Holy War, Crusade and "Reconquista" in recent anglo-american historiography about the Iberian Peninsula
Abstract
In contemporary Western societies, who are going through a neo-romantic stage,
the Crusades have led to an immense literature and a remarkable popularity. In
the scientific field, this phenomenon has encouraged the debate on the ideological
and cultural issues surrounding Crusade. Since that in the
Iberian Peninsula had
developed fights between Muslims and Christians before 1096, it is inevitable that
historians have wondered about the influence of the reconquest in the origins of
the crusading movement. In this paper, we critized the widespread view among
Anglo-Saxon historians, according to which secular piety and spirituality were
instrumental in the development of the First Crusade, and struggles carried out
in the Iberian Peninsula did not influence in the extraordinary adhesion of the
European nobles to this issue. In addition, other concepts that may help to explain
the intensity of the response, such as “aristocratic networks,” and at the same time
help to understand the weight of the Hispanic experience in this movement.
Is part of
Imago temporis: medium Aevum, 2015, núm. 9, p. 109-122Collections
- Any: 2015 Núm.: 9 [15]