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A History of Medieval Spain
This book is a comprehensive narrative history based on an impressively wide reading in the sources and secondary literature. It should prove useful to teachers, students, and general readers in European history.... Soundly traditional in its organization, it gives primacy to political events without neglecting institutional, social, and cultural matters.―American Historical Review
Illustrations, genealogical charts, maps, and an extensive bibliography round out a book that will be welcomed by scholars and students of Spanish and Portuguese history and literature, as well as by medievalists, as the fullest account to date of Spanish history in the Middle Ages.
Medieval Spain is brilliantly recreated, in all its variety and richness, in this comprehensive survey. Likely to become the standard work in English, the book treats the entire Iberian Peninsula and all the people who inhabited it, from the coming of the Visigoths in the fifth century to the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella. Integrating a wealth of information about the diverse peoples, institutions, religions, and customs that flourished in the states that are now Spain and Portugal, Joseph F. O'Callaghan focuses on the continuing attempts to impose political unity on the peninsula.
O'Callaghan divides his story into five compact historical periods and discusses political, social, economic, and cultural developments in each period. By treating states together, he is able to put into proper perspective the relationships among them, their similarities and differences, and the continuity of development from one period to the next. He gives proper attention to Spain's contacts with the rest of the medieval world, but his main concern is with the events and institutions on the peninsula itself.
Illustrations, genealogical charts, maps, and an extensive bibliography round out a book that will be welcomed by scholars and students of Spanish and Portuguese history and literature, as well as by medievalists, as the fullest account to date of Spanish history in the Middle Ages.
Medieval Spain is brilliantly recreated, in all its variety and richness, in this comprehensive survey. Likely to become the standard work in English, the book treats the entire Iberian Peninsula and all the people who inhabited it, from the coming of the Visigoths in the fifth century to the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella. Integrating a wealth of information about the diverse peoples, institutions, religions, and customs that flourished in the states that are now Spain and Portugal, Joseph F. O'Callaghan focuses on the continuing attempts to impose political unity on the peninsula.
O'Callaghan divides his story into five compact historical periods and discusses political, social, economic, and cultural developments in each period. By treating states together, he is able to put into proper perspective the relationships among them, their similarities and differences, and the continuity of development from one period to the next. He gives proper attention to Spain's contacts with the rest of the medieval world, but his main concern is with the events and institutions on the peninsula itself.
737 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 1, 1975
77 people are currently reading
518 people want to read
About the author
Joseph F. O'Callaghan
21 books14 followersJoseph F. O'Callaghan is Professor Emeritus of Medieval History at Fordham University, where he has taught since 1954. He earned his bachelor's degree from La Salle College, his MA at Marquette University, and his Ph.D. from Fordham.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
August 20, 2023
An immense undertaking - a thousand years of Iberian history in 700 pages. This is a dense work; fairly academic and written in a textbook format. Thoroughly researched and filled with interesting historical data on the royal families, religious orders, social classes, governments, economies and cultures of the various kingdoms that comprised Medieval Spain and Portugal. In passing, there are references to a staggering number of historical characters and innumerable battles. The book is rich in details and therefore is one to digest slowly and to keep for future reference. Overall, an excellent read, containing a mountain of information on events in the Iberian peninsula from the time of the arrival of the Visigoths (early in the fifth century) until the death of King Ferdinand of Aragon in 1516.
The following quote is from the website of Library Thing:
"O'Callaghan divides his story into five compact historical periods and discusses political, social, economic, and cultural developments in each period. By treating states together, he is able to put into proper perspective the relationships among them, their similarities and differences, and the continuity of development from one period to the next. He gives proper attention to Spain's contacts with the rest of the medieval world, but his main concern is with the events and institutions on the peninsula itself. Illustrations, genealogical charts, maps, and an extensive bibliography round out a book that will be welcomed by scholars and students of Spanish and Portuguese history and literature, as well as by medievalists, as the fullest account to date of Spanish history in the Middle Ages."
