Spanish medieval archaeology: an approach with a brief bibliography

META NR 4 2001 42 Spanish medieval archaeology: an approach with a brief bibliography Magdalena Valors Introduction Medieval Spain is a very peculiar period in relation to medieval Europe. In Spain it encompasses a long period (from the 5th to the 15th century) and at the same time three different civilisations, namely Visigothic, Islamic and medieval Christian. First of all, each one of these civilisations has had its own specialists since the beginning, so we can speak about: - Visigothic Archaeology (5th to 7th centuries): This has traditionally been studied in Classical History Departments, but also in Archaeology Departments. The contribution of the Deutsches Archäologisches Institut in Madrid has also been very important, not only on account of excavations carried out, but also on account of publications. - Christian kingdoms (8th to 15th centuries): After the Arab conquest of the Iberian Peninsula, the Christian part was reduced to the far North of the peninsula. Therefore, from the mid 8th century to the late 15th century we witness the conquest of the Muslim province, i.e. the conquest of al-Andalus. Several kingdoms like Asturias-León, Castilla, and Navarra and Aragón made it possible for expansion towards the South as far as the Duero river (in the 2nd quarter of the 9th century). Apparently this was caused by the Muslims’ inability to sustain the demographic occupation of the territory. The archaeology of Spanish medieval kingdoms is not the most developed. The best known period is the Early Middle Ages from the 8th to the 10th century, but is at the same time the less known through the written sources. Asturias-León and Catalonia are the regions with the longest tradition in these kinds of studies. - Al-Andalus archaeology (8th to 15th centuries): The most developed in Spain. This chapter of Spanish medieval history began to be studied after the Romantic movement. Certainly Spain has preserved a lot of Islamic monuments, which were restored from the early 20th century. C-Valors 06-06-15, 15.5542 43 MAGDALENA V ALORS Traditionally research has been focused on Granada (Alhambra), Cordoba and Medina Azahara. Nowadays there are many other places of interest like Seville, Murcia and Badajoz. Also, researchers were previously more interested in the Omayyad period. In recent years, we have gained much more information about the Almohads and about the Nasrid dynasties. Universities, Museums and the Casa de Velázquez (dependant on the Centre National de la Recherché Scientifique of France), are the institutions dealing with this discipline. The kind of topics are very similar to those dealt with by European Medieval Archaeology. In this respect we can discern different periods: 1) The mid 20th century Cemeteries, churches and metalwork were the most studied topics in Visigothic Archaeology. Caves, castros (pre-Roman fortified settlements) and cities together with restored churches and castles were common topics of Christian Archaeology. Palaces and mosques were researched by architects and art historians, to detect the buildings’ structures. 2) The 60’s and the 70’s During these years an important change came about. The research was concentrated not only on the study of exceptional artefacts or architectural structures, but also on the archaeological context and on the analysis of continuity, changes and evolution. That was a significant change that can be registered in the various aspects and cultures. For example, in the case of Catalonia and Asturias-León the study of repopulation has been very developed, specially for the period between the 8th and the 10th century in different aspects, like the evolution of settlements, society and economy, and the frontier with al-Andalus. The case of Al-Andalus archaeology was the complete opposite. Research was related with restoration, therefore with architects. The Alhambra, the mosque of Cordoba and Medina Azahara were managed by architects. The conseqence is that we know a lot about the architectural structures but nothing about the archaeological context. So, in this case monumental archaeology was the main aim. 3) The 80's The definitive change in Spanish Medieval archaeology occurred in the 80’s. The reasons were: Firstly, in 1981 the Spanish Association for medieval archaeology was founded. Academics and experts from universities, museums and the state administration formed an association to demand a place in Spanish archaeology, and to establish means of contact. Secondly, In 1985 the first Spanish Congress of Medieval Archaeology took place in Huesca. This is a very important date, not only because it was the first general meeting, but also because of the Acts (five volumes devoted to: Methodology (I), Visigothic (II), Andalusi (III and IV), and Christian (IV and V) archaeology. C-Valors 06-06-15, 15.5543 META NR 4 2001 44 Many other congresses have taken place in recent years: The 2nd in Madrid in 1987 The 3rd in Oviedo in 1989 The 4th in Alicante in 1993 The 5th in Valladolid in 1999 Thirdly, in 1986 issue 0 of the Boletín de Arqueología Medieval was published. This started life as a book with modest pretensions, but began to receive many more contributions after 1989. Topics and aspects of al-Andalus archaeology Since the Arab conquest (711–716) to the final defeat of the Nasrid’s reign (1492), we have eight hundred years of Arab civilisation in the Iberian Peninsula. We should have in mind three different periods, which are: 1) Cordoba´s Emirat and Caliphat (713–1031). Especially important in this period was the Umayyad dynasty coming from Syria after 756. Two and a half centuries, during which occurred the islamisation of Visigothic Hispania. In these years began the transformation from cities, the permanent existence of a frontier with Christian reigns, the new territorial organization and evidently the beginning of a new culture in West Europe. 