The tribute of 100 virgins ( es, tributo de las cien doncellas) was a legendary annual

tribute A tribute (; from Latin ''tributum'', "contribution") is wealth, often in kind, that a party gives to another as a sign of submission, allegiance or respect. Various ancient states exacted tribute from the rulers of land which the state conqu ...

of one hundred

virgin Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...

maidens paid by the Christian

kingdom of Asturias The Kingdom of Asturias ( la, Asturum Regnum; ast, Reinu d'Asturies) was a kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula founded by the Visigothic nobleman Pelagius. It was the first Christian political entity established after the Umayyad conquest of ...

to the Muslim

emirate of Córdoba The Emirate of Córdoba ( ar, إمارة قرطبة, ) was a medieval Islamic kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula. Its founding in the mid-eighth century would mark the beginning of seven hundred years of Muslim rule in what is now Spain and Port ...

. Fifty were to be of noble birth and fifty commoners.M. Manzanares de Cirre, "Las cien doncellas: trayectoria de una leyenda", '' PMLA'', Vol. 81, No. 3 (Jun., 1966), pp. 179-184, https://www.jstor.org/stable/460802, retrieved August 15, 2015. The tribute has been called "historically apocryphal but ideologically accurate... It plays an intriguing role in the formation and affirmation of ''

reconquista The ' (Spanish, Portuguese and Galician for "reconquest") is a historiographical construction describing the 781-year period in the history of the Iberian Peninsula between the Umayyad conquest of Hispania in 711 and the fall of the Nasrid ...

'' ideology in the later

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

, and also remains a powerful site in Spanish national cultural memory to this day."Emily C. Francomano, "The Legend of the Tributo de las cien doncellas: Women as Warweavers and the Coin of Salvation", '' Revista Canadiense de Estudios Hispánicos'', Vol. 32, No. 1, Autumn 2007, pp. 9-25, https://www.jstor.org/stable/27764172, retrieved August 10, 2015. The origin of the tribute is usually placed in the reign of Mauregatus (783–789). The legend does not appear until after the fabrication of the '' Privilegio del voto'' around 1150. This text, which describes the legendary

Battle of Clavijo The Battle of Clavijo is a mythical battle, which was believed for centuries to be historical, and it became a popular theme of Spanish traditions regarding the Christian expulsion of the Muslims. The stories about the battle are first found centu ...

in 834, where Saint James saved the Asturians, claims that as a result the Spaniards owed annual tribute to the cathedral of Saint James in Compostela.

Lucas of Tuy Lucas or LUCAS may refer to: People * Lucas (surname) * Lucas (given name) Arts and entertainment * Luca Family Singers, also known as "lucas ligner en torsk" * ''Lucas'' (album) (2007), an album by Skeletons and the Kings of All Cities * ''L ...

, writing in 1236, describes how Mauregatus "gave many high-born and also low-born maidens o the Saracensin marriage due to an agreement with the Saracens so that he might be at peace with them." In 788, Counts Arias and Oveco revolted against king Mauregatus and killed him in revenge for his having granted the Moors such a repulsive tribute. His successor,

Bermudo I of Asturias Bermudo I (also Vermudo or Veremund), called the Deacon or the Monk (c. 750 – 797), was the King of Asturias from 788 or 789 until his abdication in 791. He was a son of Fruela of Cantabria, a nephew of Alfonso I, and a brother of Aurelius. Th ...

, tried to negotiate for a tribute of money instead. Bermudo was succeeded by

Alfonso II of Asturias Alfonso II of Asturias (842), nicknamed the Chaste ( es, el Casto), was the king of Asturias during two different periods: first in the year 783 and later from 791 until his death in 842. Upon his death, Nepotian, a family member of undeterm ...

, nicknamed "the Chaste", who fully rejected the tribute and had to deal with military consequences. He won the Battle of Lutos and killed the Moorish Captain Mugait, thus achieving his goal: no more tribute. The next king,

Ramiro I of Asturias Ramiro I (c. 790 – 1 February 850) was king of Kingdom of Asturias, Asturias (modern-day Spain) from 842 until his death in 850. Son of King Bermudo I of Asturias, Bermudo I, he became king following a succession struggle after his predecessor, ...

, with the help of

Bernardo del Carpio Bernardo del Carpio (also spelled Bernaldo del Carpio) is a legendary hero of the medieval Spain. Until the end of the nineteenth century and the labors of Ramón Menéndez Pidal, he, not El Cid, was considered to have been the chief hero of medi ...

defeated the Moors at the (fictitious)

. The Moorish rulers were reportedly scared, by the growing military strength of the northern Christians, into giving up demands for the tribute. There is an implicit attack on the licentiousness of the Moors in this myth, specifically in that what is being demanded was ''virgins''. (The Moors' sexual libertinism, or alleged sexual libertinism, was a key thread in Christian attacks on it and in motivation for the ''Reconquista''.) One of Abd al-Rahman's successors,

Abd al-Rahman II Abd ar-Rahman II () (792–852) was the fourth ''Umayyad'' Emir of Córdoba in al-Andalus from 822 until his death. A vigorous and effective frontier warrior, he was also well known as a patron of the arts. Abd ar-Rahman was born in Toledo, the ...

, was said to have limited his sexual partners to virgins, i.e., he did not make love with the same woman twice, presumably because he preferred the variety. (See :es:Abderramán II#Familia e hijos.) It should be remembered that the legend of the tribute of the 100 virgins did not begin during the reign of Abd al-Rahman I, but much later.

References

{{Reflist Islam and women Kingdom of Asturias Sexual slavery Reconquista Spanish legends Islam and slavery Slaves of Al-Andalus

See also

References