1192: Manumission of a Muslim Slave by a Female Mozarabic Testatrix in Toledo

Abstract

The source excerpt deals with the will of the Mozarabic woman Doña Cristina from Toledo, written in 1192. The analysis focuses on an incomplete clause concerning the release of a Muslim slave named Maryam—an element that is not known in this form from any other Mozarabic will. With recourse to the state of research on the Andalusian-Islamic as well as the Mozarabic legal tradition, the article draws conclusions about the content of the lost parts of the text as well as the possible legal significance of the clause. However, the remaining open questions show that the legal dimension of Christian–Muslim exchange on the Iberian Peninsula is still only understood in rudimentary form.