to renounce his allowance in their favour without any further authorisation or order from his lordship. And that if the said sons were to die before him, the allowance would again be given to the said Juan de Tarifa. And furthermore that if his said sons were to die before him, the maravedis that they now have or might ever have, should be given to him. Marginal note, crossed out: Embargoed by order of the accountants because he failed to respect an agreement with Garsia Fernandes Moorish knight in the year of 1444 concerning 8,500 dineros which the said Garsia gave as guarantee out of his allowance and clothing in the said year of 1444; and the said Juan de Tarifa had promised to lend them as is related at greater length in the written document contained at the end [crossed out: of this] of the year 1454. (Another note, not crossed out: This embargo was lifted by an order of the king held by Ruy Gonçales, dated March 15 1455, in which he says that he does not wish the embargo to be imposed further, record of which is given at the end of this book.)] Librose por carta del rey dada en Palençia, 10 dias de febrero de [14]57, en don Fraym Abenxuxen recabdador de la çibdad de Toledo e su partydo el anno de (tachado: 56 ) [14]55, los dichos 7.920 maravedis e 24 varas de ypre, que montan 1.920 maravedis, que son todos 9.840 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Juan de Tarifa, e gelos dé luego de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta el mismo. 9.840 maravedis. [A payment order issued by the king in Palencia on 10 February 1457 instructed the said 7,920 maravedis and 24 varas of Ypres cloth, which amount to 1,920 maravedis, which is a total of 9,840 maravedis, to be paid by don Fraym Aben-

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documentary appendix xuxen, tax collector of the city of Toledo and its taxes in the year of 1455. And that he take the money to the said Juan de Tarifa and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. He took the letter himself.]

24 1437, location unknown. 1458, November, 20. Segovia. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 57. Fernando de Perea, adalid del rey nuestro sennor. Contadores 100 maravedis. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala firmado de su nombre, el anno que paso de 1437 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno, los 12 maravedis que de su merçed tenia Alvaro Martin, ques fynado, e mas 12 varas de ypre, que le montan al anno 4.320 maravedis e las dichas 12 varas de ypre. 4.320 maravedis. 12 varas ypre. [Fernando de Perea, adalid of the king our lord. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him by his written and signed authorisation in the past year of 1437, and from then onwards 12 maravedis every year, which was the allowance of Alvaro Martin, who is dead, and also 12 varas of Ypres cloth which amounts to 4,320 maravedis a year and the said 12 varas of Ypres cloth.] Librose por carta nomina dada en Segovia, 20 dias de noviembre, anno de 1458 annos, en Alfonso Gutierres de Eçija, recabdador de la meytad de los diesmos e aduanas de Cuenca e Cartajena con el reino de Murcia, el anno que paso de [14]55, los dichos 4.320 maravedis, 12 varas de ypre. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Fernando de Perea, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador. 3.800 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Enbargados por Alfonso Gutierres de Eçija, recabdador de los diesmos e aduanas.) [A payment order issued in Segovia on 20 November 1458 instructed the said 4,320 maravedis and 12 varas of Ypres cloth to be paid by Alfonso Gutierres of Eçija, tax collector of half of the tithes and customs duties of Cuenca and Cartagena with the kingdom of Murcia in the past year of 1455. And that he take the money to the said Fernando de Perea and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by the said tax collector. (Marginal note: Embargoed by Alfonso Gutierres of Eçija, tax collector of the tithes and customs duties.)]

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25 1438, location unknown. 1453, location unknown. 1458, November, 20. Segovia. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 25 Raçiones moriscas. Fernando de Alcala, fijo de Juan Ramires, cavallero morisco. Contadores 100 maravedis. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala firmado de su nombre, anno de 1438 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno, 12 maravedis de raçion cada dia, que le montan al anno 4.320 maravedis e las 15 varas de ypre que Alfonso Suares tenia de raçion, por quanto se paso al regno de Granada e que le acreçento el rey mas el anno que paso de 1453 annos los 10 maravedis quel dicho su padre tenia en raçion cada dia por su adalid y que le montan al anno 3.600 maravedis, en manera que son por todos 7.920 maravedis. 7.920 maravedis. 12 varas ypre. [Fernando de Alcala, son of Juan Ramires, Moorish knight. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him by his written and signed authorisation in the year 1438, and from then onwards 12 maravedis every year, which amounts to 4,320 maravedis a year and the 15 varas of Ypres cloth which Alfonso Suares had as his allowance, for he passed over into the kingdom of Granada, and the king also added in the past year of 1453 the 10 maravedis which the said [knight’s] father had as an allowance as his adalid, which amounts to 3,600 maravedis a year, so that the sum of all is 7,920 maravedis.] Librose por carta del rey dada en Segovia, 20 dias de noviembre, anno de 1458 annos, en Alfonso Gutierres de Eçija, recabdador de la meytad de los diesmos e aduanas de Cuenca e Cartajena en el reino de Murcia, el anno que paso de [14]55, 6.250 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Fernando, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador. 6.250 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Enbargados por Alfonso Gutierres de Eçija, recabdador de los diesmos e aduanas.) [A payment order issued in Segovia on 20 November 1458 instructed 6,250 maravedis to be paid by Alfonso Gutierres of Eçija, tax collector of half of the tithes and customs duties of Cuenca and Cartagena in the kingdom of Murcia in the past year of 1455. And that he take the money to the said Fernando, and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by the said tax collector. (Marginal note: Embargoed by Alfonso Gutierres of Eçija, tax collector of the tithes and customs duties.)]

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26 1439, location unknown. 1440, location unknown. (Crossed out: 1455, November, 29. Avila) 1455, November, 20. Avila. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 65. Pedro de Baeça, cavallero morisco. Contadores 100 maravedis. Mandole el rey librar en raçion por su alvala firmado de su nombre, el anno que paso de 1439 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno, en raçion cada dia (tachado: por su alvala), 15 maravedis de los 40 maravedis que tenia en raçion cada dia para su mantenimiento el alcayd Martin de Torres por quanto se fue al regno de Granada syn su liçençia, que le montan al anno 5.400 maravedis. E otrosi le mando el rey librar por otro su alvala, anno de 1440 annos, las 16 varas de ypre que tenia para su vistuario cada anno Abdalla de Veles, ques fynado. 5.400 maravedis. 16 varas ypre. [Pedro de Baeça, Moorish knight. Accountants, 100 maravedis. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him by his written and signed authorisation in the past year of 1439, and from then onwards an allowance every year of 15 of the 40 maravedis which the alcaide Martin de Torres had as his daily allowance, for he went to the kingdom of Granada without his licence, which amounts to 5,400 maravedis a year. And furthermore the king ordered by another written authorisation in 1440 the payment of the 16 varas of Ypres cloth which Abdalla de Veles, who is dead, had for his clothing.] (Tachado: Librose por carta del rey dada en la cibdad de Avila, 29 dias de noviembre de 1455 annos en el ques o fuere recabdador mayor del arçobispado de Santiago con el obispado de Tuy este dicho anno 6.400 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Pedro de Baeça o el que lo oviere de racabdar para el, e gelos de en dineros contados a los plasos de la mesa. Levo la carta Gregorio sastre, su padre. 6.400 maravedis.) (Notas al margen, tachadas: Librose entero por çedula de contadores que tyene Ruy Fernandes de Jahen. Yerro que se ha de poner acabado este asiento.) (Crossed out: A payment order issued by the king in the city of Avila on 29 November 1455 instructed 6,400 maravedis to be paid by whoever is or might be the high tax collector of the archbishopric of Santiago with the bishopric of Tuy this said year. And that he take the money to the said Pedro de Baeça, and pay him. The letter was taken by tailor Gregorio, his father). (Marginal notes, crossed out: Entire payment made by accountants’ order held by Ruy Fernandes of Jaén. Error which must be noted at the end of this entry.)

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Librose por carta del rey dada en Avila, 20 dias de noviembre, anno de 1455 annos en Alfonso Garsia de Madrid, recabdador mayor de la mitad de los diesmos e alfolis de Gallisia este dicho anno, 4.453 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Pedro de Baeça, e gelos libre sennaladamente en los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta Juan de Aguilar, corredor, por virtud de su poder. 4.453 maravedis. [A payment order issued by the king in Avila on 20 November 1455 instructed 4,453 maravedis to be paid by Alfonso Garsia of Madrid, high tax collector of half of the tithes and alfolis of Galicia this said year. And that he take the money to the said Pedro de Baeça, and pay him appropriately the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by Juan de Aguilar, tax broker, by virtue of his power of proxy.]

27 1439, location unknown. 1457, November, 25. Madrid. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 23 Iohan Gonçales, cavallero morisco, hermano de Benito Gonçales, atabalero. Quitaçiones, 100 maravedis. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala, anno de 1439 annos, e dende en adelante en cada anno, los 12 maravedis que montan al anno 4.320 maravedis, e las 15 varas de ypre que Benito de Granada, atabalero, su hermano, tenia en raçion e vistuario cada anno por quanto que los renunçio. 4.320 maravedis. 15 varas ypre. [Iohan Gonçales, Moorish knight, brother of Benito Gonçales, kettledrummer. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him by his written authorisation in 1439, and from then onwards an allowance every year of 12 maravedis which amounts to 4,320 maravedis a year, and the 15 varas of Ypres cloth which Benito de Granada, kettledrummer, had as his allowance and clothing every year, because he renounced them.] Librose por carta nomina dada en Madrid, 25 dias de noviembre de 1457 annos, en Ruy Gonçales de Sevilla, recabdador de los dos dosavos del almoxarifadgo de Sevilla el anno de [14]55, los dichos 5.620 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Iohan Gonçales, e gelos dé luego de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador. 5.620 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Enbargados por Ruy Gonçales de Sevilla, recabdador del seysmo del almoxarifadgo de Sevilla por fianças. 5.520 maravedis.) [A payment order issued in Madrid on 25 November 1457 instructed the said 5,620 maravedis to be paid by Ruy Gonçales of Seville, tax collector of two twelfths of the almojarifazgo of Seville in the year of 1455. And that he take the money to the said Iohan Gonçales, and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by the said tax collector.]

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documentary appendix (Marginal note: Embargoed by Ruy Gonçales of Seville, tax collector of the sixth of the almojarifazgo of Seville as guaranteed. 5.320 maravedis.)

28 1440, location unknown. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 57. Jorje Martines de Malaga, cavallero morisco. Contadores, 200 maravedis. Mandole el rey librar en raçion por su alvala firmado de su nombre, el anno que paso de 1440 annos, e dende en adelante en cada anno, los 15 maravedis que Juan Fernandes de Talavera, cavallero morisco, tenia en raçion e las 10 varas de ypre para su vistuario cada anno, por quanto es fynado. 5.400 maravedis. 15 varas ypre. (Nota al margen: Tiene alvala para los dar en fiança.) [Jorje Martines of Malaga, Moorish knight. Accountants, 200 maravedis. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him by his written and signed authorisation in the past year of 1440, and from then onwards every year, of the 15 maravedis which Juan Fernandes of Talavera, Moorish knight, had as his allowance and the 10 varas of Ypres cloth for his clothing every year, because he is dead.] (Marginal note: He has written authorisation to give them as guarantee.)

29 1440, location unknown. 1456, February, 10. Segovia. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 34 Alfonso Fernandes de Valladolid, cavallero morisco, que le llamavan quando moro Hamede Harchayn. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala firmado de su nombre el anno que paso de 1440 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno los 10 maravedis que el dicho Alfonso Fernandes tenia para su mantenimiento, segund que los otros cavalleros moriscos, que le montan al anno 3.600 maravedis. 3.600 maravedis [Alfonso Fernandes of Valladolid, Moorish knight, who as a Moor was known as Hamede Harchayn. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him by his written and signed authorisation in the past year of 1440, and from then onwards every year, of the 10 maravedis which the said Alfonso Fernandes had for his maintenance, like the other Moorish knights, which amounts to 3,600 maravedis a year.] Librose por carta del rey dada a buelta de otras. Dada en Segovia, 10 dias de febrero de [14]56 en Fernand Nunnes de Toledo, recabdador de la seysma parte del aseyte de Sevilla, 2.400 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho

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Alfonso Fernandes, e gelos dé luego de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta Alvaro Lopes de Luçena. 2.400 maravedis. [A payment order issued in Segovia at the back of others on 10 February 1456 instructed 2,400 maravedis to be paid to Fernand Nunnes of Toledo, tax collector of a sixth of the oil of Seville. And that he take the money to the said Alfonso Fernandes, and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by Alvaro Lopes of Lucena.]

30 1440, location unknown. 1457, March, 20. Burgos. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 62. Pedro de Sarçedo, cavallero morisco. Contadores, 200 maravedis. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala firmado de su nombre, el anno que paso de 1440 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno los 15 maravedis, que montan al anno 5.400 maravedis e 10 varas de ypre que Françisco Françes el Cabry, cavallero morisco, tenia en raçion e vistuario cada anno, por quanto es fynado. 5.400 maravedis. 10 varas ypre. [Pedro de Sarçedo, Moorish knight. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him by his written and signed authorisation in the past year of 1440, and from then onwards 15 maravedis every year, which amounts to 5,400 maravedis a year and 10 varas of Ypres cloth which Françisco Françes el Cabry, Moorish knight, had as his allowance and clothing every year, because he is dead.] Librose por carta del rey a bueltas de otras, dada en Burgos, 20 de março de 1457, en Ruy Dias de Toledo, recabdador del partido de Cuenca este anno de [14]55, 4.220 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Pedro de Salsedo por poder de fiança. 4.220 maravedis. [A payment order issued by the king in Burgos on 20 March 1457 instructed 4,220 maravedis to be paid to Ruy Dias of Toledo, tax collector of the taxes of Cuenca this year of 1455. And that he take the money to the said Pedro de Salsedo on account of his power of proxy.]

31 1441, location unknown. 1444, location unknown. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 38. Diego de Puelles, cavallero morisco, que le llamavan quando moro Cyla. Contadores 100 maravedis.

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documentary appendix Mandole el rey librar por su alvala, anno de 1441 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno los 10 maravedis que de su merçed tenia para su mantenimiento Juan de Medina, que le llamavan quando moro Aly Aben Asdalla, por quanto es fynado, que le montan al anno 3.600 maravedis. E despues confermole el rey esta merçed, anno de [14]44. 3.600 maravedis. [Diego De Puelles, Moorish knight, who as a Moor was known as Cyla. Accountants, 100 maravedis. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him by his written and signed authorisation in the year 1441, and from then onwards the 10 maravedis every year which the king granted for his maintenance to Juan de Medina, who as a Moor was known as Aly Aben Asdalla, for he is dead, and this amounts to 3,600 maravedis a year. And the king later confirmed this favour, in the year 1444.]

32 1442, location unknown. 1456, February, 10. Avila. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 61. Fernand Alvares de Madrid, cavallero morisco.3 Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala firmado de su nombre el anno que paso de 1442 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno 10 maravedis quel dicho Fernando Alvares tenia cada dia para su mantenimiento, e se le libravan de dos en dos meses en la corte, que le montan al anno 3.600 maravedis. 3.600 maravedis. [Fernand Alvares of Madrid, Moorish knight. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him by his written and signed authorisation in the past year of 1442, and from then onwards every year the 10 maravedis which the said Fernando Alvares had for his daily maintenance, and which was paid every two months at court, which amounts to 3,600 maravedis a year.] Librose por carta del rey dada en la çibdad de Avila, 10 dias de febrero, anno de 1456 annos, en Françisco Fernandes de Sevilla, recabdador mayor de los çinco dosavos del almoxarifadgo e rentas menudas de la dicha çibdad de Sevilla el anno que paso de 1455 annos, 2.400 maravedis a buelta de otros 2.400 maravedis de la raçion de Françisco de Madrid. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Fernand Alvares, e gelos libre sennaladamente en los maravedis de sus fianças para que gelos den luego. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador (tachado: e) por virtud de su poder e por el Alvar Lopes de Luçena.

3 This could be the Fernando de Madrid who features in the payment orders of three documents.

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2.400 maravedis. (Nota al margen, tachada: Enbargados para el anno de [14]56 por Françisco Fernandes de Sevilla, recabdador de los 5 dosavos del almoxarifadgo de Sevilla por fianças.) [A payment order issued by the king in the city of Avila on 10 February 1456 instructed Françisco Fernandes of Seville, high tax collector of five twelfths of the almojarifazgo and smaller incomes of the said city of Seville in the past year of 1455 the amount of 2,400 maravedis at the back of [the order of ] another 2,400 maravedis for the allowance of Françisco de Madrid. And that he take the money to the said Fernand Alvares, and pay him appropriately the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by the said tax collector by virtue of his power of proxy and by Alvar Lopes of Lucena. (Marginal note, crossed out: Embargoed for the year 1456 by Françisco Fernandes of Seville, tax collector of five twelfths of the almojarifazgo of Seville as guaranteed.)]

33 1442, location unknown. 1456, March, 18. Badajoz. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 62. Fernando de Alcantara, cavallero morisco que le llamavan quando moro Yuça Mondejar. Contadores 100 maravedis. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia (tachado: con el dicho ofiçio) por su alvala firmado de su nombre el anno que paso de 1442 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno los dies maravedis quel dicho Fernando de Alcantara tenia cada dia para su mantenimiento, e se le libravan en la corte de dos en dos meses, que le montan al anno 3.600 maravedis. 3.600 maravedis. [Fernando de Alcantara, Moorish knight who as a Moor was known as Yuça Mondejar. Accountants, 100 maravedis. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him [crossed out: with the said post] by his written and signed authorisation in the past year of 1442, and from then onwards every year the 10 maravedis which the said Fernando de Alcantara had for his daily maintenance, and which was paid every two months at court, which amounts to 3,600 maravedis a year.] Librose por carta del rey dada en la çibdad de Badajos, 18 dias de março de 1456 annos, en Alfonso Gutierres de Eçija, recabdador mayor de la meytad de los diesmos de Cuenca e Cartajena, el anno que paso de 1455 annos, 3.500 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Fernando de Alcantara, e gelos (tachado: de) libre sennaladamente en los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta el mesmo. 3.500 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Enbargados por Alfonso Gutierres de Eçija, recabdador de los

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documentary appendix diesmos e aduanas por fiança. Librose. Librose entero por çedula de contador que tiene Juan de San Pedro.) [A payment order issued by the king in the city of Badajoz on 18 March 1456 instructed 3,500 maravedis to be paid by Alfonso Gutierres of Ecija, high tax collector of half of the tithes of Cuenca and Cartagena in the past year of 1455. And that he take the money to the said Fernando de Alcantara, and pay him appropriately the maravedis that he has guaranteed. He took the letter himself. Marginal note: Embargoed by Alfonso Gutierres of Ecija, tax collector of the tithes and customs duties as guaranteed. Paid. Entire payment made by accountants’ order held by Juan de San Pedro.)]

34 1442, location unknown. 1456, May, 30. Medina del Campo. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 66. Françisco Catalan, cavallero morisco, fijo de Françisco Sanches. Contadores 100 maravedis. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala firmado de su nombre el anno que paso de 1442 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno los dies maravedis quel dicho su padre tenia de raçion cada dia por quanto gelos renunçio, que le montan al anno 3.600 maravedis. 3.600 maravedis. [Françisco Catalan, Moorish knight, son of Françisco Sanches. Accountants, 100 maravedis. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him by his written and signed authorisation in the past year of 1442, and from then onwards every year the 10 maravedis which the said [Francisco’s] father had as a daily allowance because he renounced them, which amounts to 3,600 maravedis a year.] Librose por carta del rey dada en Medina del Campo, a 30 dias de mayo de [14]56, en Fernando Nunnes de Toledo, recabdador de la terçia parte del partydo de Xeres, 2.400 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Françisco, e gelos de luego. Levo la carta Alvaro Lopes de (tachado: Eçija) de Luçena. 2.400 maravedis. [A payment order issued by the king in Medina del Campo on 30 May 1456 instructed 2,400 maravedis to be paid by Fernando Nunnes of Toledo, tax collector of a third of the taxes of Jerez. And that he take the money to the said Françisco, and pay him. The letter was taken by Alvaro Lopes of (crossed out: Ecija) Lucena.]

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35 1442, location unknown. 1457, November, 25. Madrid. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 33. Moriscas. Diego, cavallero morisco, fijo de Ruy Dias Al-Jayar. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala firmado de su nombre el anno que paso de 1442 annos e dende en adelante los 10 maravedis que tenia en raçion cada dia para su mantenimiento Lope Fernandes de Sancta Maria, cavallero morisco, los quales se le libravan de dos en dos meses en Alfonso Rodrigues de Duennas, que le montan al anno 3.600 maravedis. 3.600 maravedis.4 [Diego, Moorish knight, son of Ruy Dias Al-Jayar. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him by his written and signed authorisation in the past year of 1442, and from then onwards every year the 10 maravedis which Lope Fernandes de Sancta Maria, Moorish knight, had as a daily allowance for his maintenance, which amounts to 3,600 maravedis a year and which was paid to him every two months by Alfonso Rodrigues de Duennas.] Librose por carta nomina dada en Madrid, 25 dias de noviembre, anno de 1457 annos, en Ruy Gonçales de Sevilla, recabdador de los dos dosavos del almoxarifadgo de Sevilla el anno que paso de [14]55 los dichos 2.400. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Diego, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador. 2.400 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Enbargados por Ruy Gonçales de Sevilla, recabdador del seysmo del almoxarifadgo de Sevilla por fianças.) [A payment order issued in Madrid on 25 November 1457 instructed the said 2,400 maravedis to be paid by Ruy Gonçales of Seville, tax collector of two twelfths of the almojarifazgo of Seville. And that he take the money to the said Diego, and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by the said tax collector. (Marginal note: Embargoed by Ruy Gonçales of Seville, tax collector of a sixth of the almojarifazgo of Seville as guaranteed.)]

4

The heading, up to this point, is crossed out in leg. 1, 61.

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36 1442, location unknown. 1457, November, 25. Madrid. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 59 Moriscas. Rodrigo de Madrid, cavallero morisco, que le llamavan quando moro El Cal Horra. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala, anno de 1442 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno los 10 maravedis quel dicho Rodrigo tenia para su mantenimiento e se le libraravan (sic) de dos en dos meses a buelta de otros moriscos, que le montan al anno 3.600 maravedis. 3.600 maravedis. [Rodrigo de Madrid, Moorish knight, who as a Moor was known as El Cal Horra. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him by his written authorisation in 1442, and from then onwards every year the 10 maravedis which the said Rodrigo had for his maintenance, and which were paid to him and other Moriscos every two months and which amounts to 3,600 maravedis a year.] Librose por carta del rey dada en Madrid, 25 dias de noviembre, anno de 1457 annos, en Ruy Gonçales de Sevilla, recabdador de los dos dosavos del almoxarifadgo de Sevilla el anno que paso de [14]55 los dichos 2.400. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Rodrigo de Madrid, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador. 2.400 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Enbargados por Ruy Gonçales de Sevilla, recabdador del seysmo del almoxarifadgo de Sevilla por fiança.) [A payment order issued by the king in Madrid on 25 November 1457 instructed the said 2,400 maravedis to be paid by Ruy Gonçales of Seville, tax collector of two twelfths of the almojarifazgo of Seville in the past year of 1455. And that he take the money to the said Rodrigo of Madrid, and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by the said tax collector. (Marginal note: Embargoed by Ruy Gonçales of Seville, tax collector of a sixth of the almojarifazgo of Seville as guaranteed.)]

37 1442, location unknown. 1458, November, 20. Segovia. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 66. Fernand Lopes de Segovia, cavallero morisco. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala firmado de su nombre el anno que paso de 1442 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno los dies maravedis quel dicho Fernando Lopes tenia para su mantetenimiento (sic)

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cada dia, e se le libravan de dos en dos meses en la corte, que le montan al anno 3.600 maravedis. 3.600 maravedis. [Fernand Lopes of Segovia, Moorish knight. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him by his written and signed authorisation in the past year of 1442, and from then onwards every year the 10 maravedis which the said Fernando Lopes had for his daily maintenance, and which were paid to him every two months at court and which amounts to 3,600 maravedis a year.] Librose por carta del rey dada en Segovia, 20 dias de noviembre, anno de 1458 annos, en Alfonso Gutierres de Eçija, recabdador de los diesmos e aduanas de Cuenca e Cartajena con el reyno de Murçia, el anno que paso de [14]55, 2.400 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Fernando Lopes, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador por su poder. 2.400 maravedis. [A payment order issued by the king in Segovia on 20 November 1458 instructed 2,400 maravedis to be paid by Alfonso Gutierres of Ecija, tax collector of the tithes and customs duties of Cuenca and Cartagena with the kingdom of Murcia in the past year of 1455. And that he take the money to the said Fernando Lopes, and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by the said tax collector.]

38 1442, location unknown. 1458, November, 20. Segovia. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 67. Pedro Canbil, cavallero morisco. Contadores 200 maravedis. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia (tachado: con el) por su alvala firmado de su nombre, anno de 1442 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno, los 15 maravedis que Ysmael el Chatrio, cavallero morisco, tenia cada dia para su mantenimiento, que le montan al anno 5.400 maravedis. 5.400 maravedis. [Pedro Canbil, Moorish knight. Accountants, 200 maravedis. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him by his written and signed authorisation in 1442, and from then onwards every year the 15 maravedis which Ysmael el Chatrio, Moorish knight, had for his daily maintenance, and which amounts to 5,400 maravedis a year.] Librose por carta nomina dada en Segovia, 20 dias de noviembre, anno de 1458 annos, en Alfonso Gutierres de Eçija, recabdador de la meytad de los diesmos e aduanas de Cuenca e Cartajena, el anno que paso de [14]55, los dichos 3.600 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Pedro, e gelos dé de los maravedis

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documentary appendix de sus fianças. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador por su poder. 3.600 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Enbargados por Alfonso Gutierres de Eçija, recabdador de los diesmos e aduanas, por fianças.) [A payment order issued in Segovia on 20 November 1458 instructed the said 3,600 maravedis to be paid by Alfonso Gutierres of Ecija, tax collector of half of the tithes and customs duties of Cuenca and Cartagena in the past year of 1455. And that he take the money to the said Pedro, and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by the said tax collector. (Marginal note: Embargoed by Alfonso Gutierres of Ecija, tax collector of the tithes and customs duties, as guaranteed.)]

