Julian, Count of Ceuta was a legendary Christian local ruler or subordinate ruler in
North AfricaNorth Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa.Geopolitically, the UN definition of Northern Africa includes the following seven countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia,Mauritania, and...
who had a role in the
Umayyad conquest of HispaniaThe Umayyad conquest of Hispania began as an army of the Umayyad Caliphate consisting largely of Berbers, inhabitants of Northwest Africa recently converted to Islam, invaded the Christian Visigothic Kingdom located on the Iberian peninsula...
— a key event in the history of Islam, in which
al-AndalusAl-Andalus was the Arabic name given to the parts of the Iberian Peninsula and Septimania governed by Arab and North African Muslims , at various times in the period between 711 and 1492....
was to have a major role, and the subsequent history of what were to become Spain and Portugal.
It is in fact not certain that the man's name was truly "Julian", or that his function was indeed "Count of Ceuta", though he is commonly mentioned in Christian sources by that name and title, and as having been charged with "holding the
AfricanNorth Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa.Geopolitically, the UN definition of Northern Africa includes the following seven countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia,Mauritania, and...
Pillar of HerculesThe Pillars of Hercules was the phrase that was applied in Antiquity to the promontories that flank the entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar. The northern Pillar is the Rock of Gibraltar in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar...
for
ChristendomChristendom, or the Christian world, has several meanings. In a cultural sense it refers to the worldwide community of Christians, adherents of Christianity. This community numbers in the billions of people of the world population. This community is spread across many different nations and ethnic...
".
Julian, Count of Ceuta was a legendary Christian local ruler or subordinate ruler in
North AfricaNorth Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa.Geopolitically, the UN definition of Northern Africa includes the following seven countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia,Mauritania, and...
who had a role in the
Umayyad conquest of HispaniaThe Umayyad conquest of Hispania began as an army of the Umayyad Caliphate consisting largely of Berbers, inhabitants of Northwest Africa recently converted to Islam, invaded the Christian Visigothic Kingdom located on the Iberian peninsula...
— a key event in the history of Islam, in which
al-AndalusAl-Andalus was the Arabic name given to the parts of the Iberian Peninsula and Septimania governed by Arab and North African Muslims , at various times in the period between 711 and 1492....
was to have a major role, and the subsequent history of what were to become Spain and Portugal.
It is in fact not certain that the man's name was truly "Julian", or that his function was indeed "Count of Ceuta", though he is commonly mentioned in Christian sources by that name and title, and as having been charged with "holding the
AfricanNorth Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa.Geopolitically, the UN definition of Northern Africa includes the following seven countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia,Mauritania, and...
Pillar of HerculesThe Pillars of Hercules was the phrase that was applied in Antiquity to the promontories that flank the entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar. The northern Pillar is the Rock of Gibraltar in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar...
for
ChristendomChristendom, or the Christian world, has several meanings. In a cultural sense it refers to the worldwide community of Christians, adherents of Christianity. This community numbers in the billions of people of the world population. This community is spread across many different nations and ethnic...
". There are many conflicting theories as to his precise function and authority. The reasons and circumstances for what is widely reckoned as his act of treachery to the Visigothic Kingdom and to Christianity are the subject of continued controversy, considering the far-reaching results. The fact of his being depicted as the archetypal traitor by many centuries of Spanish historiography has made more difficult the task of distinguishing fact from myth where he is concerned.
Luis Garcia de Valdeavellano writes that, during the
Umayyad conquest of North AfricaThe Umayyad conquest of North Africa continued the century of rapid Arab Muslim expansion following the death of Muhammad in 632 CE. By 640 the Arabs controlled Mesopotamia, had invaded Armenia, and were concluding their conquest of Byzantine Syria. Damascus was the seat of the Umayyad caliphate....
, in "their struggle against the
ByzantinesThe Byzantine Empire or Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered on the capital of Constantinople, and ruled by Emperors in direct and de jure succession to the ancient Roman Emperors...
and the
BerbersBerbers are the indigenous peoples of North Africa west of the Nile Valley. They are discontinuously distributed from the Atlantic to the Siwa oasis, in Egypt, and from the Mediterranean to the Niger River. Historically they spoke various Berber languages, which together form a branch of the...
