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En la España Medieval
ISSN: 0214-3038
http://dx.doi.org/10.5209/ELEM.56086
The "law" broken: marriage, sex and conversion among Christians and Mudejars in Castile at the end of the Middle Ages1. Mudejars in Castile at the end of the Middle Ages.
Abstract. Study of the relations between Christians and Mudejars in Castile between the 13th and 15th centuries.
centered on the regulation of inter-confessional marriages and sexual contact between individuals of different religions, and on the possibilities that conversion
that professed different religions, and in the possibilities that the conversion opened in order to suppress the obstacles that limited
of the obstacles that limited the analyzed relationships.
Keywords: Mudejars; marriage; sexual relations; conversion; multi-confessional families;
Castile; 15th century.
2. Inter-confessional marriage and adulterous relations between Mudejars and Christians
2.1. Legal limits to inter-confessional marriage
As A. I. Carrasco Manchado has recalled, the Castilian juridical constructions referring to the relations between Christians, Jews and Muslims were conditioned from the 13th century by the diffusion of the segregating principles defended in the canonical legislation matured from the middle of the 12th century. This circumstance is clearly observed in a matter such as marriage unions whose relevance transcended the limits of civil legislation by virtue of its categorization as a sacrament for the Church. In this sense, from the ecclesiastical point of view, mixed marriages, that is, between members of different confessions, were completely forbidden since ancient times, although only from the Decretum of Gratian, composed in Bologna around 1140, did canon law clearly specify the foundations of the so-called impedimentum disparis cultis, based both on the dangerousness of these unions for the life of the Christian faithful and on the possibility that they opened up for the celebration of joint prayers. Shortly afterwards, the decretalist Huguccio of Pisa distinguished at the end of the 12th century in his Summa Decretorum between the impedimentum disparis cultis, which affected marriages between Christians and unbaptized infidels, and the impedimentun impediens mixtae religionis, according to which, although the marriage of a Christian with a baptized heretic was forbidden, it would be considered valid once it took place, in line with his doctrine on the validity of all sacraments received by heretics.
The penetration of ecclesiastical doctrine into Castilian civil law was gradual. The Alphonsine Partidas, for example, follow the line marked by Gratian by making clear the impossibility of arranging marriages between Christians and Jews, Muslims, heretics or women "who did not obey the law of the Christians", and they provide for the invalidation of any marriage the invalidation of any marriage that transgressed this principle. Only one exception one exception, with which the impedimentum disparis cultis was precisely avoided. cultis: those Christians who wished to marry women of another law could do so, provided that the latter undertook to convert before the union was celebrated11. the union11. Therefore, we already have a new element of evaluation at the time of defining the boundaries in these cases, as long as the latter were committed to convert before the union was celebrated11. of defining the frontiers in these cases, as we will analyze in detail later on. Other Castilian texts establish a more complex casuistry than that indicated by the Partidas when it comes to defining the borders in these cases. the Partidas when dealing with the problems inherent to marriage, although they follow a similar approach in this matter. For example, Martín Pérez rejects in his Libro de las confesiones - a manual for confessors written in 1316 - any possibility of establishing a 1316- any possibility of establishing a marriage bond between faithful and infidels, and its invalidity in case of its occurrence. Again, only the conclusion of marriages would be accepted. unions in whose betrothal the Christian would indicate "by words of promise" -that is, in betrothals -that is, in the betrothal, his willingness to make the marriage effective after the conversion of his consort12. conversion of his consort12. In the same sense is expressed in the Catechism of Pedro of Cuéllar, written in 132513, and different synodal dispositions (Synod of Segovia of 1325)14. of 1325)
2.2. Adulterous inter-confessional relations and their punishment
Since marriage between members of different confessions was impossible, adulterous relations, understood in a generic sense, constituted the only means of contact between members of different confessions. understood in a generic sense, were the only viable means of sexual contact between Mudejars and Christians. sexual contact between Mudejars and Christians, and this is the focus of a good part of the legal adopted in Castile since the 12th century to prevent and punish the practice of adultery. their practice. It should not be forgotten that for medieval society sexuality constituted a fundamental field when it came to the a fundamental field when it came to drawing the limits of interaction that made it possible to isolate the different cultural segments different cultural segments defined on the basis of religion from possible modifications. possible modifications. This is not to say that the limits to carnal contact were not a matter of
The religious identity barriers were completely insurmountable. Rather, they rather constituted an indelible boundary, similar to the one that distinguished "natural" actions from those considered "unnatural" (homosexuality, bestiality, bestiality, etc.). "actions from those considered "unnatural" (homosexuality, bestiality), and therefore to delimit a set of illicit relationships ranging from those sustained within a marriage in the