39 1442, location unknown. 1458, November, 20. Segovia. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 67. Fernando de Velma, cavallero morisco. Contadores 100 maravedis. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala firmado de su nombre, anno de 1442 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno, los 10 maravedis que Pedro de Moguera, cavallero morisco, tenya en raçion cada dia con el dicho ofiçio, que le montan al anno 3.600 maravedis, por quanto es fynado. 3.600 maravedis. [Fernando de Velma, Moorish knight. Accountants, 100 maravedis. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him by his written and signed authorisation in 1442, and from then onwards every year the 10 maravedis which Pedro de Moguera, Moorish knight, had as his daily maintenance in the said post, and which amounts to 3,600 maravedis a year, because he is dead.] Librose por carta nomina dada en Segovia, 20 dias de noviembre, anno de 1458 annos, en Alfonso Gutierres de Eçija, recabdador de los diesmos e aduanas de Cuenca e Cartajena con el reyno de Murçia, el anno que paso de [14]55, los dichos 2.400 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Fernando, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador. 2.400 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Enbargados por Alfonso Gutierres de Eçija, recabdador de los diesmos e aduanas, por fianças.) [A payment order issued in Segovia on 20 November 1458 instructed the said 2,400 maravedis to be paid by Alfonso Gutierres of Ecija, tax collector of the tithes and customs duties of Cuenca and Cartagena with the kingdom of Murcia in the past year of 1455. And that he take the money to the said Fernando, and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by the said tax collector.

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(Marginal note: Embargoed by Alfonso Gutierres of Ecija, tax collector of the tithes and customs duties, as guaranteed.)]

40 1442, location unknown. 1453, location unknown. 1458, November, 20. Segovia. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 68. Garsia de Alcala, cavallero morisco, fijo de Juan Ramires. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala firmado de su nombre, anno de 1442 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno, los 10 maravedis que Hamete Çelani, cavallero morisco, tenia cada dia para su mantenimiento, e se libravan de dos en dos meses, por quanto el dicho Hamete Çelani se torno al regno de Granada, que le montan al anno 3.600 maravedis. E que le acreçento el rey el anno que paso de 1453 annos los 12 maravedis que de su merçed tenia Benito, fijo de Cristoval Fernandes el Beatyed, por quanto es fynado, que le montan al anno 4.320 maravedis. E que le acreçento el rey mas el dicho anno de [14]53 10 varas de ypre que de su merçed tenia Diego Gonçales de Carmona, por quanto es fynado, que son por todos los maravedis e panno 7.920 maravedis e 10 varas de ypre. 7.920 maravedis. 10 varas de ypre. [Garsia de Alcala, Moorish knight, son of Juan Ramires. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him by his written and signed authorisation in 1442, and from then onwards every year the 10 maravedis which Hamete Çelani, Moorish knight, had as his daily maintenance, and which was paid every two months, because the said Hamete Çelani returned to the kingdom of Granada, and which amounts to 3,600 maravedis a year. And the king added in 1453 the 12 maravedis paid to Benito, the son of Cristoval Fernandes el Beatyed, because he is dead, which amounts to 4,320 maravedis a year. And the king further added in the said year of 1453 10 varas of Ypres cloth which were paid to Diego Gonçales of Carmona, because he is dead, which gives a total of 7,920 maravedis and 10 varas of Ypres cloth.] Librose por carta nomina dada en Segovia, 20 dias de noviembre, anno de 1458 annos, en Alfonso Gutierres de Eçija, recabdador de la meytad de los diesmos e aduanas de Cuenca e Cartajena, el anno que paso de [14]55, 5.120 maravedis de raçion e panno. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Garsia, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador por su poder. 5.120 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Enbargados por Alfonso Gutierres de Eçija, recabdador de los diesmos e aduanas, por fianças.) [A payment order issued in Segovia on 20 November 1458 instructed 5,120 maravedis of allowance and cloth to be paid by Alfonso Gutierres of Ecija,

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documentary appendix tax collector of half of the tithes and customs duties of Cuenca and Cartagena in the past year of 1455. And that he take the money to the said Garsia, and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by the said tax collector. (Marginal note: Embargoed by Alfonso Gutierres of Ecija, tax collector of the tithes and customs duties, as guaranteed.)]

41 1443, location unknown. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 31 (Tachado: Diego de Antequera, cavallero morisco fijo de Juan de Antequera. Contadores 100 maravedis. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala firmado de su nombre el anno que paso de 1443 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno 10 maravedis que le montan.) (Nota al margen: Pusieronse por yerro, que estan ante desto en otro pliego.) [(Crossed out: Diego de Antequera, Moorish knight son of Juan de Antequera. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him by his written and signed authorisation in the past year of 1443, 10 maravedis every year from then onwards.) (Marginal note: This was awarded by error, as it has been registered above in another sheet.)]

42 1443, location unknown. 1457, November, 25. Madrid. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 33 Diego de Antequera, cavallero morisco fijo de Iohan de Antequera. Contadores 100 maravedis. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala firmado de su nombre el anno que paso de 1443 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno 10 maravedis que le montan al anno 3.600 maravedis, los quales solia tener de mantenimiento cada dia Ali al-Tasquq, por quanto se paso al regno de Granada sin liçençia del rey. 3.600 maravedis. [Diego de Antequera, Moorish knight son of Iohan de Antequera. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him by his written and signed authorisation in the past year of 1443, and 10 maravedis every year from then onwards, which amounts to 3,600 maravedis, which used to correspond to the daily maintenance of Ali al-Tasquq, who passed over into the kingdom of Granada without the king’s licence.] Librose por carta nomina dada en (tachado: Medina del) Madrid, 25 dias de noviembre, anno de 1457 annos, en Ruy Gonçales de Sevilla, recabdador de

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los dos dosavos del almoxarifadgo de Sevilla el anno que paso de [14]55, los dichos 3.600 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Diego, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador. 3.600 maravedis (Notas al margen: Tiene alvala para los dar en fiança. Enbargados por Ruy Gonçales de Sevilla, recabdador del seysmo del almoxarifadgo de Sevilla por fianças. 3.600 maravadis. Enbargados para el anno de 56 por Francisco Fernandes de Sevilla, recabdador de los 5 dosavos del almoxarifadgo por fianças.) [A payment order issued in Madrid on 25 November 1457 instructed the said 3,600 maravedis to be paid by Ruy Gonçales of Seville, tax collector of two twelfths of the almojarfazgo of Seville in the past year of 1455. And that he take the money to the said Diego, and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by the said tax collector. (Marginal note: He has the king’s written authorisation to give them as guarantee. Embargoed by Ruy Gonçales of Seville, tax collector of the sixth of the almojarifazgo of Seville as guaranteed. 3,600 maravedis. Embargoed for the year 56 by Francisco Fernandes of Seville, tax collector of five twelfths of the almojarifazgo as guaranteed.)]

43 1443, location unknown. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 35. Pedro de Cordova, cavallero morisco hijo de Benito Gonçales. Contadores, 100 maravedis. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala firmado de su nombre el anno que paso de 1443 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno los 10 maravedis que del tenia cada dia para su mantenimiento e se le libravan de dos en dos meses, que le montan al anno 3.600 maravedis. 3.600 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Tiene alvala para los dar en fiança.) [Pedro de Cordova, Moorish knight son of Benito Gonçales. Accountants, 100 maravedis. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him by his written and signed authorisation in the past year of 1443, and 10 maravedis every year from then onwards which he had every day for his maintenance and were paid to him every two months, which amounts to 3,600 maravedis a year. (Marginal note: He has the king’s written authorisation to give them as guarantee.)]

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44 1443, location unknown. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 37. Moriscas. Fernando de Cordova, cavallero morisco, fijo de Benito Gonçales. Contadores 100 maravedis. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala, anno de 1443 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno los 10 maravedis que de su merçed tenia en raçion cada dia Gonçalo de Cogollos, cavallero morisco, por quanto se paso al regno de Granada a se tornar moro sin mandado del rey, que le montan al anno 3.600 maravedis. 3.600 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Tiene alvala para los dar en fiança.) [Fernando de Cordova, Moorish knight, son of Benito Gonçales. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him by his written authorisation in 1443, and every year from then onwards 10 maravedis which came from the daily allowance of Gonçalo de Cogollos, Moorish knight, because he passed over into the kingdom of Granada to turn Moor without the king’s order, which amounts to 3,600 maravedis a year. (Marginal note: He has the king’s written authorisation to give them as guarantee.)]

45 1443, location unknown. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 48. Iohan de (tachado: Sant Pedro) Cordova, fijo de Benito Gonçales, cavallero morisco. Contadores, 100 maravedis. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala firmado de su nombre el anno que paso de 1443 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno los 10 [maravedis] que del dicho sennor rey tenia en raçion cada dia Juan de Guinno, cavallero morisco, por quanto gelos renunçio, que le montan al anno 3.600 maravedis. 3.600 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Tiene alvala para los dar en fiança.) [Iohan de (crossed out: Sant Pedro) Cordova, son of Benito Gonçales, Moorish knight. Accountants, 100 maravedis. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him by his written and signed authorisation in the past year of 1443, and every year from then onwards 10 maravedis which corresponded to the king’s daily allowance to Juan de Guinno, Moorish knight, because he renounced it, which amounts to 3,600 maravedis a year.

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(Marginal note: He has the king’s written authorisation to give them as guarantee.)]

46 1443, location unknown. 1455, November, 20. Avila. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 36. Diego Alvares, fijo de Fernand Alvares, cavallero morisco. Contadores, 100 maravedis. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala firmado de su nombre, anno de 1443 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno los 10 maravedis que de su merçed tenia para su mantenimiento Fernando de Medina, cavallero morisco que le llamavan quando moro Ali el Canel, por (tachado: por) quanto sin su liçençia e mandado se paso al regno de Granada, que le montan al anno 3.600 maravedis. 3.600 maravedis. [Diego Alvares, son of Fernand Alvares, Moorish knight. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him by his written and signed authorisation in 1443, and every year from then onwards 10 maravedis which corresponded to the daily allowance for his maintenance of Fernando de Medina, Moorish knight who as a Moor was known as Ali el Canel, because without his licence and order he passed over into the kingdom of Granada, which amounts to 3,600 maravedis a year.] Librose por carta del rey dada en la çibdad de Avila, 20 dias de noviembre, anno de 1455 annos, en Alfonso Garsia de Madrid, recabdador mayor de la mitad de los diesmos e (tachado: alca) alfolis del regno de Gallisia este dicho anno 2.400 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Diego Alvares, e gelos libre sennaladamente en los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta Juan de Aguilar, corredor por virtud de su poder. 2.400 maravedis. [A payment order issued in the city of Avila on 20 November 1455 instructed 2,400 maravedis to be paid by Alfonso Garsia of Madrid, high tax collector of half of the tithes and alfolis of the kingdom of Galicia in this said year. And that he take the money to the said Diego Alvares, and pay him appropriately the maravedis that he as guaranteed. The letter was taken by Juan de Aguilar, tax broker by virtue of his power of proxy.]

47 1443, location unknown. 1456, February, 10. Avila. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 37. Françisco, cavallero morisco, fijo de Fernand Alvares de Madrid, cavallero morisco.

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documentary appendix Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala, anno de 1443 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno los 10 maravedis que Alfonso de Madrid, cavallero morisco, tenia en raçion cada dia por quanto gelos renunçio, que le montan al anno 3.600 maravedis. 3.600 maravedis. [Francisco, Moorish knight, son of Fernand Alvares of Madrid, Moorish knight. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him by his written authorisation in 1443, and every year from then onwards the 10 maravedis which Alfonso de Madrid, Moorish knight, had as his daily allowance, because he renounced them, which amounts to 3,600 maravedis a year.] Librose por carta del rey dada en la çibdad de Avila, 10 dias de febrero, anno de 1456 annos, en Françisco Fernandes de Sevilla, recabdador mayor de los çinco dosavos del almoxarifadgo e rentas menudas de la dicha çibdad de Sevilla el anno que paso de 1455 annos, 2.400 maravedis a buelta de otros 2.400 maravedis de la raçion de Fernando Alvares de Madrid. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Françisco, e gelos libre sennaladamente en los maravedis de las fianças. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador por virtud de su poder, e por el Alvar Lopes de Luçena. 2.400 maravedis. (Nota al margen, tachada: Enbargados para el anno de [14]56 por Françisco Fernandes de Sevilla, recabdador de los 5 dosavos del almoxarifadgo de Sevilla por fianças.) [A payment order issued by the king in the city of Avila on 10 February 1456 ordered the payment by Françisco Fernandes of Seville, high tax collector of five twelfths of the almojarifazgo and minor incomes of Seville in the past year of 1455 2,400 maravedis plus another 2,400 maravedis from the daily allowance of Fernando Alvares de Madrid. And that he take the money to the said Françisco, and pay him appropriately the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by the said tax collector by virtue of his power of proxy and by Alvar Lopes of Lucena. (Marginal note, crossed out: Embargoed for the year 1456 by Françisco Fernandes of Seville, tax collector of five twelfths of the almojarifazgo of Seville as guaranteed.)]

48 1443, location unknown. 1457, November, 25. Madrid. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 35. Alfonso de Granada, cavallero morisco. Contadores 100 maravedis. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala firmado de su nombre el anno que paso de 1443 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno los 10 maravedis que del tenia cada dia para su mantenimiento Pedro Gonçales de Vernaldos,

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e se le libravan en la corte a bueltas de otros moriscos, que le montan al anno 3.600 maravedis, por quanto es fynado. 3.600 maravedis. [Alfonso de Granada, Moorish knight. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him by his written and signed authorisation in the past year of 1443, and every year from then onwards the 10 maravedis which Pedro Gonçales of Vernaldos had every day for his maintenance, and which were paid at court together with those of other Moriscos, which amounts to 3,600 maravedis a year, because he is dead.] Librose por carta nomina dada en Madrid, 25 dias de noviembre de 1457 annos, en Ruy Gonçales de Sevilla, recabdador de los dos dosavos del almoxarifadgo de Sevilla el anno que paso de [14]55, 2.400 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Alfonso, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador. 2.400 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Enbargados por Ruy Gonçales de Sevilla, recabdador del seysmo del almoxarifadgo de Sevilla por fianças. 3.600 maravedis.) [A payment order issued in Madrid on 25 November 1457 ordered the payment of 2,400 maravedis by Ruy Gonçales of Seville, tax collector of two twelfths of the almojarifazgo of Seville in the past year of 1455. And that he take the money to the said Alfonso, and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by the said tax collector. (Marginal note: Embargoed by Ruy Gonçales of Seville, tax collector of a sixth of the almojarifazgo of Seville as guaranteed. 3,600 maravedis.)]

49 1443, location unknown. 1458, April, 10. Madrid. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 36. Fernand Alvares de Guadix, adalyd cavallero morisco. Mandole el rey librar en raçion (tachado: cada dia) por su alvala firmado de su nombre el anno que paso de 1443 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno los 3.600 maravedis quel de su merçed tenia primeramente, de los quales tenia hecho merçed a Juan de Tarifa por su alvala firmado de su nombre el anno que paso de 1453 annos, e despues el dicho sennor rey gelos mando tornar el dicho anno. 3.600 maravedis. [Fernand Alvares de Guadix, adalid and Moorish knight. The king ordered an [crossed out: daily] allowance to be paid to him by his written and signed authorisation in the past year of 1443, and every year from then onwards the 3,600 maravedis he was firstly paid and which his Mercy had given to Juan de Tarifa by means of a written and signed authorisation of the past year of 1453, for his maintenance, and later the said king ordered them to be returned to him in the said year.]

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documentary appendix Librose por carta del rey dada en Madrid, 10 dias de abril, anno de 1458 annos, en Alfonso Gonçales de Herrera, recabdador de las dos terçias partes de la merindad de Burgos, el anno que paso de [14]55 2.400 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Fernand Alvares, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador. 2.400 maravedis. [A payment order issued in Madrid on 10 April 1458 ordered the payment of 2,400 maravedis by Alfonso Gonçales de Herrera, tax collector of two thirds of the merindad of Burgos in the past year of 1455. And that he take the money to the said Fernand Alvares, and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by the said tax collector.]

50 1443, location unknown. 1459, August, 18. Arévalo. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 40. Alvaro Gonçales de Segovia, cavallero morisco. Contadores 200 maravedis. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala, anno de 1443 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno los 10 maravedis que de su merçed tenia en raçion cada dia e las 10 varas de ypre para su vistuario que Pedro de Agreda, cavallero morisco tenia, por quanto es fynado, que le montan al anno 3.600 maravedis, e las dichas 10 varas de ypre. 3.600 maravedis. 10 varas ypre. [Alvaro Gonçales de Segovia, Moorish knight. The king ordered an allowance to be paid to him by his written authorisation in 1443, and every year from then onwards the 10 maravedis which Pedro de Agreda, Moorish knight, had as his daily allowance plus the 10 varas of Ypres cloth for his clothing, because he is dead, which amounts to 3,600 maravedis a year, and the said 10 varas of Ypres cloth.] Librose por carta del rey dada en Arévalo a 18 dias de agosto, anno de 1459 annos, en Françisco Fernandes de Sevilla, recabdador de la seysma parte del partydo de la madera, el anno que paso de [14]55, los dichos 3.066 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Alvaro Gonçales, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta Alvaro Lopes. 3.066 maravedis. [A payment order issued by the king in Arévalo on 18 August 1459 ordered the payment of 3,066 maravedis by Françisco Fernandes of Seville, tax collector of a sixth of the tax on timber in the past year of 1455. And that he take the money to the said Alvaro Gonçales, and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by Alvaro Lopes.]

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51 1444, location unknown. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 38. Diego Fernandes, cavallero morisco, vesino de Ubeda. Accountants, 100 maravedis Contadores 100 maravedis. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia para su mantenimiento, anno de 1444 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno los 10 maravedis que de su merçed tenia cada dia para su mantenimiento Pedro de Madrid, cavallero morisco, que le llamavan quando moro Mahomad Abenaça, ques fynado. 3.600 maravedis. [Diego Fernandes, Moorish knight, inhabitant of Ubeda. Accountants, 10 maravedis. The king ordered an allowance to be paid to him by his written authorisation in 1444, and every year from then onwards the 10 maravedis which Pedro de Madrid, Moorish knight, who as a Moor was known as Mahomad Abenaça, had every day for his maintenance, and who is dead.]

52 1444, location unknown. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 39. Françisco de Segovia, cavallero morisco. Contadores 100 maravedis. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia para su mantenimiento, anno de 1444 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno los 10 maravedis de raçion cada dia e las 12 varas ypre que del tenia cada anno para su (tachado: mantenimiento) vistuario Pedro del Burgo, cavallero morisco, por quanto se fue del regno sin liçençia del rey. 3.600 maravedis. 12 varas ypre. [Françisco de Segovia, Moorish knight. Accountants, 100 maravedis. The king ordered an allowance to be paid to him by his written authorisation in 1444, and every year from then onwards the 10 maravedis of daily allowance and the 12 varas of Ypres cloth which Pedro del Burgo, Moorish knight, had every year for his [crossed out: maintenance] clothing because he left the kingdom without the king’s licence.]

53 1444, location unknown. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 45. Moriscas. Françisco Gonçales de Briviesca, cavallero morisco.

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documentary appendix Contadores 100 maravedis. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala firmado de su nombre el anno que paso de 1444 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno los 10 maravedis que de su merçed tenia cada dia para su mantenimiento Rodrigo de Gusman, cavallero morisco, que le llamavan quando moro Ali Barredo, que le montan al anno 3.600 maravedis, por quanto es fynado. 3.600 maravedis. [Françisco Gonçales de Briviesca, Moorish knight. Accountants, 100 maravedis. The king ordered an allowance to be paid to him by his written and signed authorisation in the past year of 1444, and every year from then onwards the 10 maravedis which Rodrigo de Gusman, Moorish knight, who as a Moor was known as Ali Barredo, had every day for his maintenance, which amounts to 3,600 maravedis a year, because he is dead.]

54 1444, location unknown. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 46. Alfonso Alvares de Tordesillas, que le llamavan quando moro Mahomad de Asyl. Contadores 100 maravedis. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala, anno de 1444 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno 10 maravedis que de su merçed tenia para su mantenimiento Yuça Obeyd, cavallero morisco, criado de Çulema cabeçera de Mocafre, por quanto es fynado, que le montan al anno 3.600 maravedis, los quales solia tener librados en Alfonso Rodrigues de Duennas (tachado: en) de dos en dos meses. 3.600 maravedis. [Alfonso Alvares de Tordesillas, who as a Moor was known as Mahomad de Asyl. Accountants, 100 maravedis. The king ordered an allowance to be paid to him by his written authorisation in 1444, and every year from then onwards the 10 maravedis which had been paid for his maintenance to Yuça Obeyd, Moorish knight, a servant of Çulema cabecera of Mocafre, because he is dead, which amounts to 3,600 maravedis a year, which used to be paid by Alfonso Rodrigues de Duennas every two months.]

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55 1444, location unknown. 1453, location unknown. 1454, location unknown. 1457, February, 10. Palencia. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 43. Pedro de Soto, fijo de Juan de Tarifa, cavallero morisco.5 Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala firmado de su nombre, el anno que paso de 1444 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno 10 maravedis e 12 varas de ypre que de su merçed tenia en cada anno para su vistuario e mantenimiento Juan de Soto, cavallero morisco, por quanto gelos renunçio, que le montan al anno 3.600 maravedis e el dicho panno. Enbio el rey mandar por otro su alvala firmado de su nombre, anno de 1453 annos que sean librados estos maravedis al dicho Pedro de Soto en el recabdador ques o fuere de la çibdad de Toledo para quel dicho recabdador gelos libre sennaladamente en las rentas desembargadas en la dicha çibdad de aquí adelante. Otrosy, que le non sea descontado terçio alguno e que le acreçento el dicho sennor rey mas el dicho anno de 1453 annos los 10 maravedis de raçion cada dia que de su merçed tenia Diego Gonçales de Carmona por ser cavallero morisco, por quanto es finado, que le montan al anno 3.600 maravedis, que son por todos 7.200 maravedis e 12 varas de ypre. Tiene facultad el dicho Juan de Tarifa para que sy este dicho Juan (sic) de Soto fallesciere antes quel, que estos maravedis se tornen al dicho Juan de Tarifa, lo que le enbio mandar el dicho sennor rey el dicho anno de 1453 annos. E que le acreçento mas el dicho sennor rey por su alvala firmado de su nombre el anno que paso de 1454 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno los dies maravedis que de su merçed tenia de raçion cada dia Luys de Granada, cavallero morisco, que le montan al anno 3.600 maravedis, por quanto es finado. Asy que son todos dies mill e ochoçientos maravedis e dose varas de ypre. 10.800 maravedis. 12 varas ypre. [Pedro de Soto, son of Juan de Tarifa, Moorish knight. The king ordered an allowance to be paid to him by his written authorisation in the past year of 1444, and every year from then onwards the 10 maravedis and 12 varas of Ypres cloth which had been paid for his clothing and maintenance every year to Juan de Soto, Moorish knight, because he renounced them, which amounts to 3,600 maravedis and the said cloth per year. The king ordered by means of another written and signed authorisation in 1453 that the said Pedro de Soto be appropriately paid by whoever is or might be the tax collector of the city of Toledo in the said city from now onwards.

5 This heading is repeated in leg. 1, 47 as follows: “Pedro de Soto, fijo de Juan de Tarifa, adalyd e cavallero morisco del rey nuestro sennor”, and a marginal note: “Esta [. . .] desto con otra raçion”. [He is [. . .] this with another allowance.]

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documentary appendix Furthermore, the said lord our king ordered that no money be reduced from the allowance and ordered in 1453 that it be increased by the 10 maravedis a day that were enjoyed by Diego Gonçales de Carmona, the Moorish knight, because he is dead, which amounts to 3,600 maravedis a year, which is a total of 7,200 maravedis and 12 varas of Ypres cloth. If the said Juan [sic] de Soto should die before the said Juan de Tarifa, these maravedis will be returned to the said Juan de Tarifa, according to the terms of an order of the said lord our king of 1453. And the said lord our king increased by his written and signed authorisation in the past year of 1454 and from that time onwards the 10 maravedis previously paid per day to Luys de Granada, Moorish knight, which amounts to 3,600 maravedis a year, because he is dead. So that the total is 10,800 maravedis and 12 varas of Ypres cloth.] Librose por carta del rey dada en Palençia, 10 dias de febrero de [14]57, en don Frayme Abenxuxen recabdador de la çibdad de Toledo e su partydo el anno de [14]55, los dichos 10.800 maravedis e 12 varas de ypre, con todo 11.760 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Juan de Tarifa, e gelos dé luego. Levo la carta Juan de Tarifa su padre. (Nota al margen, tachada: Enbargados por Ruy Gonçales de Sevilla, recabdador del seysmo del almoxarifadgo de Sevilla por fianças. 11.760 maravedis. Otra nota, sin tachar: Alçose este embargo por mandamiento del rey de que esta su traslado en el anno de [14]56). [A payment order issued by the king in Palencia on 10 February 1457 instructed the payment by don Frayme Abenxuxen, tax collector of the city of Toledo and its taxes in 1455 of the said 10,800 maravedis and 12 varas of Ypres cloth, in total 11,760 maravedis. And that he take the money to the said Juan de Tarifa, and pay him. The letter was taken by Juan de Tarifa, his father.] [(Marginal note, crossed out: Embargoed by Ruy Gonçales of Seville, tax collector of a sixth of the almojarifazgo of Seville as guaranteed. 11,760 maravedis. Another note, not crossed out: This embargo was lifted by order of the king in 1456.)]

56 1444, location unknown. 1455, November, 20. Avila. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 45. Iohan Sanches de Valladolid, cavallero morisco que le llamavan quando moro Hamete Benaçatin. Contadores 100 maravedis. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala firmado de su nombre el anno que paso de 1444 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno 10 maravedis, que le montan al anno 3.600 maravedis, los quales el primeramente tenia de merçed e se le libravan de dos en dos en Alfonso Rodrigues de Duennas. 3.600 maravedis.

