Link to Podcast Audio:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1KTElfKhgO0XeYjIjXderi6s0rU_fksNul1105koJYx8/edit?usp=sharing

HIST 365 Podcast Overview

Introduction

Welcome to “Pathways Through Time,” I’d like to bring you all into the world of marketplaces in the Al Andalus region of Spain during the early twelfth century. Today we will explore how population hubs like Seville and Almeria brought together the people living in Muslim Spain within the space of an urban market environment. Interactions between Muslims, Christians, and Jews during this period was complicated and varied between different peoples and regions all throughout the Iberian Peninsula. This podcast will transport the listener to the busy streets of a Seville market, exploring both the goods and people to be seen as well as the cultural expectations for occupying this space. The history of Al-Andalus and the importance of urban environments are reflected within this market setting. Interactions with the types of products being sold and services being offered were shaped by trade routes and interfaith interactions during this period. The nature of the market and regulations surrounding its functioning within Muslim Spain allows insight into the importance of markets and the ways multiple faiths were able to occupy and share resources during the complex developments occurring within the Iberian Peninsula during the late eleventh to early twelfth century.

This podcast will begin by introducing a market scene within twelfth century Seville, drawing information about this scene from a primary source on market regulations by a man named Ibn Abdun. The specific occupation of Ibn Abdun is not known, however it is speculated he was a either a jurist or a market inspector. This source reveals that he had an important role within establishing the regulations imposed upon the vendors of the Seville market and citizens who attended this space. Seville was under the rule of the Almoravids’ during much to the eleventh to early twelfth century. They were a Berber Muslim group who conquered the al-Andalus region and ruled over the region with their fundamentalist views towards the functioning of Islamic society. The primary source that this podcast is focusing around is a ḥisba manual that dictates regulations for the general running of a market, with rules towards the safety of food and medicine as well as sections on the expectations for men and women and rules for religious interactions. This primary source provides a focus for the complex interfaith relations occurred both within Muslim controlled al-Andalus, and in particular under the more fundamentalist Almoravid regulations. This marketplace manual is in the structure of a ḥisba manual, which is a type of handbook that both established economic regulations along with moral regulations. Not only were the safety and quality of the goods a concern within this handbook, but the moral efficacy of food and goods was also established. With this establishment of a moral administration within Seville came expectations surrounding interfaith relationships. This primary source therefore reveals both how the Almoravids controlled market goods, but also how they controlled dhimma, or protected people like Christians and Jews.

While this primary source provides a great deal of detail on what a properly running marketplace was expected to look like it is not a firsthand account of the realities and day to day experiences of a market in al-Andalus. Therefore, it is important to consider this handbook in relation to other jurist treaties and accounts of markets within the al-Andalus region from this period. Comparing the expected regulations in Seville to other Muslim urban centers reveals important information about Muslim life and interfaith relationships within twelfth century al-Andalus. The world this podcast will find us in is undoubtably complex and endlessly fascinating with the foods, services, and people of al-Andalus markets telling a story about living together and functioning within medieval Spanish history.

Overview of the Market Setting

There is order within the market setting. Muslim merchants have their goods set up in accordance with the regulations established by the muḥtasib, or market inspector. Busy cities like Seville relied on market inspectors to promote the quality and fair distribution of market goods. The market inspector can be seen walking the streets, ensuring vendors and consumers adhere to the regulations established in the ḥisba, or market inspector handbook. Those in attendance of the market can buy bread, meat, fish, and cheese with the reassurance that of the quality and halal nature of these foods within the Muslim tradition. Walking through the market of Seville one can experience the mosque, a multitude of food vendors, physicians providing medical assistance and remedies, and vendors of practical wares like paper and raw bricks. The market is designed without empty spaces and the people in attendance have little opportunity to be alone within the established Seville market. Beyond the market the setting of Seville along the Guadalquivir River opens the market and Seville up to trade.