, the
ArabArab people or Arabs are an ethnic group whose members identify along linguistic, cultural or genealogical grounds...
chieftains had greatly extended their African dominions, and as early as the year 682
UqbaUqba ibn Nafi was an Arab general under the Umayyad dynasty,in Amir Muavia and Yazid periods, who began the Islamic conquest of the Maghreb, including present-day western Algeria and Morocco in North Africa...
had reached the shores of the
AtlanticThe Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about 106.4 million square kilometres , it covers approximately one-fifth of the Earth's surface and about one-quarter of its water surface area. The first part of its name refers to the Atlas of Greek...
, but he was unable to occupy
TangierTangier or Tangiers [
pronounce] is a city of northern Morocco with a population of about 700,000...
, for he was forced to turn back toward the
Atlas MountainsThe Atlas Mountains are a mountain range across a northern stretch of Africa extending about 2,500 km through Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. The highest peak is Jbel Toubkal, with an elevation of in southwestern Morocco. The Atlas ranges separate the Mediterranean and Atlantic coastlines...
by a mysterious person" who became known to history and legend as Count Julian.
Muslim:A Muslim , , is an adherent of the religion of Islam. The feminine form is Muslimah . Literally, the word means "one who submits ". Muslim is the participle of the same verb of which Islam is the infinitive. Muslims believe that there is only one God, translated in Arabic as Allah...
historians have referred to him as Ilyan or Ulyan, "though his real name was probably Julian, or perhaps Urban or Ulbán or Bulian."
Julian is generally regarded as having been a
vassalA vassal in the terminology that both preceded and accompanied the feudalism of medieval Europe, is one who enters into mutual obligations with a monarch, usually of military support and mutual protection, in exchange for certain guarantees, which came to include the terrain held as a fief. By...
of
RodericRuderic, Roderic, Roderik, Roderich, or Roderick was the Visigothic King of Hispania for a brief period between 710 and 712...
, king of the
VisigothThe Visigoths were one of two main branches of the Goths, an East Germanic tribe; the Ostrogoths being the other. Together these tribes were among the barbarians who disturbed the late Roman Empire during the Migration Period. The Visigoths first emerged as a distinct people during the fourth...
s in
HispaniaHispania was the name given by the Romans to the whole of the Iberian Peninsula . When Rome was a republic, Hispania was divided into two provinces: Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior...
(modern
PortugalPortugal , officially the Portuguese Republic , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east...
and
SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
). But Valdeavellano notes other possibilities.
According to the
EgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia...
ian
historianAn historian is an individual who studies and writes about history, and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all events in time...
Ibn Abd-el-HakemIbn Abd-el-Hakam was an Egyptian chronicler who wrote the History of the Conquest of Egypt and North Africa and Spain.His work is invaluable as the earliest Arab account of the Islamic conquests of those countries. This work was written about 150-200 years after the events it describes, and...
, writing a century and a half after the events, Julian sent one of his daughters to Roderic's court at
ToledoToledo is a municipality located in central Spain, 70 km south of Madrid. It is the capital of the province of Toledo and of the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha...
for education (and
as a gauge of Julian's loyaltyA hostage is a person or entity which is held by a captor. The original definition meant that this was handed over by one of two belligerent parties to the other or seized as security for the carrying out of an agreement, or as a preventive measure against certain acts of war...
) and Roderic subsequently made her pregnant. Later ballads and chronicles inflated this tale, Muslims making her out an innocent virgin who was ravished, Christians making her a seductress. In Spanish she came to be known as
la Cava RumíaRûm, also Roum or Rhum , is a very indefinite term used at different times in the Muslim world to refer to the Balkans and Anatolia generally, and for the Byzantine Empire in particular, for the Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm in Asia Minor, and for Greeks inhabiting Ottoman or modern Turkish territory as...
. When Julian learned of the affair he removed his daughter from Roderic's court and, out of vengeance, sold out Hispania to the Muslim invaders, thus making possible the
Umayyad conquest of HispaniaThe Umayyad conquest of Hispania began as an army of the Umayyad Caliphate consisting largely of Berbers, inhabitants of Northwest Africa recently converted to Islam, invaded the Christian Visigothic Kingdom located on the Iberian peninsula...
.
