The Mercenary Mediterranean_ Sovereignty, Religion, and Violence in the Medieval Crown of Aragon - Hussein Fancy

102 chapter five

tremble and have great fear of them.” Finally, the officials pleaded with

the king for a quick response, explaining, “as you already know they make

many excuses,” hinting at a tense relationship, which will be described in

detail in the following chapter. A letter held in the Archive of the Crown of

Aragon, written in Arabic some six months later, likely by al- ‘Abbās him-

self, confirms that these adjustments were ultimately made and the four

hostages were handed over.^26

Montagut and Ferrer’s letter to Jaume casts light on not only the pro-

cess by which the jenets were integrated into the Crown’s service but also

the dynamics of these companies themselves. Although the distant view

of the chancery registers makes it rather easy to forget, the jenets were

not homogeneous units but rather alliances of members of various tribes,

a fact that opens up the possibility of competing loyalties within and be-

tween companies.^27 However obvious this point seems, it only further un-

derscores the significance of the king’s failure to recognize it. Put simply,

in this case, Jaume presumed that authority resided solely in the figure

of the captain, al- ‘Abbās b. Raḥḥū, who in turn had the absolute fidelity

of his troops. By contrast, Montagut and Ferrer’s negotiations reveal that

the structure of these companies served to distribute authority and re-

sponsibility horizontally across the group. This misunderstanding high-

lights again that the convergence of the jenets and the Aragonese kings

was not a seamless union, a moment of immediate and mutual recogni-

tion but rather one of competing, overlapping, and often incommensurate

claims, values, and jurisdictions.

The Aragonese kings’ decision to recruit jenets grew out of a Mediter-

ranean tradition that saw ethnic and religious others as slaves of emper-

ors. But does this mean that the real lives of the jenets were of no concern

to the Aragonese kings? This bleak vision of Aragonese sovereignty does

not reflect the reality of the kings’ treatment the jenets. After all, the Ara-

gonese kings listened and responded to the demands of the jenets. What

is more, several particular incidents evidenced by the chancery registers

suggest a deeper bond. For example, when several jenets along with their

wives and children were captured by Castile in 1292 , the Crown moved to

secure the return of all of them rather than just the soldiers.^28 In another

instance, when two jenets retired, which is to say, when their martial utility

came to an end, the Crown continued to extend their privileges.^29 A jenet

named Daut was given sufficient funds to live out his life in Valencia.^30

And at the end of his career and “because of his many acts of service

(propter plurima servicia),” Muça Almentauri received lands in Murcia,