After envisioning the physical establishment of the market it is now important to consider who was occupying this space. The people of Seville were in close proximity due to the design of this market setting, a strategic aspect of the ḥisba manual that ensured market regulators could observe those in attendance of the markets and regulate their behaviour. The lack of empty spaces in the market prevented secret meetings, with market inspectors attempting to ensure that men could not be alone with women at the marketplace. Gendered regulations within the ḥisba manual were largely focused on preventing relations between men and women that would be deemed immoral. The expectation was established that women were not to sit by riverbanks or attend barber shops alone to avoid women ending up alone with men. These regulations surrounding gendered interactions within the marketplace were only further complicated by the expectations placed on Christians and Jews within medieval Seville. The regulations for dhimmis in twelfth century Seville were particularly stringent since Seville served as the capital to Almoravid ruled al-Andalus in this period. It has been argued by historian Alejandro García-Sanjuán that the ḥisba manuscript by Ibn Abdun presents particularly harsh regulations placed on Christians and Jews due to the dominance of Almoravid rule in this region.

Entering a market within Muslim Seville one is immediately struck by the organization of artisanal goods and products. Religious observances are evidently at the forefront of the organization of the market. The layout and social structure of the market in Seville focused on respecting Islamic traditions, particularly in terms of food. Walking through the market the mosque in Seville was a highly respected center of worship and regulations were in place to avoid the selling of olive oil, truffles and other wise dirty products in the vicinity of the mosque. Studying the market scene at Seville during the early twelfth century demonstrates the importance of avoiding foods and preparation methods deemed haram within the Quran. Studying the market of Seville reveals how urban environments in Almoravid ruled al-Andalus catered to the Muslim population, with regulations focused on creating an environment that reproduced principles of morality espoused in the Quran.

Context of Seville during the early 12^th century

During the early twelfth century medieval Spain was undergoing significant developments within regional political operations and the functioning of cities as urban centers. Seville during this period was part of a number of important Muslim centers in Al-Andalus, along with Córdoba, and Almeria. These urbanized environments functioned as centers of trade and social interaction, creating fascinating dynamics amidst the people who moved within these spaces. The Almoravid period in al-Andalus extended from 1086 to 1147 and was an important time that shaped interactions between Jews and Christians, known as dhimma or “protected people,” under Muslim legal codes.

Summary of the Almoravids

Understanding of the Almoravids’ rule of al-Andalus has been of much debate within the historiography of the region. The treatment of dhimmis under this rule has been viewed both from a perspective of religious tolerance as well as increasing hostility. As is so often the case when examining history, the reality of Almoravid rule and treatment of dhimmis is complicated. Examining market regulations provides a small glimpse into the complexity of this study, however differences in treatment of dhimmis ranged from region to region and person to person all throughout Muslim Spain. The treatment of dhimmis under Almoravid rule is complicated by numerous factors. Some scholars have argued that Almoravid beliefs and the structure of their rule was extremely intolerant towards different religions and beliefs. In fact, this view of the Almoravids has been used within Islamophobic arguments that paint them as with quoted words like barbaric and fanatical.  However, this treatment of the history of Almoravid ruled al-Andalus and the interactions they had with Christians and Jews greatly reduced the complex nature of interfaith relations within al-Andalus. Focusing on twelfth century Seville provides particularly important insight into the diverse reality of how Almoravid’s treated dhimmis and viewed interfaith relationships within the al-Andalus region.

The argument that there was a growing hostility towards Christians in al-Andalus during the early twelfth century has been viewed as evidence of hard Almoravid regulations. Yet this “hostility” was impacted not only by the views and position of Almoravid rulers but also by external factors like the advancing Christian conquest of land during the Taifa period from 1031 to 1086. This is not to say that the regulations placed on dhimmis during the Almoravid period were extremely tolerant, but the factors that influenced these restrictions are complex and deserve a deeper consideration to gain an understanding of how interfaith interactions playout out more fully. Again, utilizing the context of a Seville market we can see how factors external and internal to al-Andalus shaped the very organization of the market and the restrictions that were established within the market to enforce the roles dhimmis could occupy.