But this is only a legend. Personal power politics were more likely at play, as better historical evidence points to a civil war among the Visigothic aristocracy. Roderic had been appointed to the throne by the
bishopA bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
s of the Visigothic
CatholicThe word Catholic is derived from the Greek adjective , meaning "universal". In the context of Christian ecclesiology, it has a rich history and several usages. For some, the term "Catholic Church" refers to the church in full communion with the Bishop of Rome, made up of the Latin Rite and the 22...
church—this appointment snubbing the sons of the previous king,
WittizaWittiza was the Visigothic King of Hispania from 694 until his death, co-ruling with his father, Ergica, until 702 or 703.-Joint rule:...
, who died or was killed in 710. So Wittiza's relatives and partisans fled
IberiaThe Iberian Peninsula, or Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes modern-day Spain, Portugal, Andorra and Gibraltar and a very small area of France. It is the westernmost of the three major southern European peninsulas—the Iberian, Italian, and Balkan peninsulas...
for Julian's protection at
CeutaCeuta is an autonomous city of Spain located on the North African side of the Strait of Gibraltar, on the Mediterranean, which separates it from the Spanish mainland. The area of Ceuta is approximately ....
(Septem), the Pillar of Hercules in North Africa on the northern shore of the
MaghrebThe Maghreb , also rendered Maghrib , meaning "place of sunset" or "western" in Arabic, is a region in North Africa. The term is generally applied to all of Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia, but in older Arabic usage pertained only to the area of the three countries between the high ranges of the...
. There they gathered with
AriansArianism is the theological teaching of Arius , a Christian priest, who was first ruled a heretic at the First Council of Nicea of 325, later exonerated in 335 at the First Synod of Tyre, and then pronounced a heretic again after his death at the First Council of Constantinople of 381...
and
JewThe Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
s fleeing forced conversions at the church's hands.
At that time the surrounding area of the Maghreb had recently been conquered by Musa ibn Nusair, who established his governor, Tariq ibn Ziyad, at Tangier with a
MoorishThe description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of Muslim people of Berber, Black African and Arab descent from North Africa, some of whom came to conquer and occupy the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years. The North Africans termed it Al Andalus, comprising most...
army of 1,700 men. So Julian approached Musa to negotiate the latter's assistance in an effort to topple Roderic.
What is unclear is whether Julian hoped to place a son of Wittiza on the throne and gain power and preference thereby or whether he was really opening up Iberia to foreign conquest. The latter, though unlikely, isn't inconceivable, given that Julian may have long been on good terms with the Muslims of North Africa and found them to be more tolerant overlords than the Catholic Visigoths. Moreover, if Julian was the Greek commander of the last Byzantine outpost in Africa, he would only have had an alliance with the Kingdom of the Visigoths rather than been part of it.
Perhaps, then, in exchange for lands in
al-AndalusAl-Andalus was the Arabic name given to the parts of the Iberian Peninsula and Septimania governed by Arab and North African Muslims , at various times in the period between 711 and 1492....
(the Arab name for the area the Visigoths still called by its
RomanThe Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean. The term is used to describe the Roman state during and after the time of the first emperor,...
name, Hispania), or perhaps to topple a king and his religious allies, Julian provided military intelligence, troops, and ships.
But Musa was initially unsure of Julian's project and so in July 710 directed
Tarif ibn MallukTarif ibn Malluk was a Berber commander under Musa ibn Nusair, the Muslim conqueror of North Africa. In July of 710 CE, Musa sent Tarif on a raid to test the southern coastline of the Iberian peninsula...
to lead a probe of the
IberianThe Iberian Peninsula, or Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes modern-day Spain, Portugal, Andorra and Gibraltar and a very small area of France. It is the westernmost of the three major southern European peninsulas—the Iberian, Italian, and Balkan peninsulas...
coast. Legend says that Julian participated as a guide and emissary, arranging for Tarif to be hospitably received by supportive Christians—perhaps Julian's kinsmen, friends, and supporters—who agreed to become allies in the contemplated battle for the Visigothic throne.
The next summer Julian provided the ships to carry Muslim troops across to
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
. Julian also briefed Tariq, their general. Then the latter left Julian behind among the merchants and crossed the
Strait of HerculesThe Strait of Gibraltar is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Spain from Morocco...
with a force of some 1,700 men. He landed at
GibraltarGibraltar is a self-governing British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula and Europe at the entrance of the Mediterranean overlooking the Strait of Gibraltar. The territory covers and shares a land border with Spain to the north...
on April 30,
711-Europe:* April 30—Ummayad troops led by Tariq ibn Ziyad land at Gibraltar, and begin their invasion of the Iberian peninsula and conquest of the Visigothic Kingdom ....
