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Lot Essay
"I, Don Yuçaf Aben Almaul, King of Granada by the grace of God, send very many greetings to you, as an honoured and esteemed gentleman, the Grand Master of Calatrava, much revered. I wish you to know, my friend, that every day I await you, for I am greatly in need of the help of God and yourself. Therefore, I entreat you with all my will and ask for grace that, as soon as you have this letter, you make sure to make arrangements to come at once to Alcaudete, and from Alcaudete to Priego, and from Priego to Zagra, and from Zagra to Caleha, for we have ordered our men to assemble there. I and my men shall join them there, together with you and your men. Men, who have rendered such great service to our lord the King, and to both my honour and yours. I hope you know, my friend, that I place such confidence in Our Lord God that, when you arrive at the aforementioned Caleha and I meet you, everything will happen as our hearts desire. Therefore I beg you, my friend, to come with all possible haste, bringing your men and as many supplies and livestock as you can manage to the aforementioned Caleha, so that provisions may be available for both you and us. I also ask that you send me a reply then with what you intend to do, so that I may know it and do whatever is required of me in the service of our King, our lord and mine own. And if there are matters here in which you require assistance, command me and I shall have them carried out willingly and gladly for your honour. May Our Lord God keep you under His protection. Written in the Alhambra on the eighth day of February" (as translated by Luis Seco de Lucena, 'Un Documento del Sultan Granadino Yusuf IV Ibn Al-Mawl, Al-Andalus, Revista de las Escuelas de Estudios Arabes de Madrid y Granada, Vol.XIII, 1948, Fasc.2, pp.497-500).
This is a historic letter from the Sultan Yusuf IV of Granada (circa 1360s-1432; Yusuf Ibn al-Mawl, Spanish: Abenalmao). His father was Muhammad Ibn al-Mawl, a member of one of the important families of Nasrid al-Andalus, the Banu al-Mawl. Originally from Córdoba, they supported the founder of the Nasrid dynasty from its inception and settled in Granada. Yusuf was thus the grandson of Muhammad VI (r.1360-62) through maternal lineage. In this letter, he pleads for military assistance, making clear the tumultuous political climate in Muslim Andalusia. It might appear strange that a Muslim leader would ask for aid from a Castillian Christian Lord in such a subservient manner, referring the receipient, the Master of Calatrava, Luis González de Guzmán (d.1443), as his "friend". It is also remarkable that Yusuf chose to write the letter in Spanish, with which he was evidently not comfortable. However, it was only through the assistance and support of the Castilian army, of which de Guzmán was one of the two frontier commanders, that Yusuf managed to usurp the throne of Granada from the previous Sultan, Muhammad IX, just a month earlier on 1 January 1432 (Enrique Rodríguez-Picavea, 'The Military Orders and the War of Granada (1350–1492)', Mediterranean Studies, 2010, Vol. 19 (2010), pp. 24-25). A couple of weeks before our letter was written, Yusuf had ratified a previously agreed treaty formalising his lifelong vassalage to Castile, the liberation of all Christian captives, the prohibition of Christian conversion to Islam, an annual tribute of twenty thousand gold dinars, military assistance, and attendance at the Castilian court in return of promised Castilian military support. This is clearly reflected in the tone of the letter.
The contemporary chronicler, Alvar Garcia de Santamaria in his Cronica de don Juan II records that there was a rebellion against Yusuf IV led by the brother of the deposed Muhammad VIII which occurred in the month of February 1432, due to the humiliating conditions of the treaty. The deposed Muhammad IX gathered his troops in nearby Malaga, a threat that caused Yusuf to write this letter. One also senses a state of haste in the letter, written in poor Spanish and not on the distinctive pink paper characteristic of Nasrid diplomatic correspondence (Roser Salicrú Lluch, '"Cartas árabes" en Romance Conservadas en el Archivo de la Corona de Aragón', Islam y cristiandad, siglos XII-XVI, Jaen, 2010, p.823). De Guzmán was slow to respond and Muhammad IX's troops - led by his nephew and the future Yusuf V (r.1445-46) and supported by Juan II of Castille's (r.1406-54) Christian rivals, Alfonso V of Aragon (r.1416-58) - laid siege to Granada while the capital too rose against the Sultan. Eventual Castilian assistance failed to save Yusuf who was discovered hiding in the Alhambra three days after its capture between the middle and the end of April 1432. He was executed shortly thereafter. The letter thus proves a fascinating primary source, with its desperate contents and mixture of Spanish and Arabic, at a tumultuous period in Iberian history. For further discussion on this letter see Luis Seco de Lucena (op.cit.) and Francisco Vidal Castro, 'Yusuf IV', Real Academia de la Historia (online).
