Abencerrages
Encyclopedia
The Abencerrages were a family or faction that is said to have held a prominent position in the Moorish kingdom of Granada in the 15th century.
The name appears to have been derived from the Yussuf ben-Serragh, the head of the tribe in the time of Mohammed VII of Granada, al-Mustain, who did that sovereign good service in his struggles to retain the crown of which he was three times deprived.
Little is known of the family with certainty; the Chambers Biographical Dictionary records that they arrived in Spain in the 8th century but the name is familiar from the romance by Ginés Perez de Hita
, Guerras civiles de Granada, which celebrates the feuds of the Abencerrages and the rival family of the Zegris, and the cruel treatment to which the former were subjected. J. P. de Florian
's Gonsalve de Cordoue and Châteaubriand
's Le dernier des Abencerrages are imitations of Perez de Hita's work.
The story is told that one of the Abencerrages, having fallen in love with a lady of the royal family, was caught in the act of climbing up to her window. The king, enraged, shut up the whole family in one of the halls of the Alhambra
, and ordered the Zergis to kill them all. The apartment where this is to have taken place is one of the most beautiful courts of the Alhambra, and is still called the Hall of the Abencerrages.
Many poems and plays, and two operas (Les Abencérages
, by Luigi Cherubini
, and L'esule di Granata
, by Giacomo Meyerbeer
) mention the legend, but the whole story is doubtful, because the best historians do not mention it.
The name appears to have been derived from the Yussuf ben-Serragh, the head of the tribe in the time of Mohammed VII of Granada, al-Mustain, who did that sovereign good service in his struggles to retain the crown of which he was three times deprived.
Little is known of the family with certainty; the Chambers Biographical Dictionary records that they arrived in Spain in the 8th century but the name is familiar from the romance by Ginés Perez de Hita
Gines Perez de Hita
Ginés Pérez de Hita was a Spanish novelist and poet, born at Mula about the middle of the 16th century.It is likely that he joined the campaign against the Muslim presence in Spain in 1560.-Guerras civiles de Granada:...
, Guerras civiles de Granada, which celebrates the feuds of the Abencerrages and the rival family of the Zegris, and the cruel treatment to which the former were subjected. J. P. de Florian
Jean-Pierre Claris de Florian
Jean-Pierre Claris de Florian was a French poet and romance writer.-Life:...
's Gonsalve de Cordoue and Châteaubriand
François-René de Chateaubriand
François-René, vicomte de Chateaubriand was a French writer, politician, diplomat and historian. He is considered the founder of Romanticism in French literature.-Early life and exile:...
's Le dernier des Abencerrages are imitations of Perez de Hita's work.
The story is told that one of the Abencerrages, having fallen in love with a lady of the royal family, was caught in the act of climbing up to her window. The king, enraged, shut up the whole family in one of the halls of the Alhambra
Alhambra
The Alhambra , the complete form of which was Calat Alhambra , is a palace and fortress complex located in the Granada, Andalusia, Spain...
, and ordered the Zergis to kill them all. The apartment where this is to have taken place is one of the most beautiful courts of the Alhambra, and is still called the Hall of the Abencerrages.
Many poems and plays, and two operas (Les Abencérages
Les Abencérages
Les Abencérages, ou L'étendard de Grenade is an opera in three acts by Luigi Cherubini with a French libretto by Etienne de Jouy, based on the novel Gonzalve de Cordoue by Jean-Pierre Claris de Florian...
, by Luigi Cherubini
Luigi Cherubini
Luigi Cherubini was an Italian composer who spent most of his working life in France. His most significant compositions are operas and sacred music. Beethoven regarded Cherubini as the greatest of his contemporaries....
, and L'esule di Granata
L'esule di Granata
L'esule di Granata is a melodramma in two acts by Giacomo Meyerbeer. The Italian libretto was by Felice Romani based on the rivalries between the Zegridi and the Abenceraggi factions in the last days of the kingdom of Granada...
, by Giacomo Meyerbeer
Giacomo Meyerbeer
Giacomo Meyerbeer was a noted German opera composer, and the first great exponent of "grand opera." At his peak in the 1830s and 1840s, he was the most famous and successful composer of opera in Europe, yet he is rarely performed today.-Early years:He was born to a Jewish family in Tasdorf , near...
) mention the legend, but the whole story is doubtful, because the best historians do not mention it.
External links
- The Abencerrages–Part 17 of Washington IrvingWashington IrvingWashington Irving was an American author, essayist, biographer and historian of the early 19th century. He was best known for his short stories "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle", both of which appear in his book The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. His historical works...
's Tales of the AlhambraTales of the AlhambraTales of the Alhambra is a collection of essays, verbal sketches, and stories by Washington Irving.-Background:Shortly after completing a biography of Christopher Columbus in 1828, Washington Irving traveled from Madrid, where he had been staying, to Granada, Spain...