Conquest treaties could be legally manipulated to expel conquered Muslims

Evidence

Yet Jaume can also manipulate the treaties of submission to suit his needs. He proudly describes how he exiled the Muslims of Murcia from the city and took away their mosque, bringing in Dominican friars to prove to them that the treaty permitted him to do so. When they pleaded that he leave them their mosque, since it was the best place for them to pray, he retorted that in that case he wanted it for the Christians. He had the mosque transformed into a cathedral devoted to the Virgin Mary, to whom he then prayed and shed copious tears. “In every town, however large or small, that God had permitted us to win from the Saracens, we have built a church for Our Lady Saint Mary.” Jaume uses the word “built” (edificada), it seems, to indicate either a new construction or the rededication of an appropriated mosque. Jaume earlier describes how he had seized a mosque near the castle of Murcia, affirming simply that it would not be proper for him to have to hear the call of the muezzin as he slept. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 918

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the broader theme of how surrender treaties in the Reconquista were negotiated and then reinterpreted — parallels to the Champagne Fair contracts and reputation/trust literature already in the library.