Crusade and Colonisation

The history of the Reconquista - the Christian reconquest of Spain from the Arabs - has proved an increasingly stimulating field of historical research. On the one hand, the struggle forced Spanish society into a mould which then shaped the course of its expansion into the Americas, on the other it gave rise to a unique process of accommodation and acculturation. Dr Lourie here concentrates on the realms of the Crown of Aragon in the 12th-14th centuries. The first articles deal with the evolution of the crusading spirit, with geopolitics, notably the rivalry between Aragon and Castille, and with the progress of Christian colonisation. The next section examines the conflicting demands of ideology, demography and colonisation, and includes one major new study on Christian ambivalence towards the Mudejars, the conquered Muslim population. Dr Lourie seeks to throw this attitude into sharper focus by comparing the Muslim situation with that of the Jews, and it is to the latter and their relations with Christians that her last five articles are devoted.