Medieval Iberia: Readings from Christian, Muslim, and Jewish Sources (Middle Ages Series) [Paperback]

Olivia Remie Constable (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0812215699 | ISBN-13: 978-0812233339 | Publication Date: May 1997

The documents collected here date mostly from the eighth through the fifteenth centuries and have been translated from Latin, Arabic, Hebrew, Judeo-Arabic, Castilian, Catalan, and Portuguese by many of the most eminent scholars in the field of Iberian studies. The selections include chronicle materials, poetry, and legal and religious sources, and each is accompanied by a brief introduction placing the text in its historical and cultural setting. Arranged chronologically, the documents are also keyed so as to be accessible to readers interested in specific topics such as urban life, the politics of the royal courts, interfaith relations, or women, marriage, and the family.

For some historians, medieval Iberian society was primarily one of peaceful coexistence and cross-cultural fertilization; others have sketched a harsher picture of Muslims and Christians engaged in an ongoing contest for political, religious, and economic advantage culminating in the fall of Muslim Granada and the expulsion of the Jews in the late fifteenth century. The reality that emerges in Medieval Iberia is more nuanced than either of these scenarios can comprehend; this monumental collection offers unparalleled access to the multicultural complexity of the lands that would become modern Portugal and Spain.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The editor is to be warmly congratulated for having gathered together an impressive collection of sources which should prove of great interest to specialist and nonspecialist alike."—English Historical Review

"With the assistance of a large team of acknowledged experts, Constable has succeeded in assembling a distinguished miscellany of unusual interest which deserves to be warmly and widely welcomed."—History Today

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)

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Product Details

• Paperback: 426 pages
• Publisher: Univ of Pennsylvania Pr (May 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812215699
• ISBN-13: 978-0812233339
• ASIN: 0812233336
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 6.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,081,868 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best anthology of primary sources available, June 3, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Medieval Iberia: Readings from Christian, Muslim, and Jewish Sources (The Middle Ages Series) (Paperback)

This is the most thorough and up-to-date collection of primary sources relating to the history of medieval Spain yet available. It brings together a vast ocean of important and illustrative Jewish, Christian and Muslim sources, many of which have never before been translated. Readers, especially historians, will find much of value in this carefully-selected and thoughtfully arranged anthology. Few other collections give such a sense of the richness and diversity of medieval Iberian society.

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good stuff, May 25, 2001

By 

Ashareh (Nashville, TN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Medieval Iberia: Readings from Christian, Muslim, and Jewish Sources (The Middle Ages Series) (Paperback)

This collection of primary sources concerning the history of Medieval Iberia is quite good for undergraduate study of Muslim Spain, with useful introductions to each source. The predominance of Christian sources may be explained by the fact that many Muslim sources are no longer extant(or did not exist in the first place), particularly concerning the Mozarabic population(Christians under Arab-Berber dominion).

27 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Peculiar, but an adequate introduction to Christian sources, July 29, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Medieval Iberia: Readings from Christian, Muslim, and Jewish Sources (The Middle Ages Series) (Paperback)

This book actually focuses largely (almost entirely) on Christian sources for medieval Spain (hardly "Iberia," since with one exception Portugal, for instance, is not mentioned). Muslim sources are few and the obvious ones, and the rare and altogether inadequate Jewish sources are thrown in as an afterthought. Still, a useful undergraduate textbook, perhaps.