HIST-281 Lecture Notes - Lecture 22: Muhtasib, Mozarabs, Qadi
3 Nov 2020
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Document Summary
Dependent as they were on their conquered majorities, the rulers of the christian kingdoms had to adapt their policies and institutions to meet local needs, in the process creating a kaleidoscopic and ever-shifting frontier world. Muslim subjects of christian spain continued to live under islamic law and under the jurisdiction of their muhtasib (police chief) and qadi (civil and religious judge). The borders dividing muslims and christians both the borders separating their states and those separating their social interactions within any one state remained porous. Local bilingual mozarabs and jews played crucial roles in sustaining these relations, serving as linguistic and cultural interpreters and promoting the notion that religious rivals could find a common ground. As the conquering christians encountered the muslim libraries and schools, they began to encourage the translation of their works into latin. Word of the intellectual riches available in spain quickly spread through the rest of western.
