Description
Book SynopsisConquerors, 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 wi
Trade Review
"A carefully researched and utterly fascinating work of scholarship that significantly furthers our understanding of the sexual politics of medieval Iberia." * D. Fairchild Ruggles, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign *
Table of Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1. Sex as Power
Chapter 2. Marking Boundaries
Chapter 3. Damsels in Distress
Chapter 4. Lust and Love on the Iberian Frontier
Conclusion
Appendix. The Privilegio del Voto
List of Abbreviations
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Index
Acknowledgments