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[Iohan Sanches de Valladolid, Moorish knight who as a Moor was known as Hamete Benaçatin. Accountants, 100 maravedis. The king ordered an allowance to be paid to him by his written and signed authorisation in the past year of 1444, and every year from then onwards the 10 maravedis, which amounts to 3,600 maravedis a year, which he was initially paid every two months by Alfonso Rodrigues de Duennas.] Librose por carta del rey dada en la çibdad de Avila, 20 dias de noviembre de 1455 annos, en el thesorero Garsia Vida, recabdador mayor de la meytad del partydo de Huete este dicho anno 2.400 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Juan Sanches, e gelos (tachado: de e) libre sennaladamente en los maravedis de las fianças para que gelos paguen a los plasos de la mesa. Levo la carta Alvar Lopes de Luçena por poder quel dicho Juan Sanches dio al dicho recabdador. 2.400 maravedis. (Nota al margen, tachada: Enbargados por Garcia Vida para el anno de [14]56). [A payment order issued by the king in the city of Avila on 20 November 1455 instructed the payment of 2,400 maravedis by the treasurer Garsia Vida, high tax collector of half of the taxes of Huete this said year. And that he take the money to the said Juan Sanches, and pay him appropriately the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by Alvar Lopes of Lucena by means of an authorisation which the said Juan Sanches gave to the said tax collector. (Marginal note, crossed out: Embargoed by Garcia Vida for the year 1456)]

57 1444, location unknown. 1455, noviembre, 20. Avila. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 46. Fernando de Marruecos, cavallero morisco, fijo de Iohan de Marruecos. Contadores 100 maravedis. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala firmado de su nombre, anno de 1444 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno, los 10 maravedis que de su merçed tenia para su mantenimiento cada dia Mahomad Aben Çayd, moro, que era de Abrahen (tachado: Ça) Abena Çayd su padre, por quanto se paso al regno de Granada sin mandado del rey, e se le libravan en Alfonso Rodrigues de Duennas. 3.600 maravedis. [Fernando de Marruecos, Moorish knight, son of Iohan de Marruecos. Accountants, 100 maravedis. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him by his written and signed authorisation in 1444, and every year from then onwards the 10 maravedis which had been paid for his daily maintenance to Mahomad Aben Çayd, Moor, whose father was Abrahen Abena Çayd, because he passed over into

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documentary appendix the kingdom of Granada without the king’s order and he was paid by Alfonso Rodrigues de Duennas.] Librose por carta del rey dada en la çibdad de Avila, 20 dias de noviembre, anno de 1455 annos, en Juan Garsia deVilladiego, recabdador mayor de la mitad de los diesmos e alfolis del regno de Gallisia, este dicho anno 2.400 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Fernando de Marruecos, e gelos libre sennaladamente en los maravedis de las fianças, que ovo de dar en el dicho su recabdamiento. Levo la carta Juan de Aguilar por virtud de su poder. 2.400 maravedis. [A payment order issued by the king in the city of Avila on 20 November 1455 instructed the payment of 2,400 maravedis by the treasurer Juan Garsia de Villadiego, high tax collector of half of the tithes and alfolis of the kingdom of Galicia this said year. And that he take the money to the said Fernando de Marruecos, and pay him appropriately the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by Juan de Aguilar by virtue of his power of proxy.]

58 1444, location unknown. 1455, November, 20. Avila. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 47. Gonçalo de Baeça, cavallero morisco. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala firmado de su nombre, el anno que paso de 1444 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno los 10 maravedis, que de su merçed tenia para su mantenimiento Françes Navarro, cavallero morisco, criado del rey de Navarra, por quanto se fue a tornar moro al regno de Granada, que le montan al anno 3.600 maravedis. 3.600 maravedis. [Gonçalo de Baeça, Moorish knight. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him by his written and signed authorisation in 1444, and every year from then onwards the 10 maravedis which had been paid for his maintenance to Françes Navarro, Moorish knight, and servant of the king of Navarre, because he went to the kingdom of Granada to turn Moor, which amounts to 3,600 maravedis a year.] Librose por carta del rey dada en Avila, 20 dias de noviembre, anno de 1455 annos, en Juan Garsia deVilladiego, recabdador mayor de la meytad de los diesmos e alfolis del reyno de Gallisia, el dicho anno 2.400 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho de Baeça, e gelos libre en los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta Juan de Aguilar. 2.400 maravedis. [A payment order issued by the king in Avila on 20 November 1455 instructed the payment of 2,400 maravedis by Juan Garsia de Villadiego, high tax collector of half of the tithes and alfolis of the kingdom of Galicia in the said year. And that he take the money to the said Baeça, and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by Juan de Aguilar.]

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59 1445, location unknown. Crossed out: (1456, February, 10. Segovia.) R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 58. Diego de Arevalo, cavallero morisco, fijo de Fernand Dias de Toledo. Quitaçiones, 100 maravedis. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala firmado de su nombre, el anno que paso de 1445 annos, e dende en adelante en cada anno, los 10 maravedis quel dicho su padre tenia en raçion cada dia, por quanto es fynado, que le montan al anno 3.600 maravedis. [Diego de Arevalo, Moorish knight, son of Fernand Dias de Toledo. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him by his written and signed authorisation in the past year of 1445, and every year from then onwards the 10 maravedis which the said [Diego’s] father had had as his daily allowance, because he is dead, which amounts to 3,600 maravedis a year.] (Tachado: Librose por carta del rey dada en Segovia, 10 dias de febrero, anno de [14]56 annos, en Fernand Nunnes de Toledo, recabdador de la seysma parte del aseyte de Sevilla, el anno que paso de [14]57, 2.400. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Diego de Arevalo, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta Alvar Lopes de Luçena. 2.400 maravedis.) (Nota al margen, tachada: Enbargados anno de [14]56 por Francisco Fernandes de Sevilla, recabdador de los çinco dosavos del almoxarifadgo de Sevilla por fianças. Otra nota, sin tachar: Yerro e non paso.) [(Crossed out: A payment order issued by the king in Segovia on 10 February 1456 instructed the payment of 2,400 [maravedis] by Fernand Nunnes of Toledo, tax collector of a sixth of the oil of Seville in the past year of 1457. And that he take the money to the said Diego de Arevalo, and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by Alvar Lopes of Lucena. (Marginal note, crossed out: Embargoed for the year 1456 by Francisco Fernandes of Seville, tax collector of five twelfths of the almojarifazgo of Seville as guaranteed. Another note, not crossed out: Error and was not approved.)]

60 1445, location unknown. 1456, February, 10. Segovia. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 49. Pero Vasques de Cordova, cavallero morisco. Contadores [en blanco] maravedis. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala, anno de 1445 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno los 10 maravedis que Pedro de Agreda tenia, ques fynado, que le montan al anno 3.600 maravedis. 3.600 maravedis.

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documentary appendix [Pero Vasques de Cordova, Moorish knight. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him by his written authorisation in 1445, and every year from then onwards the 10 maravedis which Pedro de Agreda, who is dead, had as his allowance, which amounts to 3,600 maravedis a year.] Librose por carta nomina a buelta de otras, dada en Segovia, 10 dias de febrero, anno de 1456 annos, en Francisco Fernándes de Sevilla, recabdador de los çinco dosavos del almoxarifazgo e rentas menudas de Sevilla el anno de [14]55, 3.400 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Pero Vasques, e gelos dé luego. Levo la carta Alvar Lopes de Luçena, vesino de Sevilla. 3.400 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Enbargados por Francisco Fernandes de Sevilla, recabdador de los çinco dosavos del almoxarifadgo de Sevilla por fianças. 3.600 maravedis). [A payment order issued by the king in addition to others in Segovia on 10 February 1456 instructed the payment of 3,400 maravedis by Francisco Fernándes of Seville, tax collector of five twelfths of the almojarifazgo and minor incomes of Seville in the year 1455. And that he take the money to the said Pero Vasques, and pay him. The letter was taken by Alvar Lopes of Lucena, inhabitant of Seville. (Marginal note: Embargoed by Francisco Fernandes of Seville, tax collector of five twelfths of the almojarifazgo of Seville as guaranteed. 3,600 maravedis.)]

61 1445, location unknown. 1456, December, 18. Madrid. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 70. Iohan Gonçales Franco, cavallero morisco. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia, anno de 1445 annos los 10 maravedis quel primeramente tenia para su mantenimiento, que le montan al anno [3.600 maravedis]. 3.600 maravedis. [Iohan Gonçales Franco, Moorish knight. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him in 1445 of 10 maravedis which he initially had for his maintenance, which amounts to 3,600 maravedis a year.] Librose por carta nomina, dada en Madrid, 18 dias de disiembre, anno de 1456 annos, en Fernando Alfonso de la Cava e Fernando Lopes del Rencon, recabdadores del arçedianadgo de Toledo el anno que paso de [14]55, los dichos 2.400 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Juan Gonçales, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta los dichos recabdadores. 2.400 maravedis. [A payment order issued in Madrid on 18 December 1456 instructed the payment of the said 2,400 maravedis by Fernando Alfonso de la Cava and Fernando Lopes del Rencon, tax collector of the archedianazgo of Toledo in

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the past year of 1455. And that he take the money to the said Juan Gonçales, and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by the said tax collector.]

62 1445, location unknown. 1457, November, 25. Madrid. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 44. Iohan de Sahavedra, cavallero morisco, que le llamavan quando moro Mahomad. Contadores, 100 maravedis. Mandole el rey librar en raçion por su alvala, anno de 1445 annos, e dende en adelante en cada anno los 10 maravedis que de su merçed tenia Alfonso de Aguilar, cavallero morisco, que le montan al anno 3.600 maravedis, por quanto el dicho sennor rey le privo dellos por estar con el rey de Navarra. 3.600 maravedis. [Iohan de Sahavedra, Moorish knight, who as a Moor was known as Mahomad. Accountants, 100 maravedis. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him by his written authorisation in 1445 and every year from then onwards the 10 maravedis previously paid to Alfonso de Aguilar, Moorish knight, which amounts to 3,600 maravedis a year, because the said lord our king withdrew them from him for he is with the king of Navarre.] Librose por carta nomina dada en Madrid, 25 dias de noviembre, anno de 1457 annos, en Ruy Gonçales de Sevilla, recabdador de los dos dosavos del almoxarifadgo de Sevilla, el anno que paso de [14]55, 2.400 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Juan, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador. 2.400 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Enbargados por Ruy Gonçales de Sevilla, recabdador del seysmo del almoxarifadgo de Sevilla, por fianças.) [A payment order issued in Madrid on 25 November 1457 instructed the payment of 2,400 maravedis by Ruy Gonçales of Seville, tax collector of two twelfths of the almojarifazgo of Seville in the past year of 1455. And that he take the money to the said Juan, and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by the said tax collector.]

63 1445, location unknown. 1457, November, 25. Madrid. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 68. Fernand Alvares de Ladrada, fijo de Juan Alvares, cavallero morisco. Contadores 100 maravedis.

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documentary appendix Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala, anno de 1445 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno los 10 maravedis que Fernando de Madrid tenia, por quanto es fynado, que le montan al anno 3.600 maravedis. 3.600 maravedis. [Fernand Alvares de Ladrada, son of Juan Alvares, Moorish knight. Accountants, 100 maravedis. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him by his written authorisation in 1445 and every year from then onwards the 10 maravedis previously paid to Fernando de Madrid, because he is dead, which amounts to 3,600 maravedis a year.] Librose por carta nomina dada en Madrid, 25 dias de noviembre, anno de 1457 annos, en Ruy Gonçales de Sevilla, recabdador de los dos dosavos del almoxarifadgo de Sevilla el dicho anno de [14]55, los dichos 3.600 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Fernand Alvares, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador. 3.600 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Enbargados por Ruy Gonçales de Sevilla, recabdador del seysmo del almoxarifadgo, por fianças.) [A payment order issued in Madrid on 25 November 1457 instructed the payment of the said 3,600 maravedis by Ruy Gonçales of Seville, tax collector of two twelfths of the almojarifazgo of Seville in the said year of 1455. And that he take the money to the said Fernand Alvares, and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by the said tax collector.]

64 1445, location unknown. 1457, November, 25. Madrid. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 59. Pero Gonçales de Marchena, tronpeta del conde de Arcos, cavallero morisco. Contadores 100 maravedis. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala firmado de su nombre, anno de 1445 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno los 10 maravedis que de su merçed tenia cada dia Diego de Cogollos, cavallero morisco, por quanto se paso al regno de Granada syn su liçençia, que le montan al anno 3.600. 3.600 maravedis. [Pero Gonçales de Marchena, trumpeteer of the count of Arcos, Moorish knight. Accountants, 100 maravedis. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him by his written and signed authorisation in 1445 and every year from then onwards the 10 maravedis previously paid every day to Diego de Cogollos, Moorish knight, because he passed over into the kingdom of Granada without his licence, which amounts to 3,600 maravedis a year.]

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Librose por carta nomina dada en Madrid, 25 dias de noviembre, anno de 1457 annos, en Ruy Gonçales de Sevilla, recabdador de los dos dosavos del almoxarifadgo de Sevilla el anno que paso de [14]55, los dichos 3.600 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Pero Gomes, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador. (Nota al margen: Enbargados por Ruy Gonçales de Sevilla, recabdador del seysmo del almoxarifadgo de Sevilla por fianças.) [A payment order issued in Madrid on 25 November 1457 instructed the payment of the said 3,600 maravedis by Ruy Gonçales of Seville, tax collector of two twelfths of the almojarifazgo of Seville in the past year of 1455. And that he take the money to the said Pero Gomes, and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by the said tax collector. (Marginal note: Embargoed by Ruy Gonçales of Seville, tax collector of a sixth of the almojarifazgo of Seville as guaranteed.)]

65 1445, location unknown. 1458, November, 20. Segovia. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 41. Moriscas. Iohan de Alcantara, cavallero morisco, fijo de Fernand Gonçales. Contadores 200 maravedis. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala firmado de su nombre el anno que paso de 1445 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno 12 maravedis que de su merçed tenia Mahomad Abenma, cavallero morisco, e otrosy las 12 varas de ypre, por quanto es fynado, que le montan al anno 4.320 maravedis, e las dichas 12 varas de ypre. 4.320 maravedis. 12 varas ypre. [Iohan de Alcantara, Moorish knight, son of Fernand Gonçales. Accountants, 200 maravedis. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him by his written and signed authorisation in 1445 and every year from then onwards the 12 maravedis previously paid to Mahomad Abenma, Moorish knight, and in addition the 12 varas of Ypres cloth, because he is dead, which amounts to 4,200 maravedis a year, and the said varas of Ypres cloth.] Librose por carta del rey dada en Segovia a 20 dias de (tachado: disiembre) noviembre, anno de 1458 annos, en Alfonso Gutierres de Eçija, recabdador de la meytad de la renta de los diesmos e aduanas de Cuenca e Cartajena en el reyno de Murçia, el anno que paso de [14]55, los dichos 5.320 maravedis de raçion e mantenimiento. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Juan de Alcantara, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador por su poder. 5.320 maravedis.

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documentary appendix (Nota al margen: Enbargados por Alfonso Gutierres de Eçija, recabdador de los diesmos e aduanas por fianças.) [A payment order issued by the king in Segovia on 20 [crossed out: December] November 1458 instructed the payment of the said 5,320 maravedis of allowance and maintenance by Alfonso Gutierres of Ecija, tax collector of half of the incomes from the tithes and customs duties of Cuenca and Cartagena in the kingdom of Murcia in the past year of 1455. And that he take the money to the said Juan de Alcantara, and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by the said tax collector because of his power of proxy. (Marginal note: Embargoed by Alfonso Gutierres of Ecija, tax collector of the tithes and customs duties as guaranteed.)]

66 1445, location unknown. 1459, May, 2. Medina del Campo. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 49. Moriscas. Iohan de Ximena, cavallero morisco. Contadores 100 maravedis. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala firmado de su nombre anno de 1445 annos los 10 maravedis que de su merçed tenia en raçion cada dia Fernando de Madrid, cavallero morisco, por quanto gelos renunçio, que le montan al anno 3.600 maravedis. 3.600 maravedis. [Iohan de Ximena, Moorish knight. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him by his written and signed authorisation in 1445 of the 10 maravedis which were previously paid as a daily allowance to Fernando de Madrid, Moorish knight, because he renounced them, which amounts to 3,600 maravedis a year.] Librose por carta del rey, dada en Medina del Campo, 2 dias de mayo, anno de [14]59 annos, en Ruy Gonçales de Sevilla, recabdador de la seysma parte del partydo del aseyte de Sevilla el anno que paso de [14]55 annos, 2.400 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Juan de Xymena, e gelos dé en los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador. [A payment order issued by the king in Medina del Campo on 2 May 1459 instructed the payment of 2,400 maravedis by Ruy Gonçales of Seville, tax collector of a sixth of the tax on oil in Seville in the past year of 1455. And that he take the money to the said Juan de Xymena, and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by the said tax collector.]

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67 1446, location unknown. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 42. Maestre Farax al Çadafe, allcayde mayor de los moros e maestro mayor de las obras de los alcaçares de Toledo. Contadores 200 maravedis. Mandole el rey librar en raçion (tachado: cada dia) por su alvala el anno que paso de 1446 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno los 20 maravedis que de su merçed tenia para su mantenimiento el alcayde Arafe, ques fynado, que le montan al anno 7.200 maravedis. 7.200 maravedis. [Maestre Farax al Çadafe, alcaide mayor of the Moors and master builder of works on the castle and fortress of Toledo. The king ordered an [crossed out: daily] allowance to be paid to him by his written authorisation in the past year of 1446 and from then onwards of the 20 maravedis which were previously paid for his maintenance to the alcaide Arafe, who is dead, which amounts to 7,200 maravedis a year.]

68 1446, location unknown. 1452, location unknown. 1453, location unknown. 1455, November, 25. Avila. 1457, February, 10, Palencia. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 63–64. Raçiones Moriscas. Iohan Fernandes de Aguilar, que le llamavan quando moro Hamede el Cabry. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala firmado de su nombre, anno de 1446 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno los 10 maravedis que montan al anno 3.600 maravedis, quel dicho Juan Fernandes tenia para su mantenimiento cada dia e se le libravan de dos en dos meses en Alfonso Rodrigues de Duennas. E que le acresçento mas el dicho sennor rey, anno de 1452 annos, otros 10 maravedis de los 20 maravedis que de su sennoria tenia Garsia Vanegas por su cavallero morisco, que le montan al anno 3.600 maravedis, por quanto los otros 10 maravedis para complimiento de los dichos 20 maravedis quel dicho Garsia Vanegas tenia fue su merçed que quedasen consumidos en los sus libros. E mas que le acresçento las 12 varas de panno de ypre mayor quel dicho Garsia Vanegas tenia para su vistuario, en tal manera quel dicho Juan Fernandes tenga los dichos 20 maravedis cada dia, que le montan al anno 7.200 maravedis e las dichas 12 varas de ypre. E despues desto enbio el rey mandar por una su çedula firmada de su nombre el anno que paso de 1453 annos a los sus contadores maiores por los muchos

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documentary appendix serviçios quel dicho Juan Fernandes le ha fecho e al prinçipe don Enrrique su fijo, que todos los maravedis quel de su sennoria tenia en qualquier manera le sean librados de aqui adelante en los recabdadores que son o fueren de la çibdad de Toledo, para que los dichos recabdadores gelos libren sennaladamente en rentas desembargadas de la dicha çibdad. E que le acresçento el rey mas el dicho anno de [14]53 los 10 maravedis que de su merçed tenia en raçion cada dia Alfonso de Sahavedra, su cavallero morisco, que le montan al anno 3.600 maravedis, por quanto el dicho Alfonso de Sahavedra es fynado, que son por todos 10.800 maravedis e las dichas 12 varas de ypre. 10.800 maravedis. 12 varas ypre. [Iohan Fernandes de Aguilar, who as a Moor was known as Hamede el Cabry. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him by his written and signed authorisation in 1446 and from then onwards the 10 maravedis amounting to 3,600 maravedis a year which the said Juan Fernandes had for his daily maintenance and which were paid every two months by Alfonso Rodrigues de Duennas. And this was increased by the said lord our king in 1452 by another 10 maravedis of the 20 maravedis that Garsia Vanegas received from his lordship for his Moorish knight, which amounts to 3,600 maravedis, for it was his decision that the other 10 maravedis of the said 20 maravedis that the said Garsia Vanegas received should be consumed in his books. And he also added the 12 varas of Ypres cloth that the said Garsia Vanegas had for his clothing, so that the said Juan Fernandes was to have the said 20 maravedis per day, which amounts to 7,200 maravedis a year and the said 12 varas of Ypres cloth. And after this the king gave order to his royal accountants by means of a signed cedule in the past year of 1453 that because of the many services rendered to him and his son the prince Enrique by the said Juan Fernandes, that all the maravedis that his lordship had in any manner be paid to him from now onwards by whoever are or might be the tax collectors of the city of Toledo, so that the said tax collectors might pay him from from the incomes earned in the said city. And the king further added in the said year of 1453 the 10 maravedis previously paid as a daily allowance to Alfonso de Sahavedra, his Moorish knight, which amounts to 3,600 maravedis, because the said Alfonso de Sahavedra is dead, which is a total of 10,800 maravedis and the said 12 varas of Ypres cloth.] 64r

Librose por carta del rey dada en la çibdad de Avila, 25 dias de noviembre de 1455 annos, en don Frayme Abenxuxen, recabdador de la çibdad de Toledo e su partydo este dicho anno, 5.400 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Juan Fernandes, e gelos dé e pague en dineros contados a los plasos dela mesa. Levo la carta el mesmo. 5.400 maravedis. [A payment order issued by the king in the city of Avila on 25 November 1455 instructed the payment of 5,400 maravedis by don Frayme Abenxuxen, tax collector of the city of Toledo and its taxes this said year. And that he take the

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money to the said Juan Fernandes, and give him the appropriate amounts in payment. He took the letter himself.] Librose por carta del rey dada en Palençia, 10 dias de febrero del [14]57, en don Frayme Abenxuxen, recabdador de la çibdad de Toledo e su partydo el anno de [14]55 los dichos 5.400 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Juan Fernandes, e gelos dé logo. Levo la carta el mesmo. 5.400 maravedis. [A payment order issued by the king in Palencia on 10 February 1457 instructed the payment of the said 5,400 maravedis by don Frayme Abenxuxen, tax collector of the city of Toledo and its taxes in the year 1455. And that he take the money to the said Juan Fernandes, and pay him. He took the letter himself.]

69 1446, location unknown. 1453, location unknown. 1457, February, 10, Palencia. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 70. Diego de Vaena, fijo de Juan de Tarifa, cavallero morisco. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala firmado de su nombre, el anno que paso de 1446 annos los 10 maravedis de raçion que del dicho sennor rey tenia cada dia e 10 varas de ypre cada anno que del dicho sennor rey tenia Juan de Antequera, cavallero morisco ques fynado, que son al anno 3.600 maravedis e las dichas 10 varas de ypre. Hanse de librar los maravedis aqui contenidos al dicho Diego de Vaena en el recabdador ques o fuere de la çibdad de Toledo de aqui adelante para quel dicho recabdador se los libre sennaladamente en rentas desembargadas de la dicha çibdad. E que le acresçento el rey mas el dicho anno de 1453 annos 10 maravedis, que le montan al anno 3.600 maravedis que Diego de Cogollos su cavallero morysco de su merçed tenia en raçion cada dia por su cavallero morisco, por quanto es fynado, que son por todos 7.200 maravedis e las dichas 10 varas de ypre. 7.200 maravedis. 10 varas ypre. [Diego de Vaena, son of Juan de Tarifa, Moorish knight. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him by his written and signed authorisation in the past year of 1446 of the 10 maravedis of allowance that he had from the said lord our king and the 10 varas of Ypres cloth received every year from the said lord our king by Juan de Antequera, a Moorish knight who is dead, which is 3,600 maravedis a year plus the said 10 varas of Ypres cloth. The maravedis specified here are to be paid to the said Diego de Vaena by whoever is or might be the tax collector of the city of Toledo from now onwards so that the said tax collector may pay him appropriately from the incomes earned in the same city. And the king added in the said year of 1453 another 10 maravedis, which

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documentary appendix amounts to 3,600 maravedis, that were previously paid to Diego de Cogollos his Moorish knight as a daily allowance for his Moorish knight, because he is dead, which gives a total of 7,200 maravedis and the said 10 varas of Ypres cloth.] Librose por carta del rey dada en Palençia, 10 dias de febrero del [14]57, en don Frayme Abenxuxen, recabdador de la çibdad de Toledo e su partydo el anno de [14]55 los dichos 7.200 maravedis e 15 varas de ypre contadas a 80 maravedis, que son todos 8.160 maravedis, e gelos dé luego de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta Juan de Tarifa. 8.160 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Tiene alvala para los dar en fiança. Enbargados por Ruy Gonçales de Sevilla, recabdador del seysmo del almoxarifadgo de Sevilla por fianças. 8.000 maravedis. Alçose este embargo por mandamiento del rey de que esta su traslado en el anno de [14]56.) [A payment order issued by the king in Palencia on 10 February 1457 instructed the payment by don Frayme Abenxuxen, tax collector of the city of Toledo and its taxes in the year 1455 of the said 7,200 maravedis and 15 varas of Ypres cloth worth 80 maravedis, which is a total of 8,160 maravedis, and that he pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by Juan de Tarifa. (Marginal note: He has the king’s written authorisation to give them as guarantee. Embargoed by Ruy Gonçales of Seville, tax collector of a sixth of the almojarifazgo of Seville as guaranteed. 8,000 maravedis. This embargo was lifted by order of the king in the year 1456.)]

70 1446, location unknown. 1455, November, 20. Avila. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 41. Moriscas. Iohan de Alcala, cavallero morisco, criado de Pedro de Acunna. Contadores 100 maravedis. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala firmado de su nombre el anno que paso de 1446 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno los 10 maravedis que de su merçed tenia en raçion cada dia Juan de Baeça, cavallero morisco, ques fynado, que le montan al anno 3.600 maravedis. 3.600 maravedis. [Iohan de Alcala, Moorish knight, servant of Pedro de Acunna. Accountants, 100 maravedis. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him by his written and signed authorisation in the past year of 1446 and from then onwards every year the 10 maravedis previously paid as a daily allowance to Juan de Baeça, Moorish knight, who is dead, which amounts to 3,600 maravedis a year.]

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Librose por carta del rey dada en la çibdad de Avila, 20 dias de noviembre, anno de 1455 annos en Alfonso Garsia de Madrid, recabdador mayor de la mitad de los diesmos e alfolis de Gallisia este dicho anno 2.400 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Juan de Alcala, e gelos libre sennaladamente en los maravedis de sus fianças que ha de dar en el dicho su recabdamiento. Levo la carta Juan de Aguilar corredor por virtud de su poder. 2.400 maravedis. [A payment order issued by the king in the city of Avila on 20 November 1455 instructed the payment of 2,400 maravedis by Alfonso Garsia of Madrid, high tax collector of half of the tithes and alfolis of the kingdom of Galicia in this said year. And that he take the money to the said Juan de Alcala and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by Juan de Aguilar, tax broker, by virtue of his power of proxy.]

71 1446, location unknown. 1455, November, 20. Avila. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 50. Ed. A. Echevarria, “Conversión y ascenso social en la Castilla del siglo XV: los casos de Farax de Belvis y García Ramírez de Jaén”, ASIM VIII, Teruel, 2002, p. 565. Farax de Belvis, criado del Maestre de Santiago, cavallero morisco. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala firmado de su nombre el anno que paso de 1446 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno los 13 maravedis que Hamede algosil Ronda tenia en cada anno para su mantenimiento, que le montan al anno 5.040 maravedis, por quanto el dicho Mahomad se fue al regno de Granada. 5.040 maravedis. [Farax de Belvis, servant of the Master of Santiago, Moorish knight. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him by his written and signed authorisation in the past year of 1446 and from then onwards every year the 13 maravedis previously paid every year for his maintenance to Hamede alguacil [of ] Ronda, which amounts to 5,040 maravedis a year, because the said Mahomad left for the kingdom of Granada.] Librose por carta del rey dada en la çibdad de Avila, a 20 dias de noviembre, anno de 1455 annos en Alfonso Garsia de Madrid, recabdador mayor de la mytad de los diesmos e alfolis del regno de Gallisia este dicho anno 3.360 maravedis, E que recuda con ellos al dicho Farax, e gelos libre en los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta (tachado: Farax) Juan de Aguilar por virtud de su poder. 3.360 maravedís. [A payment order issued by the king in the city of Avila on 20 November 1455 instructed the payment by Alfonso Garsia of Madrid, high tax collector of half of the tithes and alfolis of the kingdom of Galicia in this said year. And

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documentary appendix that he take the money to the said Farax and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by [crossed out: Farax] Juan de Aguilar by virtue of his power of proxy.]

