“Reading Aljamiado Mansucripts”
Mediterranean Studies Summer Skills Seminar
26—29 June 2023 • Remote
The Summer Skills Seminar, “Reading Aljamiado Manuscripts” will be held via Teams from Monday, 26 June to Thursday, 29 June 2023 from 9am to 11am and noon to 2pm MDT.
Course overview
In the decades following the conquest of Granada in 1492, the free Muslim communities of Christian Spain (Mudéjares) were subject to decrees that forced them to convert to Catholicism in 1502 (Castile), 1515 (Navarre) and 1526 (the Crown of Aragon). While some converted genuinely, most Moriscos continued to secretly practice Islam, or developed Islamic modes of religiosity inflected by Christianity and Judaism. In any event, conversion did not bring integration, and Moriscos (both converts and their descendants) continued to be subject to fiscal and legal discrimination, social marginalization, and cultural repression. Andalusi and Islamic cultural practices, including, the wearing of traditional clothes, halal butchery, traditional dances, music, and pastimes, would be eventually prohibited. From the 1560s the use of spoken and written Arabic was forbidden; however, most preserved Morisco texts were copied after that date.
Even prior to this, many or most Mudéjares spoke local Romance vernaculars, and in some areas Arabic had completely disappeared. Mudéjares in the Crowns of Aragon and Castile began writing in Aljamía - local vernaculars with some specific features using Arabic script. This movement gained momentum through the sixteenth century, and a particular variant of the Arabic alphabet developed here. Works produced in Aljamía included copies of the Qur’an, prophetic and sacred works, poetry and secular literature. These works constitute a vivid and unique source for the history and culture of the Mudéjar and Morisco communities of Early Modern Spain. [For more information, see N. de Castilla, “Uses and Written Practices in Aljamiado Manuscripts” and “Les emplois linguistiques et culturels derrière les textes aljamiados”.]
This four-day intensive skills seminar will provide participants with an overview of the interests and preoccupations of the Muslim communities of Aragon in the fifteenth, sixteenth and early-seventeenth centuries, as expressed on their own terms, in their own texts, using this unique alphabetic system. We will read, discuss and analyze unpublished and published manuscript fragments held today in various archives and libraries around the world, from the perspective of literal meaning, linguistics, sociology, material culture, historical context, and so on. The focus is on “hands-on” skills, and we will read Aljamiado manuscripts together, progressing through increasingly challenging texts as the course proceeds and students’ abilities develop. The contents will be catered as much as possible to the participants’ interests and needs. Medievalists and Modernists in all fields, graduate students, and qualified undergraduate students, as well as library and archival professionals are encouraged to apply.
The goal is to provide participants with a solid foundation for reading and understanding the manuscripts and texts produced by these Muslim Spanish communities, essential to understand Spain in the Late Middle Ages and Early Modern Period. This course will not only further their own research but also provide them with a bona fide (in the form of a certificate of completion for those who attend the full seminar), which may be advantageous in securing grants or other funding for research and travel. The ability to do research with primary sources is a skill relatively few doctoral students master, and it enhances the research profile and CV of academic job-seekers.
This Summer Skills Seminar builds on the experience of earlier editions, which participants signaled as “transformative” in terms of their research, and which provided them with an opportunity to network and lay the foundations for future collaborations. Please click below for information and participant reviews of our former Skills Seminars.
Faculty
The course will be conducted by Prof. Nuria de Castilla (History of the Book in Arabic Script, École Pratique des Hautes Études, PSL, Paris). A specialist in Arabic Manuscripts, her main research fields are Aljamiado Literature, Arabic Codicology and Paleography and Cultural History in Early Modern Europe, with special attention to Muslim-Christian relations.
Fees
$1000 for Full Professors, Librarians, Professionals, Independent Scholars;
$750 for tenured Associates;
$500 for non-tenured Associates and Assistants & Graduate and Undergraduate students;
$350 for Adjuncts, Lecturers & Contingent faculty.
Members of University of Colorado departments may be eligible for a discount.
Faculty and students who both nationals of and both reside and study in low per capita-GDP countries may apply for a reduction (please contact mailbox@mediterraneanseminar.org).
Payment information will be provided at the time of acceptance.
Fees are non-refundable.
Application & Information
Applicants should have at least an intermediate level of reading Spanish. Knowledge of Arabic is advantageous but not required, although participants should familiarize themselves with the basics of Arabic script beforehand. Here are two free basic tutorials: Arabic Quick! and al-dirassa.
Please note: sessions will not be recorded; synchronous attendance is required.
The application period is until May 21.
Successful applicants will receive notification by May 25.
Payment in full is due on June 10.
There will be a standby list.
Late applicants may be accommodated if possible; there will be a $50 surcharge for late applications that are accepted.
A letter of confirmation will be provided by the Mediterranean Seminar.
Fees are non-refundable.
Apply via this form.
For further information or inquiries, contact mailbox@mediterraneanseminar.org subject: “Summer Skills Information”)
Program
Monday, 26 June 2023
9am-11am; noon-2pm
1. Introduction. A Secret Culture in Golden Age Spain.
2. Let’s begin reading
Tuesday, 27 June 2023
9am-11am; noon-2pm
1. Preaching in Morisco times
2. Future predictions
Wednesday, 28 June 2023
9am-11am; noon-2pm
1. Cornerstone
2. Other famous texts
Thursday, 29 June 2023
9am-11am; noon-2pm
1. Problems with reading Aljamiado texts
2. Encore! The Qur’an in Mudéjar and Morisco communities