Conquerors, Brides, and Concubines: Interfaith Relations and Social Power in Medieval Iberia
Conquerors, Brides, and Concubines investigates the political and cultural significance of marriages and other sexual encounters between Christians and Muslims in the Iberian Peninsula, from the Islamic conquest in the early eighth century to the end of Muslim rule in 1492. Interfaith liaisons carried powerful resonances, as such unions could function as a tool of diplomacy, the catalyst for conversion, or potent psychological propaganda. Examining a wide range of source material including legal documents, historical narratives, polemical and hagiographic works, poetry, music, and visual art, Simon Barton presents a nuanced reading of the ways interfaith couplings were perceived, tolerated, or feared, depending upon the precise political and social contexts in which they occurred.

Religious boundaries in the Peninsula were complex and actively policed, often shaped by an overriding fear of excessive social interaction or assimilation of the three faiths that coexisted within the region. Barton traces the protective cultural, legal, and mental boundaries that the rival faiths of Iberia erected, and the processes by which women, as legitimate wives or slave concubines, physically traversed those borders. Through a close examination of the realities and the imagination of interfaith relations, Conquerors, Brides, and Concubines highlights the extent to which sex, power, and identity were closely bound up with one another.

1120627722
Conquerors, Brides, and Concubines: Interfaith Relations and Social Power in Medieval Iberia
Conquerors, Brides, and Concubines investigates the political and cultural significance of marriages and other sexual encounters between Christians and Muslims in the Iberian Peninsula, from the Islamic conquest in the early eighth century to the end of Muslim rule in 1492. Interfaith liaisons carried powerful resonances, as such unions could function as a tool of diplomacy, the catalyst for conversion, or potent psychological propaganda. Examining a wide range of source material including legal documents, historical narratives, polemical and hagiographic works, poetry, music, and visual art, Simon Barton presents a nuanced reading of the ways interfaith couplings were perceived, tolerated, or feared, depending upon the precise political and social contexts in which they occurred.

Religious boundaries in the Peninsula were complex and actively policed, often shaped by an overriding fear of excessive social interaction or assimilation of the three faiths that coexisted within the region. Barton traces the protective cultural, legal, and mental boundaries that the rival faiths of Iberia erected, and the processes by which women, as legitimate wives or slave concubines, physically traversed those borders. Through a close examination of the realities and the imagination of interfaith relations, Conquerors, Brides, and Concubines highlights the extent to which sex, power, and identity were closely bound up with one another.

69.95 In Stock
Conquerors, Brides, and Concubines: Interfaith Relations and Social Power in Medieval Iberia

Conquerors, Brides, and Concubines: Interfaith Relations and Social Power in Medieval Iberia

by Simon Barton
Conquerors, Brides, and Concubines: Interfaith Relations and Social Power in Medieval Iberia

Conquerors, Brides, and Concubines: Interfaith Relations and Social Power in Medieval Iberia

by Simon Barton

Hardcover(New Edition)

$69.95 
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Overview

Conquerors, Brides, and Concubines investigates the political and cultural significance of marriages and other sexual encounters between Christians and Muslims in the Iberian Peninsula, from the Islamic conquest in the early eighth century to the end of Muslim rule in 1492. Interfaith liaisons carried powerful resonances, as such unions could function as a tool of diplomacy, the catalyst for conversion, or potent psychological propaganda. Examining a wide range of source material including legal documents, historical narratives, polemical and hagiographic works, poetry, music, and visual art, Simon Barton presents a nuanced reading of the ways interfaith couplings were perceived, tolerated, or feared, depending upon the precise political and social contexts in which they occurred.

Religious boundaries in the Peninsula were complex and actively policed, often shaped by an overriding fear of excessive social interaction or assimilation of the three faiths that coexisted within the region. Barton traces the protective cultural, legal, and mental boundaries that the rival faiths of Iberia erected, and the processes by which women, as legitimate wives or slave concubines, physically traversed those borders. Through a close examination of the realities and the imagination of interfaith relations, Conquerors, Brides, and Concubines highlights the extent to which sex, power, and identity were closely bound up with one another.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780812246759
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press, Inc.
Publication date: 02/05/2015
Series: The Middle Ages Series
Edition description: New Edition
Pages: 280
Product dimensions: 6.30(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Simon Barton is Professor of History at the University of Exeter and author of A History of Spain.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Chapter 1 Sex as Power 13

Chapter 2 Marking Boundaries 45

Chapter 3 Damsels in Distress 76

Chapter 4 Lust and Love on the Iberian Frontier 110

Conclusion 143

Appendix. The Privilegio del Voto 153

List of Abbreviations 165

Notes 167

Selected Bibliography 219

Index 255

Acknowledgments 263

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