72 1446, location unknown. 1453, location unknown. 1455, March, 24. Location unknown. 1457, February, 10. Palencia. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 51. Juan de Tarifa, fijo de Juan de Tarifa, cavallero morisco. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala firmado de su nombre, el anno que paso de 1446 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno los 10 maravedis que de su merçed tenia en raçion cada dia Pedro de Ubeda, cavallero morisco, por quanto syn liçençia e mandado del rey se paso al regno de Granada. E que le acresçento el rey mas al anno que paso de 1453 annos los 12 maravedis e 12 varas de ypre que de su merçed tenia Fernando Ortys Calderon, su cavallero morisco, por quanto es fynado, que le montan al anno 4.320 maravedis, e mas el dicho panno. E mas que le acreçento el rey el dicho anno de 1453 annos, 10 varas de panno de ypre que de su merçed tenia Benito, fijo de Cristoval Fernandes Elbecar, ques fynado, que son todos los maravedis e panno 7.920 maravedis e las dichas veynte e dos varas de ypre. El qual dicho Juan de Tarifa, padre deste dicho Juan de Tarifa, tiene alvala del rey que le dio el dicho anno de [14]53 para que le sean librados en la çibdad de Toledo, en el recabdador que es o fuere della, para que gelos libre en rentas desembargadas della, e otrosy tyene alvala el dicho Juan de Tarifa padre deste dicho Juan de Tarifa de facultad que sy este dicho Juan de Tarifa fallesçiere antes quel dicho su padre se torne al dicho Juan de Tarifa su padre, la qual le dio el recabdador el dicho anno de [14]53. (Tachado: 7.920 maravedis) 3.600 maravedis. (Tachado: 22 varas ypre) 10 varas ypre. [Juan de Tarifa, son of Juan de Tarifa, Moorish knight. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him by his written and signed authorisation in the past year of 1446 and from then onwards every year the 10 maravedis previously given as a daily allowance to Pedro de Ubeda, Moorish knight, because he passed over into the kingdom of Granada without the king’s licence and instruction. And the king added in the past year of 1453 the 12 maravedis and 12 varas of Ypres cloth previously paid to Fernando Ortys Calderon, his Moorish knight, because he is dead, which amounts to 4,320 maravedis a year, plus the said cloth. And the king added further in the said year of 1453 10 varas of Ypres cloth previously paid to Benito, son of Cristoval Fernandes Elbecar, who is dead,

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which is a total of maravedis and cloth of 7,920 maravedis and the said 22 varas of Ypres cloth. The said Juan de Tarifa, father of this said Juan de Tarifa, has the king’s written authorisation given to him in the said year of 1453 to be paid in the city of Toledo, by whoever the tax collector might be, and furthermore the said Juan de Tarifa father of this said Juan de Tarifa has the king’s written authorisation so that if this said Juan de Tarifa should die before his said father the money will return to the said Juan de Tarifa’s father, and this authorisation was given to him by the tax collector in the said year of 1453.] (Nota al margen: Enbio el rey mandar por su alvala firmado de su nombre fecho 24 dias de março deste anno de 1455 annos, que esta su traslado adelante deste pliego que sean y quitados al dicho Iohan de Tarifa los 4.320 maravedis e 12 varas de ypre que ovo ganado con relaçion non verdadera de Fernand Ortys Calderon, cavallero morisco, e sean tornados e asentados al dicho Fernand Ortys e le sean librados este anno e de aquí adelante en cada un anno. Por virtud de lo qual se le quitaron al dicho Juan de Tarifa los dichos 4.320 maravedis e 12 varas de ypre e se pusieron e asentaron al dicho Fernand Ortys. Ansi le quedan al dicho Juan de Tarifa por librar este anno e de aquí adelante 3.600 maravedis e 10 varas de ypre.) [(Marginal note: The king ordered by his written and signed authorisation, dated 24 March 1455, whose copy is contained below in this notebook, that the 4,320 maravedis and 12 varas of Ypres cloth awarded to the said Iohan de Tarifa as a result of an untrue account concerning Fernand Ortys Calderon, Moorish knight, be withdrawn from him and returned to the said Fernand Ortys, and that the money be paid to him this year and every year from now onwards. By virtue of which the said 4,320 maravedis and 12 varas de Ypres cloth were taken from the said Juan de Tarifa and paid to the said Fernand Ortys. Thus the said Juan de Tarifa is left this year and from now onwards with the payment of 3,600 maravedis and 10 varas of Ypres cloth.)] Librose por carta del rey dada en Palençia 10 dias de febrero de [14]57, en don Freyme Abenxuxen recabdador de la çibdad de Toledo e su partydo el anno de [14]56, los dichos 3.600 maravedis e 10 varas de ypre, e por ellas 700 maravedis, que son por todos 4.300 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Juan de Tarifa, e gelos libre en los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta el mesmo. 4.300 maravedis. [A payment order issued by the king in Palencia on 10 February 1457 instructed the payment by don Freyme Abenxuxen, tax collector of the city of Toledo and its taxes in 1456, of the said 3,600 maravedis and 10 varas of Ypres cloth, and for them 700 maravedis, which is a total for all of them of 4,300 maravedis. And that he take the money to the said Juan de Tarifa and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. He took the letter himself.]

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73 1446, location unknown. 1453, location unknown. 1457, February, 10. Palencia. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 72. Iohan de Cordova, cavallero morisco, fijo de Juan Fernandes de Aguilar. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala firmado de su nombre, el anno que paso de 1446 annos, e dende en adelante en cada anno, la qual se asento en el libro de las raçiones de 48 annos, los 20 maravedis que montan al anno 7.200 maravedis e las 16 varas de panno de ypre para su vestuario que Pero Sanches de Carrión,6 cavallero morisco, de su merçed tenia en raçion e vestuario cada anno, por quanto es fynado. E enbio el rey mandar por un su alvala firmado de su nombre el anno de [14]53 que sean librados estos maravedis al dicho Juan de Cordova en el recabdador ques o fuere de la çibdad de Toledo para quel recabdador gelos libre en rentas desembargadas. 7.200 maravedis. 16 varas ypre. [Iohan de Cordova, Moorish knight, son of Juan Fernandes de Aguilar. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him by his written and signed authorisation in the past year of 1446 and from then onwards every year, and this allowance was recorded in the book of allowances of 1448 as 20 maravedis which amounts to the yearly sum of 7,200 maravedis and the 16 varas of cloth awarded for his clothing every year to Pero Sanches de Carrion, Moorish knight, because he is dead. And the king ordered by means of a written and signed authorisation in 1453 that these maravedis be paid to the said Juan de Cordova by whoever might be the tax collector of the city of Toledo so that the tax collector pays him from the incomes earned there.] Librose por carta del rey dada en Palençia, 10 dias de febrero de [14]57 en don Frayme Abenxuxen, recabdador de la çibdad de Toledo e su partydo el anno de [14]55 los dichos 7.200 (sic) maravedis e 16 varas de ypre que montan en ello 5.040 maravedis, e gelos dé luego. Levo la carta Juan Fernandes, su padre. su poder. 5.040 maravedis. (Nota al margen, tachada: Enbargados por Ruy Gonçales de Sevilla, recabdador del diesmo del almoxarifadgo de Sevilla, por fianças.) [A payment order issued by the king in Palencia on 10 February 1457 instructed the payment by don Freyme Abenxuxen, tax collector of the city of Toledo and its taxes in 1455, of the said 7,200 [sic] maravedis and 16 varas of Ypres cloth, which amount to 5,040 maravedis and that he pay him. The letter was taken by Juan Fernandes, his father.

6

See López de Coca, J. E.: “Caballeros moriscos . . .”, p. 130.

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(Marginal note, crossed out: Embargoed by Ruy Gonçales of Seville, tax collector of the tithes of the almojarifazgo of Seville, as guaranteed.)]

74 1446, location unknown. 1458, November, 20. Avila. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 50. Ruy Dias de Mendoça, cavallero morisco. Contadores, 100 maravedis. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala, anno de 1446 annos, 12 maravedis cada dia, que le montan al anno 4.320 maravedis e mas para su vestuario cada anno 12 varas de ypre, los quales el primeramente tenia en raçion e vestuario cada anno e el dicho sennor rey avia fecho merçed dellos a [en blanco], disiendo que avia estado en deserviçio del rey con el rey de Navarra, e el dicho sennor rey gelos mando tornar el dicho anno. 4.320 maravedis. 12 varas ypre. [Ruy Dias de Mendoça, Moorish knight. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him by his written authorisation in 1446 of 12 maravedis a day, which amounts to 4,320 maravedis a year plus 12 varas of Ypres cloth every year for his clothing, which he initially had as his allowance and clothing every year and which the said lord our king had awarded to [no name given], saying that he had left the king for the king of Navarre, and the said lord our king ordered the money to be returned to him in the said year.] Librose por carta nomina dada en Segovia, 20 dias de noviembre, anno de 1458 annos en Alfonso Gutierres de Eçija, recabdador de la meytad de los diesmos e aduanas de Cuenca e Cartajena, con el reyno de Murçia el anno que paso de [14]55, 5.320 maravedis de raçion e vestuario. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Ruy Dias, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador por su poder. 5.320 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Enbargados por Alfonso Gutierres de Eçija, recabdador de los diesmos e aduanas por fianças.) [A payment order issued in Segovia on 20 November 1458 instructed the payment of 5,320 maravedis of allowance and clothing by Alfonso Gutierres of Ecija, tax collector of half of the tithes and customs duties of Cuenca and Cartagena with the kingdom of Murcia in the past year of 1455. And that he take the money to the said Ruy Dias, and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by the said tax collector on account of his power of proxy. (Marginal note, crossed out: Embargoed by Alfonso Gutierres of Ecija, tax collector of the tithes and customs duties as guaranteed.)]

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75 1447, location unknown. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 39. Gomes de Valladolid, fijo de Gonçalo Alonso de Benavente, cavallero morisco. Contadores 200 maravedis. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala firmado de su nombre, el anno que paso de 1447 annos los 19 maravedis que del tenia cada dia el dicho su padre, primo del rey de Benamaryn, e las 12 varas de ypre que el dicho Gonçalo Alfonso del dicho sennor rey tenia cada un anno para su vistuario, por quanto gelos renunçio, que le montan al anno 6.480 maravedis. 6.480 maravedis. 12 varas ypre. [Gomes de Valladolid, son of Gonçalo Alonso de Benavente, Moorish knight. Accountants, 200 maravedis. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him by his written and signed authorisation in the past year of 1447 of the 19 maravedis previously paid every day to the father of the said [Gomes], a cousin of the king of Benamaryn, and the 12 varas of Ypres cloth which the said Gonçalo Alfonso had from the said lord our king for his clothing every year, because he renounced them, which amounts to 6,480 maravedis a year.]

76 1447, location unknown. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 40. Benito Gonçales atabalero, cavallero morisco. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala firmado de su nombre, el anno que paso de 1447 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno los 10 maravedis que de su merçed tenia en raçion cada dia Alvaro de [Rentas], cavallero morisco, por quanto estava en compannia del rey de Navarra, que le montan al anno 3.600 maravedis. 3.600 maravedis. [Benito Gonçales kettledrummer, Moorish knight. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him by his written and signed authorisation in the past year of 1447 and every year from then onwards of the 10 maravedis previously paid as a daily allowance to Alvaro de [Rentas], Moorish knight, because he was in the company of the king of Navarre, which amounts to 3,600 maravedis a year.]

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77 1447, location unknown. 1458, November, 20. Segovia. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 48. Iohan Calayn, hermano de Luys de Alcala, cavallero morisco. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia 12 maravedis que le montan al anno 4.320 maravedis e mas 10 varas de ypre para su vistuario cada anno por su alvala firmado de su nombre, anno de 1447 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno, quel dicho su hermano solia tener, por quanto es fynado, e que su merçed mandava que non se consuman de la mitad desta raçion e vistuario por virtud de la hordenança, por que la primera semejante raçion e vestuario se consumiese en esta meramente. 4.320 maravedis. 10 varas ypre. [Iohan Calayn, brother of Luys de Alcala, Moorish knight. The king ordered a daily allowance of 12 maravedis to be paid to him, which amounts to 4,320 maravedis a year plus 10 varas of Ypres cloth for his clothing by his written and signed authorisation in the past year of 1447, and every year from then onwards from the money his said brother used to receive, because he is dead, and his Grace by means of the instruction ordered the money not to be taken from half of this sum for allowance and clothing, because only the first half of the allowance and clothing should be used in this way.] Librose por carta nomina dada en Segovia, 20 dias de noviembre, anno de 1458 annos, en Alfonso Gutierres de Eçija, recabdador de la meytad de los diesmos e aduanas de Cuenca e Cartajena, con el reyno de Murçia, el anno que paso de 1455 annos, 3.600 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Juan Calayn, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador por su poder. 3.600 maravedis. [A payment order issued in Segovia on 20 November 1458 instructed the payment of 3,600 maravedis by Alfonso Gutierres of Ecija, tax collector of half of the tithes and customs duties of Cuenca and Cartagena with the kingdom of Murcia in the past year of 1455. And that he take the money to the said Juan Calayn, and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by the said tax collector on account of his power of proxy.]

78 1447, location unknown. 1451, location unknown. 1456, February, 10. Segovia. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 60. Iohan Gutierres de Madrid, cavallero morisco. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala firmado de su nombre

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documentary appendix anno de 1447 annos7 e dende en adelante en cada anno los 10 maravedis quel dicho Juan Gutierres tenia para su mantenimiento, e se le libravan de dos en dos meses, que le montan al anno 3.600 maravedis e mas que le acreçento el dicho sennor rey 5 maravedis el anno que paso de 1451 annos, los quales de su merçed tenia Alfonso de Segovia, ques finado, que le montan al anno 5.400 maravedis. 5.400 maravedis. [Iohan Gutierres of Madrid, Moorish knight. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him by his written and signed authorisation in 1447 and from then onwards the 10 maravedis which the said Juan Gutierres had for his maintenance, and were paid every two months, which amounts to 3,600 maravedis a year and then the said lord our king added another 5 maravedis in the past year of 1451 which were paid by his favour to Alfonso de Segovia, who is dead, which amounts to 5,400 maravedis a year.] Librose por carta del rey dada a buelta de otras en Segovia, 10 de febrero del [14]56, en Fernando Nunnes de Toledo, recabdador de la seysma parte del aseyte de Sevilla, 5.000 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Juan Gutierres, e gelos libre en los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta Pedro de Haro, ofiçial de quitaçiones por su poder que tiene Ruy Gomes de Fonteduena su amo. 5.000 maravedis. [A payment order issued by the king in addition to others in Segovia on 10 February 1456 instructed the payment of 5,000 maravedis by Fernando Nunnes of Toledo, tax collector of a sixth of the oil of Seville. And that he take the money to the said Juan Gutierres, and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by Pedro de Haro, salaries official on account of the power of proxy given him by Ruy Gomes de Fonteduenna his master.]

79 1448, location unknown. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 24. Iohan Benedito, cavallero morisco. Contadores, 200 maravedis. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala firmado de su nombre el anno que paso de 1448 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno 15 maravedis que le montan al anno 5.400 maravedis, de los quales el rey le ovo privado dellos desiendo aver estado en su deserviçio con el rey don Juan de Navarra e despues gelos mando tornar el rey (tachado: tornar) el dicho anno por su alvala firmado de su nombre. 5.400 maravedis.

7

out.

Between the V and the II the word “annos” was mistakenly written and then crossed

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[Iohan Benedito, Moorish knight. Accountants, 200 maravedis. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him by his written and signed authorisation in the past year of 1448 and 15 maravedis from then onwards every year which amounts to 5,400 maravedis a year, which the king had withdrawn from him because of his disservice to him with the king of Navarre and then the king ordered the money to be returned to him in the said year by means of his written and signed authorisation.]

80 1448, location unknown. 1455, November, 20. Ávila. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 52. Iohan Garsia de Paredes, cavallero morisco. Contadores, 100 maravedis. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala, anno de 1448 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno 10 maravedis que le montan al anno 3.600 maravedis e mas 12 varas de ypre para su vistuario, los quales le mando el dicho sennor rey tornar el dicho anno por quanto le avian seydo quitados desiendo que estava con el rey de Navarra. 3.600 maravedis. 12 varas de ypre. [Iohan Garsia de Paredes, Moorish knight. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him by his written authorisation in 1448, and from then onwards every year 10 maravedis which amounts to 3,600 maravedis a year as well as 12 varas of Ypres cloth for his clothing, which the said lord our king ordered in the said year to be returned to him for they had been withdrawn from him in the belief that he was with the king of Navarre.] Librose por carta del rey dada en la çibdad de Avila, 20 dias de noviembre, anno de 1455 annos en Juan Garsia de Villadiego, recabdador mayor de los diesmos e alfolis del regno de [Ga]llisia este dicho anno, 3.040 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Juan Garsia, e gelos libre sennaladamente en los maravedis de sus fianças que ha de dar en el dicho su recabdamiento. Levo la carta Juan de Aguilar, corredor. 3.040 maravedís. [A payment order issued by the king in the city of Avila on 20 November 1455 instructed the payment of 3,040 maravedis by Juan Garsia de Villadiego, high tax collector of the tithes and alfolis of the kingdom of Galicia in the said year. And that he take the money to the said Juan Garsia, and pay him appropriately the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by Juan de Aguilar, tax broker.]

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81 1449, location unknown. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 52. Juan de Medina, fijo de maestre Juan, criado del maestre de Santiago, atabalero del rey. Contadores, 100 maravedis. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala firmado de su nombre, anno de 1449 annos e dende en adelante los 10 maravedis que de su merçed tenia en raçion Alfonso Garsia, atavalero, que es fynado, que le montan al anno 3.600 maravedis. E mas para su vistuario las 12 varas de ypre quel dicho Alfonso Garsia atavalero tenia para su vistuario (tachado: mantenimiento), por quanto es fynado. 3.600 maravedis. 12 varas ypre. [Juan de Medina, son of maestre Juan, servant of the Master of Santiago, kettledrummer of the king. Accountants, 100 maravedis. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him by his written and signed authorisation in 1449, and 10 maravedis from then onwards which were previously paid as an allowance to Alfonso Garsia, kettledrummer, who is dead, which amounts to 3,600 maravedis a year. And also 12 varas of Ypres cloth for his clothing which the said Alfonso Garsia kettledrummer had for his clothing [crossed out: maintenance], because he is dead.]

82 1449, location unknown. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 69. Çadala moro, criado de Alfonso Peres de Bivero, contador mayor del rey nuestro sennor. Contadores, 100 maravedis. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala firmado de su nombre, el anno que paso de 1449 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno los 10 maravedis que de su merçed tenia en raçion cada dia Alfonso de Guadix, por quanto syn liçençia del rey se fue e paso al regno de Granada, que le montan al anno 3.600 maravedis. 3.600 maravedis. [Çadala Moor, servant of Alfonso Peres de Bivero, royal accountant to the king our lord. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him by his written and signed authorisation in the past year of 1449, and from then onwards 10 maravedis which were previously paid as a daily allowance to Alfonso de Guadix, because he left without the king’s licence and passed over into the kingdom of Granada, which amounts to 3,600 maravedis a year.]

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83 1449, location unknown. 1455, November, 8. Avila. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 69. Moriscas. Iohan de Ortega, cavallero morisco. Contadores 100 [maravedis]. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala firmado de su nombre el anno que paso de 1449 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno los 10 maravedis que de su merçed tenia en mantenimiento librados en la corte, en Alfonso Rodrigues de Duennas de dos en dos meses, que le montan al anno 3.600 maravedis. 3.600 maravedis. [Iohan de Ortega, Moorish knight. Accountants, 100 maravedis. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him by his written and signed authorisation in the past year of 1449, and 10 maravedis from then onwards every year which were previously paid out at court by Alfonso Rodrigues de Duennas every two months, which amounts to 3,600 maravedis a year.] Librose por carta del rey dada en la çibdad de Avila, 8 dias de noviembre, anno de 1455 annos en Juan Garsia de Villadiego, recabdador maior de la mitad de los diesmos e alfolis de Gallisia este dicho anno, 2.400 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Juan de Ortega, e gelos libre sennaladamente en los maravedis de sus fianças que ha de dar en el dicho su recabdamiento. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador por virtud de su poder e por el Juan de Aguilar corredor. 2.400 maravedis. [A payment order issued by the king in the city of Avila on 8 November 1455 instructed the payment of 2,400 maravedis by Juan Garsia de Villadiego, high tax collector of half of the tithes and alfolis of Galicia this said year. And that he take the money to the said Juan de Ortega, and pay him appropriately the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by the said tax collector by virtue of his power of proxy and by Juan de Aguilar, tax broker.]

84 1450, location unknown. 1457, November, 25. Madrid. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 71. Pedro d’Archedona, cavallero morisco, de Alfonso Peres de Bivero. Contadores 100 maravedis. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia 20 maravedis, que le montan al anno 7.200 maravedis, e mas para su vestuario 16 varas de ypre, por su alvala firmado de su nombre el anno que paso de 1450 annos e dende en adelante en cada

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documentary appendix anno, los quales solía tener Miguell de Sant Biçente, ques fynado. E non se consumiçion (sic) cosa alguna desta raçion por quanto se consumio otra quel dicho Pedro tenia de 3.600 maravedis cada anno por estos libros. [Pedro d’Archedona, Moorish knight, of Alfonso Peres de Bivero. Accountants, 100 maravedis. The king ordered a daily allowance of 20 maravedis to be paid to him, which amounts to 7,200 maravedis a year and 16 varas of Ypres cloth for his clothing, by his written and signed authorisation in the past year of 1450 and from then onwards every year, which used to be paid to Miguell de Sant Biçente, who is dead. And no part of this allowance shall be reduced because of the consumption in these books of the other [allowance] which the said Pedro had of 3,600 maravedis a year.] Librose por carta del rey dada en Madrid, 25 dias de noviembre, anno de 1457 annos, en Ruy Gonçales de Sevilla, recabdador de los dos dosavos del almoxarifadgo de Sevilla el anno que paso de [14]55, los dichos 5.600 maravedis de raçion e vystuario. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Pedro, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador. 5.600 maravedis. [A payment order issued by the king in Madrid on 25 November 1457 instructed the payment of the said 5,600 maravedis of allowance and clothing by Ruy Gonçales of Seville, tax collector of two twelfths of the almojarifazgo of Seville in the past year of 1455. And that he take the money to the said Pedro, and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by the said tax collector.]

85 1450, location unknown. 1455, November, 20. Avila. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 71. Diego de Valladolid, fijo de Pedro de Valladolid, cavallero morisco. Contadores 100 maravedis. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala firmado de su nombre el anno que paso de 1450 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno los 12 maravedis que de su merçed avia e tenia de raçion cada dia e las 10 varas de ypre para su vestuario, el dicho Pedro de Valladolid (tachado: el dicho) su padre (tachado: con el dicho ofiçio raçion), por quanto es fynado, que le montan al anno 4.320 maravedis, e las dichas 10 varas de ypre. E enbio el dicho sennor rey mandar por el dicho su alvala que non se consumiese la mitad destos maravedis e que la primera raçion que vacase se consumiese enteramente. 4.320 maravedis. 10 varas ypre. [Diego de Valladolid, son of Pedro de Valladolid, Moorish knight. Accountants, 100 maravedis. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him by his written and signed

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authorisation in the past year of 1450 and every year from then onwards the 12 maravedis previously paid as a daily allowance and the 10 varas of Ypres cloth for his clothing to the said Pedro de Valladolid’s father, because he is dead, which amounts to 4,320 maravedis a year and the said 10 varas of Ypres cloth. And the said lord our king ordered by the said written authorisation that half of these maravedis should not be consumed and that the first allowance that falls vacant should be given entirely to him.] Librose por carta del rey dada en la çibdad de Avila, 20 dias de noviembre, anno de 1455 annos en Juan Garsia de Villadiego, recabdador mayor de los diesmos e alfolis del regno de Gallisia este dicho anno 3.413 (sic) maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Diego de Valladolid, e gelos libre sennaladamente en los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta Juan de Aguilar, corredor, por virtud de su poder. 3.420 maravedis. [A payment order issued by the king in the city of Avila on 20 November 1455 instructed the payment of 3,413 [sic] maravedis by Juan Garsia de Villadiego, high tax collector of the tithes and alfolis of the kingdom of Galicia this said year. And that he take the money to the said Diego de Valladolid, and pay him appropriately the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by Juan de Aguilar, tax broker, by virtue of his power of proxy.]

86 1451, location unknown. 1457, February, 10. Palencia. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 42. Pedro de (tachado: Sego) Aguilar, cavallero morisco, vesino de la villa de Aguilar, fijo de Juan Fernandes. Contadores 100 maravedis. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala el anno que paso de 1451 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno los 12 maravedis, que le montan al anno 4.320 maravedis, que de su merçed tenia Pedro de Aguilar cavallero morisco, e las 10 varas de ypre para su vistuario, por quanto se paso al regno de Granada e se torno moro commo de antes era, e que su merçed es que se non consuma cosa alguna desta raçion e vistuario, e que la prima que vacare en estos libros se consuma enteramente en estos libros por virtud de la ordenança. 4.320 maravedis. 10 varas ypre. [Pedro de [crossed out: Sego] Aguilar, Moorish knight, inhabitant of the town of Aguilar, son of Juan Fernandes. Accountants, 100 maravedis. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him by his written authorisation in the past year of 1451 and every year from then onwards the 12 maravedis, which amounts to 4,320 maravedis a year, previously paid to Pedro de Aguilar, Moorish knight, and the 10 varas of Ypres cloth for his clothing, because he passed over into the kingdom of Granada and turned Moor as he

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documentary appendix was before, and it is the king’s order that no part of this allowance and clothing be consumed, and that the first [allowance] which becomes vacant be entirely consumed in these books by virtue of his instruction.] Librose por carta del rey dada en Palençia, 10 dias de febrero de [14]57, en don Frayme Abenxuxen, recabdador de la çibdad de Toledo e su partydo el anno de [14]55 los dichos 3.320 maravedis e 10 varas de ypre e por ello todo 5.020 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Pedro de Aguilar, e gelos dé logo. Levo la carta Juan Fernandes, su padre. 5.020 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Ha de aver testimonio. Tachada: Enbargados por Ruy Gonçales de Sevilla, recabdador del seysmo del almoxarifadgo de Sevilla, por fianças.) [A payment order issued by the king in Palencia on 10 February 1457 instructed the payment to don Frayme Abenxuxen, tax collector of the city of Toledo and its territory in 1455 of the said 3,320 maravedis and 10 varas of Ypres cloth and for that in total 5,020 maravedis. And that he take the money to the said Pedro de Aguilar, and pay him. The letter was taken by Juan Fernandes, his father. (Marginal note: There has to be testimony.) (Crossed out: Embargoed by Ruy Gonçales of Seville, tax collector of a sixth of the almojarifazgo of Seville, as guaranteed.)]

