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

116 chapter five

Despite Jaume’s conquest of Mallorca in 1229 , the smaller (as the name

indicates) neighboring island of Minorca remained under Muslim con-

trol until 1287.^94 After its conquest in that year by King Alfons II, those

Muslims who could not buy their freedom made their way into the slave

markets of Barcelona and Mallorca. And it is precisely in this unexpected

and uninviting context — at the Muslim slave market — that several jenets

appear, performing the rather curious act of buying slaves.^95 Were they

freeing their coreligionists? The fact that these soldiers exclusively chose

“black Saracens” from among the captives from Mallorca troubles this sug-

gestion, opening up the possibility that religious affiliation mattered less

than other prejudices, needs, or calculations.^96

Nevertheless, a poorly preserved chancery document at the mangled

edge of a folio presents a different view of the jenets’ relationship with

Mus lim captives of war. In 1285 , six Muslim prisoners — five men and a

woman — fled from their Christian owners in Barcelona. Local officials

were immediately informed of the escape but also warned, “Take suffi-

cient care of Albohaya, Cassim, and Sahat, jenets, who by action or insinu-

ation are said to have caused said Saracens to have fled.”^97 These may once

again have been the notorious jenets from the Miraculos romanzados.

Nevertheless, the document paints a striking portrait, the image of jenets

encountering and conspiring with Muslim captives in the city of Barce-

lona. Whereas before, the jenets seemed to be profiting from the capture

of Minorca without care for religious affiliation, here they seem to have

taken a personal risk— by deed or word — to help these six Muslim cap-

tives. Or was this the insinuation of the king’s royal administrator alone?

The opposing events make only one thing clear: while shared beliefs and

practices may have connected the jenets to the Mudéjares, they did not

determine their relationship alone. Religion cannot be understood simply

as community.

Conspiracy

In the prison break above, one also detects a whisper of fear in the king’s

letter. Regardless of the jenets’ involvement, the king saw sufficient rea-

son to suspect them: in what might be coincidence, he chose instead to

see conspiracy. This attitude was not isolated. The Crown of Aragon saw

all the Muslims living in its kingdoms as potential insurgents or worse, a

fifth column for an invasion from Granada, a lesson it learned from the