Iberian Kingdoms Research Articles

Portugal, província do Brasil? O policentrismo do império híbrido luso-brasileiro. Especificidades históricas

In 1808, the Portuguese royal family arrived in Brazil, fleeing the Napoleonic invasions of Portugal. From then on, an entire political-administrative structure was created in the colony that transformed Rio de Janeiro into the new capital of the Portuguese overseas empire. This article addresses issues of political identity in this Portuguese empire from 1808 to 1822. It seeks to demonstrate, through sources, historiographical debate and valuing the perspectives of the comparative history of the Iberian kingdoms – mainly Spain, which was also invaded and its domains –, such as certain analytical premises articulated with the concepts of political hybridity and polycentric monarchy, contribute to the understanding of how this empire functioned and the dynamism of its political culture. In the meantime, the specificity of the Luso-Brazilian empire that was established in the tropics is attested as an unprecedented configuration in the history of monarchies in the Modern era.

Religion in a Global Context: the reframing of the concept during early modern globalization

In recent decades, many scholars have questioned the use of the term “religion” to describe non-Western cultures. Many espoused the idea that the word had no accurate translation or correspondence in these contexts, and hence, it had to be invented. However, even in the West, the concept went through significant transformations throughout History. This article discusses the transformations it underwent during the early modern period when global connections were forged due to European expansion initially led by the Iberian kingdoms. Building on debates raised by the scholarship that regards religion as an invented category artificially applied to non-Western settings, but also countering its conclusions, I argue that a new understanding of “religion” developed as a result of early modern globalization and Christianity’s universal aspiration combined. Since the concept of “religion” incorporated and responded to non-European realities and traditions, it cannot be interpreted as an exclusively Western concept.

Military Conflict in Fourteenth-Century Castile and the Rise of Mayorazgo

ABSTRACT Mayorazgo is a conditional property tenure that arose in the central Iberian kingdom of Castile during the later Middle Ages and by 1500 had come to dominate property holding within that kingdom’s aristocracy. An estate held in mayorazgo could not be alienated from the family’s possession or divided among heirs. Instead, it had to be passed down intact to the next in line. Mayorazgo continued as a significant economic force in Iberia until its disestablishment in 1836. While primarily utilized for holding landed wealth, a family mayorazgo could also incorporate rents and material items, such as money, arms and armor, artwork and books, documents—in short, anything the family wished to maintain possession of over time. Although the origins of mayorazgo date at least as far back as the mid-thirteenth century, this form of tenure underwent a great expansion during and because of warfare that dominated the peninsula during the second half of the fourteenth century—warfare that brought the Trastámaran dynasty to the throne when Enrique II “the Bastard” assassinated his legitimate half brother, Pedro I “the Cruel,” and seized the throne. This article examines mayorazgo and how the wars of the period promoted its growth.

Aristocratic neo-Gothicism in fourteenth-century Iberia: the case of Count Pedro of Barcelos

ABSTRACT One of the main arguments used to legitimise Christian military expansion in medieval Iberia was the location of the origin of the Christian Iberian kingdoms in the ancient Visigothic Kingdom of Toledo (507–711), which established a notion of political continuity between these entities. The legitimacy of the Visigothic Kingdom was reflected in the polities that emerged out of the process of Christian expansion, enabling military activity against Muslims to be portrayed as the restoration of Gothic Spain. In the present study, I refer to this view of the past, especially in thirteenth-century Castilian royal historiography, as the neo-Gothic myth. The neo-Gothic myth was an asset held by royalty in the cultural enactment of these social struggles. In this article, I inquire into the reaction of the seignorial aristocracy to the royalty’s neo-Gothic claims, using the historiographical work by Count Pedro of Barcelos (c. 1285–1354). More specifically, I analyse how Count Pedro adapted the neo-Gothic myth to an aristocratic perspective.