The following quote is from the website of Library Thing:
"O'Callaghan divides his story into five compact historical periods and discusses political, social, economic, and cultural developments in each period. By treating states together, he is able to put into proper perspective the relationships among them, their similarities and differences, and the continuity of development from one period to the next. He gives proper attention to Spain's contacts with the rest of the medieval world, but his main concern is with the events and institutions on the peninsula itself. Illustrations, genealogical charts, maps, and an extensive bibliography round out a book that will be welcomed by scholars and students of Spanish and Portuguese history and literature, as well as by medievalists, as the fullest account to date of Spanish history in the Middle Ages."
May 1, 2013
A historian is both lucky and talented when confronted with a broad subject of which very little is known; when the historian can develop a captivating narrative to handle such wide realms; and when the chronicler writes well enough for readers to care. O'Callaghan succeeds in all three cases in this unique book.
In North America, the knowledge of pre-Reconquista Spain, even among history buffs, is limited to a vague awareness that the Muslims conquered most of the peninsula some time in the eighth century, leaving Christians a small sliver of Basque and Galician land, until they were chased out by Ferdinand and Isabella 800 years later. O'Callaghan not only makes these characters real, he begins before the Muslim conquests in 711 AD. He makes Visigoth kings like Rodrigo seem greater than their two-dimensional representations in most texts, and describes the Visigoth leaders as literate, competent administrators faced with much more primitive tribes like the Suevi and Alans.
The new historical revisionism stresses that Islamic control of al-Andalus represented a special era of high culture and scientific inquiry in Medieval Europe, but O'Callaghan shows us that not all caliphates are created equal. The Umayyad caliphate of the early conquest centuries was worth its reputation, but the later period of the Almoravid and Almohad factions represented a victory of puritanical Islamic caliphates not that different from Salafists in the modern world.
While O'Callaghan does not have much use for Crusader-era Europe, he does show the odd ways that Northern Europe interacted with the besieged Iberian Christians - not just the well-known tale of Charlemagne crossing the Pyrenees to attack the Muslim infidels, but lesser known events such as the Black Prince (Edward, Prince of Wales) serving as a power broker in the 14th century. While O'Callaghan does not try to take on Catholic myth-making directly, it is clear that he sees Pelayo's "discovery" of the bones of St. James in the ninth century as mere propaganda to encourage a new crusade.
A surprising element of the book regarding Catholics and Spain is how little respect most rulers of the fractured kingdoms (Castile, Aragon, Navarre) seemed to have for papal orders, up until the time of the Ferdinand-Isabella marriage. For a region willing to submit itself to the absurd Inquisition and put up with Catholic nonsense far longer than the rest of Europe, the Spanish people of the pre-1400 era did not seem to pay much attention to the Vatican, outside of greeting pilgrims making their way to Santiago de Compostela. When Spain got mixed up in The Great Schism in the early 1400s, the only reasons any leader wanted to weigh in on three popes at once and the counter-cries of "Anti-pope," were for reasons of power and influence, not belief.
The final few hundred pages can tax a reader's patience due to the fact that the Spanish regions were ruled from the time of the Black Death to the time of Ferdinand by a succession of kings named Pedro, Alfonso, Fernando, etc. Let's face it, it's difficult to keep this straight, particularly with all the palace intrigue taking place in most of the regional kingdoms. One thing is clear for the time preceding the unification of modern Spain and Portugal: pogroms against Jews and Muslims did not begin with the expulsions of the late 1400s. Even though Christians lived in harmony with Muslims and Jews for centuries in Spain, the economic hardships following the Black Death in the 1350s got the blame-game rolling. Citizens were ready to take independent action against Jews, and did so with fervor in the late 1300s, and were not inclined to show much empathy for Muslims by the 15th century.
O'Callaghan says his analysis of later Islamic kingdoms in Granada and elsewhere were limited by a lack of source material, though additional material has been uncovered since 1980, as evidenced by books such as L.P. Harvey's 'Islamic Spain 1250-1500.' Still, O'Callaghan gives a detailed look at all the border raids that took place from Andalusia to Morocco, showing the number of times cities like Tarifa, Algeciras, and Ceuta changed hands. This huge volume may be exhausting for those not deeply interested in Spain's roots - but it's hard to call it boring in any event.
