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89-566: Dissatisfaction with the Islamic term "Mozarabic chant" has led to the use of several competing names for the music to which it refers. The Islamic term Mozarabic was used by the Islamic rulers of Hispania (Al Andalus) to refer to the Mozarabs , that is, the Christians of Visigothic ruled Hispania (modern Spain and Portugal ) living under Muslim rule. However, the chant existed before

178-486: A boy Pelagius in 925 (for refusal to convert to Islam and submit to the caliph's sexual advances), and Argentea in 931. According to Wolf, there is no reason to believe that they stopped even then. Eulogius's writings documenting stories of the Córdoba martyrs of 851–59, encouraged by him to defy Muslim authorities with blasphemies and embrace martyrdom , contrast these Christians with the earlier official Christianity of

267-425: A constant feature of American country and western music since its inception. The use of melisma is a common feature of artists such as Deniece Williams , Stevie Wonder , Luther Vandross , Whitney Houston , Céline Dion , Mariah Carey , Christina Aguilera , Brandy , Beyoncé , among others. The use of melismatic vocals in pop music slowly grew in the 1980s. In the following two decades, melismatic vocals became

356-671: A missa, are generally neumatic, consisting of melodic formulas that adjust to fit the lengths of different phrases, ending in a fixed cadence. Other Office chants include the morning-themed Matutinaria , the Benedictiones using texts from the Book of Daniel , the melismatic Soni , and the alleluiatic Laudes . The Psallendi , unrelated to the Psallendae of Ambrosian chant , end with the Doxology . The neumatic Vespertini, like

445-404: A religion and not merely a threat. Spanish Christians sought to discourage apostasy from Christianity and to defend Christian beliefs, but they increasingly became connected to the dar al-Islam (land of Islam), through shared culture, language, and regular interaction. A few were Arab and Berber Christians coupled with Muslim converts to Christianity who, as Arabic speakers, felt at home among

534-403: A simpler formula called a psalm tone . In a responsorial chant, the verse and refrain are often comparable in style and melodic content. Visigothic/Mozarabic chants used a different system of psalm tones for psalm antiphons than Gregorian chant. Unlike the standardized Gregorian classification of chants into eight modes , Visigothic/Mozarabic chant used between four and seven, depending on

623-399: A soloist singing a verse and a chorus singing a refrain called the respond , while antiphonal chant alternated between two semi-choruses singing a verse and an interpolated text called an antiphon . In the developed chant traditions, they took on more functional characteristics. In an antiphonal chant, the antiphon is generally longer and more melodic than the verse, which is usually sung to

712-456: A yearly cash payment supplemented with specific agricultural products. In exchange, Theodomir received Abd al-Aziz' promise to respect both his property and his jurisdiction in the province of Murcia . There was no change in the composition of the people on the land, and in cases like this one, even their Visigothic lords remained. In the Moorish controlled region of Al-Garb Al-Andalus to

801-524: Is first documented in Christian sources from the 11th century; the term Mozarab was not used by Muslims to describe Christians. Contemporary Arabic sources described Christians as naṣārā ( نصارى ' Nazarenes '), or imprecisely by their legal-religious status: ahl adh-dhimma ( أهل الذمة 'people of the covenant ') or mu‘āhidūn ( معاهدون 'contractual partners'). The term Mozarab , now sometimes applied broadly to all Christians in al-Andalus,

890-533: Is imprecise; many Christians living in Islamic Spain resisted Arabization , for example. Christians and Jews were designated as dhimmi under Sharia (Islamic law). Dhimmi were allowed to live within Muslim society, but were legally required to pay the jizya , a personal tax, and abide with a number of religious, social, and economic restrictions that came with their status. Despite their restrictions,

979-424: Is referred to as melismatic , as opposed to syllabic , in which each syllable of text is matched to a single note. An informal term for melisma is a vocal run . The term roulade is also sometimes used interchangeably with melisma. The term melisma may be used to describe music of any genre, including baroque singing, opera , and later gospel . Within the tradition of Religious Jewish music , melisma

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1068-1026: Is similar to the way the Gregorian Tract replaces the Alleluia . Just as the Gregorian Gradual is followed by the Alleluia, the Visigothic/Mozarabic Psalmo is followed by the Laus . Like the Gregorian Alleluias, the Laudes include two melismas on the word "alleluia" surrounding a simpler verse. During Lent, the Laudes use different texts. The Sacrificium corresponds to the Gregorian Offertory . The Sacrificia appear to be closely related to

