Spain Archive
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The Roots of Rhythm: The Medieval Origins of the New Orleans’ Mardi Gras Beignet
Posted on April 15, 2013 | No CommentsThis paper argues that the beloved Mardi Gras beignet, eaten in advance of the Lenten fast, derives from deep-fried pastries used to break the Ramadan fast by medieval Muslims living in Spain. -
“Of Arms and Men”: Siege and Battle Tactics in the Catalan Grand Chronicles (1208-1387)
Posted on April 9, 2013 | No CommentsWhat was the nature of combat as then practiced by the Aragonese? Who and what was involved? How were the practicalities of battle realized on the field? -
Here there be no dragons: Maravilla in Two Fifteenth-Century Spanish libros de viajes
Posted on April 1, 2013 | No CommentsMonsters, anthropomorphs, and marvels are common ingredients in medieval travel literature, and even narratives of real medieval journeys include these creatures, to the delight of the reading audience. -
Images of Rodrigo: The construction of past and present in late medieval Iberian chronicles
Posted on March 26, 2013 | No CommentsA return to late medieval narrative accounts of the events surrounding the invasions of 711 suggests that most medieval chroniclers saw the fall of Visigothic Spain in a different light -
Licit and Illicit Sexuality in Medieval Iberia: A Survey of Las Siete Partidas
Posted on March 22, 2013 | No CommentsThis thesis examines Las Siete Partidas, a thirteenth-century Castilian legal code of laws, including on marriage and illicit sexual behaviors. -
Hunting and Hunters in Medieval Aragonese Legislation
Posted on March 18, 2013 | No CommentsOur research on hunting in the kingdom of Aragón in the 12th-15th centuries is based on the information provided by two groups of legal texts: those for local or regional areas and those that were applied to all the kingdom after the 13th century. -
The Price of Alfonso’s Wisdom. Nationalist Translation Policy in Thirteenth-Century Castile
Posted on March 10, 2013 | No CommentsFirst, how can we say where and when translation began in any country? The origins of translation are surely to be associated with the first evidence of trade, and trade was certainly carried out in the Spain of the Romans, the Visigoths, and of course the centuries of Islamic domination. -
The Scientific World of the Crown of Aragon under James I
Posted on March 3, 2013 | No CommentsThis article seeks to provide a general overview of the cultural landscape during the reign of James I, with a particular focus on science. -
Thieves of Pleasure: A vicious fraternal war rewards Alfonso VI with the artistic and poetic treasures of al-Andalus
Posted on February 19, 2013 | No CommentsAs the balance of power began to shift from Muslim to Christian, a power struggle erupted among Christian rulers that would continue for generations, even as the light of Arabic poetry burned bright enough to influences centuries of Western verse. -
Was there Race before Modernity? The Example of ‘Jewish’ Blood in Late Medieval Spain
Posted on January 20, 2013 | No CommentsLess than a lifetime ago many scholars agreed that racial concepts offered reasonable explanations for the differences they perceived between certain human populations. -
Islamic Monuments and National Patrimony in Modern Spain
Posted on January 20, 2013 | No CommentsIn Spain, the Islamic past usefully differentiates Iberia from the rest of Europe, and its monuments—particularly the Great Mosque of Cordoba and the Alhambra—are a source of pride. However, the Islamic past is treated as 'distant.' -
Creating and Recreating Jean d’Arras’ Mélusine from the Hundred Years’ War to Isabelline Spain
Posted on January 3, 2013 | No CommentsMelusine enjoyed great success in France, even inspiring imitations commissioned by lesser nobility, and spread throughout Europe, eventually reaching Spain fifteen years into the reign of Isabella I of Castile. -
The Crusades Go Global: Crusading in the 16th Century
Posted on December 26, 2012 | No CommentsToday I will argue that the crusades, an already well-established, world-historical movement went global in the 16th century. -
A Moorish Sheet of Playing Cards
Posted on December 9, 2012 | No CommentsExamining medieval playing cards from Spain and Italy. -
“We Have Met Devils!”: The Almogavars of James I and Peter III of Catalonia-Aragon
Posted on December 9, 2012 | No CommentsWho 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. -
Juana “The Mad”: Queen of a World Empire
Posted on December 9, 2012 | No CommentsIt was not until the mid-nineteenth century that scholars discovered new material about Juana in the Spanish and Austrian archives that gave another side to the person of the woman who had been con- sidered “la loca.” -
Abandoned to Love: The Proceso of María de Cazalla and the Mirror of Simple Souls
Posted on December 4, 2012 | No CommentsIn comparing the trial of María de Cazalla with Marguerite Porete’s Mirror of Simple Souls, one of the most notable works of medieval mysticism, the present study aims to demonstrate how the main components of alumbradismo may be discerned in a single normative example of medieval mystical theology. -
Ibn Hazm on homosexuality
Posted on December 2, 2012 | No CommentsThe most commonly used term for homosexual contacts between men in Arabic is fil (or amal) qawm Lût ("the act of the people of Lot"), from which is derived the substantive liwàt. The man who indulges in such acts is called lufl. -
The Curious Career and Uncertain Past of Perkin Warbeck
Posted on December 2, 2012 | No CommentsWas Warbeck just another in a long line of pretenders to the throne of England, or did his appearance in Ireland in 1491 prove the innocence of Richard III, whom most historians accuse of murdering his nephews, the Princes in the Tower? -
Ruthless Oppressors? Unraveling the Myth About the Spanish Inquisition
Posted on October 29, 2012 | No CommentsFrom its inception to the present, critics of the Spanish Inquisition has characterized the institution as omnipotent and oppressive and highlighted its role in the expulsion, forced conversion, and execution of supposed heretics. -
Iberian Uniqueness in the Arab Invasion of Spain
Posted on October 28, 2012 | No CommentsIn the spring of the year AD 711, the Visigothic kingdom of Iberia was invaded and conquered by an army from the nearby Muslim Empire. -
Translators, Interpreters and Cultural Mediators in Late Medieval Eastern Iberia and Western Islamic Diplomatic Relationships
Posted on October 28, 2012 | No CommentsAlthough linguistic competence and language knowledge were essential, rulers often looked for the cultural aptitudes of their official translators to guarantee the success fo the diplomatic missions. -
Daily Life in the Spanish Reconquest: Scenes from Tenth-Century León
Posted on October 26, 2012 | No CommentsBuilt by the Romans to garrison to Seventh Legion, León may also have been the base of the legion's military commander, who was sometimes fully empowered by the emperor to govern Asturias and Galicia. -
The Finest Castle in the World
Posted on October 26, 2012 | No CommentsRobert I. Burns, S.J., and Paul E. Chevedden describe how a much-besieged citadel became the focus for Christian-Muslim co-existence in medieval Spain. -
A Peripheral Matter? Oceans in the East in Late Medieval Thought, Report and Cartography
Posted on October 21, 2012 | No CommentsFocusing in particular on the southern and eastern parts of the Ocean Sea, this article traces the broad contours of a representational and conceptual shift brought about, I argue, by the interplay between geographical thought and social (navigational, mercantile) practice.
