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Introduction to the Source

The manuscript is now housed at the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) in Madrid. It contains Islamizations of Biblical stories, such as those of Noah and Jesus, as well as Islamic folklore. The manuscript’s orthography is Semitic, very nearly Arabic, but its semantics are of a Spanish derivative called Aragonese. This language, called Aljamiado from the Arabic “الهمجي”which loosely translates to “stranger” or “alien,” derives from the medieval union of Arabic and Latin influences in Europe. Arabic rule and influence on the Iberian peninsula began in the early 8th century and lasted roughly 700 years, a civilization to which scholars now refer as “Al-Andalus.” This heterogenous region produced artistic and linguistic crossovers between Latin and Semitic traditions until the Spanish Reconquista of 1492. After the Reconquista and Inquisition in 1492 and the ensuing Catholic rule, Semitic traditions, including religion and corresponding orthography, were banned altogether. This manuscript, dated to 1587, would not have been widely circulated, as its writing and subject were forbidden.

Introduction to the Text

The Legend of the Damsel Carcayçiona is one of seven tales contained in an untitled manuscript compiled in 1587 and discovered in Almonacid de la Sierra, Spain, in 1884. A cross between a saint’s life and a description of paradise and hell, the story tells of a young princess who finds faith in Islam. The authorship is unknown.

The narrative follows a princess on a religious journey: a born idolator, she learns about Islamic religious practice and belief from a divine bird. Facing political exile, the damsel finds romantic love and religious enlightenment. The text moves between intricate descriptions of the afterlife, dialogue rich in both humor and tragedy, and creative plot twists. One stylistic feature to note is the text’s frame narration: the oral storytellers interject throughout the text.

 

The body of research on this text is relatively small, so there are potentially undiscovered interpretations and intertextual connections. The text addresses important themes--gender roles, religious conversion, patriarchy, martyrdom, romantic love, and political power--and has tremendous potential for enhancing our understanding of 16th-century Spain, specifically the Moorish presence in Spain post-Inquisition.

Further Reading

Wacks, David. “Cultural Exchange in the Literatures and Languages of Medieval Iberia.” David A. Wacks, 30 Oct. 2013, davidwacks.uoregon.edu/tag/aljamiado/.

• This piece, similar to Perry's, contextualizes the socio-cultural environment in which “The Legend of the Damsel Carcayçiona” was written.

Guillén Robles, Francisco. Leyendas moriscas sacadas de varios manuscritos existentes en las Bibliotecas Nacional, Real, y de D. P. de Gayangos, 3 vols. M. Tello, 1885.

• Includes a translation of the text into Spanish.

Perry, Mary Elizabeth. The Handless Maiden: Moriscos and the Politics of Religion in Early Modern Spain. Princeton UP, 2005.

• Perry outlines the parallels between “The Legend of the Damsel Carcayçiona” and “The Handless Maiden,” a fairytale with iterations in different cultures and epochs, and demonstrates how the former speaks to the Morisco experience in Spain in the late 16th century.

Boumehdi, Touria. “Una Miscelánea Aljamiada Narrativa y Doctrinal.” Institución Fernando El Católico, https://ifc.dpz.es/publicaciones/ebooks/id/3232, pp. 258-272.

• A transcription of the manuscript in Latin characters.

Credits

Transcription by Jorden Rosen-Kaplan, and Donald Wood, Translation by Jordan Rosen-Kaplan, and Donald Wood, Encoded in TEI P5 XML by Danny Smith