Naṣrid Granada: The First Modern State?

Gottfried Liedl, a Viennese historian of Islamic Spain, argues that Naṣrid Granada may be considered one of Europe's first "modern" states.
  • In the Castile-Granada border, cases involving both Muslims and Christians were handled by both Christian and Muslim judges through a codified system of cooperation (the so-called "judges of the frontier," juez de la frontera in Spanish and qādī bayna al-mulūk in Arabic). "Liedl describes this arrangement as a type of secular international law (Völkerrecht) in which, instead of the primacy of religion, the authority of the rulers of Granada and Castile over their subjects is displayed and enacted."
  • The Naṣrids undertook military reforms that Liedl sees as foreshadowing the Military Revolution of the Early Modern era. This includes an army composed of well-drilled and heavily armed infantry directly loyal to the emir (many of them being Berber and Spanish renegades) rather than the nobility-controlled or tribal cavalry armies of the Almohads. There was an extensive focus on drill even on a popular level, as seen by the propagation of the crossbow (not a traditional Muslim weapon) at all levels of the kingdom's society. Granada was also very early to adopt gunpowder and firearms. The entire kingdom was also heavily fortified (Liedl even sees antecedents of the trace italienne design here).
  • Liedl also argues for Granada's economic modernity. "Genoa helped supply Granada with goods the latter needed for its commerce with Castile, and when Genoa faltered economically in the fourteenth century, Granada came to its aid with both grain and gold. Like the cities of Italy, Granada’s economy depended on the intensive agricultural cultivation of its littoral along with a drive to colonize its hinterlands (Binnenkolonisation), and benefited from the late-medieval shift in Mediterranean trade from luxury goods to mass production. In Iberia, the contrast between Granada and Castile could not have been greater, with the former enjoying close economic ties with Catalonia, Genoa, and North Africa, while Castile had no major port on the Mediterranean. Where the economy of Castile, in area fifteen times larger, was largely based on sheep herding, Granada—with its intense and extensive agricultural practice—boasted a tax income in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries of roughly 560,000 dinars, or twice that of Castile. It was this economic strength which not only enabled the Nasrids to pay Castile intermittent exorbitant [tribute] but also provided the wealth it needed to mount and train the army and build the fortifications discussed... By the end of the fifteenth century, each inhabitant of Granada paid three times as much in taxes to his ruler than a Castilian subject his king, pointing not only to the higher degree of economic production that existed in Granada, but also to the power of the Nasrid bureaucracy. The city of Granada itself had some 200,000 inhabitants."
  • Liedl then argues for an incipient proto-nationalism in Granada. "Citing the observations of Ibn Khaldūn (d. 1406), Ibn al-Khatīb (d. 1374) and al-Qalqashāndī (d. 1418)... the inhabitants of Granada understood themselves first and foremost as people of al-Andalus (ahl al-Andalus) and only then as members of a broader Muslim umma."
  • Liedl also argues for a Granadan modernity in its relative openness. "Whereas previous scholars... had seen the fact that Granadan historian and vizier Ibn al-Khatīb (d. 1374) had based his history of the Iberian Christian kingdoms on Christian sources as evidence of an interest in Christian affairs exceptional among Muslim scholars, Liedl observes that few if any Christian scholars of the time drew on Muslim historical sources for the history of North Africa or al-Andalus. He claims that support for the Granadan population’s modern intellectual curiosity is provided by the examples of an ‘Abdallāh b. Sahl (fl. twelfth century) who taught the natural sciences to Christian priests from Toledo, and a certain alKinānī from Malaga, who habitually traveled through the Christian kingdoms seeking theological debate with bishops there. For Liedl, these individuals testify to a broader curiosity, inquisitiveness and openness on the part of the Granadan population."
  • Overall, Liedl argues that "the unique nature of Granada—facetiously characterized by Liedl as 'a freak of the Islamic world'—was in large part due to the strength of its state, a strength reflected in its anomalous building of large public squares that were used for the drilling of soldiers. The militarized nature of the city was not only directed against external enemies: the exceptionally broad streets—otherwise almost unknown in the Muslim world—that connected all main parts of the city, enabled quick and ordered troop movements to crisis points to put down internal revolts."
Thoughts?
 
I'd like to see the original source, seems very interesting.
The nationalism bit perplexes me as it seems a fixture of Andalusian intellectual discourses that goes a lot deeper than the Nasrids (it has been traced in Averroes for instance, which does not convince me entirely but makes some sense. Likewise, the sort of openness described was not limited to Nasrid Granada and may be more accurately described as a relatively common Andalusian attitude (at least, when compared to other Muslim areas of the time, and also with many Chistian societies). How centralized was Granada, however?
Also, "directly loyal elite troops", in the forms of slave soldiers, were very common in the Islamic world (and also present in Granada). But yes, it seems that the Nasrid military had its unique features.
 