1157-558: Is still active in Toledo . Since Toledo was the most deeply rooted centre where they remained firm, the Gothic rite was identified and came to be known as the "Toledan rite" . In 1080, Pope Gregory VII called the council of Burgos, where it was agreed to unify the Latin liturgical rite in all Christian lands. In 1085, Toledo was reconquered and there was a subsequent attempt to reintroduce

1246-669: Is still commonly used in the chanting of Torah , readings from the Prophets , and in the body of a service. Today, melisma is commonly used in Middle Eastern , African , and African American music , Irish sean nós singing, and flamenco . African music infused the blues with melisma. Due to the influences of African-American music , melisma is also commonly featured in Western popular music . Gaelic music's use of melisma commonly appears in early Appalachian music and has been

1335-706: Is written in neumes that show the contour of the chant, but no pitches or intervals. Only twenty or so sources contain music that can be transcribed. However, some things are known about the Visigothic/Mozarabic repertory. Like all plainchant , Visigothic/Mozarabic chant was monophonic and a cappella . In accordance with Roman Catholic tradition, it is primarily intended to be sung by males. As in Gregorian chant, Visigothic/Mozarabic chant melodies can be broadly grouped into four categories: recitation, syllabic, neumatic, and melismatic . Recitations are

1424-688: The Ambrosian rite and Gallican rite , and differs from the Roman rite . As the Christian reconquest of Hispania went on, the Roman rite supplanted the Mozarabic. With the papal appointment of a French abbot as the new archbishop of Toledo, which had been recaptured in 1085, Roman influence could be enforced throughout the Hispanic Church. Following its official suppression by Pope Gregory VII ,

1513-733: The Anglo-Norman historian, Orderic Vitalis , some 10,000 Mozarabs were sent by Alfonso for settlement on the Ebro. Mozarabs were scarce in Tudela or Zaragossa , but were more common in a place such as Calahorra , conquered by the Kingdom of Navarre in 1045. During the early stages of Romance language development in Iberia , a set of closely related Romance dialects was spoken in Muslim areas of

1602-660: The Christians of al-Andalus , or the territories of Iberia under Muslim rule from 711 to 1492 . Following the Umayyad conquest of the Visigothic Kingdom in Hispania , the Christian population of much of Iberia came under Muslim control. Initially, the vast majority of Mozarabs kept Christianity and their dialects descended from Latin . Gradually, the population converted to Islam —an estimated 50% by

1691-627: The Gallican rite , but the concordance between the two rites appears to be liturgical and not musical. Finally, the Office chants include a number of Hymns , many of which are found throughout Catholic Europe, although we do not know if the same melodies were used. The Mass is the Christian celebration of the Eucharist . Plainchant occurs prominently in the Mass for several reasons: to communally affirm

1780-713: The Gospels and the Psalms , anti-Islamic tracts and a translation of a church history . To this should be added literary remains in Latin which remained the language of the liturgy. There is evidence of a limited cultural borrowing from the Mozarabs by the Muslim community in Al-Andalus. For instance, the Muslims' adoption of the Christian solar calendar and holidays was an exclusively Andalusi phenomenon. In Al-Andalus,

1869-458: The Gregorian repertory, these are sung at Matins and Vespers even on penitential days, when "alleluia" is omitted from the liturgy. Matins features a musical form called the missa , which consists of an Alleluiaticus framed by two Antiphons and a Responsory . Later missae show common musical material thematically uniting the missa. The Responsories, which are primarily found at the end of

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1958-463: The Martyrs of Córdoba were martyred between the years 850 and 859, being decapitated for publicly proclaiming their Christian beliefs. Dhimmi (non-Muslims living under Muslim rule) were not allowed to speak of their faith to Muslims under penalty of death. Wolf points out that it is important to distinguish between the motivations of the individual martyrs, and those of Eulogius and Alvarus in writing

2047-521: The Memoriale . Jessica A. Coope says that while it would be wrong to ascribe a single motive to all forty-eight, she suggests that it reflects a protest against the process of assimilation. They demonstrated a determination to assert Christian identity. The Mozarab population was badly affected by the hardening of relations between the Christians and the Muslims during the Almoravid period. In 1099,

2136-782: The Mozarabic Rite . The Christian kingdoms of the north, though, changed to the Latin liturgical rites and appointed northerners as bishops for the reconquered sees. Nowadays, the Mozarabic Rite is allowed by a papal privilege at the Mozarab Chapel of the Cathedral of Toledo , where it is held daily. The Poor Clare church in Madrid , La Inmaculada y San Pascual, also holds weekly Mozarabic masses. A Mozarab brotherhood

