Past and Present in Medieval Spain

The studies included in this selection - the opening two being published for the first time - are concerned with various aspects of the history of Christian Spain between the 6th century and the 14th. A recurrent theme is that of the invention of the past: of the manner in which, for reasons which have seemed good to them, at different times and places, from Toledo in the 1240s to Cambridge in the 1920s, men have sought to appropriate and recolonise that past. Three more technical articles on the subject of 13th-century papal diplomatic in a Spanish setting illustrate the related activity of the invention of the future as reflected in the activity of the agents or proctors and others whose services were retained in order to ensure that it was their employer's particular view of the present that prevailed. Les etudes comprises dans cette selection, dont deux paraissent ici pour la premiere fois, traitent des differents aspects de l'histoire de l'Espagne chretienne entre le 6e et le 14e siecle. Un theme frequent est celui de l'invention du passe: la faA?on dont A differentes epoques et A differents endroits, de Tolede en 1240 A Cambridge en 1920, et pour des raisons qui lui semblent A?tre les bonnes, l'A?tre humain s'est efforce de s'approprier et de reconquerir le passe. Trois articles d'ordre plus techniques sur la diplomatique papale au 13e siecle dans un cadre espagnol, illustrent l'activite attenante qu'etait l'invention de l'avenir, telle qu'elle se traduisait au travers de l'action d'agents, de fondes de pouvoir et autres, dont les services etaient requis afin que la vision du present de leurs employeurs prevale.