In North America, the knowledge of pre-Reconquista Spain, even among history buffs, is limited to a vague awareness that the Muslims conquered most of the peninsula some time in the eighth century, leaving Christians a small sliver of Basque and Galician land, until they were chased out by Ferdinand and Isabella 800 years later. O'Callaghan not only makes these characters real, he begins before the Muslim conquests in 711 AD. He makes Visigoth kings like Rodrigo seem greater than their two-dimensional representations in most texts, and describes the Visigoth leaders as literate, competent administrators faced with much more primitive tribes like the Suevi and Alans.
The new historical revisionism stresses that Islamic control of al-Andalus represented a special era of high culture and scientific inquiry in Medieval Europe, but O'Callaghan shows us that not all caliphates are created equal. The Umayyad caliphate of the early conquest centuries was worth its reputation, but the later period of the Almoravid and Almohad factions represented a victory of puritanical Islamic caliphates not that different from Salafists in the modern world.
While O'Callaghan does not have much use for Crusader-era Europe, he does show the odd ways that Northern Europe interacted with the besieged Iberian Christians - not just the well-known tale of Charlemagne crossing the Pyrenees to attack the Muslim infidels, but lesser known events such as the Black Prince (Edward, Prince of Wales) serving as a power broker in the 14th century. While O'Callaghan does not try to take on Catholic myth-making directly, it is clear that he sees Pelayo's "discovery" of the bones of St. James in the ninth century as mere propaganda to encourage a new crusade.
A surprising element of the book regarding Catholics and Spain is how little respect most rulers of the fractured kingdoms (Castile, Aragon, Navarre) seemed to have for papal orders, up until the time of the Ferdinand-Isabella marriage. For a region willing to submit itself to the absurd Inquisition and put up with Catholic nonsense far longer than the rest of Europe, the Spanish people of the pre-1400 era did not seem to pay much attention to the Vatican, outside of greeting pilgrims making their way to Santiago de Compostela. When Spain got mixed up in The Great Schism in the early 1400s, the only reasons any leader wanted to weigh in on three popes at once and the counter-cries of "Anti-pope," were for reasons of power and influence, not belief.
The final few hundred pages can tax a reader's patience due to the fact that the Spanish regions were ruled from the time of the Black Death to the time of Ferdinand by a succession of kings named Pedro, Alfonso, Fernando, etc. Let's face it, it's difficult to keep this straight, particularly with all the palace intrigue taking place in most of the regional kingdoms. One thing is clear for the time preceding the unification of modern Spain and Portugal: pogroms against Jews and Muslims did not begin with the expulsions of the late 1400s. Even though Christians lived in harmony with Muslims and Jews for centuries in Spain, the economic hardships following the Black Death in the 1350s got the blame-game rolling. Citizens were ready to take independent action against Jews, and did so with fervor in the late 1300s, and were not inclined to show much empathy for Muslims by the 15th century.
O'Callaghan says his analysis of later Islamic kingdoms in Granada and elsewhere were limited by a lack of source material, though additional material has been uncovered since 1980, as evidenced by books such as L.P. Harvey's 'Islamic Spain 1250-1500.' Still, O'Callaghan gives a detailed look at all the border raids that took place from Andalusia to Morocco, showing the number of times cities like Tarifa, Algeciras, and Ceuta changed hands. This huge volume may be exhausting for those not deeply interested in Spain's roots - but it's hard to call it boring in any event.
January 1, 2018
هذه الكتاب أعجبني التوثيق التاريخي لإسبانيا منذ أول سكانها حتى التواجد الإسلامي ثم سقوط الأندلس – التواجد الإسلامي – على يد إيزبيلا وفرناندو بعد تحالف ممالك شمال شبه جزيرة إيبريا - الأندلس – النصرانية. لكن أكثر ما أعجبني توثيقه لتواجد الجرمان والقوط الغربيين في العصور الوسطى في هذه المناطق حول (إسبانيا / البرتغال) وهي مادة ضعيفة بعض الشيء في المصدر العربي الأندلسي.
هذا غير المقارنات التي ذكرها في في مناقشة العادات والأديان طبعًا من وجهة نظرهو وكذلك مجال العلاقات الداخلية والخارجية في شبة الجزيرة وأعتنى بتوثيق الأدب حسب كل مراحله.
