An Itinerary for Morisco Refugees from Sixteenth-Century Spain

An Itinerary for Morisco Refugees from Sixteenth-Century Spain J. N. Lincoln Geographical Review, Vol. 29, No. 3. (Jul., 1939), pp. 483-487. Stable URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0016-7428%28193907%2929%3A3%3C483%3AAIFMRF%3E2.0.CO%3B2-X Geographical Review is currently published by American Geographical Society. Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/about/terms.html. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at http://www.jstor.org/journals/ags.html. Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. The JSTOR Archive is a trusted digital repository providing for long-term preservation and access to leading academic journals and scholarly literature from around the world. The Archive is supported by libraries, scholarly societies, publishers, and foundations. It is an initiative of JSTOR, a not-for-profit organization with a mission to help the scholarly community take advantage of advances in technology. For more information regarding JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. http://www.jstor.org Fri Aug 17 14:37:51 2007 AN ITINERARY FOR MORISCO REFUGEES FROM SIXTEENTH-CENTURY SPAIN J. N. Lincoln University of Michigan FTER the fall of Granada, in 1492, the Moriscos in Spain were Aa source of considerable anxiety to the Christian church and state. Efforts were made, especially by Fray Hernando de Talavera, Cisneros, and Juan de Ribera, to convert them to Chris- tianity and absorb them into the Spanish people; but they were both too numerous and too firmly rooted in their own religion to be ame- nable to any such conversion. As i t became ever more apparent during the sixteenth century that they would continue to be an alien people and a menace to Christianity, more and more extreme measures were adopted against them. Thousands were deported; and of those re- maining, many who claimed to be converts were still secretly loyal to their own religion. The unfortunate converts, sincere or otherwise, were in constant danger of denunciation as renegades by personal enemies, by zealous Christians, or by individuals who coveted their possessions. As a consequence of the continued uncertainty, many of them fled across the boundary; but even then they were not safe, since they might be sent back to Spain as renegades by the long arm of the church. The text under discussion was written for these con- verts as a recommended itinerary for their journeys toward the east, with helpful advice along the route. The original of this itinerary is in the Biblioth6que Nationale in Paris, consisting of folios 37v-39 of MS 774 fonds arabe, formerly known as number 290, St. Germain des PrPs. I t is bound with Moham- medan legends, prayers, prophecies, and other religious writings. The language is Spanish, but the characters are western Arabic, a combination that is called aljamb. Certain students of aljamia- Pascual de Gayangos, Eugenio de Ochoa, F. Guillen Robles,' Eduardo S a a ~ e d r a , ~ mentioned such an itinerary, and Sylvestre de Sacy3-have but the only one to publish it , together with a French translation, was De Sacy. Because i t is possible to correct some of his readings and to supply further light on some of his identifications, it seems worth while t o study this text again. The following texts are a transcription and translation of the original. 1 Leyendaa de Jose . . . y de Alejandro Magno, Saragossa, 1888. p. X, where he quotes a letter which Gayangos wrote to Ochoa and which Ochoa published in his "Catblogo razonado de 10s manus- critos existentes en la Biblioteca Real de Paris." 1844. p. 60. 2 Discurso . . . .1878, Memorias ReaZAcad. Espaflola, Vol. 6,1889, p. 157. Notices et extraits des manuscrits de la Bibliotheque Nationale. An 7, IV. p. 435. transcription; p. 637. translation. 