within a marriage in which one of the spouses changed his or her faith, from those catalogued in a generic sense as adultery, to those between prostitutes and their clients. between prostitutes and their clients15. From the Christian perspective, the Castilian foral legislation of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries and XIII centuries established a basic regulatory framework for sexual contact between Christians and members of other confessions, depending on the members of other confessions depending on a variety of circumstances, which, first of all, had in mind the which, in the first place, took into account the free or servile status of women, which should lead us to reflect on the This should make us reflect on the need to combine the "faith" variable with others such as gender or legal status. other variables such as gender or legal status. For example, the rapes suffered by Muslim slaves were reduced in the Cuenca charter to a problem of an economic nature, detached from
of an economic nature detached from religious implications, given its consideration as a mere good16. as a mere good16. For this reason, the violation of "mora agena" was punished with compensation compensation, assimilated to the arras, which constituted the price for her virginity, paid to the owner of the victim17. The relations sustained by the latter with the slaves of his property were not slaves of his property did not constitute a criminal matter, which makes it possible to consider these women as the link in the chain of the weakest and most vulnerable link in the scale of relationships analyzed, in spite of the possible
the scale of relationships analyzed, in spite of the possible emotional ties that might occasionally between master and servant. Leaving aside the particular consideration of the carnal contact between Christians and Muslim slave women, the and Muslim slaves, the regulation of sexual relations between members of different confessions in the sources different confessions present in the Christian juridical sources acquired more complex nuances, which allow us to speak of a complex nuances, which make it possible to speak of a regime of "differential intolerance" based on gender and gender-based on the basis of gender and religious affiliation. As D. Nirenberg recalls although inter-confessional sexual contact was generally censored, two groups of relations can be two groups of relationships can be established: those involving majority men and minority women. majority men and minority women; and those established between majority women and minority men, which were majority with minority men, which were punished in a much more forceful manner18.
The very silence of some legal sources is very eloquent and confirms the different degree of tolerance that existed. the different degree of tolerance that existed, depending on the type of relationship. For example, the fuero of Soria (1190-1214) punished the sexual contact of a Christian woman with a Jew, Muslim or man of another law with death at the stake of the accused, whether they had been caught in the act or if their guilt was proven after the pertinent investigations19. The Romance jurisdiction of Sepúlveda
introduces some variations in relation to the method of application of capital punishment - the Moor found with a Christian would be thrown off the cliff, while his lover was to perish at the stake - and the possibility of defense granted to the Muslim, who could present the favorable testimony of two Christians and a Moor to obtain his acquittal.
On the other hand, there is no mention in the fueros of relations between Christians and women who were free from another law. of another law, a circumstance that raises the question of the absence of a racial censorship of contact between Christians and free women of another law. of censorship in racial terms of inter-religious sexual contact, only explicitly vetoed in one specific case: that of a Christian woman. in one specific case: that of Christians with members of other confessions.
This was perfectly in line with the foral provisions on adultery between Christians, supported by the adultery between Christians, based on the defense of male honor linked to female behavior21. female behavior21. Other testimonies of the period - regardless of the historicity of the events the historicity of the facts they describe - emphasize the degree of corruption that adulterous sexual relations
the degree of corruption generated by adulterous sexual relations between Christians and unbelievers, and their and their capacity to convert women into participants and collaborators in the actions of the Mohammedan enemy. the actions of the Mohammedan enemy. The Chronicle of the town of Avila, written in the 13th century, narrates an episode in which the wife of the Avila knight Enalviello decided, while having sexual relations with her Muslim lover and captor, at the time the of Talavera, to betray her husband -who had entered Talavera in order to free her- and subsequently hand him over to the enemy. After failing in their plans thanks to the irruption of the knights of Avila, both lovers would perish at the stake.
Although these cases are centered on relations between Muslim or Jewish men and Christian women, the Sino-Spanish legislation and Christian women, the Castilian synodal legislation provided a counterpoint by prohibiting, under heavy canonical by prohibiting, under heavy canonical penalties, concubinage relationships between clerics and Jewish or Muslim and Jewish or Muslim women. The Synods of Valladolid (1322) and of Segovia (1325) stipulated that those beneficiaries who had "Moorish or Jewish girlfriends or of another law" were deprived of their benefices
were deprived of their benefices, being disqualified to receive new ones in the future. in the future..................................
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