Urban Development and Muslim Minorities in the Middle Ages: the Path to Invisibility

The long existence of a Muslim population under Christian rule (Mudejars) in the kingdoms of medieval and early modern Iberia gave way to the development of a number of boundaries between religious and social groups. Urban boundaries, both physical and socio-religious, were continuously redefined. Residence in towns in the Iberian kingdoms could vary from contiguous housing to separate neighbourhoods based within real or imagined boundaries. Mudejars in Castile had the possibility of building new mosques, thus breaking canon and local laws, whereas in Aragon, Jewish communities paid for their right to rebuild synagogues continuously. Invisibility was a very important tool to marginalize groups that were perceived as a possible threat, so the only requirement for mosques and synagogues was not to be set apart from surrounding houses. On the other hand, restrictions on minority visibility in Christian spaces included the inauguration of previously inexistent secluded neighbourhoods in northern Castilian towns. The geographical setting of the closed quarters established after the Castilian Cortes of 1480 contributed to the invisibility of the religious minorities, resulting in the long run in their exclusion from urban life.

Mobilities and Communities between North Africa and Portugal: Muslims and Jews in the Medieval and Early Modern Ages

This article reflects on the connections between geographical mobility and the constitution of a community in Portugal in the cases of Jews and Muslims in the Middle and Early Modern Ages. Data for the Middle Ages reveal greater mobility of Muslims between the two shores of the Mediterranean, whereas Jewish mobility seems to have been more prevalent within the Iberian kingdoms. This difference persisted in the Early Modern Age: many Muslims were captives, but as men and women alike were taken prisoner, they were able to constitute a community. In the case of Jews, however, most of whom were men going to Portugal voluntarily and who left families behind in North Africa, this gender difference and the social ostracisation that they, too, faced prevented a community from becoming established. This article is part of the special theme section on Mobility and Displacement in and around the Mediterranean: A Historical Approach, guest-edited by Cátia Antunes and Giedrė Blažytė.

О ВОЕННО-ПОЛИТИЧЕСКОЙ ИСТОРИИ ВАЙНАХСКИХ НАРОДОВ В ДРЕВНЕЕ ВРЕМЯ И СРЕДНЕВЕКОВЬЕ

This paper is dedicated to the reconstruction of ethnic and political history of the Nakhs in the Ancient Times, Middle Ages and Early Modern Times. Several Nakh tribes were known mainly to Georgians and Armenians. Nakhs were the main population of Georgia until the 4th century BC. The formation of the Iberian kingdom (Kartli) was closely connected with the interaction of the Kartvelian peoples with the nakhs of the South Caucasus, which appeared in Georgian sources under the name Durdzuks. The Nakhs were confronted with Scythians, Sarmatians, Alans n the North Caucasus. Therefore, Nakhs were better known in the South Caucasus. The most notable of the Durdzuk cluster was the tribe of the Tsanars. During the VIII-IX centuries Tsanars actively resisted the Arabs. The Tsanar chorebishop was one of the titles of the king of Kakheti and they actively participated in the Kakheti wars with the Abkhaz, Kartli, and Tao-Klardzhet kings. The final Kartvelization of the tsanars dates back to the XI century. Tushins, Pshavs, Khevsurs were kartvelized in the end of the XII century. Only the Batsbians retained the Nakh identity. Ethnonym Dzurzuk from the XIII century ceased to denote the Nakh population of the South Caucasus, which began to be designated by Kistins and Batsbians. Durdzuks from the XIII century these are the nakhs of the North Caucasus. The North Caucasian nakhs were ruled by the Alan kings in the XI-XIII centuries. Mongol invasion in XIII century weakened the power of the Alans over the North Caucasus. The territory of Chechnya united the Nakh state of Simsim in the middle of the XIV century, which at the end of the XIV century attacked by the Chagatays of Timur. Establish Georgian power over the highlanders in the middle of the fourteenth century. And in the 30s. XVII century Georgian kings Giorgi V and Teymuraz tried. Their real power was only over Georgian highlanders (Pshavs, Khevsurs, Tushins) and Batsbians. Kabardinians made a big campaign against the Nakhs in the middle of the XVI century. Temruk Idarov during the campaign of 1563 used the help of Nogays and Russians. Kabardinians entered the Sunzha region and drove the Ingush into the mountains. In the mountains was the possession of the Ingush Lars. The first of the Chechens to contact the Russians were the rulers of Aukh (Okoks of Russian sources). Some part of the Okoks in the XVII century evicted from Aukh on a plane to the area of Terek and Sunzha. The population of the Chechen possession obeyed the princes Turlovs from Gumbet. The people of Nokhch-Mokkh often opposed the Russians in the XVII century. There are some reasons to believe that they depended on the Kumyk rulers of the Andirean beilik. Avars and Kumyks also contributed to the penetration of Islam to the Chechens. Shibutians (Shatoys) and Chantiyans actively contacted Russians. Russian influence until the middle of the XVIII century it was rather nominal and was manifested in the presence of Cossacks and Streltsy on the Terek and Sunzha and in the exchange of embassies with Georgia. Not a single regional state such as the Safavid state or the Crimean Khanate has succeeded in establishing its power in the Central Caucasus. Chechens used vassality from the Russians as a counterweight to the influence of the Crimean Khanate and the Afshar state in the first half of the XVIII century, but this did not interfere with their situational alliances with the Kumyks and Crimean Tatars against the Russians. Chechens actively supported Islamic fanatics. Strengthening Russian power in the North Caucasus in the second half of the XVIII century led to the fact that the Ingush took Russian citizenship. There have been social changes in Chechnya. Societies drove out their princes. In this situation, the Chechens and other peoples of the Caucasus made an attempt to unite Sheikh Mansur. An attempt to unite Chechnya was also undertaken in the XIX century by Beibulat Taimiev. Key words: Vainakhs, Durdzuki, Chechens, Ingushes, Chechen domain, Georgia, Minor Kabarda, free societies

