"The Abencerraje" and "Ozmín and Daraja": Two Sixteenth-Century Novellas from Spain

From Francisco Núñez Muley, “A Petition to the Court”

[ 130 ] • From “A Petition to the Court” • Francisco Núñez Muley The Granadan Morisco Francisco Núñez Muley was probably born soon after the fall of the city to the Christian forces in 1492. He lived through various official stances toward religious difference, from the brief initial tolerance of Islam, to the forced baptisms of the turn of the sixteenth century, to the severely repressive royal ordinances against Moorish cultural practices as the century progressed. Núñez Muley was converted to Christianity as a child and served as a page in the household of the tolerant archbishop of Granada, Hernando de­Talavera. His name appears in the records of several negotiations with the Crown on behalf of the Moriscos. Núñez Muley was thus a natural choice to petition Don Pedro de Deza, head of the Royal Audiencia and Chancery Court of Granada, against the 1566−67 decrees forbidding the Moriscos from using Arabic or engaging in traditional culturalpractices .His1567petitionwasalast-minuteattempttoholdback the tide of increasing repression, against which the Moriscos would eventually rebel in late 1568. Núñez Muley challenges the laws point by point. He recalls the initial terms on which Granada had surrendered, to underscore the Christian betrayal that underlies the Morisco “problem .” He questions the prohibitions against “Moorish” dress by arguing that it is properly Granadan—that is, a sign of regional identity rather than of ethnic or religious difference. More broadly, he argues for the importance of Moorish forms within the history of Spain, questioning official attempts to erase the Arabic language and the histories associated with it. The original memorial is in the Biblioteca Nacional in Madrid, Sección de Ms., 6176 (R.29), ff. 311−331 obverse. We have based our translation on the version edited by K. Garrad (1954) as “The Original Memorial of Don Francisco Núñez Muley.” For a complete translation , see Francisco Núñez Muley, A Memorandum for the President [ 131 ] a petition to the court of the Royal Audiencia and Chancery Court of the City and Kingdom of Granada (2007). First of all, it is stated [in the decrees] that at the time when the natives of this kingdom converted to our holy Catholic faith, they agreed to change their dress and that their ancient memories should be lost. I think there is no memory by anyone in this kingdom of such a pact and agreement, which never existed, nor will it appear in writing, for the conversion of the natives of this kingdom was by force and against what had been granted by the Catholic Monarchs to Muley Boabdil,1 who was the ruler of this kingdom, and his officials, and they all signed their names to it, on both sides, with more than forty articles to it. [The treaty] was drawn up and agreed upon at the time when the king and the city governors handed over this city and its kingdom. What was agreed to in these articles was that [the natives] would remain in their faith and continue as they used to do in their mosques and with their alcaldes[judges]andalmotís[religiousleaders]andalfaquís[scholars],2 and receive the rents from the lands belonging to their mosques, and thattheywouldnotbeconvertedintoChristians,andotherthingsthat are spelled out in that treaty and its articles, which I have referred to. And as to whether [traditional Morisco] dress and footwear continue in the ceremonies and customs of Muslims: in this, my lord, it seems to me from my own poor judgment and what I have learned from my fellow elders, that these reports are not complete or valid. For this dress and costume and footwear cannot be said to be Muslim, nor is it specific to Muslims. It may be said to be the costume of this kingdom and province—as in all the kingdoms of Castile and the other kingdoms and provinces they have costumes that differ from each other, and all of them Christian, so the said dress and costume of this kingdom is very different from the costume of the Muslims from the other side3 and from the Barbary Coast; and there also are very great differences from one kingdom to the next—what they wear in Fez is not exactly what they wear in Estremeçen, and in Turkey it is completely different , and all of them are Muslim. So one cannot prove or say that the costumeofthenewlyconvertedones[inGranada]isMuslimcostume; [ 132 ] contexts nor can...