2) Petty kings and Almoravids (1031–1147). The petty kings signified the breakdown of the Caliphat and the birth of a large quantity of small polities reigned by small dynasties. At this time took place important changes in the organisation of the territory, especially a very intensive processes of fortification. The Almoravids was a North African dynasty, which entered the Iberian peninsula helping the petty kings against the Christian kings, and finally conquered each of them, converting al-Andalus into another province of their North African empire. This century signified a continuity of the Umayyad period. The architecture continued to be in the same way, but normally more decorated. 3) Almohad caliphat (1147–1212 or 1248). This is a very unknown period at the moment, but it seems to have been a very important century. Al-Andalus was much smaller, and to resist the Christian conquest they had to reorganise the frontier and the territory, specifically the fortifications. At the same time came a definitive aesthetic change. A new architecture characterised by huge buildings, a process typical for the period after 1172 and existing throughout the Middle Ages. The final development of this renovation was Granada’s Nasrid reign (1232-1492), with a similar development like the Umayyad caliphat and the petty kings. That means, the same aesthetic with more complicated decoration. C-Valors 06-06-15, 15.5544 45 MAGDALENA V ALORS In the research of al-Andalus archaeology, the researchers were at the beginning dealing with art and architecture and very little with archaeology. Basic studies were published in the 50’s by Manuel Gómez Moreno and Leopoldo Torres Balbás; the most studied sites were the Cordoba mosque, Medina Azahara and the Alhambra palace in Granada. Since 1985 we are experiencing a real explosion of publications, this time with scientific archaeological approaches, but probably with a lack of ambitious projects. Cities, towns 1) The urban structure (Fig . 1 and 2) The Iberian Peninsula was an intensively urbanised area even before the Arab conquest. There was a continuity in places with pre-Roman or Roman origins. This was the same situation as in Syria; christian cities with an organised housing scheme, and sometimes fortified. The islamisation of these pre-Islamic cities consisted in: - The transformations of churches into mosques. At the beginning the same building was used for both cults, afterwards the church was destroyed and in the same place a mosque constructed. We know a few examples, like Cordoba’s Friday mosque, and the first Friday mosque in Seville, named Ibn Adabbas. - The birth of a political centre, named alcázar, next to the Friday mosque. Palace areas were constructed at one extreme of the city walls, with possible contact with the outskirt of cities. This was named Dar al-Imara. - The development of the market area around the Friday mosque. The different arts and crafts were organised in categories, and depending on this they were near or far from the temple. We don’t know exactly the chronology of the cities’ islamisation, because there are few serious projects or urban archaeology. For example, in the case of Seville we can say through the written and archaeological sources that until the middle of the 12th century the Roman Hispalis was respected. There were evidently important changes because they built a Friday mosque in 829 and at the same time there existed a governor’s palace (Dar al-Imara) and a princely palace on the outskirts of the city. In the case of Cordoba, the first phase of the mosque was not built until 788, that means 77 years after the Arab conquest. After the Arab conquest pre-Islamic cities still existed, continuity and islamisation was the common situation, but there were also cities founded by the muslims, the most interesting example without doubt is Medina Azahara. This city was founded by the first caliph of Cordoba, Abd alRahman III in 937 and existed until C-Valors 06-06-15, 15.5545 META NR 4 2001 46 1010. Constructed partly in Sierra Morena mountains, it was organised into three terrasses. The highest was the palace area, in the middle the garden area, and in the lower part the city. The Friday mosque was built between the second terrace and the city. This archaeological site was one of the very first places excavated in Spain. We know many aspects of this place not only through the written sources, but also through the contemporary chronicles. This monument is very important for the whole al-Andalus art and architecture development. Fig. 1. Cordobas city plan. A Roman shape where the Friday mosque and Alczar are at the periphery , next to the bridge and the river Guadalquivir. Around the mosque the market area was developed, the bazars. C-Valors 06-06-15, 15.5546 47 MAGDALENA V ALORS Every al-Andalus king or caliph in the next centuries tried to know Medina Azahara and to reuse some architectural elements, and also to be inspired by the decoration. 2) The city walls Most of the cities that the conquerors found had Roman walls. Some of them, in places next to the frontier with the Christians were preserved; but commonly they were abandoned, and probably the stones were reused in new buildings. So the Zaragoza’s city walls still existed after the conquest, while Seville’s city walls were abandoned and that is the reason why the Vikings did not have problems to enter the city in 844. Created cities, like Medina Azahara, Badajoz or Murcia were fortified. But we should speak not only about the construction, but also about the destruction of some of them, especially in the case of rebellion against Fig. 2. Sevilles city plan with the two urbanization phases, which are: 1) The plan until the middle of the 12th century, where we can see the Friday mosque and the alczar at the city border. At the outskirts was also built a prince palace. 