In the study of medieval Spain the term of the convivencia
is well known. However, the harmonious image that has often been associated
with it has been frequently challenged. The illusion of a peaceful and tolerant
coexistence has been dispelled by studies that uncovered episodes of
intolerance and violence. One document that has sometimes been used to
illustrate the harmony between Muslims, Jews and Christians is the libro de
los juegos or libro del ajedrez, dados y tablas. This manuscript,
created in Seville in 1283, primarily contains texts on chess, but also on dice
and tables. Its illuminations show a wide array of figures, Kings and peasant,
men and women, but also representations of Christians, Jews and Muslims. It is
not hard to fathom why such imagery of figures of different religions being
involved in games of intellect and chance could be used to illustrate their
harmonious lives along side each other. Yet, a closer look reveals that this
manuscript by no means lacks political and ideological meaning.
Figure 1 |
On fol. 22r the viewer can witness a chess game
between two Muslims. The two men playing, are depicted as barefoot, with
elegant clothing and turbans, apparently Muslims of higher prestige. While they
are engaged in the game, they are surrounded by three women, who serve the
players food and drinks, and entertain them with harp music. However subtle,
some aspects in the image seem to disagree with a tolerant scene of a
leisurely court scene.
One of the women appears to cast her gaze upon the
player of the right, whose eye do not seem to rest on the game, but rather on
her body, whose shape is slightly revealed by her light garment.[1] Though we
might just consider this an amusing detail, it can also be understood less
humourous. The implied notions of seduction and sexuality depicts the Muslim
woman in a negative light for the contemporary audience and thereby puts her
characterisation in a longer tradition of the non-Christian Other as
lustful.
The male participant of this little flirtation seems
to be the object of further ridicule. He is shown as being distracted by his
physical desires, thereby questioning his intellectual capacities as well as
his abilities in warfare seeing as the former was understood as a metaphor for
the later. Finally the position of the image within the manuscript itself seems
to be of significance. It is located right opposite of a Western court scene. A
position that suggests a comparison between the two courtly scenes. Even though
the Muslims appear richly dressed, they pale in comparison to the splendour of
their Western equivalent, making these pairs of images a highly ideological
argument for the superiority of Christian culture. [2]
Figure 2 |
An image of a game of dice between a Jew and a
Christian shows similar visual policies. It has to be noted, that the
manuscript only shows Jews winning a game of dice, but never of chess. This
fact alone might be understood as slightly debasing, considering the manuscript
tells its audience that chess is the superior game. [3]
The scene on fol. 71V shows such a game of dice
between a Christian and a Jew, both players accompanied by an entourage of
three. The scene shows the Christian player, who just lost, stretching out his
hand with an insulting gesture towards his victorious opponent, while the winner
seems to point out his victory with his left hand.
Figure 3 |
Even though there are more examples are possible,
these two should have given a glimpse of the visual strategies used in the
imagery. It does depict Christians along side Jews and Muslims, playing games,
communicating a co-existence. However, it is by no means a token of tolerance
and acceptance. The superiority of Christians is interwoven into the imagery
throughout the manuscript. Thereby frequently affirming its Christian audience
of their place in the world of these chaotic times. It seems that the notion of
convivencia is not so much an illustrated medieval reality, but
rather a concept born from the desires of the modern world with regards to its
own past.
-Fabian
__________
1 Constable, Olivia Remie, 'Chess and Courtly
Culture in Medieval Castile: The Libro de ajedrez of Alfonso X, el
Sabio', in: Speculum 82.2 (2007), 331-332.
2 Robinson, Cynthia, 'Preliminary considerations
on the illustrations of Qissat Bayād wa Riyād [Vat. Ar. Ris. 368]: checkmate
with Alfonso X?', in Al-Andalus und Europa: zwischen Orient und
Okzident, ed. Martina Meller-Wiener (Petersberg: Imhof, 2004), 290.
3 Adams, Jenny, Power play: the
literature and politics of chess in the Late Middle Ages (Philadelphia:
University of Pennsylvania Press, 2006), 55-56.
4 See Robinson 2004, 290 for further observations
on the visual distinction between the two groups.
Images:
1 fol. 22r, Libro del ajedrez, dados y tablas, Manuscript
T.I.6. Biblioteca Real del Monasterio de El Escorial.
2 view on fol. 21v and 22r, Libro del ajedrez,
dados y tablas, Manuscript T.I.6. Biblioteca Real del Monasterio de El
Escorial.
3 fol. 71v, Libro del ajedrez, dados y tablas, Manuscript T.I.6. Biblioteca Real del Monasterio de El Escorial.
3 fol. 71v, Libro del ajedrez, dados y tablas, Manuscript T.I.6. Biblioteca Real del Monasterio de El Escorial.
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