Escribiendo la reconquista: la consolidación de la memoria histórica en el Portugal del siglo XII

Abstract

During the twelfth century the Portuguese experienced a high level of political and social upheaval as the military threat posed by neighbouring states was compounded by a cultural challenge from Latin Christian Europe. In an effort to provide context to their own society many Portuguese looked to the distant past. A number of authors working in Portugal during this period presented a distinctive view of the eighth-century Arabic invasions, the subsequent Reconquista, and the evolving relationship between Christian and Muslim in the Iberian Peninsula. In their efforts to contextualise their own world, these authors also provide the modern reader with a unique insight into a rapidly changing medieval frontier society.