
Conquerors, Brides, and Concubines
Interfaith Relations and Social Power in Medieval Iberia
Simon Barton(Author)
University of Pennsylvania Press
Published on 5. February 2015
Book
Hardback
280 pages
978-0-8122-4675-9 (ISBN)
Description
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.
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.
Reviews / Votes
"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)More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Pennsylvania
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Product notice
Paper over boards
Illustrations
5 illus.
Dimensions
Height: 231 mm
Width: 160 mm
Thickness: 28 mm
Weight
590 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-8122-4675-9 (9780812246759)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Simon Barton
Conquerors, Brides, and Concubines
Interfaith Relations and Social Power in Medieval Iberia
E-Book
01/2015
1st Edition
University of Pennsylvania Press
€68.99
Available for download
Howard W. Risher
The Negro in the Railroad Industry
Book
01/1971
University of Pennsylvania Press
€4.96
Article exhausted; check different version
Person
Simon Barton is Professor of History at the University of Exeter and author of A History of Spain.
Content
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
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