Mozárabes

Mozárabes were Iberian Christians who lived under Muslim rule in the Iberian Peninsula, primarily during the period of Al-Andalus from the 8th to the 15th centuries. They maintained their Christian faith and liturgical life while inhabiting a predominantly Muslim cultural and political environment. The term Mozárabe is commonly linked to the Arabic word musta‘rib, meaning Arabized, and was used to describe Christians who retained their faith but absorbed certain Arab cultural forms.

Historically, the Mozárabes formed communities within areas governed by Muslim rulers under the system known as dhimmi, which allowed “People of the Book” certain protections and religious freedoms in exchange for tribute and a distinctive legal status. They spoke Romance languages locally and often learned Arabic for administration and daily life. Their presence contributed to a distinctive intercultural milieu in cities such as Toledo, Córdoba, and Mérida, where Christians, Muslims, and Jews interacted in daily life, art, and scholarship.

Culturally and liturgically, the Mozárabes developed and maintained the Mozarabic Rite, a unique Latin liturgy with its own chant tradition and manuscript tradition, separate from the Roman Rite that later became dominant in most of Western Christendom. Mozarabic art and architecture reflect a blend of Visigothic heritage with Islamic artistic influences, producing distinctive forms in manuscripts, sculpture, and ornamental motifs. The Mozarabic musical tradition, known as Mozarabic chant, preserved in medieval manuscripts, is regarded as an important link in the medieval Iberian musical landscape.

Over time, political and religious changes during the Reconquista led to assimilation into broader Christian Iberia, though the Mozarabic Rite and cultural traces survived in certain regions and institutions, contributing to the broader medieval and Iberian cultural synthesis.