Early Medieval Spain: Unity in Diversity, 400-1000

by Roger Collins

In Spain the 1980s and 1990s have seen a dramatic revival of regional aspirations towards greater self-expression and increased political autonomy, following a period of rigid centralisation of government in Madrid and the attempted imposition of cultural uniformity. This tension between the ethnic and cultural diversity of the different regions of the Iberian peninsula and the attempts of various rulers to impose political and 'national' unity goes back to at least the time of the Roman Empire. In the period covered in this book there occurred many of the major events that shaped the subsequent history of the unification of the peninsula under Rome, the attempted imposition of a unitary Christian culture under the Visigoths, and the shattering of both of these by Arab conquest in 711. At the same time the Basque and Catalan national identities began to take shape, and the resistance to the Arab conquest by the Asturians, Galicians, Leonese and Castillians formed these and other distinctive components of the Hispanic cultural mix. In this fully corrected, revised and partly rewritten version of this authoritative study, first published in 1983, account has been taken of the substantial new research undertaken on all relevant periods of Spanish history since the first edition. In particular, the discussion of the Arab conquest and its impact has been entirely reconsidered. The bibliography and notes have been fully updated. Some challenging new interpretations are also presented here for the first time. This volume forms a companion to Angus MacKay's Spain in the Middle From Frontier to Empire, 1000-1500, from the same publishers, and contains maps, genealogical tables, alist of rulers, full references and bibliographies.

Genres: History, Spain, Nonfiction, Spanish History, Medieval History, Medieval

320 pages, Paperback

Published August 15, 1995

About the author

Roger J. H. Collins (born 1949) is an English medievalist, currently an honorary fellow in history at the University of Edinburgh.

Reviews

[Johnny · Rating 4 out of 5]

As obvious as this sounds the scarcity of sources or chronicles from certain periods of history affects how a history is told. Alas the Visigoths who replaced the Romans and hopped themselves into Iberia are one of those actors in history who are victims of this. Still, Collins makes a very good attempt at filling in gaps and the narrative is largely kept with gloriously alien Gothic German names of Visigothic rulers, my favorites being example king Recceswinth (649–672) and king Wamba (672–680 . It is sad to see that it was the Visigoths that acted against the Jews with many prohibitive acts which Collins explains was partly due to the Arab advance into Byzantine North Africa bringing them closer to Spain which "may have become a forceful consideration in the minds of the Visigothic rulers, ever prone to distrust."

The sources for the invasion by the north African Muslim Umayyads which ended the Visigothic kingdom suffer from unreliability (as does most Islamic historiography at this time) but after this their history of thrusts and Christian counter thrusts are better served. The civil wars that came about as a result of the caliphate in Córdoba are confusing, however. More memorable is the caliphs and emirs and their remarkable tastes for books and poetry and knowledge, which is not blown out overstated.

The obscure rise of the Christian kingdoms of Leon and Asturias are interesting, scholarly and balanced. Collins argues for example that the second battle of Roncesvalles (824) was more important than the first more famous defeat of the Moors in 778: "for it seems to have put an end to Frankish intervention across the western Pyrenees, and led to the establishment of an independent kingdom in Pamplona."

You are also in safe hands as Collins resists inflating the importance of the Christian kingdoms and their cultural contributions vis-à-vis the Moors: Arguing that "one manuscript of Virgil hardly makes a 'Renaissance', and most of the texts in Leonese and Galician monasteries were of strictly practical use, being either service books or aids to the study of scripture."

I couldn't think of a better starter to a rather dark patch of history. Overall it is an excellent introduction to Spain for the Anglo world and actually not at all "dry". Cheap shot: Could do with some illustrations. Manuscripts, palaces, whatever.

[Mandy Galileo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic and very well written book on early Spain. Very accessible and does a particularly good job of providing insight into Visigothic Spain. Makes you wonder what path Iberia would have followed if they hadn't been overrun by the Muslim conquest. For those interested in history, Spain, or the medieval period, a strong recommendation.

[Alexander · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating and good volume from the MacMillan series of history surveys. Well written and informative.

[Logan Strait · Rating 2 out of 5]

Drier than I'd expected.

[Arbitrista · Rating 4 out of 5]

I used this book as a bridge between the others in the series, and it worked fairly well in that capacity. Collins does a very good job of laying out the fundamental continuities among different eras of Spanish history. Collins ably argues that regional particularism has always been one of the defining characteristics of Spain, whether we're talking about the pre-Roman, medieval, or modern eras.