Marketplaces under Almoravid rule were generally great centers of urban interaction. Primary sources like the hisba manual by jurist Ibn Abdun and a description of trade within Almeria from a Muslim geographer reveal the importance of these urban centers for the cultural, religious, and political functioning of the region. The geographer Al-Idrisi, reflected on the al-Andalus city of Almeria under Almoravid rule, calling it a town of “industry and wonderful things,” Almeria during this time in the early twelfth century was known as a center of silk production as well as goods made from copper and iron. This description of a region of Almoravid ruled al-Andalus is reflected upon with nostalgia as Al-Idrisi shares that since this period the city was now under control of Christians and much of the architecture of the city was said to have been destroyed. This perspective on what these urban centers were like under Almoravid rule come from a geographer born outside the region and shed insight into the reputation developed for marketplaces and trade centers within al-Andalus during the early twelfth century.

How Legal Systems were impacted by religious and cultural practices

The prevalence of interfaith interactions within urban centers of Al-Andalus had a clear impact on how legal codes were constructed and who they were targeted towards. Comparing the market restrictions in Seville to other centers of Muslim control in medieval Spain there are clearly differences to how dhimmis were written about and expected to behave. Even among jurists’ production of ḥisba texts that were meant to ‘command good’ and ‘forbid wrong’ varied within how dhimmis were discussed and expected to be treated throughout the al-Andalus region.

Importance of Markets

Studying markets provides insight into cultural interactions within the context of commerce. Urban market environments brought together many different cultures and religions under the necessity of shopping for food and material goods. The regulations that were put in place for the markets shed insight into how authorities expected these spaces and the people within them to function. Studying the writings of Muslim jurist, Ibn ‘Abdūn and the rules he establishes for Muslims, Christians, and Jews provides insight into how Almoravid ruled al-Andalus treated citizens from the region. The text from Seville by Ibn ʿAbdūn, while largely focused on proper procedures to sell and store foods and artisanal goods, did also include fairly restrictive regulations for dhimmis, or protected people.

Religious Interaction within these Markets

Seville in the early twelfth century was the capital of Almoravid ruled al-Andalus. The fundamentalist nature of Almoravid beliefs may have been most strong within the capital of Seville. The nature of the restrictions established on the “protected people” of Seville left Christians and Jews to take more undesirable jobs like exhuming graves. Many of these rules around religious interactions were centered around gender. It was of concern for the market handbook if men and women were left alone. Particularly Muslim women were not permitted to enter into churches for fear of interacting with Christian priests.

The ḥisba treatise by Ibn Abdun presents a view of Christians and Jews that established a sort of hierarchy with the roles these religions were permitted to occupy within Muslim society. Christians and Jews were expected to be employed in more undesirable positions like cleaning latrines. Even if Muslims partook in jobs like providing massages or cleaning latrines, they were expected to not provide these services to Christians and Jews. The clothing of Jews and Christians, if they were to be sold, needed to have this origin noted. This sale of clothing was compared to the selling of a garment from a sick man. Clothing was an important issue for this period. Christians and Jews were not to wear the garments of people who occupied positions of higher authority, like jurists. The language that Ibn Abdun used within this ḥisba manual compared Christians to the devil and associated many of their actions with acts of evil. Muslim women were to be protected from Christian priests who were described as evil-doers, fornicators, and sodomites. Ibn Abdun called for the punishment towards dhimmis who broke restrictions, with an emphasis on the shame these men should feel. The language that Ibn Abdun used within his writings was particularly harsh and being compared to other hisba manuals from this period seems to indicate that the Seville market established a particularly harsh restriction. As noted previously this seems to reflect the nature of Seville as the capital of Almoravid rule during this period.

