Wednesday 17 October 2007 at 13:00
Oxford Legal History Forum
The Legal Status of Muslim Slaves and Freedmen in Medieval Spain and Portugal
Speaker: Dr Francois Soyer, Visiting Research Fellow, University of Evora, Portugal
Venue: Oxford Law Faculty Room 5
Dr Soyer obtained his Ph.D. in History at the University of Cambridge (King’s College) in 2006, and was awarded a two-year postdoctoral Study Abroad Studentship by The Leverhulme Trust to conduct archival research in Spainand Portugal, where he is currently a visiting Research Fellow at the University of Evora (Portugal) and the Universidad Complutense in Madrid (Spain).
Abstract: From the eleventh to the fifteenth century, the Christian kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula expanded southwards, gradually “re-conquering” territories that had been under Islamic rule since the Muslim invasion of the Peninsula in AD 711. One distinctive and salient feature of the “frontier society”that emerged was the existence of Muslim communities living under Christian rule. In many towns and villages conquered by the Christians, Muslim inhabitants were able to negotiate agreements with their new Christian overlords and form autonomous communities benefiting royal or seigniorial protection. The Muslim presence under Christian rule was not, however, limited to these communities of free Muslims or “Mudéjars”. Alongside these free Muslims, there also existed substantial numbers of unfree Muslim men and women captured during the conquests or in the raiding that characterised border warfare. These enslaved Muslims lost their status as legal persons and became animate objects possessed by a free individual. The ownership of slaves carried no moral opprobrium and was as much of an accepted social feature in the Christian north as it was in the Islamic lands. The evidence from charters makes it clear that many men and women in medieval Iberia owned individuals or small groups of slaves. Using documentary evidence obtained from the Spanish and Portuguese archives, and analysing the extant medieval law codes, this paper will examine in detail the legal status of slaves in medieval Spainand Portugal. Particular focus will be placed on the different laws that were promulgated to control Muslim slaves and their owners. The status of Muslim freedmen and the laws regulating the practice of manumission will also be closely studied.
Organised by the Oxford Legal History Forum
