Luis del Marmol Carvajal (

Granada Granada (,, DIN 31635, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the fo ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, 1520 - Velez Malaga,

, 1600) was a Spanish chronicler living many years among the formerly

Moorish The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a distinct or se ...

kingdom

morisco Moriscos (, ; pt, mouriscos ; Spanish for "Moorish") were former Muslims and their descendants whom the Roman Catholic church and the Spanish Crown commanded to convert to Christianity or face compulsory exile after Spain outlawed the open p ...

's inhabitants and in the North African

Berber Berber or Berbers may refer to: Ethnic group * Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa * Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages Places * Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile People with the surname * Ady Berber (1913–196 ...

regions in the mid 16th century. He was proficient in Hassaniya Arabic, Berber Tamazight and/or the

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

Taqbaylit language. He was the illegitimate son of a High Justice Officer, Pedro del Marmol, who recognized him as his natural son in 1528. Whether his mother was some sort of slave or personal servant of this High Court Office lawyer, his father, "given" or "bought" after the conquest of

, 1492, cannot be confirmed. It is well known that after the dissolution of the Caliph of Córdoba in the 11th century, many of the rulers and people from the kingdom of

maintained that their identities were essentially

Zenata The Zenata (Berber language: Iznaten) are a group of Amazigh (Berber) tribes, historically one of the largest Berber confederations along with the Sanhaja and Masmuda. Their lifestyle was either nomadic or semi-nomadic. Etymology ''Iznaten (ⵉ ...

Berber. This may explain their settlements and affinity with the

Merinid The Marinid Sultanate was a Berber Muslim empire from the mid-13th to the 15th century which controlled present-day Morocco and, intermittently, other parts of North Africa (Algeria and Tunisia) and of the southern Iberian Peninsula (Spain) ...

and after the Wattasids dynasty, (وطاسيون waṭāsīyūn), ruling

Fez Fez most often refers to: * Fez (hat), a type of felt hat commonly worn in the Ottoman Empire * Fez, Morocco (or Fes), the second largest city of Morocco Fez or FEZ may also refer to: Media * ''Fez'' (Frank Stella), a 1964 painting by the moder ...

, until, after 1554, the Saadi´s rulers, (Arabic: سعديون), from

Tagmadert Tagmadert (also Tagumadert, Tagmad(d)art, Tigumedet) is a city in the Draa River valley in Morocco. It is the place of origin of the members of the Saadi Dynasty. Despite the fact that Tagmadert is indicated on most older European maps, there is s ...

, at the

Draa river :''Dra is also the abbreviation for the constellation Draco.'' The Draa ( ber, Asif en Dra, ⴰⵙⵉⴼ ⴻⵏ ⴷⵔⴰ, ary, واد درعة, wad dərʿa; also spelled Dra or Drâa, in older sources mostly Darha or Dara) is Morocco's longest ...

valley, near

Tidzi Tidzi is a small town and rural commune in Essaouira Province of the Marrakech-Tensift-Al Haouz region of Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It ov ...

, near Zagora, conquered the town. It is said that for eight years Luis del Marmol was imprisoned in

Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...

, and that he returned to

in his mid-thirties after fighting in Italy, Spain and the North African litoral from the Atlantic shores. He spent time moving and visiting places, including Libyan Berber areas. Dates for these adventures are given just around 1554, curiously enough after the conquest of

. Luis del Mármol y Carvajal's history is a very valuable reference for it covers a period longer by a further 50 years, than that of the other

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a ...

n chronicler, the diplomat and author of Description of Africa,Descrittione dell'Africa, Venice edition: 1550. French and Latin editions, 1556. known as Joannes Leo Africanus, or al-Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Wazzan

al-Fasi Al-Fassi or Al-Fasi is a surname. Notable people with the name include: *Imam Fassi ( 1760 CE – c. 1863 CE), Moroccan imam **al-Fassi family, constituting the Fassiyatush Shadhiliyya Sufi order *Abbas El Fassi (born 1940), Moroccan politician *Ab ...

, (ar: حسن ابن محمد الوزان الفاسي) (c. 1494 – c. 1554?).

References

*http://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/extaut?codigo=75827 *http://www.filol.csic.es/departamentos/curricula/cv_garenal.html. A curriculum on the life and work of Spanish Arabis woman Mercedes García-Arenal, born 1950. {{DEFAULTSORT:Marmol Carvajal, Luis del 1520 births 1600 deaths Spanish geographers 16th-century Spanish historians