87 1452, location unknown. 1457, December, 20. Madrid. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 21 Maestre Lope moro, fijo de maestre Hançe, maestro de los alcaçares de la villa de Madrid. Contadores 100 maravedis. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala firmado de su nombre el anno que paso de 1[4]52 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno 10 maravedis, que le montan al anno 3.600 maravedis, de los 20 maravedis que de su merçed tenia en raçion Garsia Vanegas, que llamavan quando moro Mahomad ben Sa, por quanto es finado. 3.600 maravedis. [Maestre Lope Moor, son of maestre Hançe, master of the castle of the town of Madrid. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him by his written and signed authorisation in the past year of 1452 and every year from then onwards, 10 maravedis which amounts to 3,600 maravedis a year, of the 20 maravedis previously paid as an allowance to Garsia Venegas, who was known when he was a Moor as Mahomad ben Sa, because he is dead.] Librose por carta del rey dada en Madrid a 20 de disyembre de 1457, en Alfonso Gonçales de Herrera, recabdador de los dos terçios de la merindad de Burgos este anno de [14]55, los 2.400 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos

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al dicho maestre Lope, e gelos dé de los maravedis de las fianças. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador por poder de fianças. 2.400 maravedis. [A payment order issued by the king in Madrid on 20 December 1457 instructed the payment of the 2,400 maravedis by Alfonso Gonçales de Herrera, tax collector of two thirds of the merindad of Burgos in this year of 1455. And that he take the money to the said maestre Lope, and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by the said tax collector by virtue of his power of proxy.]

88 1452, location unknown. 1458, April, 10. Madrid. 1457, May, 10. Arévalo. 1458, January, 15. Madrid. (three letters) 1459, April, 5. Segovia. 1460, March, 29. Madrid. 1459, August, 29. Arévalo. 1460, July, 3. Valladolid. 1461, October, 12. Madrid. 1462, December, 20. Almazán. 1463, December, 18. Madrid. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 4, 139 (contemporary numeration: IX; alternative numeration: 207). Raçiones moriscas. Anno de 1456. Maestre Lope moro, fijo de maestre Hamete, maestro de los alcaçares de la villa de Madrid. Contadores. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala firmado de su nombre el anno que paso de 1[4]52 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno 10 maravedis, que le montan al anno 3.600 maravedis, de los 20 maravedis que de su merçed tenia en raçion Garsia Vanegas, que llamavan quando moro Mahomad ben Sa, pos quando (sic) es finado. 3.600 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Tiene alvala del rey para los dar en fianças.) [Maestre Lope Moor, son of maestre Hamete, master of the castle of the town of Madrid. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him by his written and signed authorisation in the past year of 1452 and every year from then onwards, 10 maravedis which amounts to 3,600 maravedis a year, of the 20 maravedis previously paid as an allowance to Garsia Venegas, who was known when he was a Moor as Mahomad ben Sa, because he is dead.

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documentary appendix (Marginal note: He has the king’s written authorisation to give them as guarantee.)] Librose por carta del rey dada en Madrid, 10 dias de abril, anno de 1458 annos (sic), en Alfonso Gonçales de Herrera, recabdador de las dos terçias partes de Burgos, el anno que paso de [14]56, los dichos 2.400 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho maestre Lope, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador. 2.400 maravedis. [A payment order issued by the king in Madrid on 10 April 1458 [sic] instructed the payment of the said 2,400 maravedis by Alfonso Gonçales de Herrera, tax collector of two thirds of Burgos in the past year of 1456. And that he take the money to the said maestre Lope, and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by the said tax collector.] Librose por carta del rey dada en la villa de Arevalo, 10 dias de mayo, anno de 1457 annos, en Alfonso Gonçales de Herrera, recabdador de las dos terçias partes de la çibdad de Burgos e su merindad, el anno que paso de [14]56 annos, 1.200 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho, e gelos dé en dineros a los plasos del rey de los maravedis de las fianças. 1.200 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Entero por çedula de contadores.) [A payment order issued by the king in Arevalo on 10 May 1457 instructed the payment of 1,200 maravedis by Alfonso Gonçales de Herrera, tax collector of two thirds of the city of Burgos and its merindad in the past year of 1456. And that he take the money to the said [maestre Lope], and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. (Marginal note: Entire [payment made] by accountants’ order.)] Anno de [14]57. Librose por carta del rey dada en Madrid, 15 de enero de 1458, en Lope Sanches de Buitrago, recabdador del serviçio e medio serviçio el anno de 1457, 1.400 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho maestre Lope, e gelos dé luego, e que gelos de demas de los maravedis quel rey de Navarra tyene sytuados. 1.400 maravedis. Librose por otra carta dada el dicho dia en el que es o fuere recabdador del serviçio e medio serviçio el anno de [14]56, 1.100 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho maestre Lope, e gelos den luego. 1.100 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Entero por çedula de contadores que tyene Ruy Gonçales.) Librose por carta dada el dicho dia en el que es o fuere recabdador del serviçio e medio serviçio el anno de [14]55, 1.100 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho maestre Lope, e gelos de luego. Levo las cartas el mesmo. 1.100 maravedis. [A payment order issued by the king in Madrid on 15 January 1458 instructed the payment of 1,400 maravedis by Lope Sanches of Buitrago, tax collector of the servicio y medio servicio in 1457. And that he take the money to the

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said [maestre Lope], and pay him, and pay him also from the maravedis of the king of Navarre. Another payment order issued on the same day instructed the payment of 1,100 maravedis by whoever is or might be tax collector of the servicio y medio servicio in 1456. And that he take the money to the said maestre Lope, and pay him. (Marginal note: Entire [payment made] by accountants’ order held by Ruy Gonçales.) A payment order issued by the king in Madrid on the said day instructed the payment of 1,100 maravedis by whoever is or might be tax collector of the servicio y medio servicio in 1455. And that he take the money to the said maestre Lope, and pay him. He took the letters himself.] Anno de [14]58. (Tachado: Librose por carta del rey dada en Segovia, 5 de abril de [14]59 annos en Garsia Rodrigues del Rio e Alfonso Dias de Villa Real, recabdadores del obispado de Segovia, el anno que paso de [14]58, los dichos 3.600 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho maestre Lope, e gelos libre en Valdemoro. Levo la carta el mesmo. 3.600 maravedis.) (Nota al margen: Librose entero por çedula de contadores que tyene Juan de San Juan, e mudose segund de yuso se contiene.) [(Crossed out: A payment order issued by the king in Segovia on 5 April 1459 instructed the payment of the said 3,600 maravedis by Garsia Rodrigues del Rio and Alfonso Dias de Villa Real, tax collectors of the bishopric of Segovia in the past year of 1458. And that he take the money to the said maestre Lope, and pay him in Valdemoro. He took the letter himself.) (Marginal note: Entire payment made by accountants’ order held by Juan de San Juan, and this was changed in accordance with what is specified below.)] Librose por otra carta dada en Madrid, a 29 dias de março, anno de [14]60 annos en Fernand Nunnes de Toledo, recabdador de las dos terçias partes del partydo del aseyte de Sevilla, el anno que paso de [14]54 los dichos 3.600 maravedis. E que le recuda con ellos al dicho maestre Lope, los quales ovo de aver el anno que paso de [14]58. 3.600 [maravedis]. [Another payment order issued in Madrid on 29 March 1460 instructed the payment of the said 3,600 maravedis by Fernand Nunnes of Toledo, tax collector of two thirds of the tax on oil in Seville in the past year of 1454. And that he take the money to the said maestre Lope, which should have been taken in the past year of 1458.] 139v

Anno de [14]59. Librose por carta del rey dada en Arévalo, a 29 dias de agosto, anno de 1459 annos en Fernand Gutierres de Valladolid, recabdador de las tres quartas partes del arçedianadgo de Madrid este dicho anno, los dichos 3.600 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho maestre Lope, e gelos dé por terçios. Levo la carta Alvaro de Alcoçer. 3.600 maravedis.

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documentary appendix (Nota al margen: Librose entero por çedula de contadores que tyene Juan de San Juan.) [A payment order issued by the king in Arevalo on 29 August 1459 instructed the payment of the said 3,600 maravedis by Fernand Gutierres of Valladolid, tax collector of three quarters of the archedianazgo of Madrid in this said year. And that he take the money to the said maestre Lope, and pay him in thirds. The letter was taken by Alvaro de Alcoçer. (Marginal note: Entire payment made by accountants’ order held by Juan de San Juan.)] Anno de [14]60. Librose por carta del rey dada en Valladolid, a 3 dias de jullio, anno de 1460 annos, en Juan Garsia de Larrea, recabdador del partydo de la Orden de Santiago este dicho anno, los dichos 3.600 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho maestre Lope e gelos de por terçios. Levo la carta Martín, criado de Pero Arias. 3.600 maravedis. [A payment order issued by the king in Valladolid on 3 July 1460 instructed the payment of the said 3,600 maravedis by Juan Garsia de Larrea, tax collector of the tax of the Order of Santiago in this said year. And that he take the money to the said maestre Lope, and pay him in thirds. The letter was taken by Martín, servant of Pero Arias.] Anno de [14]61. Librose por carta del rey dada en Madrid, 12 dias de octubre, anno de [14]61 annos en el ques o fuere recabdador de los sennorios del arçedianadgo de Madrid este dicho anno, los dichos 3.600 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho maestre Lope, e gelos dé en dineros contados a los plasos del rey. Levo la carta el mismo. 3.600 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Entero por çedula del rey, 30 dias de setiembre de [14]61.) [A payment order issued by the king in Madrid on 12 October 1461 instructed the payment of the said 3,600 maravedis to whoever is or might be the tax collector of lands of the archedianazgo of Madrid in this said year. And that he take the money to the said maestre Lope, and pay him in accordance with the king’s instructions. He took the letter himself.] Anno de [14]62. Librose por carta del rey dada en la villa de Almaçan, 20 dias de desiembre de [14]62 annos en Fernand Lopes de Burgos, recabdador del arçedianadgo de Madrid el dicho anno de [14]62 annos, los dichos 3.600 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho e gelos dé en dineros. Levo la carta el mismo. 3.600 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Entero por mandamiento del rey, fecho 4 de agosto de [14]62.) [A payment order issued by the king in the town of Almaçan on 20 December 1462 instructed the payment of the said 3,600 maravedis by Fernand Lopes

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of Burgos, tax collector of the archedianazgo of Madrid in the said year of 1462. And that he take the money to the said [maestre Lope], and pay him. He took the letter himself. (Marginal note: Entire payment made by the king’s command, dated 4 August 1462.)] Anno de [14]63. Librose por carta del rey dada en la villa de Madrid, 18 dias de desiembre deste anno de [14]63 en el conçejo de Parla, los dichos 3.600 maravedis. E que gelos dé de los maravedis de las alcavalas del dicho lugar en que tome su carta de privilegio. Levo la carta el sobredicho, e quel dé los dos terçios luego e el otro terçio a fyn del mes de enero deste dicho anno. 3.600 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Entero por merçed del rey a 5 de disiembre. Mudose en Alvar Peres de Ponçe, en los diesmos e alfolis del regno de Gallisia por carta sinada 30 de enero de [14]64.) [A payment order issued by the king in the town of Madrid on 18 December of this year of 1463 instructed the payment of the said 3,600 maravedis by the concejo of Parla. And that he be paid from the maravedis of the alcabalas of the said place in which he has his charter of privilege. The letter was taken by the abovementioned, with instructions to pay two thirds now and the other third at the end of January of this said year. (Marginal note: Entire [payment made] by order of the king on 5 December. Transferred to Alvar Peres de Ponçe, from the tithes and alfolis of the kingdom of Galicia by a signed letter of 30 January 1464.)]

89 1452, location unknown. 1458, November, 25. Madrid. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 44. Pedro de Alcala, cavallero morisco. Contadores 200 maravedis. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia (tachado: con el dicho ofiçio) el anno que paso de 1452 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno los 20 maravedis, que le montan al anno 7.200 maravedis, que de su merçed tenia Abenamar su cavallero morisco, por quanto se fue e paso a tierra de moros, e que su merçed es que desta raçión non se consuman maravedis algunos della, mas en la primera que vacare en estos dichos libros se consuma enteramente por virtud de la ordenança. 7.200 maravedis. [Pedro de Alcala, Moorish knight. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him [crossed out: for the said post] in the past year of 1452 and 20 maravedis every year from then onwards, which amounts to 7,200 maravedis a year, which were previously paid to Abenamar his Moorish knight, because he left and passed over into the lands of the Moors, and it is his command that no maravedis should be

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documentary appendix taken from this allowance, but that it should be entirely consumed from the first allowance that falls vacant by virtue of the order.] Librose por carta nomina dada en Segovia, 20 dias de noviembre, anno de 1458 annos en Alfonso Gutierres de Eçija, recabdador de la meytad de los diesmos e aduanas de Cuenca e Cartajena en el reyno de Murçia, el anno que paso de [14]55 los dichos 7.200 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Pedro de Alcala, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador. 7.200 maravedis. (Notas al margen izquierdo: Ha de tener testimonio. Enbargados por Alfonso Gutierres de Eçija, recabdador de los diesmos e aduanas, por fianças. Entero por çedula de contadores que tiene Pedro de Medina.) [A payment order issued in Segovia on 20 November 1458 instructed the payment of the said 7,200 maravedis by Alfonso Gutierres of Ecija, tax collector of half of the tithes and customs duties of Cuenca and Cartagena in the kingdom of Murcia in the past year of 1455. And that he take the money to the said Pedro de Alcala and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by the said tax collector. (Notes in the left margin: Testimony is required. Embargoed by Alfonso Gutierres of Ecija, tax collector of the tithes and customs duties, as guaranteed. Entire payment made by accountants’ order held by Pedro de Medina.)]

90 1453, location unknown. 1459, May, 2. Medina del Campo. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 19. Juan de Benaoxan, cavallero morisco del rey nuestro señor. Contadores 200 maravedis. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia 12 maravedis el anno que paso de 1453 annos, que le montan al anno 4.320 maravedis e mas para su vestuario 12 varas de panno de ypre, lo qual todo primeramente de su merçed tenia Ruy Lopes de la Çerda por quanto gelos renunçio. 4.320 maravedis. 12 varas ypre. [Juan de Benaoxan, Moorish knight of the king our lord. Accountants, 200 maravedis. The king ordered a daily allowance of 12 maravedis to be paid to him in the past year of 1453, which amounts to 4,320 maravedis a year plus 12 varas of Ypres cloth for his clothing, all of which was firstly paid to Ruy Lopes de la Çerda, because he renounced it.] Librose por carta del rey dada en Medina del Campo, 2 dias de mayo anno de [14]59 annos en Ruy Gonçales de Sevilla, recabdador de la seysma parte

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del partido del aseyte de Sevilla el anno que paso de [14]55 annos los 3.466 maravedis, E que recuda con ellos al dicho Juan, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador. 3.466 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Tiene alvala para los dar en fiança.) [A payment order issued by the king in Medina del Campo on 2 May 1459 instructed the 3,466 maravedis to be paid by Ruy Gonçales of Seville, tax collector of a sixth of the tax on oil in Seville in the past year of 1455. And that he take the money to the said Juan and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by the said tax collector. (Marginal note: He has the king’s authorisation to give them as guarantee.)]

91 1453, location unknown. 1457, November, 25. Madrid. 1457, December, 15. Madrid. 1459, July, 10. Arévalo. 1459, October, 10. Medina del Campo. 1461, May, 15. Medina del Campo. 1462, February, 15. Madrid. 1463, December, 15. Madrid. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 3, 469. (alternative numeration: V; contemporary numeration: 203). Raçiones moriscas. Anno de 1456. Iohan de Benaoxan, cavallero morisco del rey nuestro señor. Contadores 200 maravedis. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia 12 maravedis el anno que paso de 1453 annos, que le montan al anno 4.320 maravedis e mas para su vestuario 12 varas de ypre, lo qual todo primeramente de su merçed tenia Ruy Lopes de la Çerda por quanto gelos renunçio. 4.320 maravedis. 12 varas ypre. (Nota al margen: Tyene alvala para los dar en fiança) [Iohan de Benaoxan, Moorish knight of the king our lord. Accountants, 200 maravedis. The king ordered a daily allowance of 12 maravedis to be paid to him in the past year of 1453, which amounts to 4,320 maravedis a year plus 12 varas of Ypres cloth, all of which was firstly paid to Ruy Lopes de la Çerda, because he renounced it. (Marginal note: He has the king’s written authorisation to give them as guarantee.)] Librose por carta nomina dada en Madrid, 25 dias de noviembre, anno de [14]57 annos en Ruy Gonçales de Sevilla, recabdador de los dos dosavos

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documentary appendix del almoxarifadgo de Sevilla, el anno que paso de [14]56, los dichos 3.600 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Juan de Benaoxan, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador. 3.600 maravedis. [A payment order issued in Madrid on 25 November 1457 instructed the said 3,600 maravedis to be paid by Ruy Gonçales of Seville, tax collector of two twelfths of the almojarifazgo of Seville in the past year of 1456. And that he take the money to the said Juan de Benaoxan and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by the said tax collector.] Anno de [14]57. Librose por carta del rey dada en Madrid, 15 dias de disiembre, anno de [14]57 annos en Ruy Gonçales de Sevilla, recabdador de la seysma parte del partydo del aseyte de Sevilla este dicho anno, 5.400 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Juan de Benaoxan e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador. 5.400 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Entero por çedula de contadores que tiene Pedro de Medina.) [A payment order issued by the king in Madrid on 15 December 1457 instructed 5,400 maravedis to be paid by Ruy Gonçales of Seville, tax collector of a sixth of the tax on oil in Seville in this said year. And that he take the money to the said Juan de Benaoxan and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by the said tax collector. (Marginal note: Entire payment made by accountants’ order held by Pedro de Medina.)] Anno de [14]58. Librose por carta del rey dada en Arevalo, 10 dias de jullio de [14]59 annos en Ruy Gonçales de Sevilla, recabdador de la seysma parte del partido del aseyte de Sevilla, el anno que paso de [14]58 annos, 3.466 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Juan, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador. 3.466 maravedis. [A payment order issued by the king in Arevalo on 10 July 1459 instructed 3,466 maravedis to be paid by Ruy Gonçales of Seville, tax collector of a sixth of the tax on oil in Seville in the past year of 1458. And that he take the money to the said Juan and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by the said tax collector.] Anno de [14]59. Librose por carta nomina del rey dada en Medina del Campo, a 10 dias de octubre, anno de [14]59 annos en Ruy Gonçales de Sevilla, recabdador de la terçia parte del partydo de Xeres de la Frontera, este dicho anno 3.600 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Juan de Benaoxan, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador. 3.600 maravedis.

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[A payment order issued by the king in Medina del Campo on 10 October 1459 instructed 3,600 maravedis to be paid by Ruy Gonçales of Seville, tax collector of a third of the tax of Jerez de la Frontera. And that he take the money to the said Juan de Benaoxan and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by the said tax collector.] 469v Anno de [14]61 (sic). Librose por carta del rey dada en la villa de Medina del Campo, 15 dias de mayo, anno de [14]61 annos en Ruy Gonçales de Sevilla, recabdador de la quarta parte del partydo del aseyte de Sevilla el dicho anno de [14]60, 5.280 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta Alvaro Lopes. 5.280 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Entero por çedula de contadores.)

[A payment order issued by the king in the town of Medina del Campo on 15 May 1461 instructed 5,280 maravedis to be paid by Ruy Gonçales of Seville, tax collector of a quarter of the tax on oil in Seville in the said year of 1460. And that he take the money to the said [Juan de Benaoxan] and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by Alvaro Lopes. (Marginal note: Entire [payment made] by accountant’s order.)] Anno de [14]61. Librose por carta del rey dada en la villa de Madrid, 15 dias de febrero, anno de [14]62 annos en Ruy Gonçales de Sevilla, recabdador de la terçia parte del partydo de Xeres de la Frontera, el anno que paso de [14]61 annos los dichos 5.200 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho, e gelos dé de los maravedis de las fianças. 5.200 maravedis. [A payment order issued by the king in the town of Madrid on 15 February 1462 instructed the said 5,200 maravedis to be paid by Ruy Gonçales of Seville, tax collector of a third of the tax of Jerez de la Frontera in the past year of 1461. And that he take the money to the said [Juan de Benaoxan] and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed.] Anno de [14]62. Librose por carta del rey dada en la villa de Madrid a bueltas de otras, 15 dias de desiembre de [14]63 en Ruy Gonçales de Sevilla, recabdador de la terçia parte del partydo de Xeres de la Frontera, el anno de [14]62, 3.600 maravedis. E que gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta Alvaro Lopes. 3.600 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Enbargados por Ruy Gonçales de Sevilla. Entregado por çedula de contadores.) [A payment order issued by the king in the town of Madrid on 15 December 1463 instructed 3,600 maravedis to be paid by Ruy Gonçales of Seville, tax collector of a third of the tax of Jerez de la Frontera in the year of 1462. And that he pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by Alvaro Lopes.

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documentary appendix (Marginal note: Embargoed by Ruy Gonçales of Seville. Payment made by accountants’ order.)] Anno de [14]63. (Nota al margen: Enbargados por Gonçalo Gonçales de Sevilla. Le va fe.) [Marginal note: Embargoed by Gonçalo Gonçales of Seville. He is authorised.]

92 1453, location unknown. (Tachado: 1455, November, 20. Avila.) R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 56. Diego de Valladolid, cavallero morisco, criado de Alfonso Peres de Bivero. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia con el dicho ofiçio por su alvala firmado de su nombre el anno que paso de 1453 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno, 8 maravedis de los 15 maravedis que de su merçed tenia Juan de Ocanna, e mas 5 varas de ypre de las 10 varas quel dicho Juan de Ocanna tenia por quanto es fynado. 3.280 maravedis. 5 varas ypre. [Diego de Valladolid, Moorish knight, servant of Alfonso Peres de Bivero. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him for the said post by his written and signed authorisation in the past year of 1453, and from then onwards every year, of 8 maravedis of the 15 maravedis previously paid to Juan de Ocanna, plus 5 of the 10 varas which the said Juan de Ocanna had, because he is dead.] (Tachado: Librose por carta del rey dada en la çibdad de Avila, 20 dias de noviembre, anno de 1455 annos en Juan Garsia de Villadiego, recabdador (repetido: recabdador) mayor de la mitad de los diesmos e alfolis del regno de Gallisia este dicho anno 3.450 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Diego de Valladolid, e gelos libre sennaladamente en los maravedis de sus fianças que ha de dar en el dicho su recabdamiento. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador por virtud de su poder e por el Juan de Aguilar corredor. 3.450 maravedís.) (Nota al margen, tachada: Levo este livramiento e mandado para lo librar e non lo troxo. Sin tachar: Asentose aquí por yerro, ques otro Diego de Valladolid que esta adelante desto.) [(Crossed out: A payment order issued by the king in the city of Avila on 20 November 1455 instructed 3,450 maravedis to be paid by Juan Garsia of Villadiego, high tax collector of half of the tithes and alfolis of the kingdom of Galicia in this said year. And that he take the money to the said Diego de Valladolid, and pay him appropriately the maravedis that he has guaranteed and which are to be paid. The letter was taken by the said tax collector by virtue of his power of proxy and by Juan de Aguilar, tax broker.)

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(Marginal note, crossed out: He took this payment order and command and did not bring it back. Not crossed out: This was recorded here by mistake, for it was another Diego de Valladolid who is registered before this.)]

93 1453, location unknown. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 56. Juan de Granada, criado de Alfonso Peres, cavallero morisco. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala firmado de su nombre el anno que paso de 1453 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno, 7 maravedis que le montan al anno 2.900 maravedis, e mas 5 varas de ypre de las 10 varas de ypre que de su merçed tenia Juan de Ocanna su cavallero morisco, por quanto es fynado. 2.900 maravedis. 5 varas ypre. (Nota al margen izquierdo: Yerro.) [Juan de Granada, servant of Alfonso Peres, Moorish knight. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him by his written and signed authorisation in the past year of 1453, and from then onwards every year, of 7 maravedis, which amounts to 2,900 maravedis a year, in addition to 5 of the 10 varas of Ypres cloth previously paid to Juan de Ocanna his Moorish knight, because he is dead. (Note in the left margin: Error.)]

94 1453, location unknown. 1455, December, 20. Avila. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 72. Alfonso Gutierres, adalid del rey. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala firmado de su nombre el anno que paso de 1453 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno, los 15 maravedis que de su merçed tenia Pedro de Çayas,8 su cavallero morisco, que le montan al anno 5.400 maravedis, e mas 12 varas de ypre quel dicho Pedro de Çayas tenia para su vistuario con el dicho ofiçio cada anno, por quanto es fynado. 5.400 maravedis. 12 varas ypre. [Alfonso Gutierres, royal adalid. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him by his written and signed authorisation in the past year of 1453, and from then onwards every year, of

8

An “s” is crossed out after “Ça”.

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documentary appendix 15 maravedis previously paid to Pedro de Çayas, his Moorish knight, which amounts to 5,400 maravedis a year, plus the 12 varas of Ypres cloth which the said Pedro de Çayas had for his clothing with the said post every year, because he is dead.] Librose por carta del rey dada en la çibdad de Avila, 20 dias de desiembre, anno de 1455 annos en don Yuça Bienveniste, recabdador de la mitad del obispado de Cordova este dicho anno 5.000 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Alfonso Gutierres, e gelos libre sennaladamente en los terçios de los previllejos del dicho obispado de la dicha su mitad. 5.000 maravedis. [A payment order issued by the king in the city of Avila on 20 December 1455 instructed 5,000 maravedis to be paid by don Yuça Bienveniste, tax collector of half of the bishopric of Cordoba in this said year. And that he take the money to the said Alfonso Gutierres, and pay him appropriately from his said half of the tercios of the privileges of the said bishopric.] Por otra carta el dicho dia en Ruy Gonçales de Sevilla, recabdador de los dos dosavos del almoxarifadgo de la çibdad de Sevilla el dicho anno, 1.360 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Alfonso Gutierres, e gelos libre (tachado: segund) en qualesquier maravedis del dicho su recabdamiento. Levo las cartas Pedro del Burgo. 1.360 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Enbiose entero por çedula de contadores que tiene Alvaro de Lugo.) [Another letter of the same day authorised the payment of 1,360 maravedis by Ruy Gonçales of Seville, tax collector of two twelfths of the almojarifazgo of the city of Seville in the said year. And that he take the money to the said Alfonso Gutierres, and pay him in maravedis of his own collection. The letters were taken by Pedro del Burgo. (Marginal note: Entire payment made by accountants’ order held by Alvaro de Lugo.)]

