The Museo Sefardí - Director Santiago Palomero Plaza

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Toledo: Deciphering Secrets of Medieval Spain

University of Colorado System

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This course evaluates the medieval history of Toledo from the era of the Visigoth Kingdom (6th-8th centuries) through its Islamic period (8th to 11th centuries) and into its reintegration into Christian Spain (after 1085 c.e.) In particular, we take note of the cultural and religious transformations that characterized the city with a special effort to understand how many peoples and religions came to settle and live amongst one another. We will virtually-tour the Islamic and Christian structures of the Museo de Santa Cruz, Iglesia de San Román, Sinagoga del Tránsito, Mezquita de Bab al-Mardum, Archivo Municipal de Toledo, and the Archivo Historico de la Nobleza. We examine the Visigoths transition from Christian Arianism to Catholicism and the harsh treatment of the Jewish population. We explore Islamic governance and development of the medieval city of three faiths, with a special interest in its cultural achievements. We will study King Alfonso “The Wise” (1252-1284)’s efforts to characterize himself as the “king of three religions” via his legal codices, the creation of the Cantigas de Santa María, and his intellectual endeavor known as the Toledo School of Translators. We evaluate the robust Jewish and converso noble families of the city and appreciate their intellectual, religious, and economic contributions to Castilian life. We will bear witness to the rise of anti-Jewish blood purity statutes, the creation of the Inquisition, and the expulsion of the Jews. We also briefly introduce and study Spanish manuscripts from the municipal and cathedral archives to make new scholarly breakthroughs relating to the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim interrelations. No knowledge of Spanish is needed to participate in the course or in our transcription efforts.

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Jews, Christians, and Muslims in Medieval Toledo After 1212 CE

This week we study Jews, Christians, and Muslims in Medieval Toledo and in the broader Iberian Peninsula. We will evaluate the rule of Castilian King X "The Wise" and his legal codes and the Cantigas de Santa Maria. We will also visit the Museo Sefardi and consider how "cleanliness of blood" statutes impact recent converts to Christianity (conversos).

Catholic Spain and the Nasrids (1212 – 1502 CE)12:43

Christian Toledo and Material Culture10:02

The Museo Sefardí - Director Santiago Palomero Plaza9:12

Moving from Judaism to Catholicism: Re-Appraising the Santa María7:22

Cultural Backlash: Blood Purity Statutes and Intolerance6:29

Enseigné par

Dr. Roger Louis Martínez-Dávila
Associate Professor

Good morning. I'm Santiago Palomero, Director of the Sefardic Museum in Toledo.

We are in one of the most special and emblematic places

from the Spanish Middle Ages: The Samuel ha-Leví Synagogue, commonly known as the Sinagoga del Tránsito.

A unique space in Medieval Europe,

which you'll be hearing about in this talk.

As the director of the museum,

I haven't come here a short time ago,

but rather I've come to work here for nearly 25 years,

since I passed the civil servants' exams for the Corps of Museum Conservators.

I'm an archaeologist by profession.

I came here, in fact, to perform the archaeological excavations

that preceded the restoration and remodelling process.

I have an undergraduate degree in Prehistory and Archaeology from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid,

in which I went on to get my doctorate, having written a dissertation about the museum science and museography of this building.

And since then I've devoted my work to...

except, a small parenthesis, when I was the general subdirector of State Museums in the Ministry of Culture,

for 3 or 4 years.

Until then I was the subdirector, and when I returned, 4 or 5 years ago now,

well, I've exercised my duties as director of the Sefardic Museum,

which is one of the places, well, where it's become my professional and personal life.

Why is this synagogue different from the others?

We could ask ourselves this as we would ask at work in a company,

why is this day different from the others?

This synagogue is completely different from the ones that you are familiar with

for various reasons you will come to understand easily.

Firstly, it's an Andalusi synagogue.

That means that it's a synagogue in which the Hebrew inscriptions

and the Arabic inscriptions were mixed together with total naturality and tranquility.

Also, it's a special synagogue

in terms of its size.

It's a synagogue that exceeds the normal size of Medieval synagogues,

not only in Spain but in Europe as well.

