The Abencerrages or Abencerrajes (, ; from the

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

Chambers Biographical Dictionary ''Chambers Biographical Dictionary'' provides concise descriptions of over 18,000 notable figures from Britain and the rest of the world. It was first published in 1897. The publishers, Chambers Harrap, who were formerly based in Edinburgh, cla ...

, , page 3 ) were a family or faction that is said to have held a prominent position in the

Kingdom of Granada The Emirate of Granada, also known as the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada, was an Islamic polity in the southern Iberian Peninsula during the Late Middle Ages, ruled by the Nasrid dynasty. It was the last independent Muslim state in Western Europe. ...

in the 15th century. The name appears to have been derived from Yussuf ben-Serragh, the head of the tribe in the time of Muhammed VII, Sultan of Granada (1370–1408), who did that sovereign good service in his struggles to retain the crown of which he was three times deprived. Little is known of the family with certainty. The

records that they arrived in Spain in the 8th century but the name is familiar from the romance by

Ginés Pérez de Hita Ginés Pérez de Hita (1544? – 1619?) was a Spanish novelist and poet, born at Mula ( Murcia) about the middle of the 16th century. It is likely that he joined the campaign against the "Moriscos" in the Alpujarra in 1560. ''Guerras civile ...

, ''Guerras civiles de Granada'', which celebrates the feuds of the Abencerrages and the rival family of the Benedin (

banu Edin), and the cruel treatment to which the former were subjected. J. P. de Florian's ''Gonsalve de Cordoue'' and Chateaubriand's ''Le dernier des Abencerrages'' are adaptations of Pérez de Hita's story. The story is told that one of the Abencerrages, having fallen in love with a lady of the royal family, was caught in the act of climbing up to her window. The assassinations were ordered by Ibrahim Benedin, who had a feud with the family. He was enraged and shut up the whole family in one of the halls of the

Alhambra The Alhambra (, ; ) is a palace and fortress complex located in Granada, Spain. It is one of the most famous monuments of Islamic architecture and one of the best-preserved palaces of the historic Muslim world, Islamic world. Additionally, the ...

, and gave orders to kill them all. The apartment where this is said to have taken place is one of the most beautiful courts of the Alhambra, and is still called the Hall of the Abencerrages.

Washington Irving Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He wrote the short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and "The Legend of Sleepy ...

in ''

Tales of the Alhambra ''Tales of the Alhambra: A Series of Tales and Sketches of the Moors and Spaniards'' is an 1832 collection of essays, verbal sketches and stories by American author Washington Irving (1783–1859) inspired by, and partly written during, his 1 ...

'' (1832) disagrees, saying the massacre was a fiction, but that a number of Abencerrages were killed in one of the battles at the time. Nonetheless, many poems and plays, including '' Romance de la pérdida de Alhama'', the novella '' The Abencerraje'', and two operas (''

Les Abencérages (English: ''The Abencerrages, or The standard of Granada'') is an opera in three acts by Luigi Cherubini with a French libretto by Etienne de Jouy, based on the novel ''Gonzalve de Cordoue'' by Jean-Pierre Claris de Florian. It was first perform ...

'', by

Luigi Cherubini Maria Luigi Carlo Zenobio Salvatore Cherubini ( ; ; 8 or 14 SeptemberWillis, in Sadie (Ed.), p. 833 1760 – 15 March 1842) was an Italian Classical and Romantic composer. His most significant compositions are operas and sacred music. Beethov ...

, and '' L'esule di Granata'', by

Giacomo Meyerbeer Giacomo Meyerbeer (born Jakob Liebmann Meyer Beer; 5 September 1791 – 2 May 1864) was a German opera composer, "the most frequently performed opera composer during the nineteenth century, linking Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Mozart and Richard Wa ...

)''Zelmar ou L'asile; ou, Les Abencerages'' a drame lyriqueby

André Grétry André Ernest Modeste Grétry (; baptised 11 February 1741; died 24 September 1813) was a composer from the Prince-Bishopric of Liège (present-day Belgium), who worked from 1767 onwards in France and took French nationality. He is most famous ...

, composed in 1801, remained unperformed. mention the legend.

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External links

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