A Manuscript of the Last Sultan of al-Andalus and the Fate of the Royal Library of the Nasrid Sultans at the Alhambra

Abstract

This article addresses the fate of the Royal Library of the Nasrid Sultans at the Alhambra. Several royal manuscripts once belonging to the Nasrid sultans of Granada survive to this day, despite having been thought burned by the cardinal Cisneros (d. 1517). One of the volumes is a personal manuscript of the last sultan of al-Andalus, Muḥammad XI (Boabdil; reigned 887–888/1482–1483, 892–897/1487–1492) and is currently held in the Royal Library of the Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial. This codex abounds with manuscript notes telling the story of its creation and its first owner, the Sultan, until it was incorporated into the current collection. The author examines its journey in the context of the Sultan’s life and the Nasrid manuscript and book culture, arguing that it was this ruler who moved the royal books out of the Alhambra to his place of exile in North Africa. The article is accompanied by an edition and translation of an ijāza given to Muḥammad XI by the mufti and khaṭīb of Granada al-Mawwāq (d. 897/1492). It is the sole surviving royal teaching certificate from the Nasrid period of Andalusi history.