هذا غير المقارنات التي ذكرها في في مناقشة العادات والأديان طبعًا من وجهة نظرهو وكذلك مجال العلاقات الداخلية والخارجية في شبة الجزيرة وأعتنى بتوثيق الأدب حسب كل مراحله.
December 27, 2016
This is amazingly encyclopedic account of the history of the Iberian peninsula from Visigothic times to the end of the 15th century. While it may be getting a little dated, its narrative of the development of the kingdoms, societies and cultures of the region holds together thanks to Joseph O'Callaghan's clarity and his command of the sources. This is a book from which a reader can profit either by reading it cover-to-cover or by dipping into its clearly-delineated chapters, each of which can stand alone as a mini-essay on their topic. If you're looking for a book on Spain during the Middle Ages, this is definitely an excellent place to start.
February 8, 2019
Well, this seemed like a textbook and in fact it is a textbook, 'suitable for the undergraduate or graduate student seeking a reliable orientation to medieval peninsular history', according to the back cover. And so it is, but what a history! There were times my eyes glossed over and fortunately there is no test coming from Professor O'Callaghan! The sheer number of Pedros, Alfonsos, Juans, Fernandos, Carlos, Jamies, Sanchos and other repetitive king names (and occasional Juanas, Leonors and Jeannes among the ladies) ruling, trying to rule, or overthrowing the various major empires (often simultaneously in different adjacent emprires with the same names)--Navarre, Leon, Castile, Aragon, Catalonia and Portugal, often becomes dizzying. And don't forget the Muslims with a parade of Muhammads, Ibns, Yusufs, Abds, etc. The book is however very well organized into historical periods: The Visigoth Era (415-711 AD) with a brief prelude on the late Roman Empire of Hispania. Then the The Ascendancy of Islam (711-1031); A Balance of Power 1031-1212; The Great Reconquest (1212-1369); and The Struggle for Peninsular Union (1369-1479). The book ends with the ascent of Ferdinand and Isabella in a united Castile and Aragon and the voyage of Columbus which corresponds to the defeat of the last Muslim Empire in Spain, Granada. Within each section there is an extensive historical summary (often with plot lines that could make 20 'Game of Thrones' series). Then there sub-sections on Government; Society and the Economy; and Religion and Culture within each historical period providing a continuous look at how these institutions evolved. The list of great thinkers, writers, and poets of this era is long and impressive (my favorite was El Libro De Buen Amor--the Book of Good Love, c. 1330 by Juan Diaz!). Of course the entire book is well-referenced as you would expect in a textbook! I don't want to spoil the story, amazing as it becomes at times, but there are many dramatic moments in this long history. The Muslim conquest makes riveting and actually relevant reading as the 11th century Almoravids ('the veiled ones') were basically the ISIS of their day and described as 'were fanatical puritans who insisted on a rigorous observance of Muslim law' (p. 208). And the story of the Reconquista itself makes for one of the epic sagas in all of history. 700+ years to rid Spain of their control. It should be noted that not all the Muslims were of the Almoravid variety and periods of relative tolerance existed on both sides of the divide. The battle of Navas De Tolosa in July, 1212 in which the Almohads were defeated by Christian coalition and marked the turning point of the Reconquista could be the subject of a great movie or historical novel but someone would probably call it 'Islamophobic' today! Speaking of movies, a rewatching of the 1961 epic of 'El Cid' seems like a perfect sequel to this herculean reading effort! The historical character of El Cid, Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar (1043-1099) is given his due in these pages and comes off as one of the more admirable characters of the time and a perfect role for that famous Spaniard, Charlton Heston!