2225-522: The taifa kingdoms; there were several parishes in Toledo when the Christians occupied the city in 1085, and abundant documentation in Arabic on the Mozarabs of this city is preserved. An apparently still significant Mozarab group, which is the subject of a number of passages in the Arabic chronicles dealing with El Cid 's dominion over Valencia , was also to be found there during this same period. Similarly,

2314-470: The 13th century, it was an exclusively Christian concern. There were frequent contacts between the Mozarabs in Al-Andalus and their co-religionists both in the Kingdom of Asturias and in the Marca Hispanica , the territory under Frankish influence to the northeast. The level of literary culture among the northern Christians was inferior to that of their Mozarab brethren in the historic cities to

2403-723: The 7th century. The Credo had already been introduced into the Visigothic rite (later Mozarabic rite) in the Third Council of Toledo of 589, in which the Visigoths officially converted to Catholicism. (The Credo would not be used in the Roman rite in Rome itself until after 1014, at the request of the Holy Roman Emperor Henry II .) The Visigothic rite (later Mozarabic rite) shares similarities with

2492-568: The 9th century. Evidence points to a rapid attrition in the North. For instance, during the 1st centuries of Muslim rule, the Mozarab community of Lleida was apparently ruled by a qumis (count) and had its own judiciary, but there is no evidence of any such administration in the later period. Although Mozarab merchants traded in Andalusi markets, they were neither influential nor numerous before

2581-724: The Almoravids. Other Mozarabs fled to Northern Iberia. This constituted the end of the Mozarabic culture in Al-Andalus. For a while, both in North Africa and in Northern Iberia, the Mozarabs managed to maintain their own separate cultural identity. However, in North Africa, they were eventually Islamized. Over the course of the 12th and 13th centuries, there unrolled a steady process of the impoverishment of Mozarab cultivators, as more and more land came under control of magnates and ecclesiastical corporations. The latter, under

2670-547: The Christians paid the jizya tax, the only relevant Islamic law obligation, and kept Roman-derived, Visigothic -influenced civil Law. Most of the Mozarabs were descendants of local Christians and were primarily speakers of Romance varieties under Islamic rule. They also included those members of the former Visigothic ruling elite who did not convert to Islam or emigrate northwards after the Muslim conquest. Spanish Christians initially portrayed Muslims primarily as military or political enemies, but with time, Islam came to be seen as

2759-596: The Emperor Charlemagne 's major offensives was to annihilate the Moorish frontier by taking Zaragoza, which was an important Mozarab stronghold. However, the offensive failed because the Mozarabs of the city refused to cooperate with the Catholic emperor. Vives concludes that the Mozarabs were primarily a self-absorbed group. They understood that they could gain a great deal by remaining in close contact with

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2848-788: The Greek word "hagios" is sung three times, sometimes quite melismatically or translated into the Latin "sanctus," corresponds to the simple threefold "Kyrie eleison" sung at the end of the Laus missa of the Ambrosian rite . This is not the liturgical counterpart of the Gregorian Sanctus . Following the Trisagion are the Benedictiones . Like the Benedictiones of the Office, these come from the Book of Daniel , but use more complex melodies, whose refrain structure derives directly from

2937-516: The Islamic lunar calendar was supplemented by the local solar calendar, which were more useful for agricultural and navigational purposes. Like the local Mozarabs, the Muslims of Al-Andalus were notoriously heavy drinkers. Muslims also celebrated traditional Christian holidays sometimes with the sponsorship of their leaders, despite the fact that such fraternisation was generally opposed by the Ulema . The Muslims also hedged their metaphysical bets through

3026-485: The Islamic administration under some rulers. A prominent example being that of Rabi ibn Zayd, a palace official, who, sometime between 961 and 976, wrote the famous Calendar of Córdoba for Abd ar-Rahman III , undertook various diplomatic missions in Germania and Byzantium , and was rewarded with the bishopric of Elvira (present-day Granada ). Furthermore, in 1064, Emir Al-Muqtadir of Zaragoza sent Paternus ,

3115-411: The Islamic law. By the mid-9th century, as the episode of the Córdoba martyrs reveals, there was a clear Christian opposition against the systematic pressure by a variety of legal and financial instruments of Islam, resisting their conversion and absorption into Muslim culture. The initial official reaction to the Córdoba martyrs was to round up and imprison the leaders of the Christian community. Towards

