Boundaries of faith

In fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Spain, it was common to display a leg of ham or a rasher of bacon in morisco homes as a symbol of assimilation into the Christian religion. With such medallas, meaning medals or badges, moriscos could say to neighbours, friends and family: We eat pork; we are Christian. ¹ After all, refusal to eat pork was one of the most notable elements of Jewish and Muslim religious identity. At once private and public, food was a visible marker of identity that individuals of any religion could look to for indications of a person’s true faith. It was one of the primary methods for self-identification as a member of a certain group. Yet this identification was only valid if there was another group by which to define oneself against. Indeed, without the visibility of food behaviours, much of their significance would be lost. It was not enough to have eaten a religiously appropriate meal. It was also necessary to have done so in view of others, to proclaim one’s own identity among others who shared that identity. Boundaries made such proclamations possible.