December 15, 2014
One of the best history books I've ever read. You might expect a history of Spain, from the invasion of the Muslims in 711 to the unification of most of Spain (Roman Hispania) under the Catholic kings, around 1479, would be a hard indeed thing to narrate. And you'd be right, especially when that history covers different kingdoms, peoples of diverse languages, and of the three monotheistic religions, all living in one and the same peninsula. Also, if that book aspires to cover all aspects of the lives of these nations, from the governmental, social, cultural, economical, what have you... well, the author achieves a monumental success. The impression left on the reader is like the view you get from a plane flying not too high: you see perfectly what the country looks like and how it goes changing colors and shapes in just a matter of minutes. So I see Spain in this book that covers the medieval era. Do you need to know about Spain previous to reading this book? It would definitely help to have an idea of its geography and of its peoples, but not more than a few tourist notions and you're ready to go. But go slow. Go back if you have to, underline, take notes as I did. This book, however thick it is, is just an invitation to pick your favorite stories and go deep on them later on, in other books. I picked a lot of interesting subjects myself that I can't wait to find the right book to go into deeper. Just a few events and names for instance: the Mendoza, Castro or Lara families; the continuous struggle of the magnates with the crown for eminence is very interesting, especially in the beginning of the reconquest, when reconquest and colonization provided such a great time for opportunities for individual entrepreneurship, for acquiring fame, honor and advancing in life, perhaps even from rural poverty to nobility, in those times you made your own destiny; of course when the reconquest was over, the changes for individuals without means to progress (the progress that is real progress, not like getting more welfare, if you understand me) was also over. Exit the individual, enter the government.
As I was saying, there are plenty of things that will interest you to the point of encouraging you to do further reading and investigating. The lives of adventurers, Venetians, Genoese, mercenaries like the German Roger de Flor, who started the Catalan Company; the life and times of the Cid; the rivalries among members of the crown to inherit the thrones, to the point of brothers killing brothers and sons shunning their regent mothers; the political alliances between kingdoms; and the whole mingling of newcomers with the natives: Visigoths with Romans; European pilgrims and crusaders settling down here with native Spaniards; new African invasions of Muslims with previous waves; Christians who converted to keep their possessions and lives among the Muslim invaders, and vice versa... man there's a lot of amazing stuff in Spain's history to get a hold of.
The author deals very intelligently with all these issues. He goes by chronological stretches, first minding the main events, kings, main battles or events in each kingdom; then goes on to the economics, or the government, then the cultural stuff, and so on. Then goes again into another stretch of time and does the same. But he never gets you mixed up so as to not know if you are reading about Castile, Portugal, Navarre or about Aragón, and without having to break down the time stretch into too little subsections, which would make the reading confusing and hard to follow. The man has a knack for organization, I have to admit.
Finally, I saw no political bias, no applying our modern standards to older times. History for real, where the author goes unnoticeable.
For fans of history in general. A treat.
As I was saying, there are plenty of things that will interest you to the point of encouraging you to do further reading and investigating. The lives of adventurers, Venetians, Genoese, mercenaries like the German Roger de Flor, who started the Catalan Company; the life and times of the Cid; the rivalries among members of the crown to inherit the thrones, to the point of brothers killing brothers and sons shunning their regent mothers; the political alliances between kingdoms; and the whole mingling of newcomers with the natives: Visigoths with Romans; European pilgrims and crusaders settling down here with native Spaniards; new African invasions of Muslims with previous waves; Christians who converted to keep their possessions and lives among the Muslim invaders, and vice versa... man there's a lot of amazing stuff in Spain's history to get a hold of.
The author deals very intelligently with all these issues. He goes by chronological stretches, first minding the main events, kings, main battles or events in each kingdom; then goes on to the economics, or the government, then the cultural stuff, and so on. Then goes again into another stretch of time and does the same. But he never gets you mixed up so as to not know if you are reading about Castile, Portugal, Navarre or about Aragón, and without having to break down the time stretch into too little subsections, which would make the reading confusing and hard to follow. The man has a knack for organization, I have to admit.
Finally, I saw no political bias, no applying our modern standards to older times. History for real, where the author goes unnoticeable.
For fans of history in general. A treat.
July 29, 2015
Who is able to tell and relate the sad and dolorous story of unhappy Spain and the evils that have befallen her?
A question posed by medieval author Fernan Perez de Guzman, and as relevant today as it was so many centuries ago. Our modern-day Spanish historians are a contentious lot and agree on very little. Because of this, the field of Iberian historical scholarship has suffered mightily. O'Callaghan, a professor at Fordham University, does his best to referee among the disputatious leaders of the field and presents as inclusive (and objective) a recounting as is possible under such circumstances. A creditable job - and no doubt absolutely thankless among his peers.
