Cosmopolitanism, Exclusivism and Religious Identity in Iberia

99 Pages·2015·0.71 MB·English

Georgia State University
ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University
Religious Studies Theses Department of Religious Studies
8-7-2012
Contemplating Convivencia: Cosmopolitanism,
Exclusivism and Religious Identity in Iberia
John F. Sullivan II
Georgia State University
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Recommended Citation
Sullivan, John F. II, "Contemplating Convivencia: Cosmopolitanism, Exclusivism and Religious Identity in Iberia." Thesis, Georgia
State University, 2012.
http://scholarworks.gsu.edu/rs_theses/43
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CONTEMPLATING CONVIVENCIA: COSMOPOLITANISM, EXCLUSIVISM AND RELIGIOUS
IDENTITY IN IBERIA

by

JOHN FRANCIS SULLIVAN II

Under the Direction of Louis A. Ruprecht Jr.

ABSTRACT
Visigothic Hispania, Islamicate al-Andalus and Christian Spain are names representing three scriptural
monotheistic civilizations in Iberia. Al-Andalus has stood apart from this list by representing a time and a
place of convivencia in which Christians, Jews and Muslims cooperated and coexisted. Why and how the
Islamicate civilization in al-Andalus differed from the Visigoths or the Spanish, despite all three sharing a
religious orientation is an historical puzzle. By exploring the legal status of Jews within the legal regimes
of Christian Rome and Visigothic Hispania, this thesis will suggest that it is cosmopolitanism and its
converse exclusivism that best explain concepts of convivencia or coexistence in the face of religious
diversity.

INDEX WORDS: Convivencia, Iberia, Islam, Muslim, Spain, Cosmopolitanism, Jew, Christian, Roman,
Visigoth, Exclusivism, Law, Theodosius, Constantine, Diogenes, Cosmopolitan
CONTEMPLATING CONVIVENCIA: COSMOPOLITANISM, EXCLUSIVISM AND RELIGIOUS
IDENTITY IN IBERIA

by

JOHN FRANCIS SULLIVAN II

A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of
Master of Arts
in the College of Arts and Sciences
Georgia State University
2012
Copyright by
John F. Sullivan II
2012
CONTEMPLATING CONVIVENCIA: COSMOPOLITANISM, EXCLUSIVISM AND RELIGIOUS
IDENTITY IN IBERIA

by

JOHN FRANCIS SULLIVAN II

Committee Chair: Louis A. Ruprecht Jr.

Committee: Abbas Barzegar
Isaac Weiner

Electronic Version Approved:

Office of Graduate Studies
College of Arts and Sciences
Georgia State University
August 2012
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DEDICATION
For Lou, strength and honor.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Many thanks to my committee members, Louis A. Ruprecht Jr., Abbas Barzegar and Isaac
Weiner for their myriad of invaluable contributions to this project over the years. This thesis could also
not have been completed without the feedback and encouragement of colleagues Sarah Levine, Suzanne
Tryon, Kenny Smith, Heather Abraham, Nicholas Newell and Kathryn Yates. I would also like to
acknowledge the excellent work of Georgia State University’s Interlibrary Loan staff that was
consistently able to locate and obtain obscure materials.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................................... v
1 INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................................... 1
What’s in a name? ................................................................................................................... 1
1.1 Engaging Iberia .................................................................................................................... 2
1.1.1 Temporal Bookends and the Iberian Difference ............................................................. 3
1.1.2 In the year 1492… .......................................................................................................... 4
1.1.3 Peoples and a Peninsula ................................................................................................. 5
1.1.4 Imperial Identities ........................................................................................................... 7
1.1.5 Dominant Categories of Imperial Identity .................................................................... 11
1.2 Cosmopolitanism, Exclusivism and Identity ...................................................................... 13
1.3 Cosmopolitanism ................................................................................................................. 16
1.3.1 A Citizen of the World ................................................................................................... 18
1.3.2 What hath Diogenes wrought? ...................................................................................... 21
1.3.3 A Cosmopolitan Empire ................................................................................................ 22
1.4 Exclusivism ......................................................................................................................... 24
1.5 Exclusivism and Scriptural Monotheism ........................................................................... 25
1.5.1 The Jews ........................................................................................................................ 25
1.5.2 Christians ...................................................................................................................... 27
1.5.3 Muslims ......................................................................................................................... 28
1.5.4 Cosmopolitanism and Exclusivism at Work .................................................................. 29
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1.5.5 Cosmopolitan Monotheism ........................................................................................... 30
1.6 A Tale of Two Romes .......................................................................................................... 31
1.6.1 Constantine ................................................................................................................... 32
1.6.2 Theodosius .................................................................................................................... 33
2 VISIGOTHIC HISPANIA (419-711 CE) ................................................................................ 36
2.1.1 What is a Visigoth? ....................................................................................................... 38
2.2 Visigothic Hispania, Stage One: From Roman to Visigoth .............................................. 39
2.2.1 The Temporal Bookends of Visigothic Hispania ........................................................... 39
2.2.2 From Roman Hispania to Visigothic Hispania ............................................................. 40
2.2.3 Policing Borders: The Jews and the Codex Theodosianus ........................................... 41
2.3 Visigothic Hispania and the Lex Romana Visigothorum .................................................. 47
2.3.1 Lex Romana Visigothorum ............................................................................................ 48
2.4 Stage II: Visigothic to Nicene Visigothic ........................................................................... 53
2.4.1 The Third Council of Toledo and The Nicene Visigoths. .............................................. 54
2.4.2 An Impossible Dream .................................................................................................... 57
2.4.3 The Sixth Council of Toldeo .......................................................................................... 59
2.4.4 The Jews and the Lex Visigothorum ............................................................................. 61
2.5 Conclusions ......................................................................................................................... 78
2.6 Epilogue ............................................................................................................................... 80
2.6.1 Scope of the Project ...................................................................................................... 80
2.6.2 Islamicate Al-Andalus ................................................................................................... 82
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2.6.3 Christian Spain ............................................................................................................. 84
2.6.4 Contemplating Convivencia .......................................................................................... 85
BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................................ 86