3204-459: The Lucernaria of Ambrosian chant, usually allude to the lighting of lamps or to nightfall. They show a high degree of centonization , construction from a vocabulary of stock musical phrases, and adaptation , application of a pre-existing melody to a new text. Preces are short, lightly neumatic musical prayers in rhyme with a refrain. They exist in both the Visigothic / Mozarabic rite and

3293-514: The Moors. There was a steady rate of decline among the Mozarab population of Al-Andalus towards the end of the Reconquista. This was mainly caused by conversions, emigration towards the northern part of the peninsula during the upheavals of the 9th and early 10th centuries and also by the ethno-religious conflicts of the same period. The American historian, Richard Bulliet , in a work based on

3382-576: The Mozarabic bishop of Tortosa , as an envoy to king Ferdinand I of León in Santiago de Compostela , while the Christian Abu Umar ibn Gundisalvus, a Saqaliba (a Slav ), served the same taifa ruler as the Wazir (Vizier, or the equivalent to prime minister). Conversion to Islam was encouraged by the Umayyad caliphs and emirs of Córdoba . Many Mozarabs converted to Islam to avoid

3471-486: The Mozarabic rite and its chant disappeared in all but six parishes in Toledo. The Visigothic/Mozarabic rite was revived by Cardinal Jiménez de Cisneros , who published in 1500 and 1502 a Mozarabic Missal and Breviary , incorporating elements of the Roman rite, and dedicated a chapel to preserving the Visigothic/Mozarabic rite. However, the chant used for this restored Visigothic/Mozarabic rite shows significant influence from Gregorian chant , and does not appear to resemble

3560-462: The Mozarabs at Córdoba in which Christians martyred themselves to protest against Muslim rule. However, Kenneth Baxter Wolf concludes that Eulogius was not the instigator of these persecutions but merely a hagiographer. This is consistent with other historical records of two Christians executed in 860, and shortly after a third one. The subsequent executions were in 888–912 and 913–920. Still more executions were recorded in Córdoba in 923 (Eugenia),

3649-600: The Muslim occupation began in 711. Visigothic refers to the Visigoths who dominated the Iberian peninsula in the centuries prior to the Muslim invasion and converted from Arian Christianity to Roman Catholic Christianity in 587. However, this Catholic rite existed in Hispania prior to their conversion, and the chant was not limited to the Visigoths, so "Old Spanish" can also be seen as an inaccurate alternative. Because

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3738-463: The Muslim world with the intention of protecting Muslim settlers from corrupting indigenous influences. The Arab and mostly Berber immigrants who settled in the existing towns were drawn into broad contact with natives. Their immigration, though limited in numbers, introduced new agricultural and hydraulic technologies, new craft industries, and Levantine techniques of shipbuilding. They were accompanied by an Arabic-language culture that brought with it

3827-565: The Peninsula by the general population. These closely related historic dialects are today known as the Mozarabic language , though there never was a common standard. This archaic Romance language is first documented in writing in the Peninsula in the form of choruses ( kharjas ) in Arabic and Hebrew lyrics called muwashshahs . As they were written in Arabic and Hebrew alphabets

3916-861: The Soni chants of the Office. A few Visigothic/Mozarabic Masses include the Ad pacem , a special Antiphon sung for the kiss of peace, or the Ad sanctus , similar to the Gregorian Sanctus . Corresponding to the Ambrosian Confractorium is the Ad confractionem panis , sung for the breaking of the bread. The chant Ad accedentes , corresponding to the Gregorian Communion , follows. Recordings have been made by: Mozarab The Mozarabs (from Arabic : مُسْتَعْرَب , romanized :  musta‘rab , lit.   'Arabized'), or more precisely Andalusi Christians , were

4005-415: The Visigothic/Mozarabic chant sung prior to the reconquest. The Visigothic chant (later Mozarabic chant) is largely defined by its role in the liturgy of the Visigothic rite (later Mozarabic rite ), which is more closely related to the northern "Gallic" liturgies such as the Gallican rite and the Ambrosian rite than the Roman rite . Musically, little is known about the chant. Most of the surviving music

4094-428: The Visigoths, by Reccared, the previous bishop of Córdoba, who counseled tolerance and mutual forbearance with the Muslim authorities. However, since then Christians became increasingly alienated not only because they could not build new churches or ring church bells, but primarily because they were excluded from most positions of political, military, or social authority and suffered many other indignities as unequals under

