The liturgical vestments of the cleric San Juan de Ortega (1088-1163 CE) have been preserved in a church in Burgos. The fabrics employed to make his vestments – chasuble and alb, used during religious ceremonies – are exceptional pieces of enormous historical and aesthetic, artistic value, because: 1) They have become part of the saint's relics and the chasuble is probably one of the oldest pieces preserved in the Iberian Peninsula. 2) They constitute crucial pieces of the art produced under the Almoravid dynasty in al-Andalus: the main textile used to tailor the chasuble is the only extant textile piece including the name of an Almoravid ruler. In addition, it was made with a very specific and complex weaving technique – a key factor that has allowed to identify a considerable number of textiles produced under this dynasty while ruling al-Andalus (1086–1148 CE).
The chasuble is made of two textiles of extremely fine silk and gold threads, both fabrics include an epigraphic band in Arabic (tiraz). The tiraz of the main textile includes the phrase “Assistance from God for the Commander of the Muslims ‘Ali” in Kufic mirror script (see image attached). The first part of the sentence comes from the qur’anic verse 61:13 “Assistance from God and a near victory” the second part includes the name of the second Almoravid emir known as ‘Ali ibn Yusuf ibn Tashufin (d. 1143 CE). The other fabric repeats in mirror script the beginning of the same Qur'anic verse: al-nasr (the assistance).
The decoration of the main textile consists of pearled doubled medallions which frame animal, vegetal and geometric motifs. In the middle of each medallion we find a pair of rampant lions with two smaller quadrupeds underneath. The external medallion has repeating pairs of sphinxes – quadrupeds with human features – facing each other symmetrically. The finesse of the materials, the virtuosity of the techniques employed together with the sophistication and creativity displayed in the decoration are noteworthy.
Chroniclers mention that while preserving a puritanical policy in religious matters, the Berber North African Almoravid emirs adopted the splendour of royal sovereigns, wearing exquisite, prestigious garments and distributing them amongst their families and entourage. During military action, numerous Almoravid precious robes were captured as part of valuable war booty. King Alfonso VII (r. 1105-1157 CE) battled fiercely against the Almoravids to conquer al-Andalus. During the process, he acquired not only land but also substantial valuable richness from them.
Juan de Ortega (who was revered and attained sainthood after his death), was the King’s confidant, confessor and religious counsellor and he received numerous royal privileges, donations and land from Alfonso VII. Some of these donations must have included the prestigious tiraz of ‘Ali, with which Juan de Ortega’s chasuble was made.
In the absence of descriptions or explanations in 10th-15th century documentation about the reception of Islamic objects in Christian contexts, we do not know how these Islamic Almoravid textiles were perceived in Castilla & Leon. Modern researchers have tended to mention the high value given to Andalusi objects outside al-Andalus, without elaborating much. In recent decades, a “triumphalist interpretation” – which considers the possession of objects produced under Islamic rule represented a symbol of Christian triumph over the defeated Muslim enemy – has been rejected by the proponents of a “shared-culture interpretation” – which suggests that such acquisitions were motivated by the fact that the elites of the Iberian Peninsula had a common taste for luxurious goods, and that religious parameters were deemed irrelevant. However, my contention is that the two interpretations – which nevertheless, require some additional nuances – are not inevitably mutually exclusive; and that in order to understand the reception and use of Andalusi Almoravid textiles in San Juan de Ortega’s vestments, it is necessary to assess the enormous contradictions of various and varied factors that were closely and complexly intertwined.
Sources
Ali-de-Unzaga, Miriam, “De medallones, halos y estética almorávide: revisión y nuevas aportaciones sobre las sedas almorávides de las vestiduras de San Juan de Ortega,” in Arqueología del al-Andalus Almorávide, ed. R. Azuar Ruíz (Museo Arqueológico de Alicante, 2020), pp. 103-138.
Ali-de-Unzaga, Miriam, “Problematising the Reception of Almoravid Textiles in Christian Contexts” in The Visual Culture of al-Andalus in the Christian Kingdoms of Iberia: Ninth to Thirteenth Centuries, ed. I. Monteria Arias (Routledge, forthcoming 2024).
Partearroyo, C., “Tejidos Almorávides y Almohades,” in Al-Andalus: Las Artes Islámicas en España, Madrid, 1992, pp. 104-113.
Shepherd, D.G., “A Dated Hispano-Islamic Silk,” in Ars Orientalis, vol. 2, 1957, p. 373-382.