To those peckish dons I say: If you want people to give a damn about Spain prior to the year 1492, the discovery of America and the Spanish Inquisition, you might consider attempting a consensus. Eh?
A question posed by medieval author Fernan Perez de Guzman, and as relevant today as it was so many centuries ago. Our modern-day Spanish historians are a contentious lot and agree on very little. Because of this, the field of Iberian historical scholarship has suffered mightily. O'Callaghan, a professor at Fordham University, does his best to referee among the disputatious leaders of the field and presents as inclusive (and objective) a recounting as is possible under such circumstances. A creditable job - and no doubt absolutely thankless among his peers.
To those peckish dons I say: If you want people to give a damn about Spain prior to the year 1492, the discovery of America and the Spanish Inquisition, you might consider attempting a consensus. Eh?
April 7, 2025
This is the type of book my jiddu (جَدّ) would have loved. Its content, structure, and length are exactly what he looked for. He loved books like this. I can still imagine him sitting in his living room, in that corner chair that he had by the big window that ran the entire length of the room. Looking at his crab tree in the yard with the cantaloupe rinds from that morning’s breakfast sitting in the mulch bed beneath the tree, attracting his favorite little creatures, the ever-present and always peckish squirrels. His furry friends that he cared for so dearly. I see him sitting there in that chair, wearing those big, square-framed tortoise glasses, gazing out that window and listening to J.S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations subtly fill the room with those beautiful, fleeting melodies. I can see this book sitting on his ornate brass Moroccan table with its stunning Arabic inscriptions, the table is old - maybe over a hundred years old - and though I cannot read the Arabic it feels reverent to me. I can brush my little fingers on it and wonder what it means, a script so beautiful and so majestic. I still smell the brass metal in my nostrils, sharp but pleasant. I wonder if, even after a full life and countless books read, he still wanted to read more? Did he want to explore more about history or political theory? I still see him there in that chair but now he cannot see me. He cannot turn his head and smile at me. I cannot go and sit on his lap. We cannot munch on chips and olives together. I wish I could smell his after-shave again. I wish I was tiny again and sitting on his lap while he read the newspaper in that chair.
I wish I could tell him about this book.
I miss him so much.
I still remember the last hug I ever gave him.
I wish I could tell him about this book.
I miss him so much.
I still remember the last hug I ever gave him.
March 14, 2025
Great introductory book on medieval Spain. It is perhaps structured somewhat rigidly but given the subject matter it probably couldn’t have been done in a better way. It is particularly worthy of praise how the author makes explicit mention of different currents of thought in Spanish historiography so that the reader may familiarize oneself with different points of view, even if the author ends up siding with one of them.
July 10, 2022
This is an excellent book that has much to offer for those who know little about Spanish history and for the already well-acquainted alike. I appreciated how each main part of the book (there are five) followed a similar structure: a political and military history of the various Iberian kingdoms, their appearances and disappearances as the Reconquista progressed, and the rulers of each and their contributions; followed by a description of government, society and the economy, and religion and culture (in that order, always). If any reader is interested in comparing any one of these aspects over different periods of time, the layout of the book will be helpful.
However, if the reader wishes to compare government, say, or the economy from, say, Castile to Aragon, the book is significantly less easy to use. The main thing that stopped me from giving the book five stars was the sometimes very abrupt way the author switched from talking about one kingdom to another. This was especially disconcerting as so many of the kings had the same names. I recall doing a double-take when Alfonso XI suddenly became Alfonso IV (or thereabouts) and rereading the page to realise we had gone from Castile to Portugal. Each region is covered and generally justice is done to all, but it is harder to locate relevant information about each, since divisions are made solely by time period.
The political history (first couple of chapters of each part) is very gripping stuff, but it's never sensationalised in this book. Works of 'popular history' are very prone to doing this, and considering my years-long love/annoyance/hate relationship with the genre, this can only be an upside. I also loved the many excerpts of poetry presented in this book, representing a diverse range of voices from across the peninsula (Arabic, Catalan, Spanish, etc.). My sole gripe here is that, while most poems are presented in their original language followed by an English translation, the Arabic poems are never given in the original Arabic text, and some (presumably Catalan and Spanish?) poems as well as some Latin excerpts are never translated into English. I can read Spanish, and I can hazard a pretty good guess at Catalan, but Latin is utterly beyond me.