The chronology is from the 14th century,

and its magnate, let's say: its patron,

who made it possible, was Samuel ha-Leví,

who was Pedro I's treasurer (almojarife),

therefore, the great re-organizer of Pedro I of Castile's finances and administration

in the 14th century.

What you see around me is a pretty complex building.

It's a microcosm. It isn't an easy building to interpret or learn about.

One must think upon entering here:

What would a Jew think? Or, even a Christian who entered here in the 14th century,

and saw this magnificence and this decoration, these Hebrew letters?

Logically, the intrinsic meaning would only be accessible

to people who knew Hebrew. Not everyone knew how to read Hebrew.

But, in somehow, there are 2 or 3 things that, even though you don't know how to read Hebrew,

that you do have, let's say, in common, when you arrive here.

That would be the light.

There's a special light that dominates this building.

It can be associated with God.

And, with any god, by the way.

There's also a sensation of power, of nobility, it's a very large building.

A big, rectangular hall.

A wood carving, a collar roof

in which there is a starry sky.

In other words, we're in the heavens, and below we are on Earth,

and in between there's an entire series of decorative elements that remind us a little of a garden.

A garden, in which we can also see

some multi-lobed arches above

that make reference to the biblical Jerusalem,

that Jerusalem that is between Heaven and Earth.

So, therefore, when you enter here, you now find yourself in a special microcosm,

and without even knowing how to read the inscriptions.

And, in some way, it's illuminating you with a special light.

You're in a place that really gets your attention.

And, if you could understand what the inscriptions say,

well, you would find yourself within a system that actually makes reference

to power, to Samuel ha-Leví's wisdom.

In the back there are two inscriptions, to my right, which make reference to Pedro I's power and greatness,

which therefore signifies the lineage that Samuel ha-Leví

occupied, let's say, very near, or even higher than some Christian nobles.

And that, for the Jewish community, must have been a very important question.

And, also, wisdom, to the right, even though these buildings normally make

or all of them have a reference to

that which is the temple in Jerusalem,

the "Hejal" always faces the temple.

However, here the transcriptions don't make reference to the temple, exactly, but rather to Bezeleel,

to the builder of the Ark and the Menorah,

to that wise builder, who additionally knew the numbers, the divine secrets

and whom God Himself charged with making those grand references to Judaism.

Therefore, here power and wisdom are together, on the one hand.

And, in this case, furthermore, the inscriptions make reference to what would be the Torah, the Exodus, to Psalms.

In brief, there is a reading - a very clear one - of what the history of this building is.

And what it is, what someone wanted it to be, (with) that message, somehow subliminal,

inserted into those Hebrew letters that are, really, the building's decoration.

They are like, let's say, the secrets one must know.

That which makes references to the reading of the Torah, to how one must love God,

how one must pray to God.

But, also, there are references to fertility, to abundance, to the birds, to the countryside...

In other words, what would be ecological nature,

in which one wants Judaism to pour over all of the material goods,

and all of, let's say, the "fertilities" and abundances that are possible.

And, furthermore, it takes us to something that differentiates it from other synagogues,

and here, there's another building which is the Alhambra, in Granada.

And, there, there is some Kufic Script, in Arabic, that covers the entire building,

which says something like Peace, Happiness, Prosperity, Glory...Masalam...

They are some inscriptions that we could interpret, as professor Emilio Santiago, from the Universidad de Granada,

interprets the Alhambra, as mantras, like something that is repeated,

like something you have to repeat, like a prayer,

in which they are poured over, let's say, the person who created the synagogue, Samuel ha-Leví

and who pours out those things,

those declarations of common interest in the whole community over which they come,

over those who are here in this sacred building.

And, in that sense, that Arabic declaration, along with those Hebrew inscriptions,

makes it an absolutely special synagogue in the world.

Only the one in Cordoba has something similar, a much smaller synagogue, a little prayer hall.

But, however, whoever enters this synagogue, when they enter, they raise their heads.

And it is, like that, the first exercise one performs upon coming here,

And I believe they feel, in some way, that whole message that is based on the Book of Genesis.

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