The Handless Maiden

by Perry, Mary Elizabeth

• ISBN13: 9780691113586
• ISBN10: 0691113580
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-02-18
• Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr

Summary

In 1502, a decade of increasing tension between Muslims and Christians in Spain culminated in a royal decree that Muslims in Castile wanting to remain had to convert to Christianity. Mary Elizabeth Perry uses this event as the starting point for a remarkable exploration of how Moriscos, converted Muslims and their descendants, responded to their increasing disempowerment in sixteenth- and early-seventeenth-century Spain. Stepping beyond traditional histories that have emphasized armed conflict from the view of victors,The Handless Maidenfocuses on Morisco women. Perry argues that these women's lives offer vital new insights on the experiences of Moriscos in general, and on how the politics of religion both empowers and oppresses. Drawing on archival documents, legends, and literature, Perry shows that the Moriscas carried out active resistance to cultural oppression through everyday rituals and acts. For example, they taught their children Arabic language and Islamic prayers, dietary practices, and the observation of Islamic holy days. Thus the home, not the battlefield, became the major forum for Morisco-Christian interaction. Moriscas' experiences further reveal how the Morisco presence provided a vital counter-identity for a centralizing state in early modern Spain. For readers of the twenty-first century,The Handless Maidenraises urgent questions of how we choose to use difference and historical memory.

Author Biography

Mary Elizabeth Perry is the author of two prizewinning books, Gender and Disorder in Early Modern Seville (Princeton) and Crime and Society in Early Modern Seville. She is Research Associate at the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, and Adjunct Professor of History at Occidental College

Table of Contents

List of illustrations	ix
Foreword	xi
Acknowledgments	xv
Brief Chronology of the Moriscos	xvii
Abbreviations	xix
Introduction From the Shadows	1	(18)
Memories, Myths, and the Handless Maiden	19	(19)
Madalena's Bath	38	(27)
Dangerous Domesticity	65	(23)
With Stones and Roasting Spits	88	(21)
Patience and Perseverance	109	(24)
The Castigation of Carcayona	133	(24)
Warehouse Children, Mixed Legacies, and Contested Identities	157	(24)
Bibliography	181	(16)
Index	197