4183-478: The biblical poetry. The Psalmi are neumatic and melismatic responsorial chants which function similarly to the Gregorian Gradual . On a few holidays, the Psalmo leads directly into a Clamor . Clamores conclude with the refrain of the preceding Psalmo. During Lent , Threni substitute for Psalmi. Each Threnus has a non-repeating refrain followed by several verses, which are sung to the same melody. This function of replacing another chant on certain penitential days

4272-443: The chant was found in Portugal as well as Spain, the term "Hispanic" has also been used by scholars. Because of the ambiguity and vagueness of the terms "Visigothic", "Hispanic", and "Mozarabic", "scholars have come to favour the term 'Old Hispanic' for this repertory" ( Randel and Nadeau n.d. ). The basic structure of the rite that came to be known as the Visigothic rite (later Mozarabic ) was documented by St. Isidore of Seville in

4361-464: The clergy was extremely widespread. Some Christian authorities ( Álvaro and Eulogius of Córdoba ) were scandalized at the treatment of Christians, and began encouraging the public declarations of the faith as a way to reinforce the faith of the Christian community and protest the Islamic laws that Christians saw as unjust. Eulogius composed tractates and martyrologies for Christians during this time. The forty-eight Christians (mostly monks) known as

4450-411: The contamination of this group by overexposure to infidel customs, if not by migration. Melisma Melisma ( ‹See Tfd› Greek : μέλισμα , mélisma , lit.   ' song ' ; from μέλος , melos , 'song, melody', plural: melismata ) is the singing of a single syllable of text while moving between several different notes in succession. Music sung in this style

4539-400: The decade after 850, it was apparent that at least four Christian basilicas remained in the city, including the church of Saint Acisclus that had sheltered the only holdouts in 711, and nine monasteries and convents in the city and its environs; nevertheless, their existence soon became precarious. It is supposed that the Mozarabs were tolerated as dhimmi and valued taxpayers, and no Mozarab

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4628-400: The defense of the thaghr (front line fortress towns), participating in raids against Christian neighbours and struggles between Muslim factions. For instance, in 936, a significant number of Christians holed up in Calatayud with the rebel Mutarraf, only to be massacred in a desperate stand against the Caliphate forces. There is very little evidence of any Christian resistance at Al-Andalus in

4717-453: The dhimmi were fully protected by the Muslim rulers and did not have to fight in case of war, because they paid the jizya. As the universal nature of Roman law was eroded and replaced by Islamic law in part of the Iberian Peninsula , Sharia law allowed most ethnic groups in the medieval Islamic world to be judged by their own judges, under their own law: Mozarabs had their own tribunals and authorities. Some of them even held high offices in

4806-475: The ecumenical standards of Rome. The reaction of the Toledan people was such that the king refused to implement it, and in 1101 enacted the "Fuero (Code of laws) of the Mozarabs" , which awarded them privileges. He specified that it applied only to the Castilians, Mozarabs, and Franks of the city. During both his first marriage to Agnes of Aquitaine and his second marriage to Constance of Burgundy , both of whom were devout Catholics, King Alfonso VI of Castile

4895-635: The end of the 11th century, many of them Muladí ( ethnic Iberians previously converted to Islam), are totally distinct from the Mudéjars and Moriscos who converted gradually to Christianity between the 12th and 17th centuries. Separate Mozarab enclaves were located in the large Muslim cities, especially Toledo , Córdoba , Zaragoza , and Seville . Mozarab ( Spanish : mozárabes [moˈθaɾaβes] ; Portuguese : moçárabes [muˈsaɾɐβɨʃ] ; Catalan : mossàrabs [muˈsaɾəps] , from Arabic : مُسْتَعْرَب , romanized :  musta‘rab , lit.   'Arabized')

4984-420: The end of the decade of the martyrs, Eulogius's martyrology begins to record the closing of Christian monasteries and convents, which to Muslim eyes had proved to be a hotbed of disruptive fanaticism rather than a legitimate response against a slow but systematic elimination of Christianity. As previously with the Muslims, so as the Reconquista advanced, the Mozarabs integrated into the Christian kingdoms, where

5073-407: The faith, to expand on the scriptural lessons, and to cover certain actions. Praelegenda are opening chants corresponding to the Gregorian Introit , which use the same antiphonal structure and psalm tones found in the Visigothic/Mozarabic Office . Unlike the Gregorian Gloria , the Visigothic/Mozarabic Gloria in excelsis Deo only occurs in some local traditions. The Trisagion , in which