Gottfried Liedl, a Viennese historian of Islamic Spain, argues that Naṣrid Granada may be considered one of Europe's first "modern" states.
  • In the Castile-Granada border, cases involving both Muslims and Christians were handled by both Christian and Muslim judges through a codified system of cooperation (the so-called "judges of the frontier," juez de la frontera in Spanish and qādī bayna al-mulūk in Arabic). "Liedl describes this arrangement as a type of secular international law (Völkerrecht) in which, instead of the primacy of religion, the authority of the rulers of Granada and Castile over their subjects is displayed and enacted."
Doesn't seem necessarily a feature of Granada but of a stable Christian-Muslim frontier, although I'm curious if the Ottoman-Hapsburg border had anything like this at all.
  • Liedl also argues for Granada's economic modernity. "Genoa helped supply Granada with goods the latter needed for its commerce with Castile, and when Genoa faltered economically in the fourteenth century, Granada came to its aid with both grain and gold. Like the cities of Italy, Granada’s economy depended on the intensive agricultural cultivation of its littoral along with a drive to colonize its hinterlands (Binnenkolonisation), and benefited from the late-medieval shift in Mediterranean trade from luxury goods to mass production. In Iberia, the contrast between Granada and Castile could not have been greater, with the former enjoying close economic ties with Catalonia, Genoa, and North Africa, while Castile had no major port on the Mediterranean. Where the economy of Castile, in area fifteen times larger, was largely based on sheep herding, Granada—with its intense and extensive agricultural practice—boasted a tax income in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries of roughly 560,000 dinars, or twice that of Castile. It was this economic strength which not only enabled the Nasrids to pay Castile intermittent exorbitant [tribute] but also provided the wealth it needed to mount and train the army and build the fortifications discussed... By the end of the fifteenth century, each inhabitant of Granada paid three times as much in taxes to his ruler than a Castilian subject his king, pointing not only to the higher degree of economic production that existed in Granada, but also to the power of the Nasrid bureaucracy. The city of Granada itself had some 200,000 inhabitants."
I feel like this heavily downplaying the economy of Castille(or downright ignoring), which in its own right had many urban centers scattered all across the realm. Also this is the first time I heard of Granada reaching 200k, that's definitely the peak number, the population stayed mostly around 100k during the 1250-1500 period.
  • Liedl then argues for an incipient proto-nationalism in Granada. "Citing the observations of Ibn Khaldūn (d. 1406), Ibn al-Khatīb (d. 1374) and al-Qalqashāndī (d. 1418)... the inhabitants of Granada understood themselves first and foremost as people of al-Andalus (ahl al-Andalus) and only then as members of a broader Muslim umma."
I don't know enough about self-identification in medieval Europe, but did national loyalties really take a backseat to the idea of a united Christianity/Catholic world? For example I know that the Iberian kingdoms started using the vernacular as official language around this time(13-15th centuries) as well.
  • Liedl also argues for a Granadan modernity in its relative openness. "Whereas previous scholars... had seen the fact that Granadan historian and vizier Ibn al-Khatīb (d. 1374) had based his history of the Iberian Christian kingdoms on Christian sources as evidence of an interest in Christian affairs exceptional among Muslim scholars, Liedl observes that few if any Christian scholars of the time drew on Muslim historical sources for the history of North Africa or al-Andalus. He claims that support for the Granadan population’s modern intellectual curiosity is provided by the examples of an ‘Abdallāh b. Sahl (fl. twelfth century) who taught the natural sciences to Christian priests from Toledo, and a certain alKinānī from Malaga, who habitually traveled through the Christian kingdoms seeking theological debate with bishops there. For Liedl, these individuals testify to a broader curiosity, inquisitiveness and openness on the part of the Granadan population."
I guess you could call Granada tolerant, although it virtually had no Christian population by that point, only urban Jews which frankly weren't that much more tolerated than on the Christian side(pogroms occured on both sides), also I'm not exactly sure that the Christians didn't employ Muslim scholars or take from Muslim sources to expand on their knowledge, that definitely did happen and was a feature of reconquista Spain that distinguished from the attitude they had in the late 15th century and during the early modern era.


  • Overall, Liedl argues that "the unique nature of Granada—facetiously characterized by Liedl as 'a freak of the Islamic world'—was in large part due to the strength of its state, a strength reflected in its anomalous building of large public squares that were used for the drilling of soldiers. The militarized nature of the city was not only directed against external enemies: the exceptionally broad streets—otherwise almost unknown in the Muslim world—that connected all main parts of the city, enabled quick and ordered troop movements to crisis points to put down internal revolts."
I mean Granada was a relatively small state with a dominant capital, I'd imagine that would push for a stronger centralization of power.
All in all I wonder how many of those features would come up when discussing states like Genoa, Venice, Florence and possibly Flanders as well, because at first glance many of those features would seem down to the size and urbanization of the country which in of themselves aren't explictly modern features, although if you call "one of the first" I'd agree on that, I guess calling it THE first would need a more in depth look at the question(for example can we really use 12th century scholars when at the same time we are arguing using the economic prosperity of 15th century Granada? There seems to much of a time gap between those)
 
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