37v 38 38v 39 484 THE GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW Kafran, Sarransa, Oloron, a Nay, a Tarba, a Tolos, a Galak, Billafranka, a Rros, a Leon de Fransia, para Velonia, la Grasa, a Milan. Kuando sereys a kuatro o Sink0 lewas de Milan desarlo-es a la mano dereja, pasareys por detras de la montaiia ke no tokeys en la tierra del enperador, demandares el kamino para Berses k'es la primera siudad de Benerianos. De alli a la Berona no paseys por de dentro de la ~ iudad ke pagares a rreal por kabe~a . Alli demandares el kamino para Padua. Alli os enbarkares para Beneyia, de Beneria para la Belona o para Doracio o para Lesos o para Kastelnou, el ke antes halles destos puertos. Abisos para el kamino. En Jaka manifestares el oro. Si os preguntan alguno ke adonde os is; por deudas i ke os keres rretraer en F r an~ i a ; i en Franria ke is a Santa Maria de Lorito.* En Leon manifestares la moneda, pagareys de kuarenta uno plata u oro, deman- dares el kamino para Milan. D'alli adelante dires ke is a besitar el sefior Sa'Marko de Bene~ia. Enbarkaros-es en Padua i en un rrio para Bene~ia, pagares medio rreal por kabew, iros-eys a desen- barkar a la p l a ~ a de San Marko. Entrares en una posada, iwalares primero antes de dentrar una estan~ia kon una kama, pagares medio rreal por dia, i no tomeys nada de la posada, k'os aran pagar a de uno tres; salrreys a la p l a ~ a a konprar lo ke abeys menester. Alli 10s ke bereys kon tokas blankas son Turkos, los ke bereys kon amarillas son Judios merkaderes del gran Turko. Ad akellos demandereys kuanto kerreys, k'ellos os enkaminaran. Dezirles-eys ke teneys ermanos en Salonik, i ke kereys ir alla. Pagareys a dukado por kabera del paso. Daros-an awa i lefia. Porneys probi- sion para kinze dias. Merkareys olla i rros i azeyte i binagre i olibas i garbanros o judias i pan fresko para ojo dias i biskojo a dies libras por onbre. *Loreto, south of Ancona, Italy, famous for ita Chiesa della Casa Santa, built over the legendary "sacred house" that angels brought from Nazareth. The Moriscos were to leave Jaca and go to Canfranc, Sarrances, Oloron, Nay, Tarbes, Toulouse, and Gaillac. Up to this point, Gaillac, the route is clearly indicated through recognizable cities, which seem unnecessarily close to one another considering the total extent of the itinerary. Evidently the scribe was setting down names that were familiar to him; for, as the route moves away from the Spanish border, the names become less frequent and in some cases less significant. I t is after Gaillac, then, that the first doubtful identification is en- countered, and that is because there are several cities named Ville- franche. Of these the nearest, Villefranche-de-Rouergue, seems the obvious one, since that would indicate whether to go north or east after leaving Gaillac. After Villefranche comes " a Rros" ( r r is usual in Old Spanish for initial r ) , and here is a real problem. As a place name i t can be identified only with Ros or Rots, a fortified church in Calvados, in the Caen district, which was captured from the English in 1356 by Robert of Cleremont ;4 but the location and nature of this church would make 4 "Robert de Cleremont et ses gens logierent la nuit i Seinte Marie du Mont, et l'endemain vint a Baieux et guerria fort les Englois, qui estoient sur le pais en pluseurs forteresses, et lui et ses gens les desconfirent mout de foiz, et prist par assaut I1 eglises fortes, que les Englois tenoient, dont l'une avoit nom Ros et I'autre Caron" ("Chronique normande du XIVe siPcle," Societe de 1'Histoire de France, Paris, 1882,p. 120). C. H. Haskins: Studies in the History of hdediaeval Science. 2nd edit., Cambridge. 1927, p. 330, speaks of William de Ros, a monk of Caen. -- 37v 38 38v 39 ITINERARY FOR MORISCO REFUGEES 485 Canfranc, Sarrances, Oloron, t o Nay, t o Tarbes, t o Toulouse, t o Gaillac, Ville- franche, t o the Rhone, t o Lyons in France, t o Belonia, la Grasa, t o Milan. When you are four or five leagues from Milan, you will leave it on the right; you will pass behind the mountain so that you do not touch the land of the emperor; you will ask the road to Brescia, which is the first city of the Venetians. From there to Verona do not pass inside the city, for you will pay a real per person. There you will ask the road to Padua. There you will embark for Venice, from Venice to Valona or Durazzo or Alessio or Castelnuovo, the one of these ports that you find first. Advice for the trip. At Jaca you will show your gold. If they ask you where you are going, (you will say) for debts, and that you want to retire to France; and in France that you are going to Santa Maria de Lorito.