5162-535: The following descriptions of the principal musical items in both the Visigothic/Mozarabic Office and Mass, some of these analogies will be discussed further. The items from the Mass are presented here in the appropriate liturgical order. The Antiphons are the largest category of Office chants. Most are moderately syllabic, with simple recitations used for the verses, sung in antiphony . The Alleluiatici are also antiphonal chants, whose text usually involves an alleluia , similar in style to regular antiphons. Unlike

5251-407: The hands of Jewish and Muslim traders until the dramatic shifts initiated by European commercial expansion throughout the 11th and 12th centuries. With the development of Italian maritime power and the southward expansion of the Christian Reconquista , Andalusi international trade came increasingly under the control of Christian traders from northern Iberia, southern France, and Italy. By the middle of

5340-437: The heavy jizyah tax which they were subjected to as dhimmi. Conversion to Islam also opened up new horizons to the Mozarabs, alleviated their social position, ensured better living conditions, and broadened scope for more technically skilled and advanced work. Apostasy , however, for one who had been raised as a Muslim or had embraced Islam, was a crime punishable by death. Until the mid-9th century, relations between Muslims and

5429-451: The higher learning and science of the classical and post-classical Levantine world. The emir of Córdoba , Abd ar-Rahman I 's policy of allowing the ethnic Arab politico-military elite to practice agriculture further encouraged economic and cultural contact and cohesion. Moreover, the interaction of foreign and native elements, fostered by intermarriage and contact in day-to-day commercial and social life rapidly stimulated acculturation between

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5518-412: The influence of the Benedictine bishop of Cluny Bernard , and the Archbishop of Toledo Rodrigo Jiménez de Rada , who was himself the principal buyer of Mozarab property in the early 13th century fomented a segregationalist policy under the cloak of religious nationalism. Jiménez de Rada's bias is symbolized in his coining of the semi-erudite etymology of the word Mozarab from Mixti Arabi , connoting

5607-418: The integrity of their culture, and they never lost personal and cultural contact with the Christian world. In the generations that followed the conquest, Muslim rulers promulgated new statutes clearly disadvantageous to dhimmi . The construction of new churches and the sounding of church bells were eventually forbidden. But when Eulogius of Córdoba recorded the martyrology of the Martyrs of Córdoba during

5696-412: The kings privileged those who settled the frontier lands. They also migrated north to the Frankish kingdom in times of persecution. Significantly large numbers of Mozarabs settled in the Ebro valley . King Alfonso VI of Castile induced Mozarab settlers by promising them lands and rewards. His importation of Mozarab settlers from Al-Andalus was very unusual because of its startling nature. According to

5785-535: The local Arabic lexicon ( Lubb and Fortun ), and others were adopted in translated form (such as Sa'ad for Felix ). In the witness lists, Mozarabs identified themselves with undeniably Arabic names such as al-Aziz , and Ibn Uthman . Several Mozarabs also used the name Al-Quti (The Goth), and some may have been actual descendants from the family of the Pre-Islamic Visigothic Christian king, Wittiza . There are but few remains of Christian scholarly discourse in Muslim Iberia. What remains in Arabic are translations of

5874-550: The local tradition. Many Visigothic/Mozarabic chants are recorded with no musical notation at all, or just the incipit , suggesting that the psalm tones followed simple and frequently used formulas. The musical forms encountered in Visigothic/Mozarabic chant present a number of analogies with those of the Roman rite. For example, a comparable distinction exists between antiphonal and responsorial singing. And Visigothic/Mozarabic chant may be seen to make use of three styles: syllabic, neumatic and melismatic, much as in Gregorian chant. In

5963-474: The majority Christian population of Al-Andalus , were relatively cordial. Christian resistance to the first wave of Muslim conquerors was unsuccessful. In Murcia , a single surviving capitulation document must stand for many such agreements to render tribute in exchange for the protection of traditional liberties; in it, Theodomirus ( Todmir in Arabic), Visigothic count of Orihuela , agrees to recognize Abd al-Aziz as overlord and to pay tribute consisting of

6052-419: The many regional revolts that formed the great fitna or unrest in the late 9th century. The ability of the Mozarabs to assimilate into Moorish culture while maintaining their Christian faith has often caused them to be depicted by Western scholars as having a strong allegiance to Catholicism and its cause. However, the historian Jaume Vicens Vives offers another view of the Mozarabs. He states that one of

