The fearsome reputation of the Vikings has made them the subject of countless exhibitions, books and films – however, surprisingly little is known about their more southerly exploits in Spain.
‘Forget Your People and Your Father’s House’: Teresa de Cartagena and the Converso Identity
December 3, 2014 By
Religion is a very important factor to take into consideration in discussions about the identity of the conversos [converts] or New Christians, an emerging group in 15th-century Castile.
A Created Enemy: ‘Barbarians’ in spite of Religious Conversion. Visigoths and Byzantines in 6th-Century Iberia
November 30, 2014 By
This study approaches the concept of resistance as a tool for historical analysis during Roman Late Antiquity, especially with respect to the identity construction and the creation of physical or mental borders between Byzantines and Barbarians.
Intellectual Cartographic Spaces: Alfonso X, the Wise and the Foundation of the Studium Generale of Seville
November 7, 2014 By
This dissertation, “Intellectual Cartographic Spaces: Alfonso X, the Wise and the Foundations of the Studium Generale of Seville,” I reevaluate Spain’s medieval history, specifically focusing on the role of Alfonso X and his court in the development of institutions of higher education in thirteenth-century Andalusia.
Petrus Hispanus (circa 1215-1277) and ‘The Treasury of the Poor’
October 24, 2014 By
The identity of Petrus Hispanus is a matter of some controversy. Part of the problem is centred on the fact that ‘Hispanus’ covers the general region of the Iberian Peninsula, referred to in medieval times as ‘las Españas’ (the Spains), incorporating both present day Spain and Portgual.
Time, space and power in later medieval Bristol
May 26, 2014 By
With a population of almost 10,000, Bristol was later medieval England’s second or third biggest urban place, and the realm’s second port after London. While not particularly large or wealthy in comparison with the great cities of northern Italy, Flanders or the Rhineland, it was a metropolis in the context of the British Isles.
10th century find points to medieval sea routes around Ibiza
March 3, 2014 By
A bronze candelabra discovered by a diver in Ibiza in the 1970s is offering clues to the maritime history of this region.
Writing the Antithesis of María of Aragón: Alvaro de Luna’s Rendering of Giovanni Boccaccio’s De mulieribus claris
February 22, 2014 By
Of the many works that form the canon of the debate on women in the fifteenth century, particularly in the Iberian Peninsula, there is a text that often omitted. This lesser known text was written by one of the most notorious figures in Spanish history: don Alvaro de Luna.
Christian Iberia: A Society Religiously Organized for War
February 15, 2014 By
Reconquista society in medieval Christian Spain is all too often considered through only economic and martial eyes. In this study of the prevelant cult of Santiago de Compostela (or St. James the Greater) I will demonstrate how medieval society meshed both war and religion.
Men Who Talk about Love in Late Medieval Spain: Hugo de Urriés and Egalitarian Married Life
February 13, 2014 By
In the last third of the fifteenth century, Hugo de Urriés’s work can offer the modern reader a very rare and informative perspective from the points of view of social history and history of ideas.
Whose Golden Age? Some Thoughts on Jewish-Christian in Medieval Iberia
February 11, 2014 By
The medieval period in Spanish history has alternately been cast as a Golden Age of interfaith harmony and an example of the ultimate incompatibility of Muslim, Christian, and Jewish communities.
Sodomy and the Knights Templar
January 26, 2014 By
In this article, I will analyze testimony relevant to the charges of the Inquisition that members of the order of Knights Templar throughout Christendom practiced homosexual acts of various sorts from illicit kisses to sodomy.
Commons in the late medieval Crown of Aragon: Regulation, uses and conflicts, 13th-15th centuries
December 21, 2013 By
In this paper, we shall show some characteristics of the use of pastures and commons in the Crown of Aragon between the thirteen and fifteenth centuries.
Building the past through the eyes of the present: Were the Kingdoms of Medieval Spain a model of tolerance?
October 8, 2013 By
In this paper I am going to look at the ways in which contemporary concerns have shaped historians’ depictions of Medieval Iberian societies, and how that distant past is now used by politicians.
The Jewish Physician in Medieval Iberia: New Directions
September 15, 2013 By
We are thus in a far better position to capture the range and characteristics of those Jews who engaged in medical practice in medieval Iberia.
Coexistence among the Peoples of the Book under Abd al-Rahman III
August 16, 2013 By
A policy of coexistence among the Peoples of the Book was pursued by Abd al-Rahman III as such an existence was conducive to economic prosperity. To pursue these ends, the Jewish community was tolerated and protected, while the muwallads, mozarabs and Christian principalities were managed through violence and enforced cooperation within the Iberian Peninsula.
Delivering stability: Primogeniture and autocratic survival in European monarchies 1000-1800
March 27, 2013 By
Although the dominating position of primogeniture at the end of the period might seem natural given primogeniture’s many advantages for the monarch and the ruling elite it was first rather late in history that the principle came to dominate Europe.
“We Have Met Devils!”: The Almogavars of James I and Peter III of Catalonia-Aragon
December 9, 2012 By
Who were these Almogavars, who were able to defeat these heavily-armed and highly-trained knights? Why were they consistently effective against all who came before them? How were they utilized by James I the Conqueror (1213-1276) and his son Peter III the Great (1276-1285), count-kings of Catalonia-Aragon, to further the interests of their realm? These are the questions that this paper will attempt to answer.
Organa doctorum: Gerbert of Aurillac, organbuilder?
October 11, 2012 By
He was born a peasant. Yet, through intelligence, political skill and uncommon good luck he came to be one of the most influential people in the Europe of his time…Pope Sylvester II.
Slavery and Identíty in Mozarabic Toledo: 1201-1320
October 7, 2012 By
Román Iberia became thoroughly Romanized early in its existenec. Spain adopted the law, the language, the culture, and eventually the religión of clas- sicat Rome. Moreover, Hispania produced some truly stellar figures in the arena of Latin scholarship, including Séneca, Lucían, Quintilian, Columella, and Prudentius.
Moors and Saracens in Europe: estimating the medieval North African male legacy in southern Europe
October 2, 2012 By
Our results confirm a general correlation between historical and genetic data: Iberia and Sicily are the regions with the highest MNA male legacy.
Captives or prisoners: society and obligation in medieval Iberia
June 17, 2012 By
In medieval Iberia, particularly from the twelfth century onward, warfare took on some religious overtones. As a consequence, the prisoners of war that appear in the sources were for the most part defined by their religious status, as either Muslims or Christians.
Historian uncovers cases of ransoms paid to Vikings in the 11th century
June 13, 2012 By
How much were two women worth in 11th century Iberia? For the Vikings the price was a blanket of wolf skin, a sword, a shirt, three scarves, a cow and some salt.
Fourth-century Hebrew inscription discovered in Portugal
June 5, 2012 By
Find is the oldest Jewish archaeological evidence discovered on the Iberian Peninsula
The Difference A King Makes: Religion And National Unity In Spain
June 3, 2012 By
It is the end of the Roman period, however, that interests us most. What happened then is a model for the relationship between Church and state that has had an enduring and powerful influence.
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