Sánchez-Albornoz, the Danger of the Fitna, and the Problem of Spanish Unity and History

Ben Ammar de Sevilla. Una tragedia en la España de los taifas

Abstract

This article focuses on the almost unknown novel Ben Ammar de Sevilla. Una tragedia en la España de los taifas, written by the famous medievalist Claudio Sánchez-Albornoz (d. 1984), who while paradoxically contributing greatly for the knowledge on the Muslim Iberia and its historiography, at the same time consolidated the 19th century discourses of the Reconquista and the «Hispanized» al-Andalus. The aim of this article is to study, on the one hand, how al-Andalus is depicted on Sánchez-Albornoz’s novel, and, on the other, to interpret why he wrote this book and how it blends with his general way of thinking the history of Spain and his own present. The paper argues that this novel must be read through Sánchez-Albornoz’s experience of civil war and exile, in which the problem of the unity of the Spanish people throughout its history becomes crucial in his historical thought. The Taifa period, in which the novel focuses, and the consequences of the fitna and disintegration of the Andalusi unity, are a mirror in which Sánchez-Albornoz reflects his own reality and his patriotic longings. Thus, the main characters of his novel, such as the exiled king of Seville al-Mu‘tamid, become (in)direct parallels of the author’s life. Ideas such as that of the homo hispanus, the concern for union and the avoidance of the fitna are fundamental for a global understanding of Sánchez-Albornoz’s historical proposal. These perspectives can explain the apparent contradictions in his approach on the history of al-Andalus, and can also explain how the Middle Ages consisted of a way to address his own present.