95 1453, location unknown. 1456, December, 15. Location unknown. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 55. Moriscas. Diego de Oviedo, cavallero morisco, fijo de Ruy Fernandes, adalid. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia el anno que paso de 1453 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno, 15 maravedis, que le montan al anno 5.400 maravedis, 15 varas de ypre para su vistuario cada anno, los quales de su merçed primeramente tenia Anton de Xeres, por quanto gelos renunçio por su alvala firmado de su nombre el dicho anno. 5.400 maravedis. 15 varas ypre.

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[Diego de Oviedo, Moorish knight, son of Ruy Fernandes, adalid. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him in the past year of 1453, and from then onwards every year, of 15 maravedis, which amounts to 5,400 maravedis a year and 15 varas of Ypres cloth for his clothing every year, previously paid to Anton de Xeres, because he renounced them by means of a written and signed statement in the said year.] Librose por carta del rey dada 15 dias de disiembre de 1456 annos en el thesorero Garsia Viejo, recabdador de la meytad del partydo de Eçija el anno que paso de [14]55, 4.400 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Diego de Oviedo, e gelos dé en dichos contadores. Levo la carta Alvar Lopes de (tachado: Eçija) Luçena. 4.400 maravedis. [A payment order issued by the king on 15 December 1456 instructed 4,400 maravedis to be paid by the treasurer Garsia Viejo, tax collector of half of the taxes of Ecija in the past year of 1455. And that he take the money to the said Diego de Oviedo, and pay him in the said amounts. The letter was taken by Alvar Lopes of [crossed out: Ecija] Lucena.]

96 1453, location unknown. 1457, November, 25. Madrid. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 60. Pedro, fijo de Juan Fernandes de Aguilar. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala firmado de su nombre el anno que paso de 1453 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno, los 12 maravedis que de su merçed primeramente tenia Garsia Fernandes de Vergara, que le montan al anno 4.320 maravedis por quanto gelos renunçio. Tyene alvala del rey el dicho Juan Fernandes su padre para que le sean librados de cada anno estos maravedis al dicho Pedro sennaladamente en el recabdador que es o fuere de la çibdad de Toledo para quel dicho recabdador gelos libre sennaladamente en la dicha çibdad en rentas desembargadas e otrosi para que le sean librados enteramente syn le descontar terçio alguno, lo qual enbio el rey mandar por un su alvala el dicho anno. 4.320 maravedis. [Pedro, son of Juan Fernandes de Aguilar. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him by his written and signed authorisation in the past year of 1453, and from then onwards every year, of the 12 maravedis previously paid to Garsia Fernandes de Vergara, which amounts to 4,320 maravedis a year, because he renounced them. The father of the said Juan Fernandes has a written authorisation instructing these maravedis to be paid to the said Pedro by whoever is or might be the tax collector of the city of Toledo so that the said tax collector pay him appropriately in the said city from incomes earned, and instructing furthermore that he be paid completely without any thirds being taken from him.]

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documentary appendix Librose por carta nomina dada en Madrid, 25 dias de noviembre, anno de 1457 annos, en Ruy Gonçales de Sevilla, recabdador de los dos dosavos del almoxarifadgo de Sevilla el anno que paso de [14]55, 3.600 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Pedro, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador. (Nota al margen: Enbargados por Ruy Gonçales de Sevilla, recabdador del seysmo del almoxarifadgo de Sevilla por fianças.) [A payment order issued in Madrid on 25 November 1457 instructed 3,600 maravedis to be paid by Ruy Gonçales of Seville, tax collector of two twelfths of the almojarifazgo of Seville in the past year of 1455. And that he take the money to the said Pedro, and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by the said tax collector. (Marginal note: Embargoed by Ruy Gonçales of Seville, tax collector of a sixth of the almojarifazgo of Seville as guaranteed.)]

97 1453, location unknown. 1457, December, 20. Madrid. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 61. Maestre Lope, cavallero morisco, fijo de maestre Yuça. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala firmado de su nombre el anno que paso de 1453 annos e dende en adelante en cada un anno, los 10 maravedis que de su merçed tenia Fernando de Madrid, que le montan al anno 3.600 maravedis, por quanto es fynado. 3.600 maravedis. [Master Lope, Moorish knight, son of master Yuça. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him by his written and signed authorisation in the past year of 1453, and from then onwards every year, of the 10 maravedis previously paid to Fernando de Madrid, which amounts to 3,600 maravedis a year, because he is dead.] Librose por carta del rey dada en Madrid, 20 de disyembre de [14]57 en Alfonso Gonçales de Herrera, recabdador de los dos terçios de la merindad de Burgos, el anno de [14]55 los 2.400 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho maestre Lope, e gelos dé de los maravedis de las fianças. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador por poder. 2.400 maravedis. [A payment order issued by the king in Madrid on 20 December 1457 instructed 2,400 maravedis to be paid by Alfonso Gonçales de Herrera, tax collector of two thirds of the merindad of Burgos in 1455. And that he take the money to the said maestre Lope, and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by the said tax collector.]

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98 1453, location unknown. 1458, December, 6. Segovia R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 29 Moriscas. Pedro de Madrid, fijo de Juan Gutierres de Madrid, cavallero morisco. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia con el dicho ofiçio por su alvala firmado de su nombre el anno que paso de 1453 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno, 9 maravedis que de su merçed tenia Martin de Eçija, su cavallero morisco, que le montan al anno 3.240 maravedis e mas 8 varas de ypre quel dicho Martin de Eçija tenia en cada anno para su vistuario con el dicho ofiçio por quanto gelos renunçio. 3.240 maravedis. 8 varas ypre. [Pedro de Madrid, son of Juan Gutierres de Madrid, Moorish knight. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him by his written and signed authorisation in the past year of 1453, and from then onwards every year, of the 9 maravedis previously paid to Martin de Ecija, his Moorish knight, which amounts to 3,240 maravedis a year plus the 8 varas of Ypres cloth which the said Martin de Ecija received every year for his clothing with the said post, because he renounced them.] Librose por carta nomina dada en Segovia, a 6 dias de disiembre, anno de 1458 annos en Juan Rodrigues de Toledo, recabdador del obispado e sacadas de Badajos el anno que paso de [14]55 los dichos 3.640 (sic) maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Pedro de Madrid, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador. 3.640 (sic) maravedis. [A payment order issued in Segovia on 6 December 1458 instructed the said 3, 640 [sic] maravedis to be paid by Juan Rodrigues of Toledo, tax collector of the bishopric of Badajoz in the past year of 1455. And that he take the money to the said Pedro de Madrid, and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by the said tax collector.]

99 1453, October, 1. Location unknown. 1456, January, 20. Ávila. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 4, 88. Mantenimientos moriscos. Mahomad Alcayel, cavallero morisco. Mostro una fe de Alfonso del Campo e de Christoval de Valladolid, contadores de los libros de las quitaçiones fecha en esta guisa: Paresçe por el libro de los mantenimientos de los cavalleros moriscos de los annos pasados en commo fue librado su mantenimiento que ovo de aver por

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documentary appendix cavallero morisco Mahomad Alcayel, a rrason de 10 maravedis cada dia, que le montan 3.600 maravedis fasta en fin del anno de 1452 annos, e esta por librar este anno de 1453 annos. Fecho primer dia de octubre, anno de 1453 annos. Alfonso del Campo. Christoval de Valladolid. Por virtud de la qual dicha fe e porque al presente los libros de los mantenimientos de los moriscos non estavan en la corte del rey nuestro sennor, los sus contadores mayores mandaron a los ofiçiales destos libros que pues por fe de los ofiçiales pasados paresçia commo tenia el dicho mantenimiento, que gelo librasen, lo qual le fue librado de los annos de [14]54 e [14]55, que le avian quedado por librar los 7.200 maravedis que en ellos montan en esta guisa. [Mahomad Alcayel, Moorish knight. He showed a statement sworn by Alfonso del Campo and Christoval de Valladolid, accountants of the books of salaries drawn up in the following manner: It seems from the maintenance book of the Moorish knights in past years that Mahomad Alcayel was paid as a Moorish knight at a rate of 10 maravedis a day, which amounts to 3,600 maravedis [a year] until the end of 1452, and has yet to be paid for this year of 1453. Drawn up on 1 October 1453. Alfonso del Campo. Christoval de Valladolid. By virtue of the said sworn statement and because the maintenance books of the Moriscos are not currently held at the court of the king our lord, his royal accountants ordered the officials of these books to make the payment, because according to the statement of past officials he seemed to have been paid the said maintenance, which was ordered to be paid for the years 1454 and 1455, and that he had yet to be paid the resulting 7,200 maravedis.] Anno de [14]54. Librose por carta del rey dada en la çibdad de Avila, 20 dias de enero de 1456 annos, en Alfonso Rodrigues de Baeça, recabdador mayor de las dos novenas partes del almoxarifadgo de Sevilla, el anno que paso de 1454 annos, los dichos 3.600 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Mahomad, e gelos dé e pague en dias corridos a los plasos que al rey es obligado. Levo la carta el mesmo e que gelos libre en las fianças. 3.600 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Librose entero por çedula de contadores que tiene Garçia de Alcoçer.) [A payment order issued by the king in the city of Avila on 20 January 1456 instructed the said 3,600 maravedis to be paid by Alfonso Rodrigues of Baeza, high tax collector of two ninths of the almojarifazgo of Seville in the past year of 1454. And that he take the money to the said Mahomad, and pay him on the days that he is obliged by the king. He took the letter himself and will pay him the money that he has guaranteed.] Anno de [14]55. Por otra carta dada el dicho dia en Alfonso Garsia de Madrid, recabdador mayor de los diesmos e alfolis del regno de Gallisia, en el anno que paso de 1455 annos, los dichos 3.600 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Mahomad. E gelos (tachado: de) libre sennaladamente en los maravedis de las fianças que

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ovo a dar en el dicho su recabdamiento. Levo la carta el mesmo. 3.600 maravedis. [Another order issued on the same day instructed the said 3,600 maravedis to be paid by Alfonso Garsia of Madrid, high tax collector of the tithes and alfolis of the kingdom of Galicia in the past year of 1455. And that he take the money to the said Mahomad. And that he pay him appropriately the maravedis that he has guaranteed by his post. He took the letter himself.]

100 1454, location unknown. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 54. Iohan Sanches de Cordova, fijo de Diego Sanches de Cordova, cavallero morysco del rey nuestro sennor. Contadores, 100 maravedis. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala firmado de su nombre el anno que paso de 1454 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno, 12 maravedis que de su merçed tenia Françisco Sanches Catalan, cavallero morisco, e mas las (tachado: 15) 12 varas de ypre que de su merçed tenia el dicho Françisco Sanches Catalan, por quanto gelos renunçio. 4.320 maravedis. (Nota al margen, rota en parte: [. . .] de Herrera, recabdador de los [. . .] de Burgos, por fianças.) [Iohan Sanches de Cordova, son of Diego Sanches de Cordova, Moorish knight of the king our lord. Accountants, 100 maravedis. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him by his written and signed authorisation in the past year of 1454, and from then onwards every year, of the 12 maravedis previously paid to Françisco Sanches Catalan, Moorish knight, and the 12 varas of Ypres cloth paid to the said Françisco Sanches Catalan, because he renounced them. (Marginal note, partly torn: [. . .] de Herrera, tax collector of the [. . .] of Burgos, as guaranteed.)]

101 1454, location unknown. 1455, November, 20. Avila. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 29. Pedro de Hontannon, cavallero morisco del rey nuestro sennor. Mandole el rey librar en raçion (tachado: cada dia) por su alvala firmado de su nombre el anno que paso de 1454 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno, 2.400 maravedis e 10 varas de ypre (tachado: de qualesquier) de los 10.320 maravedis e 32 varas de panno de ypre que de su merçed tenia en raçion para vestuario cada anno Juan de Tarifa, fijo de Juan de Tarifa, adalid cavallero morisco.

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documentary appendix 2.400 maravedis. 10 varas ypre. [Pedro de Hontannon, Moorish knight of the king our lord. The king ordered an [crossed out: daily] allowance to be paid to him by his written and signed authorisation in the past year of 1454, and from then onwards every year, of the 2,400 maravedis and 10 varas of Ypres cloth of the 10,320 maravedis and 32 varas of Ypres cloth previously paid as an allowance and for his clothing every year to Juan de Tarifa, son of Juan de Tarifa, Moorish knight and adalid.] Librose por carta del rey dada en la çibdad de Avila, 20 dias de noviembre de 1455 annos en Alfonso Garsia de Madrid, recabdador mayor de la meytad de los diesmos e alfolies del regno de Gallisia este dicho anno 2.133 maravedis, 2 reales. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Pedro de Hontannon, e gelos libre sennaladamente de los maravedis de las fianças. Levo la carta Juan de Aguilar, corredor, por virtud de su poder. 2.133 maravedis 2 reales. [A payment order issued by the king in the city of Avila on 20 November 1455 instructed 2,133 maravedis and 2 reales to be paid by Alfonso Garsia of Madrid, high tax collector of half of the tithes and alfolis of the kingdom of Galicia in this said year. And that he take the money to the said Pedro de Hontannon, and pay him the maravedis that he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by Juan de Aguilar, tax broker, by virtue of his power of proxy.]

102 1454, location unknown. 1455, November, 26. Avila. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 64. Diego de Xeres, lonbardero del rey, su cavallero morisco.9 Mandole el rey [librar] en raçion cada dia por su alvala firmado de su nombre el anno que paso de 1454 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno, los quinse maravedis que maestre Benito, adalid, cavallero morisco de su merçed tenia, por quanto es finado, que le montan al anno 5.400 maravedis. 5.400 maravedis. [Diego de Xeres, bombardier of the king, his Moorish knight. The king ordered an allowance to be paid to him by his written and signed authorisation in the past year of 1454, and from then onwards every year, of the 15 maravedis previously paid to maestre Benito, adalid, Moorish knight, because he is dead, which amounts to 5,400 maravedis a year.] Librose por carta del rey dada en la çibdad de Avila, 26 dias de noviembre de 1455 annos en el ques o fuere recabdador mayor de los sennorios del obispado

9

The same heading, crossed out and with a note reading “Está adelante” [He has been informed] appears in leg. 1, fol. 58, although it adds “Contadores, 100 maravedis”.

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de Iahen este dicho anno 3.600 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Diego de Xeres, e gelos libre sennaladamente en las villas e lugares del adelantamiento de Caçorla por que gelos dé a los plasos de la mesa. Levo la carta Juan de [Guar..], fiador de Pedro de Acuña. 3.600 maravedis. [A payment order issued by the king in the city of Avila on 26 November 1455 instructed 3,600 maravedis to be paid by whoever is or might be high tax collector of the lands of the bishopric of Jaen in this said year. And that he take the money to the said Diego de Xeres, and pay him appropriately in the towns and locations of Cazorla. The letter was taken by Juan de [Guar…], on behalf of Pedro de Acuña.]

103 1454, location unknown. 1455, November, 29. Avila. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 65 (Given in contemporary Roman numerals: LVI). Moriscas. Graviel de Baeça, cavallero morisco, fijo de Gregorio, sastre del rey nuestro sennor. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala firmado de su nombre el anno que paso de 1454 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno, los 15 maravedis cada dia e 15 varas de ypre para su vistuario cada anno que de su merçed tenia en raçion e vistuario Gonçalo de Valladolid, cavallero morisco, por quanto es fynado, que le montan al anno 5.400 maravedis e las dichas 15 varas de ypre. 5.400 maravedis. 15 varas ypre. [Graviel de Baeça, Moorish knight, son of Gregorio, tailor of the king our lord. The king ordered an allowance to be paid to him by his written and signed authorisation in the past year of 1454, and from then onwards every year, of the 15 maravedis every day and 15 varas of Ypres cloth for his clothing previously paid to Gonçalo de Valladolid, Moorish knight, because he is dead, which amounts to 5,400 maravedis a year and the said 15 varas of Ypres cloth.] Librose por carta del rey dada en Avila, 29 de noviembre, anno de 1455 annos en el ques o fuere recabdador mayor del arçobispado de Santiago con el obispado de Tuy este dicho anno 6.400 (sic) maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Graviel de Baeça. E gelos de e pague en dineros contados a los plasos de la mesa. Levo la carta Gregorio su padre. 5.400 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Librose entero por çedula de contadores que tiene Ruy Fernandes de Jahen.)

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documentary appendix [A payment order issued by the king in Avila on 29 November 1455 instructed 6,400 [sic] maravedis to be paid by whoever is or might be high tax collector of the archbishopric of Santiago with the bishopric of Tuy in this said year. And that he take the money to the said Graviel de Baeça and pay him. The letter was taken by his father Gregorio. (Marginal note: Entire payment made by accountants’ order held by Ruy Fernandes of Jaen.)]

104 1454, location unknown. 1457, February, 10. Palencia. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 34. Alfonso de Aguilar, fijo de Juan Fernandes, cavallero morisco. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala firmado de su nombre el anno que paso de 1454 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno los 12 maravedis que montan al anno 4.320 maravedis e 12 varas de ypre para su vestuario, en cada un anno, que Garçia de Granada, fijo de Garçia Vannegas de su merçed tenia en cada anno de raçion e vistuario, por quanto (tachado: es finado) gelos renunçio. 4.320 maravedis. 12 varas ypre. [Alfonso de Aguilar, son of Juan Fernandes, Moorish knight. The king ordered an allowance to be paid to him by his written and signed authorisation in the past year of 1454, and from then onwards every year, of the 12 maravedis which amounts to 4,320 maravedis a year and 12 varas of Ypres cloth for his clothing every year previously paid to Garçia de Granada, son of Garçia Vannegas every year as his allowance and clothing, because [crossed out: he is dead] he renounced them.] Librose por carta del rey dada en Palençia, 10 dias de febrero de [14]57, en dom Frayme Abenxuxen, recabdador de la çibdad de Toledo e su partydo el anno de [14]55 los dichos 3.420 maravedis e 12 varas de ypre e por ellos todos 5.080 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Alfonso de Aguilar, e gelos de luego. Levo la carta Juan Fernandes su padre. 5.080 maravedis. (Nota al margen, tachada: Enbargados por Ruy Gonçales de Sevilla, recabdador del seysmo del almoxarifadgo de Sevilla por fianças.) [A payment order issued by the king in Palencia on 10 February 1457 instructed the payment by don Frayme Abenxuxen, tax collector of the city of Toledo and its territory in 1455 of the said 3,420 maravedis and 12 varas of Ypres cloth and for all of them 5,080 maravedis. And that he take the money to the said Alfonso de Aguilar and pay him. The letter was taken by his father Juan Fernandes. (Marginal note, crossed out: Embargoed by Ruy Gonçales of Seville, tax collector of a sixth of the almojarifazgo of Seville as guaranteed.)]

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105 1454, location unknown. 1458, November, 20. Segovia. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 1, 24. Juan de Jahen, fijo de Pero Ramires de Canbil, cavallero morisco. Contadores [en blanco]. Mandole el rey librar en raçion cada dia por su alvala firmado de su nombre el anno que paso de 1454 annos e dende en adelante en cada anno los 10 maravedis que del dicho sennor rey tenia en raçion cada dia Alfonso de Baeça, cavallero morisco, por quanto es fynado, que le montan al anno 3.600 maravedis e mas las 10 varas de ypre que tenia en cada anno para su vestuario. 3.600 maravedis. 10 varas ypre. [Juan de Jahen, son of Pero Ramires de Canbil, Moorish knight. The king ordered a daily allowance to be paid to him by his written and signed authorisation in the past year of 1454, and from then onwards every year, of the 10 maravedis previously paid by the said king our lord to Alfonso de Baeça, Moorish knight, because he is dead, which amounts to 3,600 maravedis a year plus the 10 varas of Ypres cloth he had every year for his clothing.] Librose por carta nomina dada en Segovia, 20 dias de noviembre, anno de 1458 annos en Alfonso Gutierres de Eçija, recabdador de los diesmos e aduanas de Cuenca e Cartajena en el reyno de Murcia, el anno que paso de [14]55, 2.880 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Juan de Jahen, e gelos dé de los maravedis de sus fianças. Levo la carta el dicho recabdador. 2.880 maravedis. [A payment order issued in Segovia on 20 November 1458 instructed the payment of 2,880 maravedis by Alfonso Gutierres of Ecija, tax collector of the tithes and customs duties of Cuenca and Cartagena in the kingdom of Murcia in the past year of 1455. And that he take the money to the said Juan de Jahen and pay him the maravedis tht he has guaranteed. The letter was taken by the said tax collector.]

106 1455, March, 24. Location unknown. 1456, February, 15. Segovia. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 3, 123r–v (contemporary numeration: LVII). Raçiones moriscas. Fernando Ortys, cavallero morisco. Por su parte fue mostrado un alvala del dicho sennor rey librado de algunos de los del su consejo, fecho en esta guisa. Yo el rey fago saber a vos los mis contadores mayores que Fernando Ortys, cavallero morisco, me fiso relaçion por su petyçion que ante mi en el mi consejo presento disiendo que ha quarenta e syete annos quel se paso de Granada e se

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documentary appendix torrno cristiano, e el rey don Iohan de gloriosa memoria mi sennor e padre, que Dios aya, le fiso merçed de una raçion de 12 maravedis cada dia, que le monto al anno 4.320 maravedis, e para su vistuario 12 varas de ypre, segund que se dio a los otros cavalleros moriscos que entonçes se tornaron cristianos. E desde el dicho dia de cada anno le fue librada la dicha su raçion e vistuario. E que se le resçebia en fiança por alvala quel dicho sennor rey mi padre le dio, segund todo esta asentado en los mis libros. E dis que puede aver dos annos poco mas o menos que Iohan de Tarifa, cavallero morisco, fiso relaçion al dicho sennor rey mi padre quel era finado, por lo qual le fiso merçed de la dicha su raçion e vystuario, e le mando dar su alvala sobre ello e se le asento en los dichos mis libros, e le fue quitada dellos, en lo qual dis que ha resçibido e resçibe grand agravio, pues (tachado: que) el era e es bivo. Por ende que me pedia que sobre ello le proveyese de remedio mandandole tornar la dicha su raçion e vistuario, e gelo librar segund que fasta aqui las tenia. E los del mi consejo fisieron llamar ante sy al dicho Iohan de Tarifa, el qual confeso que porque le avian dicho quel dicho Fernando Ortys era finado, el avia ganado del dicho rey mi sennor la dicha raçion e vistuario, e que pues el dicho Fernando Ortys era bivo, e era ynformado que era /123v el aquel cuya era la dicha raçion, que a el plasia que fuese quitada a el e tornada al dicho Fernando Ortys, segund que de ante la tenia. Sobre lo qual los de mi consejo ovieron çierta ynformaçion e vista han acordado que yo devia mandar tornar e restetuyr la dicha su raçion e vistuario al dicho Fernando Ortys segund que la tenia de ante que le fuese quitada. E yo ovelo por bien. Por que vos mando que quitedes de los mis libros de las dichas raçiones al dicho Iohan de Tarifa los dichos 12 maravedis de raçion e dose varas de panno de ypre o de vystuario e lo pongades e asentedes en ellos al dicho Fernando Ortys, e gelo libredes todo este anno e de aqui adelante en cada anno segund e en la forma e manera que gela soliades librar e segund que librardes a los otros cavalleros moriscos las semejantes raçiones que de my tyenen. E non fagades ende al. Fecho 24 dias de março, anno del nasçimiento de nuestro sennor Jesuchristo de 1455 annos. Yo, el rey. Yo, Garsia Fernandes de Alcala la fise escrivir por mandado de nuestro sennor el rey con acuerdo de los del su consejo. Garsias episcopus Lucensis, Fernandus dotor, Pero Gonçales dotor, Iohannes legus dotor, (tachado: Pero Gonçales dotor), Gundisalvus dotor, Rogerda Abuer, iueus. Alvala Iohan de Sanpedro (signo). [Fernando Ortys, Moorish knight. On his behalf a statement was shown, written by the said lord our king and given to some members of his council. It reads as follows. I the king, make it known to you my royal accountants that Fernando Ortys, Moorish knight, gave me an account at his request before me and the council saying that he came here from the kingdom of Granada forty-seven years ago and turned Christian, and that the king don Juan of glorious memory my lord and father, may God preserve him, awarded him an allowance of 12 maravedis a day, which amounted to 4,320 maravedis a year, and 12 varas of Ypres cloth for his clothing, as were given to other Moorish knights who then turned Christian. And from that said day onwards he was paid his allow-

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ance and clothing every year. And that he was paid in advance by a written authorisation given to him by the said lord our king my father, as it is recorded in my books. And he states that about two years ago Juan de Tarifa, Moorish knight, informed the said lord our king my father that he was dead, because of which he was awarded the said allowance and clothing, and the king gave his authorisation and the payment was recorded in the said books of mine, and his allowance was removed from him, on account of which he says he has received and receives great offence, for he was and is alive. Therefore he requested that I remedy his ill usage by ordering his said allowance and clothing to be returned to him as he used to receive them until now. And those of my council called the said Juan de Tarifa before them, who confessed that he had been told that the said Fernando Ortys had died, and he had therefore gained from the said king my lord the said allowance and clothing, and that since the said Fernando Ortys was alive, and he had been informed that the allowance belonged to him, that it was his desire that the money be withdrawn from him and returned to the said Fernando Ortys as he had previously had it. Concerning which, those of my council obtained certain information and have determined that I should order the said allowance and clothing to be returned to the said Fernando Ortys as he had them before they were withdrawn from him. And I gave my consent. I therefore command that you remove from my books the said allowances given to the said Juan de Tarifa of 12 maravedis of allowance and 12 varas of Ypres cloth and that they be awarded to the said Fernando Ortys and recorded, and that he be paid all the money this year and from now onwards every year in the manner in which he used to be paid and as other Moorish knights are paid similar allowances by me. And may none dare not to carry out my command. Dated 24 March, the year of our lord Jesus Christ of 1455. I the king. I, Garsia Fernández de Alcala had this written by command of our lord the king in agreement with those of his council. Garsias bishop of Lugo, Fernandus doctor, Pero Gonçales doctor, Iohannes doctor in Law [crossed out: Pero Gonçales doctor], Gundislavus doctor, Rogerda Abuer, Jew. Authorisation Iohan de Sanpedro (signed).] Librose por carta del rey dada en (tachado: Pal) Segovia, 15 dias de febrero, anno de [14]56, en Françisco Fernandes de Sevilla, recabdador de los çinco dosavos del almoxarifadgo de Sevilla, el anno que paso de [14]55 los dichos 3.520 maravedis. E que recuda con ellos al dicho Fernando Ortys, e gelos de luego. Levo la carta Álvar Lopes de Luçena, vesino de Sevilla. 3.520 maravedis. [A payment order issued by the king in [crossed out: Pal] Segovia on 15 February 1456 instructed the payment of the said 3,520 maravedis by Françisco Fernandes of Seville, tax collector of five twelfths of the almojarifazgo of Seville in the past year of 1455. And that he take the money to the said Fernando Ortys and pay him. The letter and authorisation was taken by Álvar Lopes de Luçena, inhabitant of Seville.]