«FRANCÉS DE NACIÓN, VARÓN DOCTÍSSIMO»: DIOGO SIGEU, PAI DE LUÍSA SIGEIA

In this article, we propose to present a deeper analysis, based on new data, of the figure of Diogo Sigeu, the father of Luisa Sigeia (1522-1560), Spanish writer who lived between the two Iberian kingdoms. Despite being a well recognized figure by her contemporaries and widely known by current historiography (especially the Spanish one), the polyglot’s familiar origins are vaguely known and even somewhat abstract. Although there is some sort of solid data regarding Diogo’s first years in Portugal, we have been able to elaborate a new biographical hypothesis, under the lights of new data and an attentive re-reading of the sources, that shows us much more about his hidden humanistic personality.

A imprensa do triénio liberal e a revolução portuguesa: entre o iberismo e o internacionalismo liberal

Este artigo propõe explorar a receção da Revolução vintista na imprensa do Triénio Liberal. Começamos com uma análise comparativa dos respetivos processos revolucionários para estabelecer os pontos de ligação entre o liberalismo espanhol e o português, tidos aqui como uma consequência do ideário iluminista, da Revolução Francesa e dos eventos desencadeados pela Guerra Peninsular. É assim dada especial atenção às questões Constitucionais, marcadas pelo legado da Constituição de Cádis. A partir de dois jornais espanhóis, que representavam as visões mais moderadas do liberalismo do triénio, avaliamos a atenção prestada à Revolução Portuguesa e aos debates nas Cortes Constituintes para depois examinarmos a interpretação que faziam das decisões tomadas pelos parlamentares portugueses. Concluímos, assim, que enquanto os jornais incluem a Revolução Portuguesa num movimento internacional de Revoluções liberais que eclodiram no começo da década de 1820, não abandonavam a ideia de uma relação especial entre os dois reinos ibéricos.

A New Set of Polyptych Doors from Fourteenth-century Castile

Scholarly focus on altarpieces and frontals from medieval Castile has long struggled to advance due to the few examples of this principal altar furnishing that survive from this Iberian kingdom. This study will lay out the first steps for remedying this imbalance by providing a comprehensive overview of the surviving corpus of altarpieces and frontals and by drawing particular attention to a newly discovered set of panels now held in a private collection. These panels once comprised a closable polpytch and display images from the life of the Virgin and Christ in addition to a solitary image of Saint Catherine. It is for this reason that the work is hereto referred to as the Saint Catherine panels or polyptych. The format and iconographic programme of the panels share many striking similarities with other surviving panels. And yet, subtle differences between the figural styles, modelling of robes and layout of compositions suggest that it was made by a one of many artists working in a regional style. Indeed, the various panels of the corpus likewise share overarching similarities while also displaying small idiosyncrasies. As part of this group, the Saint Catherine panels introduces important material evidence that helps us to better understand the production of altarpieces and frontals in fourteenth century Castile. By extension, the works helps to establish the importance of Castilian works in current discussions over the development and function of altarpieces across medieval Europe.