However, if the reader wishes to compare government, say, or the economy from, say, Castile to Aragon, the book is significantly less easy to use. The main thing that stopped me from giving the book five stars was the sometimes very abrupt way the author switched from talking about one kingdom to another. This was especially disconcerting as so many of the kings had the same names. I recall doing a double-take when Alfonso XI suddenly became Alfonso IV (or thereabouts) and rereading the page to realise we had gone from Castile to Portugal. Each region is covered and generally justice is done to all, but it is harder to locate relevant information about each, since divisions are made solely by time period.
The political history (first couple of chapters of each part) is very gripping stuff, but it's never sensationalised in this book. Works of 'popular history' are very prone to doing this, and considering my years-long love/annoyance/hate relationship with the genre, this can only be an upside. I also loved the many excerpts of poetry presented in this book, representing a diverse range of voices from across the peninsula (Arabic, Catalan, Spanish, etc.). My sole gripe here is that, while most poems are presented in their original language followed by an English translation, the Arabic poems are never given in the original Arabic text, and some (presumably Catalan and Spanish?) poems as well as some Latin excerpts are never translated into English. I can read Spanish, and I can hazard a pretty good guess at Catalan, but Latin is utterly beyond me.
September 18, 2021
The Medieval era of Spain stretches out over a thousand years of history: from the end of the Roman Empire and the invasion of the Visigoths in the 5th century, through the Muslim invasions and the Reconquest, and up to the combined crowns of Ferdinand and Isabella in 1479, and Professor O'Callaghan guides us through that long and tumultuous saga with a workmanlike narrative that concentrates on the political aspects of Spain, by which he includes all the Christian kingdoms, including Portugal, as well as the Islamic kingdoms. He embellishes this narrative with chapters on government, social and economic developments, and religion and culture. It's a serious and "dense" read, but the dedicated reader will be rewarded with an excellent and comprehensive introduction to this formative link in the history of what was to become two of the world's greatest empires, as well as one of the major powers of early modern Europe. True, there are a lot of Alphonso's to keep track of, but for someone with an interest in Spanish history, this book is well-nigh indispensable.
Currently reading
October 24, 2023Lest I forget the timeline again, I need to note some important time points:
378CE, the Battle of Adrianople led by Fritigern.
410CE, Alaric sacked Rome. Then he wanted to sail to Africa but failed and died two years later.
413CE Athaulf took Toulouse.
In the mid of the fifth century, the Visigoths got into Iberia.
Clovis drove the Visigoths out of Gaul. Theodoric the Great controlled Barcelona. Then Justinian conquered the coast of Iberia.
566CE-586CE Liuvigild unified Iberia.
589CE Reccared converted to Catholicism.
Around 630CE, the electoral monarchy was confirmed.
680CE Wamba and the chaos of the late period.
711CE Muslim Conquest.
378CE, the Battle of Adrianople led by Fritigern.
410CE, Alaric sacked Rome. Then he wanted to sail to Africa but failed and died two years later.
413CE Athaulf took Toulouse.
In the mid of the fifth century, the Visigoths got into Iberia.
Clovis drove the Visigoths out of Gaul. Theodoric the Great controlled Barcelona. Then Justinian conquered the coast of Iberia.
566CE-586CE Liuvigild unified Iberia.
589CE Reccared converted to Catholicism.
Around 630CE, the electoral monarchy was confirmed.
680CE Wamba and the chaos of the late period.
711CE Muslim Conquest.
April 22, 2023
This book contains a wealth of historical information on the specified historical period in the Spanish peninsula. I limited my reading to periods of interest and found it to be very good.
March 14, 2014
Excellent read of Medieval Spain and how they rose to a premiere world power 500-600 years ago.
March 7, 2016
This is jam packed with so much information! But as long as you take the time to read it carefully, it really is a great book. Granted, I wouldn't read it if I didn't have to for school though.
August 14, 2016
Encompasses everything so much that it reads in piecemeal fashion. Arab history of Spain is sidelined as the book progresses... Ideal as a reference.
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