Poems, prologues, paratexts. The Arabic Collectio Hispana (RBME, MS Ar. 1623) and its Potential Latin Models

Abstract

he mid-eleventh-century MS Ar. 1623, held at the Royal Library in El Escorial, preserves a unique canon law collection in Arabic language. The manuscript is a valuable source for studying the Christian communities of al- Andalus. Although ultimately derived from the Latin Collectio Hispana, the Arabic code represents a distinct variant of this early medieval canon law collection, differing from the extant Latin versions in many respects. However, it is still unclear whether the Arabic collection’s unique features resulted from a deliberate adaptation of the traditional canon to the living conditions of Arabised Christians in a Muslim-dominated environment, or whether these features had already emerged in an earlier Latin archetype intended for use in a Christian-ruled society outside of al-Andalus. Through analysing two paratextual prefaces from the Arabic manuscript, this article examines the interrelations between the Arabic collection and the surviving Latin tradition of the Collectio Hispana in more detail.