De nuevo sobre el cadiazgo de al-Ándalus almorávide: reflexiones acerca del cadiazgo de Almuñécar

Authors

• Rachid El Hour

Abstract

On several occasions, I have presented the results of my research on the characteristics
and evolution of the qadiship of important cities in al-Andalus during
the Almoravid period (e.g. Cordova, Seville, Valencia, Malaga, Granada) and I
think that these issues have been sufficiently clarified. In the past I have also
presented a few reflexions about the development of justice in Andalusi towns of
little importance (i.e. “marginal” or “peripheral” towns) during the same period,
such as Algeciras, Jaén, and Alcala la Real. Some of these results are published
and others appear in brief.
On this occasion, I have chosen the small town of Almuñécar to check if the
organisation of justice in this town in the Almoravid period was similar to that
applied in most of the other towns of little importance or if it was different due
to being near the capital, Granada. To this end, this contribution will attempt to
address two primary points. On one hand, we present a brief study of information
found on Almuñécar in the Arabic sources, reviewing how it is presented.
Above all, we follow the political evolution of the city and its role in the judicial
and administrative changes which befell from the end of the Taifa period until
the end of the Almoravid period. On the other hand, we analyse the formation
of the qadiship of the town, with the purpose of studying possible changes in the
Almoravid period