Image: Assoc de la Moreria Reial de Lleida a l'Edat Mitjana - Muhamed Ibrahim Bosch

Description: Market street or Assoc (from the Arabic As-Suq) of the Morería (medieval Muslim quarter) of the important Catalan city of Lleida/Lérida between late XIIIth century and early XIVth century. Lleida/Lérida was, besides Tortosa, the only major Catalan town to have a Muslim quarter, at which its numerous Muslim population of Andalusi origins, was organized as a community (Aljama or Al-Jama'ah), eventhough there were also Muslims living outside the quarter. Its Muslim population descended from the population that did not leave Madinat Larida when it was taken over from the Moors by the counts of Urgell and Barcelona. The autochthonous Muslim community, largely composed of skilled artisans and peasants, although progressively diminishing throughout the Middle Ages by emigration to the neighbouring Kingdom of Aragon, to the nearby increasingly powerful and numerous Aljamas of Aitona and Serós, and to Islamic countries (Al-Hijrah) as well as by conversions to Christianity, was nevertheless being, at the same time, reinforced by immigration of Navarrese and Aragonese Muslims (Mudéjares) and by the intermitent though continuous waves of Muslims of largely North African (though perhaps also Valencian and Granadan) origin, being mostly slaves or former slaves. The quarter and its Aljama or community enjoyed a special status within the social reality of the city, with its own elites: Alfaquins, Cadís and Sabasales (Al-Fuqaha', Al-Qudat and Ashab As-Salat, that is, Islamic scholars, Islamic Judges and Imams respectively); Escrivans (Scrives); Alamins (Al-'Amin), or officials that represented the Aljama before the king (in case of the royal Aljamas) or the feudal lords (in case of the rural manor Aljamas), etc. The Morería had its Mosque (Al-Masjid), its baths (Al-Hammam), its cemetery (Al-Maqbara, in the outskirts of the city), its Halal butchery, its market or Assoc (As-Suq) and its bakery. The Aljama suffered a period of decadence throughout the late Middle Ages, leading to its progressive reduction in numbers and privileges, up to the forced conversions of the Early Renaissance period, and its total expulsion from the city during the Early Barroque period.
Title: Assoc de la Moreria Reial de Lleida a l'Edat Mitjana - Muhamed Ibrahim Bosch
Credit: Own work
Author: Hasan-aga
Usage Terms: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0
License: CC BY-SA 4.0
License Link: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
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