Slavery in Spain

Slavery in Spain can be traced to the times of the Greeks, Phoenicians and Romans. In the 9th century the Arab rulers and local Jewish merchants traded in Spanish and Eastern European Christian slaves. Spain began to trade slaves in the 15th century and this trade reached its peak in the 16th century. The history of Spanish enslavement of Africans began with Portuguese captains Antão Gonçalves and Nuno Tristão in 1441. The first large group of African slaves, made up of 235 slaves, came with Lançarote de Freitas three years later. In 1462, Portuguese slave traders began to operate in Seville, Spain. During the 1470s, Spanish merchants began to trade large numbers of slaves. Slaves were auctioned at market at a cathedral, and subsequently were transported to cities all over Imperial Spain. This led to the spread of Moorish, African, and Christian slavery in Spain. By the 16th century, 7.4 percent of the population in Seville, Spain were slaves. Many historians have concluded that Renaissance and early-modern Spain had the highest amount of African slaves in Europe.

After the discovery of the New World, the Spanish colonialists decided to use it for commercial production and mining because of the absence of trading networks. The native Native American population was used for this labor but they died in large numbers as a result of war, diseases, exploitation and social disruptions. Meanwhile, the need for labor expanded, such as for the production of sugarcane. The problem of the justness of Indian slavery was a key issue for the Spanish Crown. Bartolomé de las Casas was concerned about the fate of the natives and argued in 1516 that white and black slaves should be imported to the Indies to replace the Amerindians. African slaves did have certain advantages over native slaves as being resistant to European diseases and more familiarity with agricultural techniques. This preference led to the development of the Atlantic Slave Trade.

It was Charles V who gave a definite answer to this complicated and delicate matter. To that end, on November 25, 1542, the Emperor abolished the enslavement of natives by decree in his Leyes Nuevas New Laws. This bill was based on the arguments given by the best Spanish theologists and jurists who were unanimous in the condemnation of such slavery as unjust; they declared it illegitimate and outlawed it from America—not just the slavery of Spaniards over Indians—but also the type of slavery practiced among the Indians themselves. The labor system of Encomienda was also abolished in 1550. However these laws did not end the practice of slavery or forced labor immediately and a new system of forced native Indian labor began to be used repartimiento and mita in Peru. Eventually this system too was abolished due to abuses. By the 17th century, forced indigenous labor continued illegally and black slave labor legally.

Slavery Prior to 1492

These slaves were used for services and employed in various ways such as employment "in domestics, artisans an assistance of all kinds". For a society to be considered a slave society, there would need to be at "30% of the population as slaves, and slave labor had to account for a major proportion of that society's production". So in the time frame of the Roman times to the Middle Ages, the percentage of the slave population was minimal. "Slaves probably made up less than 1 percent of the population in Spain." "Slavery was cross-cultural and multi-ethnic" and, in addition to that, slavery played an important role in the development of the economy for Spain and other countries.

Roman laws

The idea that slavery was based on race was and continues to be one of the biggest misconceptions about slavery in Spain. Phillips Jr. William D. in The History of Slavery in Iberia, challenged the idea that race was not the key to determine who was enslaved, but instead religion. Roman laws existed, subjugating slavery which included the sources of slaves, their conditions, and possibility of liberation. In addition, the "normal pattern" was to prohibit people from enslaving someone within their same religion. Muslims could not enslave Muslims, Christians could not enslave Christians, and so on.

The Arabs

The Arabs traced their origins to the two great ethnic groups or tribes of arabs : the Adnaníes or Arabs of the north and the Qahtani from Yemen Yes, southern Arabs. The Yamharat also collects the genealogies of other peoples such as the and of some indigenous families, such as the Banu Qasi of [[Aragon]

In the 8th century, the Alandlus Arabs were divided into two large groups: the Baladíes or Arabs who arrived in the Peninsula in the year 711 and in the years immediately following; and the Arab who arrived in 740. Both formed a true oligarchy, taking over the leading cadres of the civil, military and religious administration until the fall of the Caliphate in the 11th century. Although in the 8th and 9th centuries the antagonism of the Arab tribes conditioned the political evolution of Al-Andalus, with its rivalries and civil wars, little by little this racial sentiment was diluted, especially as of the fiscal and military reforms of Almanzor. Already Al-Hakam II tried to fix the genealogies of the Arabs in the s. X, but he found that most had already forgotten which tribe they belonged to.

Una de las razones fundamentales de este olvido o indiferencia por conocer su antigua estirpe, se debió al escaso número de árabes que se establecieron aquí y a su dispersión por todo el ámbito peninsular. En definitiva, se pasó de una oligarquía racial a una oligarquía histórica y económica.

' 'Slavs, blacks and Jews'

In the Arabic texts the Slavs generally received the man of "Saqaliba", being a population of territories that extended from the Adriatic Sea to the Caspian Sea. Later he also applied to captives made in Italian lands, Frankish and in the Christian kingdoms of the peninsula, and in general all European captives. Most of the Slavs of both sexes were captured or bought while still children. They were Islamized and intended primarily for the work of the Court. The castrated or eunuchs were essential elements in the harems, and Slavic women, blonde and white, supplied the gyneceans of the royal family and aristocracy as concubines or legitimate wives. The Slavs who stood out for their intellectual gifts came to occupy important positions in the State Administration, after being manumitted and acquiring the category of "fatá" or "mawla". In reference to blacks, Arab sources frequently cite the "abid" or "sudan" as an integral part of society. Abderraman III had a personal black guard who attended the investiture of the new Caliph Al-Hakam II, following the Slavs in the procession. When the revolution broke out in the 11th century they sided with the Berbers. Black women were highly regarded as cooks and concubines. In general, blacks and mulattos were frowned upon by the Alandlus aristocracy and lived as slaves and were the lowest echelon of society

