Intercultural Appropriation and the Synagogues of Medieval Spain
Abstract
Toledo is a city located along the Iberian Peninsula of Spain. It was declared by
UNESCO in 1986 to be a World Heritage Site because of a phenomenon that occurred
there between the eighth and fifteenth centuries that is referred to as la convivencia. The
term was advanced in the 1940’s by Américo Castro, a Spanish linguist and
historiographer. Spanish for “the coexistence”, this period saw Christians, Jews and
Muslims living together in Spain in relative accord. But la convivencia was not a scene
of utopian harmony with three divergent cultures happily living side by side. This was
instead what Thomas F. Glick refers to as an “uneasy communion”—a marriage of
convenience in which people of different faiths lived, worked, and interacted together,
sometimes peacefully, sometimes not. As a result of these interdependencies many
elements of culture were appropriated and adopted among the three groups, forming a
unique shared heritage that is reflected in the arts and architecture of the period. A key
point of convergence was the religious architecture of Toledo, particularly in the Jewish
synagogues. Their conception and construction speaks of multilayered motives,
ideologies, and a complex legacy that has sparked multiple interpretations.