* In Lyons you will show your money, you will pay (a tax) of one piece out of forty of silver or gold. You will ask the way to Milan. From there on you will say that you are going to visit the lord San Marko of \'enice. You will embark in Padua on a river for Venice. You will pay half a real per head, and you will go to disembark a t the square of San Marko. You will enter an inn, and before entering you will agree on a price for the room with bed. You will pay half a real per day. Do not eat anything in the inn, they will make you pay three times the value. You will go out t o the square to buy what you need. There those you will see with white turbans are Turks, those you will see with yellow ones are Jewish merchants of the Grand Turk. Of the former you will ask all you wish, for they will put you on your road. You will tell them that you have brothers in Salonika and that you wish to go there. You will pay a ducat per head for the passage. They will furnish you water and wood. You will put in provision for two weeks. You will buy stew and rice and oil and vinegar and olives and chick- peas or beans and fresh bread for eight days and biscuit a t the rate of ten pounds per man. it an unlikely route marker for a Moslem. However, " a Rros" can be read Arros, Arrus, or Arroux, since about half of the names are preceded by the preposition a and half are not; but there is no city of that name unless Arras is meant. I t was probably this last inter- pretation that led Robles and Ochoa to state that the route went through Picardy; but it must be admitted that Arras is rather far out of the way, even for a Morisco trying to disguise his ultimate destination. An equally remote possibility is the Arroux, a small river in the Sa6ne-Loire region. Probably the most satisfactory solu- tion is to have recourse to the Provencal, in which the Rhone is called the which in aljamia might be transcribed Rros. If this is acceptable, then the route from Gaillac to Lyons would go through \'illefranche-de-Rouergue and then toward the Rhone and on to Lyons. From Lyons to Milan the route is even more difficult to determine, since "Belonia, la Grasa" remains a mystery in spite of intensive scru- tinizing of maps and routes. In the text above Belonia, la Grasa is the only reading given; but the accompanying photograph of the manu- script page containing the route from Kafran to Milan (Fig. I ) will make clear to any student of aljamia the wide variety of interpretations it is possible to give to these characters. In addition to Belonia, la 6 I am indebted to Dr. H. Hootkins of the University of Michigan for this suggestion. 486 THE GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW Grasa, they can be read as "para Balunia la Garsa, " "para Valonia" (Valogne), "Lagrasa," "para Valon y a la Grasa," "par Avalon," ''Pravalon, " "Bravalon, " and "Barbelon. l t 6 If "Leon de Fransia " were not so definitely Lyons, Vallon la Gorce, in the Ardeche, would be a tempting interpretation, even though i t is unreasonable to believe that the Moriscos would retrace their steps in any such fashion. Ever since the Middle Ages there have been, between Lyons and Milan, routes that crossed the western Alps by four passes: the Col di Tenda, Mont GenGvre, Mont Cenis, and the Great St. Bernard.' Col d i Tenda. The only reason for considering this route is that i t goes north from Nice; hence it can be associated with near-by Grasse- la Grasa-and La Garde Freinet, the tenth-century stronghold of the Moors to the north of St. trope^.^ I t would not, however, have been a likely choice for a Moor starting from Lyons. Mont Genhre. This route leaves Livron, a city ten miles south of Valence, and goes to Gap, to Brianson, and over the Mont Genbvre pass to Susa. Mont Cenis. The approach to this pass is either from Valence by way of Grenoble or from Lyons by way of ChambCry and along the valley of the Maurienne. The route then goes over the Mont Cenis pass to Susa, Turin, and Milan. In this region are names that sug- gest the presence of the Moors a t some earlier period : the Maurienne9 6 The explanation of such wide divergence liee in the peculiarity of the Spanish-Arabic system of transcription. For example, e and long a are the same; g is a doubling of b; o and u are the same; two consonants in the same syllable are broken up by the repetition of the following vowel: G(a)rasa. Kaf (a)ran, but also per(e)sona for persona. 