Esclavos musulmanes en los hospitales de cautivos de la Orden Militar de Santiago (siglos XII y XIII)

Abstract

Military Orders had slave manpower in their lands since their foundation. However, the hospitals for ransoming captives owned by the Order of Santiago are the best example of how slavery worked in the kingdom of Leon-Castile during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. These houses had enough room to provide lodging for captives while ransoms were being negotiated. They also helped to redistribute those Muslims who, lacking this possibility, became slaves of the order itself, or were sold in the slave markets of the kingdom. The scarce records kept in the Archivo Histórico Nacional, section Órdenes Militares, referring to slaves, help to understand the development of traffic, work and manumission of these people.