madrasa 463Further reading:Michael Psellus, Fourteen Byzantine
Rulers: The Chronographia of Michael Psellus,trans. E. R.
A. Sewter (1953; reprint, Harmondsworth: Penguin
Books, 1966); Theodora Antonopoulou, The Homilies of
the Emperor Leo VI(Leiden: Brill, 1997); J. B. Bury, A His-
tory of the Later Roman Empire: A Supplement Containing
the Emperors from Basil II to Isaac Komnenos (A.D.
976–1057), and Other Essays on Byzantine History
(Chicago: Ares, 1974); Romilly Jenkins, Byzantium: The
Imperial Centuries, A.D. 610–1071(New York: Random
House, 1966); Shaun Tougher, The Reign of Leo VI
(886–912): Politics and People(Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1997).
Machaut, Guillaume de (William, Machault) (ca.
1300–1377)French musician, poet
Machaut was born to a noble family about 1300 in Cham-
pagne. In about 1323 he took orders and entered the
service of John of Luxembourg (r. 1310–46), the king of
BOHEMIA, as a secretary and canon of RHEIMScathedral.
He traveled to POLAND, LITHUANIA, and ITALY before
settling at Rheims. When John of Luxembourg was killed
in battle in 1346, Machaut went into services of John’s
daughter, then that of Charles II the Bad (r. 1349–87),
the king of NAVARRE, and subsequently CHARLES V
(r. 1364–80), the king of FRANCE. Much in demand, he
also had as patrons such princes as JOHN,DUKE OFBERRY,
and Amadeus VI, the Green Count of Savoy (r. 1343–83)
and held canonries at Rheims, Verdun, and Arras. He
died in 1377 at Rheims.
We possess more works by him than by any other
14th-century composer. His literary inspiration was in
the tradition of COURTLY LOVE. In music, he wrote in both
religious and secular pieces. He developed new proce-
dures for musical composition, known as the Ars nova,as
distinct from the ARS ANTIQUA.A master of versification,
he wrote didactic and allegorical poems, lays and virelays,
rondeaux, ballads, secular polyphonic songs, music for
masses, and 24 MOTETS for three or four voices. His
poetry influenced CHAUCER.
Further reading:Guillaume, de Machaut, The Works
of Guillaume de Machaut,ed. Leo Schrade, 2 vols. (Monaco:
Editions de l’Oiseau-Lyre, 1956); Lawrence Marshburn
Earp, Guillaume de Machaut: A Guide to Research(New
York: Garland, 1995); Gilbert Reaney, Guillaume de
Machaut(London: Oxford University Press, 1971).
al-Madina al-Zahira It was a 10th-century palace city,
now in ruins, eight miles (13 kilometers) outside CÓR-
DOBAin AL-ANDALUS. It was founded by Abd al-Rahman
III (r. 891–961), CALIPHand the emir of Córdoba, and
finished by his son, al-Hakim II (r. 961–976). Named
after Abd al-Rahman’s favorite wife, Zahra, the complex
was located near springs at the foot of the Sierra Morena.
It was founded as a palatial residence and administrative
center away from crowded Córdoba. The staff included
20,000 guards, officials, and their families, who lived in
this palace city. Al-Madina al-Zahira was destroyed by fire
in 1010 by rebellious Berber soldiers, who resented the
lavishness of the caliph’s personal residence. Material
from the palace was later redeployed by Pedro the Cruel
(r. 1350–69) for his palace in SEVILLE.DETAILS
Al Madina al-Zahira was built on three terraces with
abundant gardens, pools, and water channels. On the
lowest terrace was a pavilion built for Abd al-Rahman as
a formal ceremonial center. This pavilion had intricate
decoration in stone, like the stucco work of the Great
MOSQUEin Córdoba. Across a bridge from the pavilion
was the main mosque, with an arcaded courtyard leading
to a sanctuary. Beside the mosque were the military
headquarters, a basilicalike hall with triple-arched
arcades and a ramp leading out to the parade ground.
The upper part was the caliph’s personal residence,
which included several apartments around courtyards
enclosing a central hall. In the art and architecture of al
Madina al-Zahira, the Spanish UMAYYADSwere clearly
influenced by the legacy of their ancestors in SYRIAand
Mesopotamia or IRAQ.
Further reading:Markus Hattstein and Peter Delius,
eds., Islam: Art and Architecture,trans. George Ansell et
al. (Cologne: Könemann, 2000), 229–233; Robert Hillen-
brand, Islamic Art and Architecture(New York: Thames
and Hudson, 1999); D. Fairchild Ruggles, Gardens, Land-
scape, and Vision in the Palaces of Islamic Spain(Univer-
sity Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2000),
especially 53–85.madrasa (theological college, place of study) A
madrasais a place of study or residential college for the
teaching of Islamic law and other religious disciplines or
sciences, usually associated with a MOSQUE.Madrasah
were also residences for subsidized students. The curricu-
lum of study was based on the QURANand the HADITH,
the latter complemented by the study of Islamic law and
jurisprudence. Madrasah owe their beginnings to a
SELJUKvizier, who created the first great Sunni madrasah
at BAGHDADin 1067 and in several other great cities. In
1184, the Andalusian traveler Ibn Jubayr (d. 1217)
remarked on some 30 madrasahin Baghdad alone. By the
12th century there were such schools in SYRIA, at DAMAS-
CUSfrom 1121 and at ALEPPOfrom 1123.
Madrasahfunctioned under the patronage of a local
ruler, who remunerated the professors and ensured the
upkeep of the students. But they were basically private
institutions, usually endowed by their founder. They
were designed primarily to combat heresies or other
points of view, initially Shiite tendencies, and to develop
a strict orthodoxy by training an intellectual SUNNIelite.
The extent to which they influenced the organization of