6141-755: The memoirs of the emir of Granada clearly indicate the existence of a relatively large rural Christian population in some parts of the Málaga region towards the end of the 11th century. Until the reconquest of Seville by the Christians in 1248, a Mozarab community existed there, though in the course of the 12th century Almoravid persecution had forced many Mozarabs in Al-Andalus to flee northward. Christians did not enjoy equal rights under Islamic rule, and their original guarantees, at first fairly broad, steadily diminished. They were still allowed to practice their own religion in private, but found their cultural autonomy increasingly reduced. Mozarabs inevitably lost more and more status, but they long maintained their dignity and

6230-458: The middle of the 12th century. This stemmed from commercial disinterest and disorganization in the early Middle Ages, rather than any specific or religious impediments set up by the Muslim rulers. Unlike Andalusi Muslims and Jews, Mozarabs had little interest in commerce because of their general perception of trade as lowly and despicable. This was in stark contrast to the greater respect accorded to merchants in Jewish and Muslim societies, where trade

6319-408: The middle of this century, he asserts, the population of Al-Andalus was still half Christian. The expansion of the Caliphate had come primarily through conversion and absorption, and only very secondarily through immigration. The remaining Mozarab community shrank into an increasingly fossilized remnant. Relatively large numbers of Mozarab communities did, however, continue to exist up to the end of

6408-425: The north was stimulated by the learning of Mozarab immigrants, who helped to accentuate its Christian identity and apparently played a major role in development of Iberian Christian ideology. The Mozarab scholars and clergy eagerly sought manuscripts, relics and traditions from the towns and monasteries of central and southern Iberia that had been the heartland of Visigothic Catholicism. Many Mozarabs also took part in

6497-438: The original Mozarabs. A prominent example of a Muslim who became a Mozarab by embracing Christianity is the Andalusi rebel and anti-Umayyad military leader, Umar ibn Hafsun . The Mozarabs of Muslim origin were descendants of those Muslims who converted to Christianity following the conquest of Toledo , and perhaps also following the expeditions of King Alfonso I of Aragon . These Mozarabs of Muslim origin who converted en masse at

6586-527: The people of Granada , by order of the Almoravid emir, Yusuf ibn Tashfin , acting on the advice of his Ulema , destroyed the main Mozarab church of the Christian community. The Mozarabs remained apart from the influence of French Catholic religious orders , such as the Cistercians – highly influential in northern Christian Iberia, and conserved in their masses the Visigothic rite, also known as

6675-406: The quantitative use of the onomastic data as furnished by scholarly biographical dictionaries, concluded that it was only in the 10th century when the Andalusi emirate was firmly established and developed into the greatest power of the western Mediterranean under Caliph Abd ar-Rahman III , that the numerical ratio of Muslims and Christians in Al-Andalus was reversed in favour of the former. Prior to

6764-476: The simplest, consisting primarily of a simple reciting tone . Syllabic chants have mostly one note per syllable. Neumatic chants have a small number of notes, often just two or three, notes per syllable. Melismatic chants feature long, florid runs of notes, called melismas , on individual syllables. In both Visigothic/Mozarabic and Gregorian chant, there is a distinction between antiphonal and responsorial chants. Originally, responsorial chant alternated between

6853-452: The south, due to the prosperity of Al-Andalus. For that reason, Christian refugees from Al-Andalus were always welcomed in the north, where their descendants came to form an influential element. Though impossible to quantify, the emigration of Mozarabs from the south was probably a significant factor in the growth of the Christian principalities and kingdoms of northern Iberia. For most of the 9th and 10th centuries, Iberian Christian culture in

6942-589: The standard used to judge a singer’s skill. This is partially why singers who are proficient in this singing style consistently make the lists of best singers of all time. Deniece Williams topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart in May 1984, with " Let's Hear It for the Boy " with her melismatic vocals. Although other artists used melisma before, Houston's rendition of Dolly Parton 's ballad " I Will Always Love You " pushed

7031-577: The style's dominance of pop-music vocals. The traditional French carol tune to which the hymn " Angels We Have Heard on High " is usually sung (and " Angels from the Realms of Glory " in Great Britain), contains one of the most well known melismatic sequences in Christian hymn music. Twice in its refrain, the o of the word Gloria is held through 16 different notes. George Frideric Handel 's Messiah contains numerous examples of melisma, as in