African slavery in Spain

In 1442, Pope Eugene IV gave the Portuguese the right to explore Africa. The Portuguese attempted to protect their findings from the Spanish, who were beginning to explore Africa contemporaneously. At that time, Spain was occupied by a Muslim power and the Catholic Church felt threatened. Protecting the church, Pope Nicholas V in 1452 gave the right to enslave anyone who was not practicing the Christian religion, known as the Dum Diversas. The Spanish government created the Asiento system, which functioned between the years of 1543 and 1834. The Asiento allowed other countries to sell people into slavery to the Spanish. A population by the late 16th century was mostly composed of individuals of African descent. Antumi Toasijé states in the Journal of Black Studies, "African peoples have an ancient presence in the Iberian Peninsula. In fact, Spanish identity especially has been forged on the frontlines of African and European interaction."

The Muslim slave system

The slave trade was carried out in a first stage, from the war, which filled the local and international markets. The birth rate itself helped keep the number high, since the son of a slave continued to maintain that condition. But slaves were also captured throughout the Mediterranean region through abduction by specialized merchants who knew the demand for this labor, so that the slave markets were also filled with remittances from Sudan and from other parts of Africa, as well as from Christians in the peninsular kingdoms and elsewhere in Western Europe and especially Eastern Europe.

Some of these slaves, called saqalibah , were castrated to serve as eunuchs in the harems of the caliphs, while others were assigned as guardians personal in palace. The eunuchs enjoyed the trust placed in them by the caliphs and vizier es, and were even able to leave the harem to lead civil and military organizations; their superior training and the fact that their ambition was restricted by the lack of descendants made them thrive in these fields. The prices of these eunuchs were higher than those of normal slaves, also due to the high mortality rate involved in the castration process.

Women with white skin and blue eyes were highly regarded as concubine s. The price of some of them in the market could be very high, if they had a talent for dance, singing and, above all, an attractive physique. These women, if they had children, were otherwise given the obvious name "Umm al-walad" (the mother of the child), and thus were privileged in the harem. The importance of the royal concubines was extraordinary, even getting to intervene on occasions in politics.

For their part, male slaves acquired numerical and social importance during the Caliphate: they were entrusted with positions in the Administration and the Army, traditionally reserved for the Arab aristocracy. But most of these male slaves carried out tasks related to the stables, the postal service, the goldsmith and silk workshops, and so on. However, it is known that after the fall of the caliphate, they took power in various parts of Al-Andalus, creating independent kingdoms: the taifas.

In a world where there was no official nobility, one of the clearest symbols of belonging to the aristocracy was slave ownership and dependency relationships with the freedmen. Ten models of documents on slaves and 28 on freedmen have been found in Ibn al-Attar's notarial forms. In all of them, as a general rule, the slave is seen more as part of the family, even if it was bought, than as a thing. It has become customary to state, despite the lack of evidence, that slaves would only be entrusted to domestic chores , without passing penalties. It is difficult to assimilate that the mammoth slave trade networks throughout Islam and the considerable captures on military expeditions were intended solely for domestic use. There really must be a great diversity of situations.

So far no written testimonies from slaves have been found, and the few pieces of news that remain only speak of well-treated slaves who tried to escape as soon as the opportunity presented itself, which shows us only the perspective of the masters. The issue of escaped slaves was no less important in the Hispanic Islamic past than in the Classical Rome, knowing numerous treaties between emirs and Christian lords and various laws in which Protecting and / or harboring a runaway slave is specifically prohibited. In any case, we must remember that the Koran establishes some norms in relation to slaves and the treatment that should be given to them, being forbidden to kill them and forcing the owners to be charitable towards them and grant them manumission at the same time that the slave could afford it. As you can see, there is an ambivalence of views. Muslim slavery was multifaceted, and that makes it difficult to establish a generality, with a landscape that ranges from the tears shed over the death of a beloved slave or a beloved concubine to the extreme cruelty of some rural masters. On the other hand, it cannot be denied that this ambivalence also existed in ancient and Christian sources

Treatment of slaves in Spain

The treatment of slaves in Spain was thought to be less harsh compared to other parts where slaves were held captive. Individual slaves could over the time rise to a certain stature that could allow them to become free. However, the treatment of slaves differed with each slave owner, even though some laws protected slaves. The slave owners’ control was dependent on the notion that slaves would be harmful to their interests if they had more rights. It was also important to Spanish slave-owners that their slaves adopt Spanish names and accept Christianity as their religion. Spanish slaves who converted to Christianity were often treated less harshly, and had better opportunities to gain freedom. As Christianity was the dominant faith in Spain, it was considered respectful for slaves to adopt this religion as their own and abandon their former religious beliefs. A willingness to comply with this conversion led to better treatment and a closer relationship between slaves and their owners. It also gave them a better chance of being accepted into Spanish society following their freedom. As punishment for bad behavior, they would force the slaves to drink harsh drinks.

Slavery in the Spanish empire

Slavery in Cuba remained legal until abolished by royal decree in 1886.

See also

• Slavery in the Spanish New World colonies
• Slavery in the colonial United States
• Slavery among Native Americans in the United States
• Contemporary slavery
• History of slavery
• Indentured servitude
• Indentured servitude in the Americas
• Debt bondage
• Human trafficking