Narrative, Piety and Polemic in Medieval Spain: Biblical Rhetoric in the Reconquest Chronicles of Len-Castile

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This book presents an original perspective on the variety and intensity of biblical narrative and rhetoric in the evolution of history writing in Len-Castile during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. It focuses on six Hispano-Latin chronicles, two of which make unusually overt and emphatic use of biblical texts. Of particular importance is the part played by the influence of exegesis that became integral to scriptural and liturgical influence, both in and beyond monastic institutions.

Alun Williams provides close analysis of the text and comparisons with biblical typology to demonstrate how these historians from the north of Iberia were variously dependent on a growing corpus of patristic and early medieval interpretation to understand and define their world and their sense of place.

Narrative, Piety and Polemic in Medieval Spain sees Williams examine this material as part of a comparative exploration of language and religious allusion, showing how the authors used these biblical-liturgical elements to convey historical context, purpose and interpretation.

Reviews

Alun Williams has an exceptional command of the Biblical texts and the medieval Christian exegesis that shaped and permeated Iberian chroniclers accounts, allowing us a new prism for understanding the construction of Reconquista ideology. * Simon R. Doubleday, Professor of History, Hofstra University, USA *

Author Bio

Alun Williams is Honorary Research Fellow at University of Exeter, UK.