2) The Almohad expansion was really significant. Not only because the walled surface was much larger, also because they renovated the cultural and political centre of the city. The political centre (alczar) went through a definitive change, from a group of palaces into a city within the city, formed by many enclosures with different functions. They were dedicated to gardens, orchards, cemeteries, workshop areas or palaces. C-Valors 06-06-15, 15.5547 META NR 4 2001 48 Cordoba. This is the case of Merida or Écija, both very important towns in Roman times, but in decadence after the 9th century. Militarisation was a constant through the al-Andalus history from the beginning to the end. The walls not only defined the city, they protected it, and the leaders also defended themselves against the citizens. Umayyad walls were normally built in stone (Sillares), and we have many examples in Merida, Balaguer or Seville (Fig. 3). But the most frequent building material was tabiya (fig. 4). This is a mixture of soil, water and lime put in a wooden mould. The hardness could be like stone, it depends on the lime quantity added. Bricks were very common in al-Andalus since the 9th century. It was used for pavements, vaults and arches. At the end of the 12th century it began to be used for complete buildings. The majority of the city walls that we can see today were built after the 12th century, and only partly we can find fragments of earlier phases. The more frequent cases come from the Almohads and the Nasrid era. 3) The palaces A very intensive, urbanised civilisation had to have lots of palaces. Today very few still exist and many of them are mutilated. We can find palaces Fig. 3. Reused Roman stones in Sevilles alcazar enclosure. C-Valors 06-06-15, 15.5548 49 MAGDALENA V ALORS from the 10th to the 15th century. It is important to state that the layout of these palaces has a repetitive structure during this long period. We can see buildings in a rectangular form organised with a central patio and rooms around. The principal rooms used to be in the shorter wings, sometimes exclusively so. The patio is a garden and it is used as a house space. While the structure of these palaces was repeated, we can see an evolution in decoration. The Omayyad models survive until the second half of the 12th century, with some develop-ment, but the strongest aesthetic change took place with Almohads. (Fig 5 and 6) The high temperatures in summer made it necessary to construct summer palaces. In the case of hot weather they used to make underground or semi-underground palaces. In the Alhambra, next to the Sierra Nevada mountains, it was not necessary, but they built in the highest area of this place pavilions surrounded by gardens. Vegetation and water was essential for this kind of aristocratic houses. At the same time, emirs, kings or caliphs used to construct an almunia at the outskirts of the cities in places with a nice view and good communications with the alcázar. (Fig. 7) Fig. 4. Tabiya. C-Valors 06-06-15, 15.5549 META NR 4 2001 50 4) The mosques Mosques comprice three elements: - The Patio, bigger than the prayer hall, is the place to make ablutions, to have a rest, to administer justice and the place of the Koranic school. It is also the space used as a prayer hall on Fridays. - The tower or minaret, use to advise the citizens about the prayer time. In al-Andalus minarets are frequently situated next to the main gate of the patio, in the north side. - The prayer hall, evidently the most important element. Al-Andalus mosques were orientated to the South, the south wall is much wider than the others. In the centre is a niche named mihrab, which indicated the direction for the prayer. We must note that there are different kinds of mosques: the most important is the Friday mosque (comparable to a cathedral with the Christians), further there are district’s mosques named masyid (like parish churches) and also oratories. Only the Friday mosques have the three elements (patio, minaret and prayer hall), Fig. 5. Palace of Sevilles alcazar. It is a very common type, a crossgarden, organised in two passages and four garden spaces. Vegetation in Islamic gardens was very rich, they used to mix a lot of plants, local and imported, vegetables and ornamental. C-Valors 06-06-15, 15.5550 57 MAGDALENA V ALORS in Córdoba, various mosques in Toledo, and also researching in Morocco, specifically on Almohad mosques. But there are also some Hispanists who are not connected to these kinds of institutions. Some of them have published work in recent years like: Christine Mazzoli-Guintard . Villes d’al-Andalus. L’Espagne et le Portugal à l’époque musulmane (VIIIe-XVe siècles). Rennes. 1996. Thomas F. Glick. From Muslim fortress to Christian castle. Trowbridge. 1995. The best way to find some publications from Spanish archaeologists are in the acts of Medieval Europe, 1992 and 1997, the first international meetings for European Medieval Archaeology. Each one of the acts, which are divided into seven different areas, have some articles. In some cases they were written by Spanish archaeologists, and, in others by Hispanists. There are some significant gaps, and nothing about important research projects like L’Esquerdá a Catalonia developed by Inma Ollich. Magdalena Valors r professor vid Departamento de Historia Medieval y Ciencias y Tcnicas Historiogrficas Universidad de Sevilla C-Valors 06-06-15, 15.5557