AS PROPRIEDADES CISTERCIENSES NA FRONTEIRA NORTE DE PORTUGAL – OS CASOS DE SANTA MARIA DE MORERUELA, S. MARTÍN DE CASTAÑEDA E SANTA MARIA DE FIÃES

A Ordem de Cister instalou-se no espaço ibérico em meados do século XII. O sucesso da sua implantação é visível na análise dos casos de Moreruela, Castañeda (Leão) e Fiães (Portugal) sendo possível evidenciar que os processos de expansão patrimonial cisterciense não foram condicionados, inicialmente, pela fronteira, reforçando a noção de que este conceito não deve ser entendido apenas numa abordagem absoluta e linear. Assim, a propriedade monástica cisterciense apenas foi condicionada a partir da territorialização dos poderes régios ibéricos, mormente a que era detida por entidades com sedes em outros reinos. A relevância do tema advém da necessidade de destacar pontos de evolução convergentes na análise da evolução da propriedade cisterciense, na época medieval, nos diferentes reinos peninsulares. Procura-se, ainda destacar de que forma se processava a relação das instituições cistercienses com os poderes régios.

The Monasteries Founded by the Thirteen Syrian Fathers in Iberia

A new step in the history of Christian monasticism in eastern Georgia is associated with thirteen Syrian monks, led by John, who came to Iberia (K‘art‘li) in the mid-sixth century C.E. They were the bearers of a Syrian tradition that implied the combination of an heroic ascetic endeavor and an apostolic mission. They came as spiritual heirs of St. Nino, a Cappadocian virgin who converted Georgia to Christianity in the beginning of the fourth century. Their vitae were first composed by a certain hagiographer named John-Martyrius, but this work does not survive. In the tenth century, the head of the Georgian Church and the distinguished ecclesiastical writer Arsenius II (955–980) depicted their lives and deeds based on different oral and written sources. Later, other unknown authors also wrote additional hagiographical works about these Syrian ascetics. At the beginning of their ascetic and ecclesiastical careers, the thirteen Syrian monks settled on Zedazeni mountain with their spiritual supervisor, John. John later sent them to different corners of the Iberian kingdom in opposition to paganism and Zoroastrianism. They founded monasteries and became influential religious leaders during the second half of the sixth century. Through their vitae, composed by Arsenius and other unknown authors, it is possible to trace the process of transforming the small ascetic communities established by Syrian monks into great feudal organizations. These monasteries had an important impact on the Georgian social and cultural landscape during the Middle Ages.

Culturas judías de la diáspora sefardí – diálogos sobre judaísmo entre judíos que retornaban a «tierras de idolatría» y criptojudíos hispánicos

Una de las características de la diáspora sefaradí del siglo XVII fue su gran movilidad geográfica. Entre los fenómenos menos estudiados en este contexto encontramos varios casos de individuos que regresaron a España, o sus colonias americanas, tras haber residido cierto período de tiempo en alguna de las comunidades judías de la diáspora sefaradí. Tras su regreso a tierras de idolatría, muchos de ellos llegaron a mantener estrechas relaciones e interesantes intercambios culturales con cristianos nuevos de origen judío que nunca habían salido de los límites de los reinos ibéricos y por lo tanto no habían mantenido ningún encuentro directo con el judaísmo. El presente artículo estudia este tipo de encuentros y analiza los distintos diálogos interculturales entre estos dos mundos tan cercanos y tan lejanos a la vez.

García & Cernadas (eds.), Reginae Iberia: El Poder Regio Femenino en Los Reinos Medievales Peninsulares (Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 2015)

The volume Reginae Iberia is a compilation of some of the papers presented at the International Congress on Queens and Infantas in Medieval Iberian Kingdoms, held in Santiago de Compostela from the 21 st to 23 rd May 2014. The editors of this volume, Miguel Garcia and Silvia Cernadas, selected a total of 12 articles, which despite focussing on very different topics, all served to emphasise a shared central idea. With these articles, the editors aimed to present a range of new and complementary readings on the Iberian monarchy, whilst highlighting the leading role of women at the heart of these houses and challenging the perception that they served purely for decorative or reproductive purposes

Ritual político, antropología e historiografía bajomedieval hispánica = Political Ritual, Anthropology and Scholarship on Late Medieval Spain

The study of ritual in history was primarily fostered by the convergence of history with the social sciences and especially anthropology which contributed a theoretical scheme to social history and to the new political history responsible for the analysis of historical phenomena previously deemed tangential, marginal or anecdotal. This article begins by detailing the main foundations of ritual study established by the social sciences. Following this, we will assess how ritual study became the object of Western European medieval history, along with its breakthrough in the Iberian context. Finally, through a discussion of the major debates surrounding medieval ritual, such as the issue of the sacred nature of kingship, we will assess the scholarship of the last few decades on the history of late medieval political rituals in the Christian Iberian kingdoms.

