Sketching a pre-modern colonial elite
Political and economic conditions led Aragonese and Catalan princes who conquered Muslim lands prior to 1200 CE to adopt accommodating policies towards the region’s indigenous inhabitants, in order to maintain the economic viability of these territories and encourage Muslims to be productive subject...
Salvato in:
| Pubblicato in: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/mefrm, |
|---|---|
| Autore principale: | |
| Natura: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Lingua: | Français |
| Pubblicazione: |
Mélanges de l’École française de Rome - Moyen Âge
2013
|
| Soggetti: | |
| Accesso online: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
| Riassunto: | Political and economic conditions led Aragonese and Catalan princes who conquered Muslim lands prior to 1200 CE to adopt accommodating policies towards the region’s indigenous inhabitants, in order to maintain the economic viability of these territories and encourage Muslims to be productive subjects. Muslim communities became autonomous collectives whose members were under the direct fiscal and judicial authority of the kings. This prompted the development of a new elite, consisting of local craftsmen and traders who had the necessary skills and capital to engage in administrative work on behalf of the Christian sovereigns. This new elite was dependent on royal authority and enjoyed privileges that fractured Muslim communities and put them at odds with their own constituents. As such, the mudéjar community rulers of the Crown of Aragon may be seen constitute an early manifestation of a European colonial elite, foreshadowing a structure which came to characterize European expansion in the centuries that followed. |
|---|