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

the unpaid debt 105

dalil, the subject of a detailed study by Brian Catlos, entered the service of

King Alfons II in February 1290 , following the mission of the Jewish am-

bassador Abrahim Abennamies to Granada. The Crown awarded Abena-

dalil the highest honors and privileges. On August 10 , 1290 , Alfons made

the jenet his vassal and commander of all jenets in his service. In addition,

Abenadalil received a salary of almost twenty- four solidi per diem (six

times the rate of other jenets) as well as the right to the king’s fifth share of

spoils from raids.^35 And in turn, the Aragonese king put his vassal to work.

Alfons first sent Abenadalil and his troops to the French and Navarrese

borders.^36 Abenadalil spent the following months fighting along the Cas-

tilian border in various locations.^37 Finally, in December 1290 , after only

ten months in the Aragonese king’s service, and back in the good graces of

the Naṣrid sultan, Abenadalil and his troops returned home to Granada.^38

In Abenadalil’s surprisingly brief career, the events that took place in

villages in the region of Calatayud, along the Castilian border, demand

deeper investigation (map 1 ). Although Abenadalil and his jenets held the

right to maintain the king’s fifth of spoils, their desire to convert any spoils

into profits presented them with significant challenges. In November 1290 ,

King Alfons wrote to Petrus Sancii, the justice of Calatayud. He explained

that after a raid into Soria, just across the Castilian border, Abenadalil and

his soldiers had brought back certain goods ( prede), worth 2 , 200 solidi,

that the Christian inhabitants of Calatayud accepted and agreed to pay for

on an appointed day.^39 Apparently, as later correspondence revealed, these

“goods” also included Castilian captives, for whom the locals had acted as

guarantors.^40 In any event, despite their initial promise, the villagers now

refused to pay the jenets. King Alfons therefore ordered Petrus either to

compel the villagers to pay the jenets or to confiscate their property and

levy a fine of 2 , 200 solidi. A month later, however, the matter had grown

worse. Several men from nearby Calatayud attacked Abenadalil’s jenets,

making off with “horses, shields, and other things (roncincos, adargas, et

alias res).”^41 On December 13 , frustrated with Petrus’ lack of response, Al-

fons addressed a letter to Calatayud’s council, indicating that none of the

money or the fine against the villagers had been paid and asking them to

determine whether the local justice, Petrus, was acting “maliciously (mali-

ciose).”^42 The king simultaneously wrote to the justice of Aragon, Petrus’

superior, and the justice of Valencia, asking them to take an interest in the

matter.^43 Finally, in the archival equivalent of raising his voice, the king also

issued a circular to all royal officials in the kingdom of Aragon, reiterating

the right of the jenets to raid from his lands and sell any captives or goods