Captivity and slavery in the Kingdom of Granada (13th-16th centuries)

The deprivation of liberty is one of the defining components of Christendom-Islam relationships in the Medieval Mediterranean. In this context the Kingdom of Granada is a perfect framework within which to study a frontier society both in the Nasrid and the Castilian periods, in which the daily presence of prisoners and slaves show social and economic features common to the rest of the Western Mediterranean and also specific traits related to the particular historical characteristics of the Iberian Peninsula. In line with the current trend that supports the joint study of captivity and slavery overcoming the juridical differences that divide them, this article collects the state of knowledge on the matter. It reviews the classic bibliography and moves forward to include the latest studies in an attempt to deal with the subject from an integrating perspective. Given that very few Late Medieval Mediterranean territories offer the documentary richness and the economic, social and structural complexity of the Kingdom of Granada, there emerges a panorama of great clarity for the question under study.