Luis de Marmol Carvajal
Encyclopedia
Luis del Marmol Carvajal (Granada
, Spain
, 1520 - Velez Malaga, Spain
, 1600) was a Spanish Chronicler expert living many years among the formerly Moorish Granada
kingdom morisco
's inhabitants and in the North African Berber
regions at the end of the 15th, and a a good part of the 16th century.
He was proficient in hassaniya
Arabic, Berber tamazight and/or the Algerian
Berber taqbaylit language. He was the illegitimate son of a High Justice Officer, Pedro del Marmol, who recognized him as his natural son in 1528. Whether his mother was some sort of slave or personal servant of this High Court Office lawyer, his father, "given" or "bought" after the conquest of Granada
, 1492, cannot be confirmed.
It is well known that after the dissolution of the Cordoba Khalifat in the 11th century, many of the rulers and people from the Granada
kingdom assumed their own identities as accepting coming from Zenata
berbers. This may explain their settlements and affinity with the Merinid and after the Wattasids dynasty, (وطاسيون waṭāsīyūn), ruling Fez
, until, after 1554, the Saadi
´s rulers, (Arabic: سعديون), from Tagmadert
, at the Draa river
valley, near Tidzi, near Zagora
, conquered the town.
It is said that for eight years Luis del Marmol was imprisoned in Algiers
, and that he returned to Spain in his mid-thirties after fighting in Italy, Spain and the North African litoral from the Atlantic shores. He spent time moving and visiting places, including Lybian berber areas. Dates for these adventures are given just around 1554, curiously enough after the conquest of Fez
.
There is no doubt however Luis del Marmol is a very valuable reference covering a further 50 years the explanations given by Joannes Leo Africanus, (Granada
, Spain
c. 1494 – c. 1554?) (or al-Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Wazzan al-Fasi, Arabic:حسن ابن محمد الوزان الفاسي), a Moorish diplomat and author, graduate of the Karaouine University of Fes
, Morocco
, who is best known for his book Descrittione dell’Africa (Description of Africa
, printed at Venice
in 1550 describing the geography of North Africa, while having as some sort of Italian Godfather Pope Leo X, a de' Medici} Pope].
Based apparently, but not a copy and with places and more recent dates mentioned, too, on Leo Africanus
Venice edition: 1550. French and Latin editions, 1556.
See:http://www.cervantesvirtual.com/FichaObra.html?Ref=5286 :
There is a cheap facsimile edition of another contemporary book in which he polemized with the author, albeit it was no printed at the time of the morisco´s war in the Alpujarra by Diego Hurtado de Mendoza
: GUERRA DE GRANADA (FACSIMIL, edition of 1842), de HURTADO DE MENDOZA, DIEGO , 15.0x21.0 cm , 215 pages , softcover, ISBN 9788497611572
Nº Edición:1ª ED. FACS. DE 1842 , (2005), reprit facsimile at Valladolid town. This dvent can be dadsted in the period 1568 - 1572. There was a former edition by Sancha, 1797.
There, he mentions a certain Pedro Zapata del Marmol, my brother, "escribano del Consejo de Castilla.
Granada
Granada is a city and the capital of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence of three rivers, the Beiro, the Darro and the Genil. It sits at an elevation of 738 metres above sea...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, 1520 - Velez Malaga, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, 1600) was a Spanish Chronicler expert living many years among the formerly Moorish Granada
Granada
Granada is a city and the capital of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence of three rivers, the Beiro, the Darro and the Genil. It sits at an elevation of 738 metres above sea...
kingdom morisco
Morisco
Moriscos or Mouriscos , meaning "Moorish", were the converted Christian inhabitants of Spain and Portugal of Muslim heritage. Over time the term was used in a pejorative sense applied to those nominal Catholics who were suspected of secretly practicing Islam.-Demographics:By the beginning of the...
's inhabitants and in the North African Berber
Berber people
Berbers are the indigenous peoples of North Africa west of the Nile Valley. They are continuously distributed from the Atlantic to the Siwa oasis, in Egypt, and from the Mediterranean to the Niger River. Historically they spoke the Berber language or varieties of it, which together form a branch...
regions at the end of the 15th, and a a good part of the 16th century.
He was proficient in hassaniya
Hassaniya
Hassānīya is the variety of Arabic originally spoken by the Beni Hassān Bedouin tribes, who extended their authority over most of Mauritania and the Western Sahara between the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries. It has almost completely replaced the Berber languages spoken in this region...
Arabic, Berber tamazight and/or the Algerian
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
Berber taqbaylit language. He was the illegitimate son of a High Justice Officer, Pedro del Marmol, who recognized him as his natural son in 1528. Whether his mother was some sort of slave or personal servant of this High Court Office lawyer, his father, "given" or "bought" after the conquest of Granada
Granada
Granada is a city and the capital of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence of three rivers, the Beiro, the Darro and the Genil. It sits at an elevation of 738 metres above sea...
, 1492, cannot be confirmed.
