Narratives of the Islamic Conquest from Medieval Spain

Medieval Spanish literature treating the 711 Islamic conquest of Spain is neither a literature of conquest nor reconquest, but one of both. This book explores understudied literary material on the conquest from the thirteenth to the fifteenth centuries, including epic and clerical poetry, chronicles, and an historical novel, arguing for a more open approach to a phase in Spain's cultural history which has traditionally been interpreted in polarized and generalized terms. The literary works in question provide a wide and novel range of perspectives on the 711 conquest; some of a more 'official' nature which reflect the political ambitions of the centre, and others which are surprisingly sympathetic in their representation of Muslim-Christian relations. The book, bringing together these texts for the first time, demonstrates that Spain's literary portrayals of the Islamic conquest form a novel and inclusive corpus underpinned by irony, empathy, humor, and a rich diversity of perspective.

Geraldine Hazbun is Associate Professor in Medieval Spanish Literature at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of St Anne's College, UK. She is the author of Treacherous Foundations: Betrayal and Collective Identity in Early Spanish Epic, Chronicle, and Drama and co-editor of A Companion to Spanish Women's Studies.