King Alfonso VIII of Castile

A basic symbol of medieval Castile was the reconquest knight who spent his life in warfare against Iberia's Muslim population. By the thirteenth century, kings assumed this profession, repeatedly leading armies against Muslim territory. One of the most interesting of these leaders was Alfonso VIII of Castile and León (r. 1158–1215), who stands as one of Castile's great sovereigns.This collection of articles by American and Spanish scholars reflects the strong links of Iberianists on both sides of the Atlantic. The eleven contributions focus on one of the great figures of the reconquest and his long reign that marked the beginning of the end of Muslim power on the Peninsula. The result is a multifaceted, well-written, and well-edited contribution to the study of Castile's ascendance over both Christian and Muslim Spain.After a basic discussion of Alfonso's importance as a warrior, lawmaker, political leader, diplomat, and patriarch, Teofilo Ruiz briefly reviews the aims and accomplishments of this collection. On the surface, there seems little to link these studies except for the core provided by through the life, accomplishments, and even failures of Alfonso VIII himself. To more easily engage in the description of these works, I divide my discussion of them into three groups: kingship, royal propaganda, and the royal family, warfare, and the relations of Alfonso's reign with political, religious, and even cultural leaders.With Alfonso's significance for other Castilian kings of the thirteenth century, such as Fernando III (r. 1217–52) and Alfonso X (r. 1252–82), royal status and its advancement though his family is thoroughly studied in this collection. Joseph O'Callaghan discusses Alfonso's royal image as it is presented through the preambles of his various types of letters. Like his predecessors, Alfonso described himself as the “king of Spain” who fulfilled his office through the defense of his people, realm, and the Church. These documents never forgot the king's principal opponents, the Muslims, who attacked the “Cross of Christ” and thus had to be defeated. James Todesca explores a significant line of royal propaganda connected with the issuance of gold and silver denarius as well as a gold morabitino Alfonsino. This second type of money was an extremely well-received coinage across the Mediterranean and, as such, reinforced the perceived importance of the king's reign.Alonso's deep concern for his family is addressed by several of the collection's papers. Miriam Shadis discusses the strong family to emerge from the king's marriage to the English princess, Leonor. While this match produced the strong yet tragic Prince Fernando, his death in 1212 left the royal couple's daughters Berenguela and Blanca to carry Casilian influence into Leonese and Navarrese marriages. This surfeit of strong Castilian women underpins Janna Bianchini's study of the Infantazgo, the means by which such princesses were supported through the revenues of fortresses and other properties. While this practice had markedly decreased during Alfonso VIII's reign, Berenguela's husband, Alfonso IX of León, extended his control over this funding so fully that the queen bitterly opposed his actions even after their marriage was annulled.Not surprising, given Alfonso VIII's military record, some of the collection's articles focus on warfare. Carlos de Ayala Martínez follows the king's crusading policy through the various phases of his reign. As a child under an aristocratic regency, Alfonso witnessed repeated campaigns against Almohad outposts that were reinforced by constant papal pressure for war against Spanish Islan. With his shameful defeat at Alarcos, Alfonso pulled away from holy war until 1212, when the influence of Archbishop Rada aided in his drive toward the great victory at Las Navas. As discussed by Sam Zeno Conedera, this triumph was largely due to the king's constant royal support of the Iberian military orders, which provided his armies with first-rate professional troops. The greatest military achievement of the Castilian king took place in the summer of 1212 with the stunning victory of Las Navas de Tolosa. Miguel Gómez, following the largely firsthand account of Archbishop Rada and those of other Castilian chroniclers, leads the reader from Alfonso's cautious attitude toward the Almohads after Alarcos to the king's growing belligerence against Islam after 1210, an attitude strongly influenced by his son, Fernando, and the archbishop. Gómez then provides a detailed discussion of how the battle proceeded.The last essays on Alfonso's world focus on his relations with foreign, secular, religious, and cultural leaders. Damian Smith expertly reviews the king's checkered relationship with late eleventh- and early twelfth-century popes. These disagreements largely centered on the king's attitude to war with Islam as the papacy defined it. Martín Alvira Cabrer explores Alfonso's friendship with Pedro II of Aragon (1196–1213), long a favorite of the papacy until his death at Miret (1213) fighting with the defenders of southern France. This friendship, no matter how defined, did lead both sovereigns in 1212 to test their martial fates when they stood together at Las Navas.The last articles of this collection center on Alfonso's most stalwart supporters and hated enemies. Kyle Lincoln studies the Castilian episcopate throughout the king's reign by assessing the social origins from which these prelates originated and their qualifications for service as bishops. Most were native Castilians, but others, like Archbishop Rada, hailed from other Iberian realms. Though a few were from great families, most hailed from “middling” clans and gained their training in cathedral chapters. Thomas Burman astutely shows how Christian writers during Alfonso's era used Almohad theological treatises to more skillfully oppose the message of Islam. The “summary of doctrine” (kal ā m) had long been used by Almohad theologians to argue against Christianity, but Spanish Christians successfully adopted this method against their Muslim enemies. Like so much else in medieval Spain, then, even apologetics demonstrated the marks of opponents who fought bitterly for the last word.This collection, a melding of Spanish and American research, is one of the finest gatherings of articles on one of medieval Castile's greatest rulers. The authors and editors are to be congratulated for the thoroughly professional product they have brought to both general and academic readers

Ancient history · Archaeology · Knight · Monarchy · Peninsula · Political science · Politics · Population · Power (physics · Reign · Royal family · Sociology · Classics · Demography · Historical Studies of Medieval Iberia · History · Law · Medieval History and Crusades · Medieval Iberian Studies

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