An analysis of the paper used for this letter undertaken by Helen Loveday is consistent with a 15th century date and other samples produced in North Africa at the time.
This is a historic letter from the Sultan Yusuf IV of Granada (circa 1360s-1432; Yusuf Ibn al-Mawl, Spanish: Abenalmao). His father was Muhammad Ibn al-Mawl, a member of one of the important families of Nasrid al-Andalus, the Banu al-Mawl. Originally from Córdoba, they supported the founder of the Nasrid dynasty from its inception and settled in Granada. Yusuf was thus the grandson of Muhammad VI (r.1360-62) through maternal lineage. In this letter, he pleads for military assistance, making clear the tumultuous political climate in Muslim Andalusia. It might appear strange that a Muslim leader would ask for aid from a Castillian Christian Lord in such a subservient manner, referring the receipient, the Master of Calatrava, Luis González de Guzmán (d.1443), as his "friend". It is also remarkable that Yusuf chose to write the letter in Spanish, with which he was evidently not comfortable. However, it was only through the assistance and support of the Castilian army, of which de Guzmán was one of the two frontier commanders, that Yusuf managed to usurp the throne of Granada from the previous Sultan, Muhammad IX, just a month earlier on 1 January 1432 (Enrique Rodríguez-Picavea, 'The Military Orders and the War of Granada (1350–1492)', Mediterranean Studies, 2010, Vol. 19 (2010), pp. 24-25). A couple of weeks before our letter was written, Yusuf had ratified a previously agreed treaty formalising his lifelong vassalage to Castile, the liberation of all Christian captives, the prohibition of Christian conversion to Islam, an annual tribute of twenty thousand gold dinars, military assistance, and attendance at the Castilian court in return of promised Castilian military support. This is clearly reflected in the tone of the letter.
The contemporary chronicler, Alvar Garcia de Santamaria in his Cronica de don Juan II records that there was a rebellion against Yusuf IV led by the brother of the deposed Muhammad VIII which occurred in the month of February 1432, due to the humiliating conditions of the treaty. The deposed Muhammad IX gathered his troops in nearby Malaga, a threat that caused Yusuf to write this letter. One also senses a state of haste in the letter, written in poor Spanish and not on the distinctive pink paper characteristic of Nasrid diplomatic correspondence (Roser Salicrú Lluch, '"Cartas árabes" en Romance Conservadas en el Archivo de la Corona de Aragón', Islam y cristiandad, siglos XII-XVI, Jaen, 2010, p.823). De Guzmán was slow to respond and Muhammad IX's troops - led by his nephew and the future Yusuf V (r.1445-46) and supported by Juan II of Castille's (r.1406-54) Christian rivals, Alfonso V of Aragon (r.1416-58) - laid siege to Granada while the capital too rose against the Sultan. Eventual Castilian assistance failed to save Yusuf who was discovered hiding in the Alhambra three days after its capture between the middle and the end of April 1432. He was executed shortly thereafter. The letter thus proves a fascinating primary source, with its desperate contents and mixture of Spanish and Arabic, at a tumultuous period in Iberian history. For further discussion on this letter see Luis Seco de Lucena (op.cit.) and Francisco Vidal Castro, 'Yusuf IV', Real Academia de la Historia (online).
An analysis of the paper used for this letter undertaken by Helen Loveday is consistent with a 15th century date and other samples produced in North Africa at the time.