, and thus began the
Umayyad conquest of HispaniaThe Umayyad conquest of Hispania began as an army of the Umayyad Caliphate consisting largely of Berbers, inhabitants of Northwest Africa recently converted to Islam, invaded the Christian Visigothic Kingdom located on the Iberian peninsula...
.
Later, in the
Battle of GuadaleteThe Battle of Guadalete was fought in 711 or 712 at an unidentified location between the Christian Visigoths of Hispania under their king, Roderic, and an invading force of Muslim Arabs and Berbers under Ṭāriq ibn Ziyad. The battle was significant as the culmination of a series of Arab-Berber...
on July 19, Roderic's army of around 25,000 men was defeated by Tariq's force of approximately 7,000, largely due to a reversal of fortune when the wings commanded by Roderic's relatives Sisbert and Osbert deserted or switched sides—which legend would later attribute to a deliberate plan developed by Julian.
Afterwards Julian was apparently granted the lands he was promised by the Muslims but, as the story goes, lived on friendless and full of guilt for having become a traitor to his kingdom.
Literary treatments
In Part I, Chapter 41, of
Don Quixote, fully titled The Ingenious Hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha , is a novel written by Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes...
(1605),
Miguel de CervantesMiguel de Cervantes Saavedra was a Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright. His magnum opus, Don Quixote, often considered the first modern novel, is a classic of Western literature and is regularly regarded among the best novels ever written. His work is considered among the most important in all...
writes:
- Meanwhile, the wind having changed we were compelled to head for the land, and ply our oars to avoid being driven on shore; but it was our good fortune to reach a creek that lies on one side of a small promontory or cape, called by the Moors that of the "Cava rumia," which in our language means "the wicked Christian woman;" for it is a tradition among them that La Cava, through whom Spain was lost, lies buried at that spot; "cava" in their language meaning "wicked woman," and "rumia" "Christian;" moreover, they count it unlucky to anchor there when necessity compels them, and they never do so otherwise. (Spanish text.)
The Jacobean playwright William Rowley recounts Julian's story in his play
All's Lost by LustAll's Lost by Lust is a Jacobean tragedy by William Rowley. A "tragedy of remarkable frankness and effectiveness," "crude and fierce," it was written between 1618 and 1620.-Publication:...
(c. 1619).
The English writers
Walter ScottSir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet was a prolific Scottish historical novelist and poet, popular throughout Europe during his time....
,
Walter Savage LandorWalter Savage Landor was an English writer and poet. His best known works were the prose Imaginary Conversations, and the poem Rose Aylmer, but the critical acclaim he received from contemporary poets and reviewers was not matched by public popularity...
, and
Robert SoutheyRobert Southey was an English poet of the Romantic school, one of the so-called "Lake Poets", and Poet Laureate for 30 years from 1813 to his death in 1843...
handle the legends associated with these events poetically: Scott in "The Vision of Don Roderick" (1811), Landor in his tragedy
Count Julian (1812), and Southey in
Roderick, the Last of the Goths (1814).
The American writer
Washington IrvingWashington Irving was an American author, essayist, biographer and historian of the early 19th century. He was best known for his short stories "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle", both of which appear in his book The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. His historical works...
retells the legends in his 1835
Legends of the Conquest of Spain, mostly written while living in that country. These consist of "Legend of Don Roderick," "Legend of the Subjugation of Spain," and "Legend of Count Julian and His Family."
Expatriate Spanish novelist
Juan GoytisoloJuan Goytisolo is a Spanish poet, essayist, and novelist. He currently lives in a voluntary self-exile in Marrakech.-Background:Juan Goytisolo was born to an aristocratic family...
takes up the legends in
Count Julian (1970, 1971, 1974), a book in which he, in his own words, imagines "the destruction of Spanish mythology, its Catholicism and nationalism, in a literary attack on traditional Spain." He identifies himself "with the great traitor who opened the door to Arab invasion." The narrator in this novel, an exile in North Africa, rages against his beloved Spain, forming an obsessive identification with the fabled Count Julian, dreaming that, in a future invasion, the ethos and myths central to Hispanic identity will be totally destroyed.
In 2000, Julian's story became a West End musical,
La CavaLa Cava is a musical with a book by Dana Broccoli, lyrics by John Claflin and Laurence O'Keefe, and music by O'Keefe and Stephen Keeling....
.
External links