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107 1460, November, 15. Location unknown. 1461, February, 14. Madrid. 1462, December, 18. Almazán. 1463, June, 7. Medina del Campo. 1464, August, 28. Medina del Campo. R. AGS, EMR, Q. de C., leg. 2, 187–188 (303, XII in older numeration). Ed.: López de Coca, J. E.: “Caballeros moriscos . . .”, p. 131 (only the part in el f. 187v); A. Echevarria, “Conversión y ascenso social en la Castilla del siglo XV: los casos de Farax de Belvis y García Ramírez de Jaén”, ASIM VIII, Teruel, 2002, pp. 563–564. Raçiones moriscas. Alfonso Veles, fijo de Garsia Ramires de Jahen, cavallero morisco del rey nuestro sennor. Mostro un alvala del dicho sennor rey firmado de su nombre, fecho en esta guisa: Yo el rey fago saber a vos los mis contadores mayores que mi merçed e voluntad es que los 18 deneros de raçion cada dia e 15 varas de panno para su vistuario que de mi havia e tenia Gonçalo Sanches10, mi cavallero morisco, que lo aya e tenga de uno con el dicho ofiçio de mi cavallero morisco Alfonso Veles, fijo de Garsia Ramires de Jahen, por quanto el dicho Gonçalo Sanches es fynado. Por que vos mando que quitedes e testedes de los maravedis, libros e nominas de las raçiones e vistuarios que vosotros tenedes al dicho Gonçalo Sanches los dichos 18 maravedis de raçion cada dia e 15 varas de panno, e lo pongades e asentedes en ellos al dicho Alfonso Veles para que le sean librados desde primero dia de enero que paso deste anno de la fecha deste mi alvala e dende en adelante de cada dia e mes e anno segund e commo e quando libredes a las otras presonas (sic) nuestros cavalleros moriscos las semejantes raçiones e vistuarios que de mi tienen. Esto fased e conplid non enbargante qualesquier leys e hordenanças quel rey don Iohan mi sennor e mi padre, cuya anima Dios aya, e yo tengamos (repetido: fe) fechas e hordenadas, en que se contiene que qualesquier maravedis que vacaren se consuman la meytad en los mis libros, (tachado: que) ca en quanto a esto atanne yo las abrogo e derogo e do por nengunnas e de ningund efento (sic) e valor, quedando en su fuerça e valor para delante. E non fagades ende al. Fecho 15 dias de noviembre, anno del naçimiento del nuestro sennor Jesuchristo de 1460 annos. Va enmendada o dis quinse e o dis novienbre. Yo, el rey. Yo Garsia Mendes de Badajos, secretario de nuestro sennor el rey la fys escrivir por su mandado. 10

Mentioned in doc. 19.

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[Alfonso Veles, son of Garsia Ramires de Jahen, Moorish knight of the king our lord. He showed an authorisation signed by the said king our lord, which read as follows: I the king, make it known to you my royal accountants that it is my favour and desire that the 18 dineros of daily allowance and 15 varas of cloth for his clothing previously paid by me to Gonçalo Sanches, my Moorish knight, should be awarded together with the post to my Moorish knight Alfonso Veles, son of Garsia Ramires de Jahen, because the said Gonçalo Sanches is dead. I therefore command you to withdraw the said 18 maravedis of daily allowance and 15 varas of cloth paid by you to the said Gonçalo Sanches and award and record these payments to the said Alfonso Veles so that he may be paid from the first day of January past of the year of this my authorisation and from now onwards for every day, month and year in the same manner that you pay other of our Moorish knights the similar allowances and clothing which they have from me. This is to be done and carried out in spite of any laws or commands made by the king don Iohan my lord and my father, whom God may preserve, or may have been commanded by myself, according to which half of any maravedis which become vacant should be consumed in the books, for in this I abrogate and cancel such orders though they retain their force from now onwards. And may my command be carried out. Dated 15 November, the year of the birth of our lord Jesus Christ of 1460. I, the king. I Garsia Mendes of Badajoz, secretary to our lord the king had this written at his command.] 187v

En la villa de Madrid, 14 dias del mes de febrero, anno del naçimiento del nuestro sennor Jesuchristo de 1461 annos. Este dicho dia, estando presentes Iohan Ramires de Alcala e otro honbre que se dixo por su nombre Françisco de Miranda, cavalleros moriscos, e en presençia de mi, el escrivano e testigos de yuso escriptos, pareçio en presentia (tachado: e) Garsia de Jahen, capitan de los moros e moriscos del dicho sennor rey e pedio a mi el dicho escrivano que tomase e reçebyese juramento de lo susodicho en forma devida de derecho, e por virtud del las pregundtase sy sabia (repetido: sy sabia) sy era fynado Gonçalo Sanches, cavallero morisco, e quanto tiempo avia que era fynado, e donde estava enterrado, e commo sabia, e que esteviese (sic) sus dichos e depusyçiones e gelos diese ansy por testimonio. E yo el dicho escrivano tome e reçeby juramento en forma devida de derecho sobre la dicha rason de lo susodicho, los quales de una concordia dixieron de (sic) juravan e juraron a Dios e a Sancta Maria e a la senal de la crus en que pusyeron sus manos derechas corporalmente, que ellos saben por quanto gelos dixeron presonas que lo vieron, quel dicho Gonçalo Sanches es fynado e pasado desta presente vida, e que lo saben por quanto gelos dyxeron presonas que lo vieron fynado, e que puede aver un anno que se fyno en la çibdad de Cordova, e que sy es publica vos e fama, e so virtud del dicho juramento dixeron que esto es lo que sabian deste dicho. E luego el dicho Garsia de Jahen pidio a mi el dicho escribano que gelo diese ansy por testimonio para guarda de su derecho.

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documentary appendix E yo dile ende este que fue fecho e paso ansy anno e mes e dia susodicho, testigos que fueron presentes: Iohan de la Mora e Fernando de Perea, cavalleros moriscos, e Pedro Viscaynno, e yo Pero Rodrigues de Sancta Marta, escrivano de camara del rey nuestro sennor, e su notario publico en todos los sus regnos e sennorios, en uno con los dichos testigos presentes fuy a todo lo que dicho es e a ruego e a pedimiento del dicho Garsia de Jahen este testimonio escrivi. Por ende fes aqui este mio sygno en testimonio de verdad. Pero Fernandes. Alvala e testigo, yo, Pedro de Medina. (signo) [In the town of Madrid, 14th day of the month of February in the year of the birth of our lord Jesus Christ of 1461. This said day, being present Iohan Ramires de Alcala and another man who gave his name as Françisco de Miranda, Moorish knights, and in my the notary public’s presence and that of signed witnesses, there appeared before me Garsia de Jahen, captain of the Moors and Moriscos of the said king our lord who requested me the said notary public to take and receive an oath made by the aforementioned in due legal form, requesting me to ask him if he knew whether Gonçalo Sanches, Moorish knight, were dead, and how long he had been dead, and where he was buried, and how he knew this, and asked me to record his words and statements and asked that I provide him with testimony for the safeguarding of his rights. And I the said notary public took and received in due legal form an oath concerning these matters from the aforementioned men, who all agreed to swear and swore by God and the Holy Mary and at the sign of the cross upon which they placed their right hands, that they know from what they have been told by persons who have seen him that the said Gonçalo Sanches is dead and has left this present life, and that they know this because they have been told it by persons who have seen him dead, and that it is about a year since he died in the city of Cordoba, and that all this is publicly well known, and by virtue of the said oath they said that this is what they knew about the said individual. And then the said Garsia de Jahen asked me the said notary public to provide him with testimony for the safeguarding of his rights. And I gave him there this which was made and thus occurred in the year and month and day aforementioned, before the following witnesses: Iohan de la Mora and Fernando de Perea, Moorish knights, and I Pero Rodrigues de Sancta Marta, notary public of the chamber of the king our lord, and his notary public in all his realms and lands, together with the said witnesses I heard all that was said and at the request of the said Garsia de Jahen I wrote this testimony. I therefore sign in my name as a testimony of truth. Pero Fernandes. Authorisation and witnessed, I, Pedro de Medina. (signed)] /188rAnno de [14]61. [En blanco] [No entry] Anno de [14]62. Librose por carta del rey dada en la villa de Almaçan, 18 dias de desiembre, anno de [14]62 annos, en Alfonso Garsia de Toledo, recabdador del obispado de Osma, este dicho anno los dichos 6.600 [maravedis]. E que recuda con ellos

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al dicho, e gelos de en dineros a los plasos del rey. Levo la carta el mismo. 6.600 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Entregado por mandamiento del rey, fecho 25 dias de jullio de 62). [A payment order issued by the king in the town of Almaçan on 18 December 1462 instructed the payment of the said 6,600 [maravedis] by Alfonso Garsia of Toledo, tax collector of the bishopric of Osma in this said year. And that he take the money to the said [knight] and pay him in accordance with the king’s instructions. He took the letter himself. (Marginal note: Delivered by the king’s command, dated 25 July [14]62.)] Anno de [14]63. Librose por carta del rey dada en la villa de Medina del Campo, 7 dias de junio de [14]63 annos, en el ques o fuere recabdador del serviçio e montadgo de los ganados del regno, este dicho anno 6.600 [maravedis]. E que recuda con ellos al dicho, e gelos de en dineros. Levo la carta su padre. 6.600 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Entregado por mandamiento del rey, fecho 30 de mayo de 63). [A payment order issued by the king in the town of Medina del Campo on 7 June 1463 instructed the payment of 6,600 [maravedis] by whoever is or might be tax collector of the taxes on the herds of the realm in this said year. And that he take the money to the said [knight] and pay him. The letter was taken by his father. (Marginal note: Delivered by the king’s command, dated 30 May [14]63.)] Anno de [14]64. Librose por carta del rey dada en la villa de Medina del Campo, 28 de agosto del [14]64, en el conçejo e allcaldes, ofiçiales e omes buenos de la villa d’Escamilla, logar que es en los sennorios del ynfantadgo de Huete, e en los apeos e de ganados del dicho logar los dichos 6.600 [maravedis]. E que recuda con ellos al dicho, e gelos de en dineros. Levo la carta Garsia de Jahen su padre. 6.600 maravedis. (Nota al margen: Entregado por mandamiento del rey, que esta antes desto). [A payment order issued by the king in the town of Medina del Campo on 28 August 1464 instructed the payment of the said 6,600 [maravedis] by the council and alcaldes, officials and good men of the town of Escamilla, in the manor lands of the infantazgo of Huete. And that the money be taken to the said [knight] to pay him. The letter was taken by Garsia de Jahen his father. (Marginal note: Delivered by command of the king, which is contained before this.)]

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INDEX

All references are to page numbers. I have chosen one version of names, when there are several ones, according to the most used in the sources; in case of various forms of one name, they are quoted as «so or so». In other cases, when several forms of a name occur, I have chosen the modern Spanish version, i.e. Juan for Iohan or Johan. In brackets, the Arabic names of people who converted. When a name is the same for more than one person, some other feature is given to identify him, such as a profession or title of nobility. I have omitted Castile and Granada, which appear in all the text. Abanilla 17 ʿAbd al Karim al-Qaysi al-Basti 24 ʿAbd Allah al-Amin 175 Abdallá de Vélez 256 Abdallá Fronero, agent of Farax de Belvís 184 Abenadalil, captain of the Moorish guard in Aragón 94 Abenámar, Yahya, Moorish knight, cabecera of Mocafre 86, 117, 131, 159, 173, 179–180, 308–309 Abencerrajes (Banu Sarraj), family 19, 24, 26, 28, 30–39, 62, 76, 164–165, 178 Abrahen or Ibrahim al-Amin, son of Çaide Alamín 177–178 Abrahen Xarafí 202 Abu Bakr Ibn ʿAsim 40, 47 Abu Faris of Tunis 28, 78–79 Abu Ishaq ibn Abi ʿAbd Allah ibn Sarraj 161 Abulhaya, alcaide of Vera 73 Abu l-Hajjaj Yusuf ibn Abi-l-Qasim ibn al-Sarraj, alcaide 34 Abu l-Qasim ibn Ridwan Venegas 34 Abu l-Qasim ibn Siraj 43 Abu Saʿid Faraj, vizier, father of Ismael I 21 Abu Saʿid Uthman III of Fez 156 Abu Saʿid Yaqmaq al-Zahir 79 Abu l-Surur Mufarrij, vizier 27, 34, 40 Abu ʿUmar Ibn Manzur, legal expert 19, 39 Abu Yaʿfar al-ʿUraybi, qadi 29 Aguilar 170 ʿAisha, daughter of Muhammad IX and wife of Muley Hacén 38 Ajarquía 30 Al-Andalus 21

Alamines (Banu al-Amin), family 30, 32, 39, 175 Albaicín 153 Albarracín 67 Alcalá de Guadaira 68 Alcalá de los Gazules 67 Alcalá la Real 67, 74, 152 Alcántara, Order of 63, 171, 203 Alcudia 159 Alexandria 181 Alfaro 6 Alfonso VII of Castile 67 Alfonso X of Castile 95, 109, 144 Alfonso XI of Castile 70, 102–103, 162 Alfonso I of Aragón 150 Alfonso III of Aragón 94 Alfonso V of Aragón 2, 6, 28, 78–79, 176–177 Alfonso V of Portugal 58 Alfonso, infante of Castile, self-proclaimed as Alfonso XII 7, 135, 199 Alfonso Álvarez de Tordesillas (Mahomad de Asyl), Moorish knight 151, 275–276 Alfonso Cota, fiscal agent 230, 245 Alfonso de Aguilar, son of Juan Fernández de Aguilar 76, 152, 171, 203, 282–283, 323–324 Alfonso de Badajoz, royal secretary 188 Alfonso de Baeza, Moorish knight 167, 324 Alfonso de Écija, Moorish knight 252–253 Alfonso de Guadix, Moorish knight 86, 174, 299–300 Alfonso de Madrid, Moorish knight 271 Alfonso de Sahavedra, Moorish knight 287–288 Alfonso de Segovia 297

348

index

Alfonso del Campo, notary 319 Alfonso Díaz de Villareal, fiscal agent 306 Alfonso Fernández de Córdoba, lord of Aguilar 152, 160, 171, 175 Alfonso Fernández de Valladolid (Hamede Harchayn), Moorish knight 151, 258–259 Alfonso García, kettledrummer 122, 299 Alfonso García de Madrid, fiscal agent 217, 236, 257, 271, 290–291, 320–321 Alfonso García de Toledo, fiscal agent 330 Alfonso García de Villanueva, fiscal agent 225 Alfonso González de Herrera, fiscal agent 273, 304–305, 317–318 Alfonso Gutiérrez, adalid, Moorish knight 109, 314–315 Alfonso Gutiérrez de Écija, fiscal agent 254–255, 261–262, 264–267, 285, 294–296, 309, 324 Alfonso López de Valladolid, fiscal agent 218 Alfonso Pérez de Vivero, high accountant of the King of Castile 87, 117, 299–301, 313–314 Alfonso Rodríguez de Baeza, fiscal agent 319–320 Alfonso Rodríguez de Dueñas, royal accountant 263, 276, 278–279, 287, 300 Alfonso Suárez, Moorish knight 86, 163, 174, 255 Alfonso Téllez Girón 61 Alfonso Vélez, son of García de Jaén, Moorish knight 116, 121, 154, 170, 246–247, 327–328 Algeciras 18–19 Alhabar 35, 162, 168, 203 Alhambra 19, 27, 30, 32–33, 42, 52, 62, 76 ʿAli al-Amin, chamberlain 40, 161, 175–176 Alí al-Tasquq, Moorish knight 86, 173, 268 Alí Arramoní, al-Barramoní or Barramoní 158–159 Alí el Curro 146 Alí el Negro, Moorish knight 136, 173 ʿAli ibn Yusuf, prince of Granada 33 ʿAli ibn Sulayman, Granadan ambassador 136

ʿAli, son of Homar Saraiquel, Moorish knight 72 Alí Xarafí, alfaquí 185–186 Alicaçor, Moorish knight 136 Alicún 79 Almazán 304, 307–308, 327, 330 Almería xiv, 18–19, 27–28, 30–32, 35, 37–38, 181 Almohads, dynasty 145 Almoravids, dynasty 145 Alonso Carrillo, archbishop of Sevilla 15, 195 Alonso de Barrasa, Moorish knight 136 Alonso de Cartagena 106, 108, 140, 154 Alonso de Espina, friar 197 Alonso de Granada, Moorish knight 136, 272–273 Alonso de Granada Venegas, son of convert 154 Alonso de Mella, friar 67 Alonso de Oropesa, friar 197 Alonso de Palencia, chronicler 5, 196 Alonso Fernández, alfaqueque 152, 175 Alonso García, alcaide of Olvera 76 Alporchones or Lorca, battle of 33, 62 Alpujarras 18, 33, 206 Álvar García de Santamaría 146 Álvar López de Lucena, tax broker 219, 223, 226, 230, 232, 234, 241, 259–262, 271–272, 274, 278, 280–281, 312–313, 316, 327 Álvar Pérez de Ponce, fiscal agent 308 Álvaro de Alcocer 307 Álvaro de Luna, constable of Castile and Master of the Order of Santiago xv, 2, 4–5, 10–11, 15, 29, 48, 50, 52, 55–56, 61, 84–85, 87, 102, 104, 112, 117, 122, 129, 161, 182–183, 197, 201, 212, 290–291, 299 Álvaro de Rentas 86, 295–296 Álvaro González de Segovia, Moorish knight 273–274 Álvaro Martín 254 ʿAmmar ibn Musa or Amir Abenámar, alcaide of Huéscar 73 Ament Barramoní 158 Anchuela, hamlet of Molina de Aragón 184 Andalusia 8, 11, 13, 75, 113, 116, 171, 175, 186, 201 Andarax 31 Andar Alcalay 161 Antequera 25, 49, 51–52, 64, 67, 81, 157, 175

index Antón de Jerez, Moorish knight 316 Antón de Jimena, Moorish knight 119 Antón González de Almonte, scribe 74 Antón Martínez (Mahomad bin Far), Moorish knight 109, 151, 248–249 Antón Rodríguez de Lillo, member of the royal council 187 Anselmo Turmeda 140 Aragón xviii, 1–4, 25–26, 30–31, 34, 47, 52, 62, 78–79, 81, 94, 96–97, 99, 102, 109, 156, 166, 177–178, 180–181, 197, 212–213 Archena 16 Archidona 34, 62, 79 Arenas 35, 61, 70, 152, 169 Arévalo 231, 233, 242, 244, 273–274, 304–305, 307, 310–311 Asturias 6 Atienza 225 Ávila 7, 16–17, 95, 185, 196, 217, 227, 235–236, 251, 256–257, 260, 271–272, 286, 288, 290–291, 298, 300–302, 313–315, 320–322 Ayllón 2 Aytón (Savoy, Italy) 189 Azmet Barramoní 158 Badajoz 248, 261–262, 318 Baena 113 Band, Order of the 70 Banu ʿAbd al-Barr 32–33, 39 Banu ʿAsim 42 Banu Ashqilula or Escayuela 22, 39 Banu Bunnahi 42 Banu l-Hakim 19, 39, 73, 76 Banu Kumasa 30, 33, 39 Banu Marin, or Merinids 19, 21, 25, 30, 78–80, 83, 117, 156, 157, 190, 295 Banu l-Mawl 22, 28, 39 Banu Simak 42 Baeza 67, 76 Barcas 152 Barcelona 159 Bartolomé de Aguilar 226–227 Bayacet II 206 Baza 72, 76, 167 Beltrán de la Cueva 6, 10, 59, 130 Belvís or Bellvís, family 158, 180, 184–186 Benamaurel 30, 61 Benedict XIII, Pope 94, 176 Benito, master, adalid, Moorish knight 109, 257, 322

349

Benito, son of Cristóbal Fernández el Beatyed/Elbecar 267, 291–292 Benito González de Granada, Moorish knight 112, 257, 269–270, 295–296 Blanca, Queen of Navarre, wife of Juan [II] of Aragón 6 Blanca, princess of Navarre, wife of Enrique IV of Castile 6 Boca del Asna, battle of 51, 175 Borja 181 Briviesca 99 Bruges 134, 137, 166 al-Bunnahi 65 Burgos 11, 15, 132, 259, 273, 304–305, 317–318 Cabçaníes, family 76 Cabra 170 Cáceres 240–241 Çadala, servant of Alfonso Pérez de Vivero 173, 299–300 Çaide Alamin 7, 176 Cairo 79, 93 Calatrava, Order of 16 Çalit, alcaide 26 Calixtus III, Pope 62–63 Cambil 35, 77, 161–165, 167–168, 203 Carlos II of Navarre 96 Cartagena 16, 125, 220, 254–255, 261–262, 264–267, 285, 294–296, 309, 324 Casería de los Vidrios Castellar, El 74 Castilleja 30 Catalina of Lancaster, Queen regent of Castile 1–3, 50–51, 102, 148, 156 Catalonia 6, 153, 213 Catholic Kings xiv, xviii, 13, 39, 48, 62, 64, 80, 95, 107, 134, 141–142, 167–169, 197, 201–203, 205–206, 211–213 Cazorla 322 Cenete 35 Ceuta 58, 77 Cieza 61 Cister, Order of 149 Cluny, Order of 149 Count of Arcos 33, 58, 62, 76, 112, 284 Count of Cabra 138 Count of Ledesma 55 Count of Niebla 55 Count of Tendilla, vid. Íñigo López de Mendoza Constantinople 5, 93

350

index

Constanza Vélez de Mendoza 154, 161, 165, 169 Córdoba 39, 54, 73, 125, 135, 223, 226–227, 234, 239, 242, 315 Coria 240–241 Courtrai 134 Cristóbal de Valladolid, notary 319 Cuenca 87, 96, 254–255, 261–262, 264–267, 285, 294–296, 309, 324 Çulema, cabecera of Mocafre 173, 276 Cyprus 105 Daroca 181 Dello Delli 56 Diego, son of Ruy Díaz al-Jayar 262–263 Diego Alfonso de Santa María de Guadalupe, Moorish knight 246 Diego de Aguilar, son of Juan Fernández de Aguilar 171, 203 Diego de Antequera, Moorish knight 267–268 Diego de Arévalo, Moorish knight 280 Diego de Baena, Moorish knight 152, 159, 288–289 Diego de Cogollos, Moorish knight 86, 174, 284, 289 Diego de Jerez, cannoneer, Moorish knight 111, 321–322 Diego de Oviedo, Moorish knight 315–316 Diego de Puelles (Cyla), Moorish knight 151, 259–260 Diego de Valladolid, Moorish knight 131, 301–302, 313–314 Diego Enríquez del Castillo, chronicler 107 Diego Fernández Abencaçin, alfaqueque 175–176 Diego Fernández de Aguilar, fiscal agent 247 Diego Fernández de Baena 152 Diego Fernández, Moorish knight 274 Diego Gómez de Ribera, adelantado of Andalucía 76 Diego González de Carmona, Moorish knight 163, 267, 276–277 Diego Hurtado de Mendoza, Duke of el Infantado 182 Diego Sánchez de Córdoba, father of Juan Sánchez 320 Diego Sánchez de Orihuela, merchant 194

Écija 59, 74, 316 Egypt xiv, 21, 78–79, 91–92, 197 El Pardo (Madrid) 189 England 5, 11 Enrique II of Castile 99, 126 Enrique III of Castile 1, 50, 99, 102, 175 Enrique IV of Castile xiv–xv, xvii, 1, 5–8, 10–12, 17, 19, 32–34, 37, 48, 50, 56–59, 61–63, 69, 76–77, 80–81, 87, 101–103, 107, 112–114, 117, 120–121, 123–124, 129–130, 136–138, 148, 164–167, 171–172, 183, 185, 189–191, 194, 196–199, 201–203, 212, 215, 287–288 Enrique, infante of Aragón and Master of the Order of Santiago 2, 6, 9–11, 52, 84, 114, 182 Enrique de Guzmán, duke of Medinasidonia 58, 62, 74, 76 Escamilla 330–331 Eslida (Valencia) 156 Estepona 58, 77 Europe 11, 97, 101, 144 Extremadura 8, 118 Fadrique, infante of Aragón 10 Fajardo, family 74–75 Fat al-Barramoní 158 Farax al-Çadafe 185–188, 286 Farax de Bellvís (14th century) 181 Farax de Belvís, Moorish knight and alcalde mayor 117, 173, 182–186, 201, 290–291 Farax Dime, Moorish knight 173 Farax, master builder of the royal castle in Toledo 190 Fátima al-Hurra, Muhammad IX’s sister 30 Fernán Álvarez de Cuenca, notary 184 Fernán Álvarez de Guadix, adalid, Moorish knight 117, 250, 273 Fernán Álvarez de Ladrada, son of Juan Álvarez, Moorish knight 283–284 Fernán Álvarez de Madrid, Moorish knight 218–219, 260–261, 270–272, 283 Fernán Álvarez de Toledo, lord of Valdecorneja 76 Fernán Amor de Priego, elche 83 Fernán Arias, alfaqueque mayor of Castile 74 Fernán de las Casas, fiscal agent 219 Fernán Díaz de Toledo, Moorish knight 152, 280

index Fernán González de León, fiscal agent 248 Fernán González, father of Juan de Alcántara 285 Fernán Gutiérrez de Valladolid, fiscal agent 307 Fernán López de Burgos, fiscal agent 307–308 Fernán Pérez del Pulgar, chronicler 108, 146 Fernán Pérez de Roa, Moorish knight 250 Fernán Sánchez, almocadén 82 Fernán Sánchez de Segovia, fiscal agent 245 Fernández de Córdoba, family 74, 161, 170 Fernando I of Aragón or Fernando de Antequera, infante of Castile xiv, 9–12, 48–52, 60, 64, 81–82, 102, 148, 152, 157, 175–176 Fernando II of Aragón, king of Castile known as “The Catholic” 7, 38, 146, 190 Fernando III of Castile 57, 67–68, 89, 205 Fernando IV of Castile 69 Fernando Alfonso de Carrión, Moorish knight 162 Fernando Alfonso de la Cava, fiscal agent 282 Fernando Arias de Saavedra, citizen of Jaén 169 Fernando de Alcalá, Moorish knight 151, 163, 255 Fernando de Alcántara (Yuça Mondéjar) , Moorish knight 151, 261–262 Fernando de Córdoba 238–239 Fernando de Córdoba, Moorish knight 252–253, 269 Fernando de León, fiscal agent 226, 230 Fernando de Leyva, citizen of Jaén 168 Fernando de Marruecos, Moorish knight 96, 172, 279 Fernando de Madrid, Moorish knight 285–286, 317 Fernando de Medina (Ali el Canel), Moorish knight 86, 151, 174, 270–271 Fernando de Perea, adalid 109, 254, 329 Fernando de Sandoval, his son 74 Fernando de Tarifa, elche, Moorish knight 147–148, 235–239

