Wine and pork in Al-Andalus

by CucumberK

Hello historians!

In my culture (south Spain), wine and pork are deeply rooted. We drink and produce a lot of wine and pork and, of course, enjoy it. However, South spain was under arab rule for eight century, and the majority of people (muslims and jews) didn't supposedly eat pork or drink wine.

When did it start to be a important feature in my culture? Were the muslim in Al-Andalus more flexible in the prohibition? Did the christian in arabs region breed pigs and raise grapes for wine?

Yazman

My area of expertise here is primarily in the realm of the Caliphate of Cordoba, especially 10th century Iberia, so that's what I'm going to focus on in my reply here.

In her biography of Abdul Rahman III (titled 'Abd al-Rahman III: The First Cordoban Caliph), Maribel Fierro describes how Christians and Jews were given pretty wide liberties. Intermarriage was very common. Jews and Christians were allowed to worship freely although they were expected to be somewhat discreet, and they were allowed to be judged by, and live by, their own religious laws, except in cases that involved Muslims as well. So there was a lot of liberty given to "people of the book" in al-Andalus - in many cases they retained their noble status and continued to hold land & propagate their dynasties.

Also note that there were a significant amount of christian peasants who lived mostly in their own settlements, who, while they paid taxes and followed the laws, mostly kept to themselves and a lot of the time lived in isolation. We know this because Ibn Hawqal, a 10th century historian, described the thousands of "hispano-romans" who lived on "agricultural properties".

So, it's possible that, at least in the countryside, Christians could've had pork. This might even have occurred in the cities, although it's far less likely. It certainly wouldn't be the case that pork would be served when dining with muslims or jews, because that probably would've been seen as a violation.

As for wine, most everybody had it in al-Andalus. Christians and Jews definitely had it, and in The Legacy of Muslim Spain by Salma Khadra Jayyusi & Manuela MarĂ­n I can find a number of references to even a Prince Marwan (Umayyad) who was known to drink it. It, of course, officially wasn't allowed for muslims and was discouraged, but even many muslims did have and drink wine, so it's certain that christians and jews did.

iSmokeGauloises

Just a small correction: Jews are completely fine with wine and even use it in some religious ceremonies.

yodatsracist

Wine was certainly common. There's a popular anthology of Jewish poetry from Al-Andalus called Wine, Women, and Death: Medieval Hebrew Poems of the Good Life.

As for pork, I imagine it was available too. To the present day, Christian minorities in the Middle East are known for their pig farming (Copts in Egypt especially), and there's no reason to suspect that Spain was any different.