Marriage contracts in medieval Iberia for Muslim women recorded the legal bonds of marriage. The contracts stipulated that the woman's father controlled her virginity and received payments from her dowry. Divorce was allowed under Jewish and Muslim laws, and divorced women had to wait three months to remarry. Many women were taken as slaves and forced into marriages with Arab men, though they maintained some of their cultural traditions.

1. The Ups and Downs (Mostly
Downs) of Marriage in Medieval
Iberia for Muslim Women
By: Lauren Iwanciwski

2. Marriage Contracts
• Record legal bonds in a marriage
• Woman must be a virgin until her father decides that she will be married
• Woman’s father is paid a portion of the dowry at completion of this contract
• Remainder of dowry is paid to father 2 years after completion of marriage contract
• Mother of groom gives consent to the marriage and blesses the future couple
• Groom gifts bride with a garden
• Guardians of bride and groom must be “of sound mind”
• Guardians and groom must consent to creation of marriage contract (no input allowed from
bride)

3. Divorce Contracts
• While Christians did not allow divorce, it was allowed in both Jewish and Muslim
laws
• Divorced woman must wait 3 menstrual cycles (or 3 months) to make new marriage
contract
• If woman is pregnant or has child during marriage, responsibility for the child falls
to her until male goes through puberty or female is married off
• Divorced husband is free from any debt owing to father of the bride
• Women is not considered a possession of her ex-husband anymore

4. Slavery and Marriage
• Many women in Al-Andalus were taken prisoner and forced into marriage with
Arab men
• Although they were able to bring some culture and traditions with them into their
home, it is thought that these experiences of being forced into marriage through
slavery were not pleasant ones

5. Works Cited
Hariri, Les Makamat de. “Encounters in Medieval Matrimony.” University of Cambridge, 17 May 2012,
www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/encounters-in-medieval-matrimony. [Image]
“Legal Status of Jews and Muslims in Castile.” Medieval Iberia: Readings from Christian, Muslim, and Jewish Sources, by Olivia
Remie Constable and Damian Zurro, 2nd ed., University of Pennsylvania Press, 2012, pp. 399-405.
“Marriage and Divorce in Muslim Granada.” Medieval Iberia: Readings from Christian, Muslim, and Jewish Sources, by Olivia
Remie Constable and Damian Zurro, 2nd ed., University of Pennsylvania Press, 2012, pp. 463–466.
Ruggles, D. F. “Mothers of a Hybrid Dynasty: Race, Genealogy, and Acculturation in Al- Andalus.” Journal of Medieval
and Early Modern Studies, vol. 34, no. 1, 2004, pp. 65–94., doi:10.1215/10829636-34-1-65.