The Victors and the Vanquished: Christians and Muslims of Catalonia and Aragon, 1050-1300: 59 (Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought: Fourth Series, Series Number 59) - Softcover

Catlos, Brian A.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0521036445 ISBN 13: 9780521036443

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2008

Synopsis

This is a revisionary study of Muslims living under Christian rule during the Spanish 'reconquest'. It looks beyond the obvious religious distinctions and delves into the subtleties of identity in the thirteenth-century Crown of Aragon, uncovering a social dynamic in which sectarian differences comprise only one of the many factors in the causal complex of political, economic and cultural reactions. Beginning with the final stage of independent Muslim rule in the Ebro valley region, the book traces the transformation of Islamic society into mudéjar society under Christian domination. This was a case of social evolution in which Muslims, far from being passive victims of foreign colonisation, took an active part in shaping their institutions and experiences as subjects of the Infidel. Using a diverse range of methodological approaches, this book challenges widely held assumptions concerning Christian-Muslim relations in the Middle Ages, and minority-majority relations in general.

About this title

Review:

'... a ground-breaking study that ... is a remarkable, and also highly readable, work of scholarship.' The English Historical Review

Book Description:

This lively study of Muslims living under Christian rule in medieval Spain confronts questions of community relations, politics, trade and government, through a study of the common people of the era. It focuses on the evolution of an independent Islamic society into one living under Christian political domination.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0521036445
• ISBN 13: 9780521036443
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 480