chapter sixteen

al-andalus in the history of spain

Al-Andalus: Part of the History of Spain?

The theme of Islam and the Arabic language in Spain had of course been ever-present in the era’s historical narratives, particularly in that of the Reconquest or, as it was then called, the loss and recovery of Spain. At the end of the sixteenth century, therefore, we find a broad and well-founded corpus of historical writing that brought together all that was known about the medieval wars that ended with the defeat of the Muslims. This extensive and multifaceted body of material was of a complexity that could encompass the major works of both Esteban de Garibay and Juan de Mariana. In general terms, this material may be seen as a providentialist reading of Spain’s past, forged in the struggle against Islam. Nonetheless we need to adopt a finer-grained perspective, one that will highlight the many nuances that arose from the problem of integrating the history of al-Andalus into the history of Spain.1 Was al-Andalus Spain, or was it not? Could one trace a continuous thread, in spite of the supposed break that al-Andalus represented in Spain’s medieval history? Could linguistic, communal, or archeological remains of Arab culture be incorporated into a “Hispanic” identity? All of these questions underlie historical narratives, and emerge in dramatically problematic form at certain moments when the tension between rejection and acceptance of the Muslim past rises to the surface. It is not surprising to find this contradiction expressed in texts about the ancient glories and monuments of Spanish cities, especially cities that had an evident Islamic history. Ambrosio de Morales, in speaking of Cordova (although he placed certain non-Cordovan figures in the city), wrote: In those days of the Moors, Cordova boasted famous men of science and of letters: the renowned Averroes [Ibn Rushd], and also Abenzoar [Ibn Zuhr], Rasis [al-Rāzī], Abenragel [Ibn Abī al-Rijāl], and many others, whose works,

1 See, for example, F. Rodríguez Mediano, “Al-Andalus y la lengua árabe en la España de los siglos de oro,” in M. Marín (ed.), Al-Andalus/España. Historiografías en contraste, siglos XVII–XXI (Madrid, 2009), 1–20. 354 chapter sixteen

which we still preserve, are prized by learned men. It had kings and captains so valiant and successful in war that our histories do not cease to lament the harm that they did us. And although these were Moors they were born in Cordova, and their having been infidels does not detract from their great- ness and exalted natural gifts.2 In some texts this contradiction was expressed in an even more striking manner. Pedro de Medina, in speaking of the greatness of Cordova, does not scruple to name among its famous sons, alongside Lucan, Avicenna [Ibn Sīnā], even though the latter was a native of Bukhara and his mother tongue was Persian. Thus Medina appropriated a writer who still enjoyed great prestige in the field of medicine, but in the same paragraph he seems to give much of the credit for Avicenna’s work to Latin-speaking Christians: From this city [Cordova] were that excellent poet Lucan, and the great phy- sician Avicenna, whose book, called after his own name Avicenna, is such an outstanding work of medicine. The blessed St. Ildefonsus, Archbishop of Toledo, says about it that the glorious St. Isidore had written a very excellent medical book, which remained in his chamber after the saint passed from this world. And before that book came to be known by anyone, a wicked bishop arrived from Africa to serve as Archbishop of Seville: Theodosius, a Greek infected with the Arian heresy. He took many volumes that St. Isidore had left in his study, among them that work of medicine; and because he needed to understand some Arabic terms, he sent for an educated Moor who could explain them, and that was the great doctor called Avicenna. In payment for his service Theodosius gave him the book written by St. Isidore so that the Moor could name it after himself, as if he had composed it; and many people claim that this is the same book that doctors now hold to be their greatest text, the Avicenna. And they say that the book was then trans- lated from Latin into Romance—so that the said Moor, who knew no Latin, could understand it—and that the Moor rewrote it in his own Arabic lan- guage, after which it passed once more into the Latin in which we now have it; and because of that series of translations, through a misunderstanding of its terms many errors were made which remain in the work until today. And physicians have spoken many times about correcting those mistakes in the Avicenna, because they cause great harm, especially when a doctor is new

2 “Tuvo también Córdova en aquellos tiempos de los Moros insignes hombres en ingenio y letras, el famoso Averrois, y con el Abenzoar, Rasis, Abenragel y otros muchos, cuyas obras, que tenemos, son muy estimadas entre los doctos. Tuvo Reyes, capitanes vale- rosos en la guerra, y de tan grandes hazañas en ella, que nunca nuestras historias acaban de lamentar los daños que nos hizieron. Y aunque estos eran Moros, nacían en Córdova, y el ser infieles no les quita su grandeza y alto ser en el bien natural”: A. de Morales, Las antigüedades de las ciudades de España que van nombradas en la Corónica (Alcalá de Henares, 1575), fol. 113r.