7120-652: The technique into the mainstream in the 1990s. The trend in R&;B singers is considered to have been popularized by Mariah Carey's song " Vision of Love ", which was released and topped the U.S. charts in 1990, and went on to be certified gold. As late as 2007, melismatic singers such as Leona Lewis were still scoring big hits, but around 2008–2009, this trend reverted to how it was prior to Carey, Dion, and Houston's success – singers with less showy styles such as Kesha and Cheryl Cole began to outsell new releases by Carey and Christina Aguilera, ending nearly two decades of

7209-503: The two groups. The heterodox features of Mozarabic culture inevitably became more prominent. However, Christian women often married Muslim men and their children were raised as Muslims. Even within Mozarab families, legal divorce eventually came to be practised along Islamic lines. Some Mozarab men were even circumcised . Ordination of the clergy ultimately drifted far from canonical norms, breaking apostolic succession , and various Muslim sources claim that concubinage and fornication among

7298-468: The use of Roman Catholic sacraments. In the earliest period of Muslim domination of Iberia, there is evidence of extensive interaction between the two communities attested to by shared cemeteries and churches, bilingual coinage, and the continuity of late Roman pottery types. Furthermore, in the peninsula the conquerors did not settle in the amsar , the self-contained and deliberately isolated city camps set up alongside existing settlements elsewhere in

7387-808: The vernacular by the Moorish conquerors led the Christian polemicist Petrus Alvarus of Córdoba to famously lament the decline of spoken Latin among the local Christians. The use of Arabic cognomens by the Mozarab communities of Al-Andalus is emblematic of the adoption by the Christians of the outward manifestations of Arab-language Islamic culture. The Mozarabs employed Arabic-style names such as Zaheid ibn Zafar , Pesencano ibn Azafar , Ibn Gafif , Ibn Gharsiya (Garcia), Ibn Mardanish (Martinez), Ibn Faranda (Fernandez), in purely Christian contexts. This demonstrates that they had acculturated thoroughly and that their Arabic names were not mere aliases adopted to facilitate their movement within Muslim society. Conversely, some Christian names such as Lope and Fortun entered

7476-489: The vowels have had to be reconstructed. Mozarab had a significant impact in the formation of Portuguese , Spanish and Catalan , transmitting to these many words of Andalusi Arabic origin. The northward migration of Mozarabs explains the presence of Arabic toponyms in places where the Muslim presence did not last long. The cultural language of Mozarabs continued to be Latin , but as time passed, young Mozarabs studied and even excelled at Arabic. The implantation of Arabic as

7565-415: The west of Al-Andalus, which included the modern region of Algarve and most of Portugal, Mozarabs constituted the majority of the population. The Muslim geographer Ibn Hawqal , who visited the country in the middle of the 10th century, spoke of frequent revolts by Mozarab peasants employed on large estates, probably those of the ruling aristocracy. There is also substantial evidence that Mozarabs fought in

7654-534: The year 951 —and was influenced, in varying degrees, by Arab customs and knowledge, and sometimes acquired greater social status in doing so. The local Romance vernaculars , with an important contribution of Arabic and spoken by Christians and Muslims alike, are referred to as Andalusi Romance , or the Mozarabic language . Mozarabs were mostly Catholics of the Visigothic or Mozarabic Rite . Due to Sharia and fiqh being confessional and only applying to Muslims,

7743-409: Was condemned to death until the formation of the party led by the Christian leaders Eulogius (beheaded in 859) and Alvaro of Córdoba , whose intense faith led them to seek martyrdom by insulting Muhammad , and criticizing Islam. The Arabization of the Christians was opposed by Eulogius himself, who called for a more purely Christian culture stripped of Moorish influences. To this end, he led a revolt of

7832-496: Was frequently combined with other callings, such as politics, scholarship, or medicine. It is often mistakenly assumed that Mozarab merchants forged a vital commercial and cultural link between the north and south across the Iberian frontiers. Mozarab refugees may have had influence in northern Iberian trade at places like Toledo, but there is no reason to believe that they engaged in commerce with their abandoned homeland. Most traffic between Al-Andalus and Christian regions remained in

7921-433: Was under constant pressure to eradicate the Mozarabic Rite. A popular legend states that Alfonso VI submitted the Mozarab liturgy and its Roman counterpart to ordeal by fire, putting the fix in for the Catholic rite. Hence, the Mozarab liturgy was abolished in 1086. The Mozarabic Chapel in the Cathedral of Toledo still uses the Mozarabic Rite and music. In 1126, a great number of Mozarabs were expelled to North Africa by

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