[Félix de JOUVENEL des URSINS]
Histoire générale des Mores d'Espagne
s.d. (circa. 1640), in-folio (23,5x36cm), 917pp., relié.
AN IMPORTANT 917 PAGE FOLIO MANUSCRIPT (no author or date specified), of an original work preserved by the heirs of the author, Félix Jouvenel des Ursins (also known as Jouvenel or Juvenal, 1617 - ?). Jouvenel, a noted scholar who devoted his life to his studies, was the author of a number of works.
The manuscript is mentioned in Antoine-Alexandre Barbier's
Examen critique et complément des dictionnaires historiques of 1820.
Written in a fine, clear hand with numerous additions, corrections, crossings-out and marginal notes.
Bound in full contemporary vellum. Spine titled in black ink (partly illegible), ties, stitching visible. Tear to head, some staining to covers. A few spots, but the paper well preserved. Large engraved armorial ex-libris of Henri de Juvenel, Châtelain of Montpezat (1810-1875) inside upper cover.
The manuscript can be dated to between 1640 and 1645 thanks to the author's references to early 17th century works as his principal historiographical sources, and especially to the following observation: "in any case, it has come to pass that in our time, the chronicles of the Moor Abulcaçim Tarif Abentarique have been translated from Arabic into Spanish."
Several things confirm that this is Jouvenel's original manuscript. The spelling of the words "défaicte", "loing", "mesprisable", "enfans", "tesmoing" (p. 160) and "autresfois" (p. 83) are in accordance with that established in Jean Nicot's
Thresor de la langue francoyse of 1606. The spelling of these words changed during the 17th century and by 1694 the
Dictionnaire de l'Académie has them as: "defaite", "loin", "meprisable", "enfants", "tesmoin" and "autrefois".
Finally, the work is on laid paper, with a distance between chain-lines of 2.4 cm and two watermarks, the first of which is similar to 17th century German marks appearing in several editions from 1599 on. This takes the form of a crowned shield with a hunting horn and the suspended initials WR. The second watermark is made up exclusively of the initials DL in the middle of the page.
One can assume that this manuscript predates the publication in 1645 of Jouvenel's historical novel
Dom Pélage ou l'Entrée des Maures en Espagne, inspired by the research contained in the present work, as Emile de Colombey points out: Jouvenel "produced a novel entitled Dom Pélage from his unpublished
Histoire des Maures d'Espagne, which stretched to no fewer than 917 folio pages" (in
Correspondance authentique de Ninon de Lenclos, 1886). The present manuscript features a chapter on "The memorable adventures of the young Dom Pélage", making up twelve pages in all.
We have found only three historical works on Moorish Spain published in France in the first half of the 17th century: Louis Turquet de Mayerne's
Histoire générale d'Espagne (first published in 1587, expanded until 1635, and partly based on Mariana's work
Ioannis Marianae Hispani, e socie. Iesu, de ponderibus et mensuris, 1599); Ambrosio de Salazar's
Inventaire general des plus curieuses recherches des Royaumes d'Espagne, compose en langue Castillane par A. de Salazar et par lui mis en François, Paris 1612; and an anonymous compilation of the aforementioned works,
Inventaire general de l'histoire d'Espagne, Extrait de Mariana, Turquet et autres autheurs qui ont écrit de temps en temps, published in 1628.
Aside from a few accounts of travels in Spain from 1660 onwards, it was only in the 18th century that genuinely historical works (and not merely versions of Mariana) on Spain and the Conquest of the Moors began to appear in France.
This manuscript, written barely a few years after the banishment of the Moors from Spain, is thus one of the first works on the history of Spain in French and without doubt the first to deal exclusively and in detail with the epic tale of Islam in Spain. Encompassing the religious, political and military history of mediaeval Spain - the advent of Islam, the
Reconquista, and Habsburg rule - the work is divided into twelve books, from the life of Mohammed to the expulsion of the Moors from Valencia in the reign of Philip III in 1609. Each book is then sub-divided into chapters, making for very straightforward reading, part of Jouvenel's intention of introducing newfound method to the writing of history.
This early manuscript is testimony to a new approach to historiography, notable for its rejection of oral tradition and legends and the use of selected written sources, subjected to the critical eye of the author. Jouvenel was not content merely to reproduce contemporary accounts, but uses a number of documentary sources. Referring where possible to Spanish authors not yet translated into French at the time, he compares and questions each of their versions. He prefers to lean on contemporary Andalusian sources in Arabic, while at the same time pointing out a lack of documentary material - especially Christian - that historians of the era deplore to this day.
The author uses Classical and modern sources alike, such as Sebastian of Salamanca (866-982), Vincent de Beauvais (1190 - 1264) and Jaime Bleda's (1550-1622) 1618
Coronica de los moros de España.
In a political environment where historical discourse was primarily treated as a legitimation of power and the State by means of a retrospective justification of the events giving rise to the established order, Jouvenel's research stands out all the more from this tradition of apologia; by choosing not to deal with France, it is not forced into presenting a partisan view of history. Moreover, Jouvenel having already successfully published several works, it seems clear that the present manuscript was not intended to be made public. Despite the importance and originality of his work, Jouvenel no doubt himself chose to keep his manuscript secret.
Nonetheless, like all historical treatises of the 17th century, the present work is also steeped in ideology. As a fervent Christian - Elie Fréron recounts that when Jouvenel died, he was found to be wearing a belt with metal teeth "biting so far into his flesh that he had been unable to withdraw them in his final illness" - Jouvenel felt the need to give a theological view of History, counterpoising defeat with re-conquest.
Thus, Jouvenel begins his work with a virulent critique of the Islamic faith, describing the birth of Mohammed as a form of divine punishment: "If it be true that godlessness be the most cruel scourge employed by heavenly justice to punish the sins of men, we can say that since the incarnation of the Word that began the era of true grace, the Church has never felt so keenly the wrath of God as in the birth of Mohammed." There follows a detailed, if extremely critical, history of the life of Mohammed, allowing Jouvenel to place his history of the Muslim Conquest under the aegis of the more perfect, Christian, religion.
Nonetheless, after this affirmation of Christian primacy, Jouvenel's actual historical work does not seem poisoned by theological considerations. His use of documents and his research on his sources show a deep respect for the accounts of Arab historians and a mistrust of the fanciful versions of Western authors.
So, for each event, Jouvenel provides a rigorous comparison between various versions and reflects upon their credibility, and when he does succumb to the power of the Christian account, he does so to make up for the lack of verisimilitude in the versions of Arab historians.
The absence of direct Christian documents gave rise in Jouvenel to a natural suspicion of the sources at his disposal and encouraged him to cross-check widely, as much to discover the historical truth as to produce an alternative to the Muslim accounts. Though admittedly he peppers his account with fantastical events indicating the continuity of the divine presence, he also at the same time produces a work of exacting research and comparison of various different versions.
With its methodological objectivity and cultural subjectivity, this General Account of the Moors of Spain holds a special interest from the point of view of the epistemology of History in the 18th century. It is also a manuscript of great literary worth in which the author is given to charming lyrical touches - "Fleeing, the two of them, like owls from the light of day, they took to the paths of Arabia Felix..." - and takes great care to give his reader a lively, but nonetheless rigorous, account in which enmity towards the Islamic religion is mixed with fascination for a culture and civilisation with a profound impact on the West as well.
F. A. A. de La Chesnaye-Desbois, Badier : Dictionnaire de la noblesse
Antoine-Alexandre BARBIER : Examen critique et complément des dictionnaires historiques les plus répandus
Elie Fréron : L'année littéraire 1762
In meiner virtuellen Sammlung