The family name “Mozárabe” in 12th-13th c. Toledo. Prosopographical remarks on the bearers of this enigmatic name

Abstract

This article employs a prosopographic method to explore the socio-economic background of persons who chose the term ‘mozarab’ for their personal name in high medieval Toledo. Mindful of the particularities of the Andalusian Arabic variety, this analysis also includes graphies of similar phonation that deviate from the standard form “musta‘rib”. In three cases the source material allows the reconstruction of a considerable portion of the familial and economic background.