It is well known that after the dissolution of the Cordoba Khalifat in the 11th century, many of the rulers and people from the Granada
Granada
Granada is a city and the capital of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence of three rivers, the Beiro, the Darro and the Genil. It sits at an elevation of 738 metres above sea...
kingdom assumed their own identities as accepting coming from Zenata
Zenata
Zenata were an ethnic group of North Africa, who were technically an Eastern Berber group and who are found in Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco....
berbers. This may explain their settlements and affinity with the Merinid and after the Wattasids dynasty, (وطاسيون waṭāsīyūn), ruling Fez
Fes
Fes or Fez is the second largest city of Morocco, after Casablanca, with a population of approximately 1 million . It is the capital of the Fès-Boulemane region....
, until, after 1554, the Saadi
Saadi Dynasty
The Saadi dynasty of Morocco , began with the reign of Sultan Mohammed ash-Sheikh in 1554, when he vanquished the last Wattasids at the Battle of Tadla....
´s rulers, (Arabic: سعديون), from Tagmadert
Tagmadert
Tagmadert is a famous place in the Draa River valley. It is the place of origin of the members of the Saadi Dynasty. Despite the fact that Tagmadert is indicated on most older European maps, there is some uncertainty about its exact location...
, at the Draa river
Draa River
The Draa is Morocco's longest river . It is formed by the confluence of the Dadès River and Imini River. It flows from the High Atlas mountains south-ward to Tagounit and from Tagounit mostly westwards to the Atlantic Ocean somewhat north of Tan-Tan...
valley, near Tidzi, near Zagora
Zagora
Zagora may refer to:*Zagora, Morocco*Zagora Province, Morocco*Zagora, Greece* The region Zagore in north-eastern Bulgaria*The city of Stara Zagora*The city of Nova Zagora*Zagora , a region in inland Dalmatia...
, conquered the town.
It is said that for eight years Luis del Marmol was imprisoned in Algiers
Algiers
' is the capital and largest city of Algeria. According to the 1998 census, the population of the city proper was 1,519,570 and that of the urban agglomeration was 2,135,630. In 2009, the population was about 3,500,000...
, and that he returned to Spain in his mid-thirties after fighting in Italy, Spain and the North African litoral from the Atlantic shores. He spent time moving and visiting places, including Lybian berber areas. Dates for these adventures are given just around 1554, curiously enough after the conquest of Fez
Fes
Fes or Fez is the second largest city of Morocco, after Casablanca, with a population of approximately 1 million . It is the capital of the Fès-Boulemane region....
.
There is no doubt however Luis del Marmol is a very valuable reference covering a further 50 years the explanations given by Joannes Leo Africanus, (Granada
Granada
Granada is a city and the capital of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence of three rivers, the Beiro, the Darro and the Genil. It sits at an elevation of 738 metres above sea...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
c. 1494 – c. 1554?) (or al-Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Wazzan al-Fasi, Arabic:حسن ابن محمد الوزان الفاسي), a Moorish diplomat and author, graduate of the Karaouine University of Fes
Fes
Fes or Fez is the second largest city of Morocco, after Casablanca, with a population of approximately 1 million . It is the capital of the Fès-Boulemane region....
, Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
, who is best known for his book Descrittione dell’Africa (Description of Africa
Description of Africa
Description of Africa, a largely firsthand geographical book, which was published under the title Descrittione dell’ Africa by Giovanni Battista Ramusio in his collection of travellers' accounts Delle navigationi e viaggi in Venice in 1550, contained the first detailed descriptions published in...
, printed at Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
in 1550 describing the geography of North Africa, while having as some sort of Italian Godfather Pope Leo X, a de' Medici} Pope].
Works published
- Descripción general de África, sus guerras y vicisitudes, desde la fundación del mahometismo hasta el año 1571 . Ed. Granada, (1573–1599).
Based apparently, but not a copy and with places and more recent dates mentioned, too, on Leo Africanus
Leo Africanus
Joannes Leo Africanus, was a Moorish diplomat and author who is best known for his book Descrittione dell’Africa describing the geography of North Africa.-Biography:Most of what is known about his life is gathered from autobiographical...
Venice edition: 1550. French and Latin editions, 1556.
- Historia del [sic] rebelión y castigo de los moriscos del Reino de Granada . Edición digital: Alicante : Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, 2001. Edición original en el catálogo de la Biblioteca de la Universidad de Alicante . Edición digital a partir de Biblioteca de Autores Españoles : historiadores de sucesos particulares, tomo I, Madrid, M. Rivadeneyra, 1852, pp. 123–365. Localización: Biblioteca General de la Universidad de Alicante. Sig.FL RS/284.
See:http://www.cervantesvirtual.com/FichaObra.html?Ref=5286 :
There is a cheap facsimile edition of another contemporary book in which he polemized with the author, albeit it was no printed at the time of the morisco´s war in the Alpujarra by Diego Hurtado de Mendoza
Diego Hurtado de Mendoza
Diego Hurtado de Mendoza , Spanish novelist, poet, diplomat and historian, a younger son of the count of Tendillas, governor of Granada, was born in that city in 1503...
: GUERRA DE GRANADA (FACSIMIL, edition of 1842), de HURTADO DE MENDOZA, DIEGO , 15.0x21.0 cm , 215 pages , softcover, ISBN 9788497611572
Nº Edición:1ª ED. FACS. DE 1842 , (2005), reprit facsimile at Valladolid town. This dvent can be dadsted in the period 1568 - 1572. There was a former edition by Sancha, 1797.
There, he mentions a certain Pedro Zapata del Marmol, my brother, "escribano del Consejo de Castilla.