Zamora El Centro de Estudios judios en el siglo XV (original) (raw)
Zamora is a mid-size city of around 60,000 inhabitants in the northwestern region of Spain. It is well known for its more than 20 Romanesque churches, its celebration of the Catholic Holy Week and its Modernist buildings. Among food and wine connoisseurs, Zamora is known for its excellent wine and its gourmet cuisine. However, until recently, a visitor arriving on a package tour to its Plaza Mayor would never have considered the city one of the richest in Spain's Jewish history.
This essay proposes a number of possible new spaces for the study of Islam in the Americas, relating this field to questions of cultural relationship in the medieval Mediterranean world – particularly Spain and Italy – and their projection in the Atlantic. After reviewing some of the ways in which Islam shaped the memory of the conquistadores, and influenced the practices of adaptation to the conditions of the New World, the article turns to the debated question of the presence – or absence – of men and women of Muslim faith; it concludes by suggesting that the most fruitful paths of inquiry may lie not in tracing the presence of a Muslim population, but rather in addressing the questions of cultural and linguistic interaction, all the more complex now that it no longer appears legitimate to conceive of a homogenous “Muslim,” “Arabic” or “Berber” cultural bloc.
This book is the result of two scientific encounters hosted by the University of Évorain 2012, with the theme “Muslims and Jews in Portugal and the Diaspora. Identities and Memories (16th – 17th centuries)”, and co-financed by the Foundation for Science and Technology, and by FEDER, through “Eixo I” of the “ProgramaOperacionalFatores de Competitividade” (POFC) of QREN (COMPETE).Beginning with an analysis of the forced conversion of Iberian Jews and Muslims, this volumeexamines the effects of this on their respectivediasporas and/or permanencies as New-Christians in their original Kingdoms, focusing on a variety of approaches, from language and culture to identity discourses and interchanges between those communities.
'Two Twelfth-Century Fragments in Zamora: Representatives of a Period of Transition'
Published in Encomium Musicae: Essays in Memory of Robert J. Snow. Edited by D. Crawford and G.G. Wagstaff. Hillsdale, NY: Pendragon Press, 2002.
Discusses two fragments, Pergaminos musicales 15 and 202, held at the Archivo Histórico Provincial of Zamora, Spain. These represent the transitional period when the Roman rite was being established in northern central and western Spain. At this time some liturgical books were still copied in the traditional Visigothic script but using the imported Aquitanian notation, and it is this combination that is found in the two fragments. Discussion includes the chant melodies and texts, features of musical notation and handwriting, and comparison with other sources.
Manuel Gómez-Moreno Martínez: el nacimiento de la Arqueología Islámica en España
2014
Estudio de la biografía de don Manuel-Gómez Martínez, de sus circunstancias personales, de su obra y del modo que todo eso influyó en el nacimiento de la Arqueología Islámica en EspañaA study of Don Manuel Gómez-Moreno Martínez's biography, his personal circumstances, his work and the manner that these aspects influenced the birth of the Islamic Archaeology in Spai
"The Conversos of Valencia: Prosopography of a Socio-Religious Community (1391–1420)"
Jewish History, 2021
Since the nineteenth century, conversos have been among the most prolific lines of research for medievalists and early modern historians. The persecution they suffered at the hands of the Inquisition, the veracity of the claims that attributed to them a clear tendency to remain Jewish in secret long after they were baptized, and their role as cultural agents and active contributors to Spanish culture, particularly in the field of literature, have appealed greatly to researchers. However, in contrast to the vast amount of academic research focusing on Jews from a social perspective, our knowledge of the first generations of conversos is limited. In this article, we present the results of prosopographical research devoted to the converso collective of Valencia from July 9, 1391—the year of the violent and massive conversion of the city’s Hebrew population—to 1420. In particular, we discuss the methodological obstacles presented by such research; evaluate whether the converted population in Valencia can be considered a community after 1391; analyze the socio-professional structure and general economic activities of conversos; and study the social dynamics and interpersonal conflicts that developed both within the group and with Old Christians during this thirty-year period.