351

Fernando de Velma, Moorish knight 266 Fernando de las Casas, fiscal agent 247 Fernando Díaz de Toledo, court memorialist 152 Fernando Gutiérrez de Carrión, Moorish knight 235 Fernando Gutiérrez de Sandoval, from Seville 74 Fernando López de Estúñiga 157 Fernando López de Segovia, Moorish knight 264–265 Fernando López del Rincón, fiscal agent 282 Fernando Núñez de Toledo, fiscal agent 224, 241–242, 258, 262, 280–281, 297, 306 Fernando Ortiz Calderón, Moorish knight 116, 121–122, 148, 291–292, 325–327 Ferrando de Archidona 83 Fez 25, 78–79, 156 Flanders 11, 135 France 1, 11, 96–97, 135 Francés Navarro, Moorish knight 86, 174, 279–280 Francisco Catalán, Moorish knight 262 Francisco, son of Fernán Álvarez de Madrid, Moorish knight 271–272 Francisco de Madrid 260–261 Francisco de Miranda, Moorish knight 136, 328–329 Francisco de Segovia, Moorish knight 275 Francisco Enríquez, convert 167 Francisco Fernández de Sevilla, fiscal agent 219, 231–232, 260–261, 268–269, 271–272, 274, 280–281, 326–327 Francisco Francés el Cabrí, Moorish knight 259 Francisco González de Briviesca, Moorish knight 275 Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros, archbishop of Toledo 205–207 Francisco Sánchez Catalán, father of Francisco Catalán, Moorish knight 262, 320 Francisco Suárez de Écija 83 Frayme Abenxuxen, Jew, fiscal agent 253–254, 277, 288–289, 293–294, 303, 323 Gabriel de Baeza, son of Gregorio, tailor, Moorish knight 185, 322–323

352

index

Galera 30 Galicia 125–127, 134, 217, 222, 225, 227, 236–238, 244, 279–280, 290–291, 298–300, 302, 308, 313–314, 320–321 García, bishop of Lugo 325–326 García de Granada, son of García Venegas 323 García Fernández de Alcalá, scribe 325–326 García Fernández de Vergara 316–317 García Méndez de Badajoz, scribe 328 García Ramírez de Jaén or García de Alcalá, Moorish knight 107–108, 116, 121–122, 136–137, 154, 163–170, 202–204, 246–247, 252–253, 266–267, 327–331 García Ramírez, son of García Ramírez de Jaén 169 García Rodríguez del Río, fiscal agent 306 García Sánchez de Ciudad, fiscal agent 242 García Venegas (Mahomad ben Sa), Moorish knight 131, 151, 287, 303–305, 323 García Vida, fiscal agent 278 García Viejo, fiscal agent 316 Gaspar Vélez de Mendoza, comendador of Santiago 170 Gibraltar 25, 30, 34, 51, 59, 62, 77, 79 Gilaire, elche 147 Gómez de Herrera, fiscal agent 220, 230 Gómez de Valladolid, Moorish knight 117, 157, 295 Gómez Fernández de Toledo, fiscal agent 220 Gómez Manrique 153 Gómez Suárez, Moorish knight 83, 148, 156–157, 242–243 Gonzalo Alfonso de Benavente, cousin of the king of Benimerin 117, 157, 295 Gonzalo de Baeza, Moorish knight 136, 279–280 Gonzalo de Cogollos, Moorish knight 86, 174, 269–270 Gonzalo de Córdoba, fiscal agent 227, 239 Gonzalo de Saavedra, alcaide of Tarifa 77 Gonzalo de Toledo, citizen of Jaén 169 Gonzalo de Valladolid, Moorish knight 322–323 Gonzalo García de Llerena 248 Gonzalo González de Jerez, fiscal agent 238–239

Gonzalo González de Sevilla, fiscal agent 223, 226, 234, 245, 313 Gonzalo Rodríguez de Baeza 234 Gonzalo Rodríguez del Río, fiscal agent 239 Gonzalo Ruiz de Castellar, Moorish knight 148, 242–245 Gonzalo Sánchez de Llerena, Moorish knight 121–122, 170, 246–247, 327–329 Gregorio, tailor, convert 185, 256, 322–323 Guadalajara 11, 99, 175, 180–183, 201 Guadix 35, 72, 76, 161, 167 Guiomar de Castro, mistress of King Enrique IV 135 Hafsids 28, 78, 178 Hamede, alguacil of Ronda, vid. Mahomad Hamet de Cambil, Moorish knight 136, 173 Hamet de Loja, Moorish knight 136 Hamet Jacob, Moorish knight 136, 173 Hamete Carretón, alcalde of the aljama of Valladolid 185–186 Hamete Çelani, Moorish knight 86, 163, 173, 266 Hamete de Talavera, Moorish knight 136 Hellín 61, 67 Hernando de Talavera, archbishop of Granada xii, 153–154, 205, 207 Higueruela, battle of La 4, 49–50, 54, 69, 109, 177 Homar Saraiquel, alcaide of Guadix 72, 117, 173, 250 Huelma 67, 164, 167 Huércal 50 Huesca 150, 181 Huéscar 61, 151, 161 Huete 278, 330–331 Huleyt of Vélez 177 Hungary xiii, 211 Ibn ʿAllaq, vizier 32 Ibn al-Azraq 27 Ibn al-Khatib 91 Ibn Hud of Murcia 88 Ibn Hudayl 91 Ibn Khaldun 89, 93 Ibn Kumasa or Abencomixa, alcaide Ibn Siraj 29 Ibn Zamrak 24 Ibn al-Zayyat 30

77

index Iberian Peninsula xi, xv, 63, 140, 211 Illora 161 ʿInan ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAinan or Ainen, alcaide of Purchena 73 Íñigo López de Mendoza, marquis of Santillana 15, 182 Iñigo López de Mendoza, count of Tendilla 154, 205 Isabel of Portugal, Queen of Castile 5 Isabella or Isabel I of Castile, known as “The Catholic” 7, 135, 154, 171, 184, 190, 207 Ismael I 21 Ismael II 94–95 Ismael III 31–32, 61, 69, 72, 76 Ismael el Chatrio 163, 173, 265 Italy 11, 181, 211 Iznalloz 169 Jaén 19, 48, 62, 67–69, 76–78, 82, 96, 107, 117, 152, 162–163, 165–172, 204, 322 Jaime I of Aragón 67, 95 Jaime, count of Urgel 159 Jerez de la Frontera 118, 241–242, 262, 312 Jiloca 181 Jimena 58 Joan Mercader, baile of Valencia 156–157 Jörg von Ehingen 58, 197 Jorge Manrique, poet 151 Jorge Martínez de Málaga 258 Juan I of Castile 99–100 Juan II of Castile xv, 1–3, 5–8, 10–12, 17, 19, 29, 32, 48, 50, 52, 54, 56, 61, 63, 64, 69–71, 74–75, 80, 84–85, 87, 100–102, 107, 113–114, 123–126, 129–130, 142, 146–148, 162, 172, 176–177, 179, 182–183, 188, 191, 197, 201, 212, 215, 325–326 Juan II of Aragón and Navarre, before infante of Aragón 2, 5–7, 9, 11, 52, 61, 84–87, 96, 122, 161, 182, 279–280, 282–283, 294, 296, 298, 305 Juan, Moorish knight 224–227 Juan, son of the alcaide Ali (Fecochon) 117, 131, 151, 162, 227–230 Juan Alfonso Pimentel, count of Benavente 157 Juan Álvarez de Medina (Alí Barseno Nyl), Moorish knight 117, 151, 173, 250–251

353

Juan Arias de Saavedra, alfaqueque mayor of Castile 74 Juan Benedito 86, 298 Juan Borça, Moorish knight 251 Juan Calayn, Moorish knight 151, 163, 296–297 Juan de Acuña, bishop 117 Juan de Aguilar, tax broker 217, 222, 227, 230, 236, 238, 251, 257, 271, 279, 290–291, 299–300, 302, 314, 321 Juan de Alcalá, Moorish knight 136, 156, 290 Juan de Alcántara, Moorish knight 284–285 Juan de Antequera (Darra Heme), Moorish knight 116, 151, 231–234, 267–268, 288 Juan de Baeza, Moorish knight, convert 154, 290 Juan de Benaoxan, Moorish knight 309–313 Juan de Castilla, convert 153 Juan de Córdoba (Caçia el Mayor), son of Juan Fernández de Aguilar, Moorish knight 151, 220–223, 293 Juan de Córdoba, son of Benito González, Moorish knight 270 Juan de Écija, Moorish knight 251 Juan de Guinno, Moorish knight 270 Juan de Granada, Moorish knight 314 Juan de Jaén, son of Pedro Ramírez de Cambil, Moorish knight 167, 324 Juan de Jimena, Moorish knight 285–286 Juan de Marruecos, regidor of Jaén 96, 171–172, 279 Juan de Medina (Alí Aben Asdalla), kettledrummer 112, 122, 151, 260, 299 Juan de Mendoza, representative of Jaén in Cortes 166 Juan de Mesía, lord of La Guardia 166 Juan de Ocaña, Moorish knight 313–314 Juan de Ortega, Moorish knight 300 Juan de Pareja, tenent 166 Juan de Sahavedra (Mahomad), Moorish knight 86, 151, 282–283 Juan de San Pedro, fiscal agent 261–262 Juan de Segovia, cardinal 189 Juan de Soto, Moorish knight 276–277 Juan de Tarifa (Alí Barramoní), Moorish knight 87, 109, 117, 121, 123, 126, 130–133, 148, 151, 159–160, 234,

354

index

252–254, 273, 276–277, 288–289, 291–292, 325–326 Juan de Tarifa, his son, Moorish knight 291–293, 321 Juan de Tordesillas, royal chamberlain xii, 119, 136–137, 166, 173 Juan de Tordesillas, Moorish knight 136 Juan de Torre Alhaquime 83 Juan de Villa Real 242, 247–248 Juan de la Mora, Moorish knight 329 Juan Díaz de Salamanca, Moorish knight 83, 148, 248–249 Juan Fernández de Aguilar (Hamede el Cabrí), Moorish knight 151–152, 170–171, 203, 239–240, 287–288, 293–294, 302–303, 316–317, 323–324 Juan Fernández de Talavera 258 Juan García de Larrea 307 Juan García de Palencia, fiscal agent 223, 233, 238 Juan García de Paredes 86, 298 Juan García de Villadiego, fiscal agent 222–223, 225, 227, 229–230, 237–238, 244, 251, 279–280, 298–300, 302, 313–314 Juan Gil de Zamora 57 Juan González, son of Benito González, kettledrummer 257–258 Juan González de Sevilla, fiscal agent 243 Juan González Franco, Moorish knight 282 Juan Gutiérrez de Madrid, Moorish knight 297, 318 Juan Gutiérrez de Palencia, fiscal agent 244 Juan Hernández de Contreras, son of convert 154 Juan López (Aly ben Mahomad), almocadén 109, 151, 249–250 Juan Manuel, Don 57, 104 Juan Núñez de Toledo, fiscal agent 218 Juan Pacheco, marquis of Villena xvii, 5–7, 73, 107, 130–131, 191, 196, 199 Juan Ponce de León, lord of Marchena 76 Juan Ramírez, Moorish knight 87, 109, 131, 150 Juan Ramírez de Alcalá (el-Calay Abencerraje), Moorish knight 151, 156, 161–163, 255, 266–267, 328–329 Juan Rodríguez de Toledo, fiscal agent 240–241, 318 Juan Sánchez de Córdoba, Moorish knight 320

Juan Sánchez de Valladolid (Hamete Benaçatin), Moorish knight 151, 278 Juan Sánchez 233 Juan Suárez de Écija 83–84, 148 Juana of Castile, known as “La Beltraneja” 7 Juana of Portugal, Queen of Castile, wife of Enrique IV 135, 154 Juana de Contreras 154 Juana de Mendoza, lady of Queen Isabella 154 Julián, Count Don 146–147 Khusqadam al-Zahir of Egypt 79 Leo of Rozmital 197 Leon 8, 13 Leonor de Alburquerque, Queen of Aragón 2 Leonor de Arellano 160 Leonor López de Córdoba 2 Locubín 152 London (Londres) 135, 137–138 Lope, son of master Yuça or Hançe, master builder of the royal palace in Madrid 135, 186, 188–189, 303–308, 317–318 Lope Fernández de Santa María, Moorish knight 263 Lope Sánchez de Buitrago 305–306 López de Lucena 224 Lorca 48, 67 Lorenzo Suárez, knight 89 Louis XI of France 107 Lucena 67 Luis de Alcalá, Moorish knight 151, 163, 296 Luis de Granada, Moorish knight 277 Luis de Guzmán, Master of Calatrava 75 Luis de Leiva, son of García Ramírez de Jaén 169 Luis de Pernia, Moorish knight 136 Luis de Saavedra, citizen of Jaén 169 Luis González de Leiva, tenant of Lopera 169 Maçote, Moorish knight 138, 173 Madrid 16, 100, 185–189, 217–218, 220–226, 228–231, 234–240, 242–245, 248–250, 257, 262–264, 282–284, 303–308, 310–312, 316–318, 327–328 Madrigal 16, 85 Maghreb 78–80, 89, 93–94, 173

index Mahomad Abenma 173, 285 Mahomad Aben Çayd, son of Çaide Alamín, Moorish knight 86, 177–178, 279 Mahomad Alcayel 173, 319–320 Mahomad or Hamete, alguacil of Ronda 86, 290–291 Mahomad al-Qaysi, alcalde mayor of the Muslims of Castile 189 Mahomad de Talavera 173 Mahomad de Toledo, Moorish knight, engineer 112, 187–188 Mahomat Rubaydi 156 Majano, truces of 53 Málaga xiv, 18, 30– 31, 35, 37, 42, 76, 80, 168 Mamluks 78–79, 145 Mançor Alazach, alcaide 26 Manrique, family 61 Mantua 63 Al-Maqqari 47 Marbella 25 Marchena 31 María de Leiva, wife of García Ramírez de Jaén 169 María of Aragón, Queen of Castile 2, 5 María of Castile, Queen of Aragón 2, 157, 179 María Venegas, relative of the lord of Luque 154 Martín I of Aragón 25, 159 Martín V, Pope 63 Martin de Écija, Moorish knight 318 Martin de Espinosa, citizen of Jaén 168 Martin de Torres, alcaide 86, 174, 256 Martin, servant of Pero Arias 307 Mata Begid 164 Medina del Campo 7, 11, 16, 100, 116, 191, 196, 221–224, 225, 228–232, 234, 236–242, 244–245, 247, 262, 285–286, 309–310, 312, 327, 330–331 Medinaceli 181 Mediterranean xiii, xvi, 44, 47, 63, 79, 88, 181, 211 Melines 134 Mendoza, family 17 Miguel de Écija 83 Miguel de San Vicente, Moorish knight 131, 301 Miguel Lucas de Iranzo, constable of Castile 6, 35, 62, 96, 104, 107, 130, 138, 152, 167, 172, 199 Mofarras or Mofarrax or Muhammad ibn Mufarrij, Moorish knight 121, 194

355

Montejícar 169 Montiel 61 Morocco 117 Motril 31 Mufarrij, captain of the elches 83 Mufarrij, family 22, 39 Muhammad, the Prophet (Mahomad) 39, 92, 146–147 Muhammad I of Granada 68–69 Muhammad II 22 Muhammad III 69 Muhammad V 22, 28, 69, 161, 181 Muhammad VI 22, 29, 94 Muhammad VII 24–25, 27, 81–82, 175 Muhammad VIII “The Small” 21, 26–30, 32–33, 40, 52–53, 69, 72, 159, 161, 178 Muhammad IX “The Left-Handed” 21, 26–33, 38, 43, 47, 52–53, 55, 61, 66, 69, 78–79, 87, 146–147, 156–157, 159, 164, 176–179 Muhammad X “The Little” 21, 30–33, 61, 69 Muhammad XI or Boabdil xiv, 38, 40, 80 Muhammad XII or Abu ʿAbd Allah Muhammad ibn Saʿd ibn ʿAli al-Zagal 35, 37 Muhammad ibn Abu-l-Qasim al-Hakim, alguacil of Ronda 73 Mujlis ibn Mufarrij Mula 67 Muley Hacén or Abu l-Hasan ʿAli of Granada xviii, 21, 32–35, 37–38, 43, 59, 62, 69, 73, 77, 79, 136, 138, 165, 173, 194 Muley Mohamed or Mafamet, vid. Muley Hacén Murcia 8, 13, 48, 61, 67, 74–75, 254–255, 264–267, 285, 294–296, 309, 324 al-Muʾtasim, caliph 90 Nasr 28, 69 Nasr, son of Muley Hacén 38 Nasrids (Banu Nasr), family xiii–xiv, 18–19, 21–24, 27, 29–30, 32–33, 40–42, 44, 48–50, 52, 61, 64–65, 68, 70, 72, 74, 83, 89, 114, 117, 145, 173, 179, 194, 203, 206, 212 Navarre 2, 96, 111 Nicholas V, Pope 62 Niebla 67

356

index

North Africa xiv, 21, 42, 51, 201 Nuño de Arévalo, royal accountant 189 Ocaña 57 Olmedo 4, 11, 182, 199 Oran 149 Osma 330 Ovecar de Bellvís 181 Palencia 16, 217–218, 231–232, 252–253, 276–277, 286, 288–289, 291, 293–294, 303, 323–324 Palenzuela 57 Parla 30 Pedro I of Castile xvii, 69, 82, 99, 162, 181, 196–197, 205 Pedro IV of Aragón 89, 94, 181 Pedro, infante of Castile 162 Pedro, son of alcaide Farax, Moorish knight 117, 131, 147, 217–220 Pedro Alfonso of Huesca 140, 150 Pedro Cambil, Moorish knight 265 Pedro de Acuña, bishop 87, 290, 322 Pedro de Ágreda, Moorish knight 274, 281 Pedro de Aguilar, Moorish knight 86, 136, 171, 174, 203, 302–303, 316–317 Pedro de Alcalá, Moorish knight 131, 308–309 Pedro de Archidona, Moorish knight 131, 301 Pedro de Baeza, son of Gregorio, tailor, Moorish knight 256–257 Pedro de Ciudad, fiscal agent 220 Pedro de Córdoba, Moorish knight 269 Pedro de Cuellar, knight from Segovia 165 Pedro de Granada, convert 154 Pedro de Haro, officer 297 Pedro de Hontañón, Moorish knight 321 Pedro de Leiva, citizen of Jaén 169 Pedro de Madrid (Mahomad Abenaça), Moorish knight 151, 274 Pedro de Madrid, son of Juan Gutiérrez, Moorish knight 318 Pedro de Medina 246, 309, 329–330 Pedro de Moguera, Moorish knight 266 Pedro de Quintanilla, friar 154 Pedro de Salcedo, Moorish knight 259 Pedro de Soto, Moorish knight 159, 276–277 Pedro de Tapia, fiscal agent 220

Pedro de Úbeda, Moorish knight 86, 174, 291–292 Pedro de Valladolid, Moorish knight 131, 301–302 Pedro de Zayas, Moorish knight 314–315 Pedro del Burgo, Moorish knight 86, 275, 315 Pedro de la Cavallería 140 Pedro Fernández de Córdoba, lord of Aguilar 76, 83, 171 Pedro Fernández de Jerez (Yçami of Granada), Moorish knight 151, 235 Pedro García de Segovia, fiscal agent 218 Pedro Girón, Master of the Order of Calatrava 6, 130, 196 Pedro González de Baamon, fiscal agent 220, 224, 230, 239 Pedro González de Vernaldos, Moorish knight 272 Pedro Ortiz, high accountant of the king of Castile 83, 124, 134 Pedro Ramírez de Cambil or de Jaén 163, 167, 324 Pedro Vizcaíno 329 Pedro Sarmiento 194 Pegalajar 67, 166–167 Per Afán de Ribera, adelantado of Andalusia 61 Pero Fernández, notary 170, 329–330 Pero González de Marchena, trumpeter 112, 284 Pero Gutiérrez de Toro (Abderrahamel) 175 Pero Rodríguez de Santa María, scribe 329 Pero Sánchez de Carrión, Moorish knight 129, 93 Pero Tafur, Castilian ambassador 91–92, 145 Pero Vázquez de Córdoba, Moorish knight 281 Phillip II 56 Phillippe de Commynes 106, 197 Plasencia 220 Portugal 77, 99 Priego (Córdoba) 67, 152, 160, 170 Pruna 50, 81–82 Purchena 73 Qaʾitbay of Egypt 80 Quesada 67

index Rágama or Rámaga 4, 85, 177, 182 Ramiro de Ávila, Moorish knight 150, 239–240 Ramírez de Arellano, family, lords of Los Cameros 163 Rahhu ibn ʿAbd Allah or Raho, alcaide of Vélez 73 Rhodes 105 Ribera, family 75 Ribera, La (Navarre) 111 Ridwan Venegas, vizier 28–29, 54 Rodrigo, Visigothic king 146–147 Rodrigo, armourer 136 Rodrigo de Madrid (El Cal Horra), Moorish knight 151, 263–264 Rodrigo de Guzmán (Alí Barredo), Moorish knight 151, 275 Rodrigo de Marruecos, alcalde 96, 171–172 Rodrigo de Vélez, convert 175–176 Rodrigo del Río 225, 245 Rodrigo Manrique, tenant of Segura 151, 161 Rodrigo Ponce de León, lord of Marchena 76 Rodrigo Sánchez de Arévalo 63 Rome 10, 56, 62–63 Ronda 18–19, 25, 30–31, 33, 35, 39, 74, 76, 161 Rouen 137, 166 Ruy Díaz al-Jayar, Moorish knight 151 Ruy Díaz de Berrio, Moorish knight 135, 151, 160–161, 240–242 Ruy Díaz de Mendoza, Moorish knight 86, 152, 294–295 Ruy Díaz de Mendoza, nobleman 152 Ruy Díaz de Toledo, fiscal agent 259 Ruy Fernández, adalid, Moorish knight 109, 315–316 Ruy Fernández de Alcocer, fiscal agent 220 Ruy Fernández de Jaén, fiscal agent 256, 323 Ruy Gómez de Fuentidueña 297 Ruy Gómez de Herrera, scribe 73 Ruy González de Sayas, fiscal agent 233 Ruy González de Sevilla, fiscal agent 218–219, 221, 228–233, 235, 237, 239, 243–245, 249–253, 257–258, 263–264, 268–269, 272–273, 277, 283–284, 286, 289, 294, 301, 303, 310–313, 315, 317, 324 Ruy López Dávalos, constable 82

357

Ruy López de Écija 83 Ruy López de la Cerda 309–311 Saʿd, Abu Nasr of Granada 26, 29, 32–38, 40, 57, 59, 69, 77, 79, 164 Saʿd, son of Muley Hacén 38 Saʿid of Fez 156 Salamanca 2, 16 Salé 93 Salim ibn Ibrahim al-Nayyar 38 Salobreña 24, 31–32 Saint John, Order of 16 San Lorenzo del Escorial 56 Sancho de Rojas, archbishop of Toledo 72 Santiago de Compostela 256, 323 Santiago, saint 77 Santiago, Order of 63, 307 Sardinia 110 Segovia 2, 11, 15, 56, 112, 119, 186–189, 197, 199, 240–241, 245, 255, 258, 264–267, 280–281, 284–285, 294–297, 304, 306, 309, 318, 324–327 Segura 67 Setenil 25, 30, 35, 50, 82 Seville 11, 16, 33, 48, 58, 68, 95, 124–126, 128–129, 132, 157, 194, 219, 221, 223, 226, 228, 230–235, 237, 239, 243–245, 247, 249–251, 257–258, 263–264, 268–269, 271–273, 280–281, 283–284, 286, 289, 297, 301, 303, 306, 310–312, 315, 317, 319–320, 324 Sicily 11 Sigüenza 189 Simancas xviii, 215 Soria 95 Spain (España) 146 Tarazona 181 Teba 67 Tlemcen xiv, 78, 94 Toledo 8, 16, 50, 61, 72, 112, 125–127, 130, 158, 160, 185–186, 190, 223, 233–234, 238, 240, 244, 252–254, 276–277, 282, 286–289, 291–294, 303, 316, 323–324 Tordesillas 16 Toro 16, 85, 115 Toros de Guisando 7 Torre Alhaquime 50 Torre del Campo (Jaén) 172 Tortosa 176 Trastámara, dynasty xiv, 1, 13, 39

358

index

Tunis xiv, 28, 30, 44, 78–79, 93, 178–181, 197 Turcopoles 105 Turégano 104 Turkey 197 Tuy 256, 323 Úbeda 76, 221–222, 228–229 Umm al-Fath, al-Hurra, or la Horra On Malfath, mother of Muhammad VIII 26 Umm al-Fath, sister of Muhammad VII, wife of Muhammad IX 27 Umm al-Fath, daughter of Muhammad IX, wife of Muhammad X 30 ʿUthman of Tunis 79–80 Valdemoro 306 Valencia 31, 67, 140, 156–159, 176, 179–181, 184 Valladolid xii, 2, 8–9, 16, 99–100, 126, 128–130, 136, 217, 219, 221, 223–224, 226, 228, 230, 233, 236, 243–244, 246, 248, 304, 307 Vegetius 57 Vélez 61, 175 Vélez Blanco 30 Vélez Málaga 30 Vélez Rubio 30 Venegas or Bannigas, family 22, 32, 39 Vera 78 Vicente Ferrer, friar and saint 153 Vidal de Blanes, governor of Valencia 157 Al-Wansharisi

142

Xarafí, family of alcaldes mayores of the Muslims of Castile 184

Yahya Bellvís (14th century) 181 Yahya de Belvís, alcalde mayor of the Muslims of Castile 183 Yamin, vizier of Yusuf III 26–27 Yça Gebir 143 Yllescas (Illescas) 180 Ypres 134, 221–222, 235–236, 241–243, 249, 253, 258, 274, 292, 296, 302–303, 310, 315–316, 323–324, 326 Yuça of Segovia, master builder of the royal castle in Madrid 186, 188–189 Yuça Obeyd 173, 276 Yuçaf Bienveniste, Jew, fiscal agent 223, 226, 234, 315 Yusuf I of Granada 22 Yusuf II 31 Yusuf III 24–27, 40, 51–52, 81, 117, 159, 162, 175 Yusuf IV ibn al-Mawl or Abenalmao 21–23, 28–32, 43, 54–55, 61, 69–71, 74–76, 78, 109, 159, 164, 179 Yusuf V “The Lame” 22, 26, 28, 30–33, 69 Yusuf al-Mudayyan, sufi preacher 27 Yusuf ibn Ibrahim ibn ʿAbd al-Barr 40 Yusuf ibn Saʿd, prince of Granada 37 Yusuf, son of Muley Hacén 38 Yusuf ibn al-Sarraj, vizier 34, 52 Zafra 171, 203 Zamarramala (Segovia) 112, 121 Zamora 100 Zanata 42, 114 Zahara 50, 67, 74 Zaher, alcaide 82 Zahr al-Riyad, wife of Muhammad IX Zaragoza 181 Zoraya, wife of Muley Hacén 38

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