7 For an excellent map of "Alpine Routes" see J. N. L. Baker: Medieval Trade Routes. Hisl. Assn. Pamghlet No. rrr, London. 1938, Fig. 2. ,See J. E. Tyler: The Alpine Passes: The Middle Ages (962-1250). Oxford. 1930, pp. 53-55. 9 The name Maurienne is considered suspect by certain scholars. See R. Godefroy: Gographie de la Savoie, Chambery. 1930, p. 138. footnote I: "On a pretendu que le nom Maurienne devait son origine aux incursions dee Sarrazine; on l'a egalement explique par la coloration sombre de la vallee. Une etude etymologique critique a etabli que les formes latines de ce nom auraient etC, dane l'ordre d'anciennetC, Maurigenna ou Maurogenna, puis Maurienna, e t enfin Mauyiana. Cee appellations se seraient appliquCes El la vallCe et, en tous cas, El sa ville prindpale, qui ne devait prendre le nom de Saint Jean que vers le XIe sihle. Le nom dCriverait de celui d'un certain Maurigenos ou Maurigenus, fon- ITINERARY FOR MORISCO REFUGEES 487 in Savoy, Puy Maure and Montmaur, near Gap, and the FarCt des Maures, near FrCjus. There is also the testimony of chroniclers and historians,1° who relate how the Moors, especially in the tenth cen- tury, preyed on travelers over the western passes. Great St. Bernard. This route goes in a northeasterly direction from Lyons, passing through Bourg, Nantua, Geneva, north of the Lake of Geneva, through the Chablais, Sion, and the Valais, and over the Great St. Bernard down into Italy. This route is a possibility according to De Sacy, who thinks it likely that Velonia is the Valais, though he does not explain how Velonia, which suggests Walloonia, can be made to represent Valais. If i t could, one would be tempted to say that the fertile Valais, Valais la grasse, is meant; but how ex- plain a masculine Valais with a feminine adjective, grasse? There is a Vallon in the Chablais as well as in other parts of Switzerland and Savoy, but there is no Lagrasa, Lagarsa, Lagarce, or Galarsa to help place it. Altogether it is a perplexing problem, because one would expect that the choice of road from Lyons to Milan would have been so vital that the towns given would be important in size and situation and un- mistakable; yet not one of the elastic variations of these characters can be made to fit a single route. Not only are they not important towns; they are not even insignificant villages! The conclusion must therefore be that the itinerary was dictated to a Morisco scribe by some traveler who pronounced carelessly. The scribe, without much knowledge of geography, wrote down what he thought he heard, recog- nizing the towns near the Spanish border and a few beyond Milan. The rest are approximations or phonetic spellings of what he heard, and these are all recognizable, given the idiosyncrasies of aljamiado writing, with the single exception of Belonia, la Grasa. The purpose of this study has therefore been to offer a plausible explanation of the route as far as Lyons and to examine the possibilities between Lyons and Milan. I t is the hope of the present writer that some more skillful geographer, with the above variations before him, will be able to solve the identity of the puzzling Belonia, la Grasa and thus open the way of escape to one more unfortunate political minority. dateur ou, au moins, personnage le plus considere de la ville." A derivation from the somber color is favored by Ernst Oehlmann, who has much to say on the Saracen incursions in the Alps (Die Alpen- p i k e im Mittelalter, Jahrbuch fiir Schweiecrischc Gcschichlc, Vol. 3, 1878, pp. 165-289,and Vol. 4,1879, pp. 163-324;reference in Vol. 3,p. 196). Without attempting to maintain that the name means lit- erally "Moorish, " it is interesting to observe that Godefroy's suggested etymon "Maurigenus" means "race of the Moor." lasee Isaac Taylor: Words and Places. 2nd edit.. London, 1865,pp. 111 ff.;and Tyler, op , cir.. PP. 5 2 fi.