Las regencias femeninas en los reinos ibéricos medievales: ¿fue el caso portugués una singularidad?

Quite unlike the situation in other Iberian kingdoms, where several cases of royal authority held by women are known, in Portugal the only two female regencies in the medieval period were abruptly put to an end by revolutionary movements that handed the government over to males of royal blood. This article will analyze the arguments used to remove the queen-mothers from power to understand if it was their gender that disqualifi ed them or if other, stronger, reasons were taken into account.

Tres Violantes: las mujeres de una familia en el poder a lo largo del siglo XIII

The power of women, in particular the power of queens, has been a topic of great interest to historians, medievalists in particular; though much has been written about the subject, many questions remain. “Three Violantes” will look at the role of two Iberian queens and one Spanish princess in the thirteenth century Iberian kingdoms. In England and in other European kingdoms of that time, queens had lost authority and their agency was limited to the power of intercession and mediation, I will try to determine whether this also holds true for the Iberian queens.

The Cistercian Order in Medieval Europe, 1090–1500, by Emilia Jamroziak

The Cistercians were one of the most powerful and influential of the monastic orders to appear in the central Middle Ages, and they exerted considerable influence—social, economic, political, cultural—across the entirety of Western Europe, from Ireland to Slovenia, and from Scandinavia to the Iberian kingdoms; they also participated in the crusading and colonial ventures of this period, working alongside the military orders in the Baltic regions and the Holy Land. By the end of the Middle Ages, however, their star had waned—they were no longer at the forefront of intellectual and religious developments, and life within many Cistercian communities was no longer marked by the ascetic rigour for which they had once been famous. There is no shortage of important monographs on the Cistercian order, covering all aspects of their impact and influence, but until recently there has been a lack of useful textbooks; this was a significant gap, given the important role that Cistercians play in undergraduate surveys of the period 1100–1300, and their place in discussions about the nature of institutional religion and reform in the later Middle Ages. For many years, Louis K. Lekai’s Cistercians: Ideals and Reality (1977) has filled the gap, and the introduction to this book addresses Lekai’s legacy. In place of a decline from the ideals of the twelfth-century Golden Age, the author of the present book, Emilia Jamroziak, argues for institutional change and diversity of practice as a sign of vitality and adaptability—attributes which had always been present and which had helped to ensure the order’s rapid expansion in the first place.

«Fazer cavaleiros»: as cerimónias de investidura cavaleiresca no Portugal medieval (séculos XII-XV)

The ritual of dubbing to knighthood assumed since an early stage a capital importance, given that it was the necessary step to become a knight. This article will focus on this ceremony, dividing its analysis in two main parts. First, it will try to understand the different meanings of the ritual on the selected period. On the second part, the aim is to focus on the ritual itself, trying to describe how it was processed and analyzing the simbology of each step. As sources, this study uses chronicles, genealogical literature, legislative compilations, chivalric treatises and diplomatic documents. Throughout the text, there will be a comparative view with the rest of the Iberian kingdoms and also with other European regions.

Judicial Combat in Medieval Iberia During the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries: Evidence in Law and Image

While dueling has caught the attention of early modern historians of northern and central Europe, the Iberian evidence for judicial combat as a bilateral form of the ordeal in the central Middle Ages has received less attention. Drawing on royal and municipal law codes, and examining contemporary artistic evidence, this study illuminates the essential role such combat played within the legal system of the communities established along the frontier. Contemporary law codes of the Iberian kingdoms form the basis of the study, providing evidence of evolution of peacekeeping influenced by the needs of populations whose military skills made essential contributions to frontier expansion. Those same martial skills gave townspeople the ability to participate in judicial combat, developing detailed rules and regulations as a means to quell societal disruption. Moreover, church-sponsored artisans displayed the martial activities of surrounding society, and the clergy themselves sponsored judicial combat to protect and defend their holdings.