Importance of Food within the Market Setting

Muslim dietary traditions were based around the Quran prohibitions that establishes that “anything that dies by itself, and blood and pork, as well as whatever had been consecrated to something other than God. Also, any animal that has been strangled, beaten to death, trapped in a pit, gored, or what dome beast of prey has begun to eat, unless you give it the final blow…”[1] This dietary tradition played an incredibly important role in how urban marketplaces, like the one in Seville, were structured. The market inspector handbook was written with the purpose of promoting good and preventing evil, and part of this duty revolved around the foods and preparation techniques that were permitted within the market environment. Details like where foods could be sold, how the slaughter of animals for meat occurred, and where food could be imported from were all influenced by the dietary requirements of the Muslim faith. For example, foods like truffles and olive oil were to be sold away from the mosque. This was done to maintain the cleanliness and moral reputation of those entering the holy building. Truffles were thought to indicate immorality and olive oil had the potential to dirty the clothing of those entering the mosque. However, while religious observances were foundational to many of the regulations found in the ḥisba, other regulations were in place simply to ensure a high quality of goods being sold within Seville. A variety of precautions were in place to make sure food products like eggs, meat, and cheese were fresh. Animals like rabbits and poultry were to be skinned so customers could ensure the freshness of the product. Vendors of eggs were required to allow customers to check for bad eggs by testing them in a bowl of water placed at the stall. Food was the dominant good within the Seville market that this podcast focuses on. What this reveals about the how Seville functioned is important to understanding how religions and cultures interacted and were influenced by each other.  Western Christian interest in adaptation of eastern foods has been accessible through merchant documents that have been translated from Arabic recipes and cooking techniques.

Conclusion

Overall exploring a marketplace within twelfth century Muslim Spain provides great insight into how interfaith relations were expected to be conducted during this period. While using a ḥisba treatise provides more insight into the social expectations rather than the daily lived reality, it is important to consider how Muslim authorities viewed their position of power and the variations amidst Muslim urban centers for dictating interfaith relationships within medieval Spain. Walking away from the market of Seville one should be left with the sense that interfaith interactions permeated every aspect of life within medieval Spain during the early twelfth century. The impact of Almoravid rule on al-Andalus was complicated and the treatment of dhimmi people varied throughout the region. Considering the Almoravid capital of Seville is seems to reflect a harsh view towards dhimmis, particularly Christians. Yet, these regulations imposed by the ḥisba manual are just one example of Muslim regulations throughout al-Andalus. The interfaith interactions ranged from tolerance to tension, yet these interactions formed the basis of the richly complex urban environments that were established in al-Andalus. While the Iberian Peninsula faced many changes and developments during the twelfth century the political, social and religious interactions from this period were all tied together, influencing each other just like each marketplace influences the people within that urban center.

Bibliography

Primary Sources

‘Abdn, Ibn. “Market Regulations in Muslim Seville.” Translated by Bernard Lewis. In Medieval Iberia: Readings from Christian, Muslim, and Jewish Sources, edited by Olivia Remie Constable, 227-231. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2012.

Al-Idrisi. “Trade and Industry in a Muslim Port.” Translated by Olivia Remie Constable. In Medieval Iberia: Readings from Christian, Muslim, and Jewish Sources, edited by Olivia Remie Constable, 232-233. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2012.

Secondary Sources

Clarke, Nicola. “Accommodating Outsiders, Obeying Stereotypes: Mawali and Muwalladun in Narratives of the Conquest.” In The Muslim Conquest of Iberia: Medieval Arabic Narratives, 47-68. Abingdon, Oxon: Taylor & Francis Group, 2012.

Esch, Arnold. “New Sources on Trade and Dealings between Christians and Muslims in the Mediterranean Region.” Mediterranean Historical Review 33, no. 2 (2018): 135-148.

García-Sanjuán, Alejandro. “Jews and Christians in Almoravid Seville as Portrayed by the Islamic Jurist Ibn ‘Abdn.” Medieval Encounters 14 (2008): 78-98.

Remie Constable, Olivia. “Food and Meaning: Christian Understanding of Muslim Food and Food Ways in Spain, 1250-1550.” Viator 44, no. 3 (2013): 199-236.

[1] Olivia Remie Constable, “Food and Meaning: Christian Understanding of Muslim Food and Food Ways in Spain, 1250-1550,” Viator 44, no. 3 (2013): 209.