The King and the Whore, King Roderick and la Cava (The New Middle Ages)

2008 Palgrave hardcover edition. Ex library copy with stamps and labels else good condition. From the cover: This book charts the history of the reception of Spain’s founding legend, the eighth-century story of King Roderick and La Cava, which lies at the heart of the most important era of Spanish history. The study explores the continuous appropriation of the story in diverse artistic forms from the Middle Ages to the present, within Spain and other European countries as well as in Latin America and the United States, as a means to confront political crises, issues of national identity, gender, and the nature of history and fiction. The last Visigothic king of Spain’s passion for the beautiful La Cava which led to the Muslim conquest of Spain has engaged the talents of such figures as Lope de Vega, Georg Friedrich Handel, Sir Walter Scott, and the contemporary Spanish novelist Juan Goytisolo, fostering a legend of perennial relevance whose evolution will appeal to all readers interested in Spain, Islam, and the West. CONTENTS: Introduction 1 The Birth of a Legend 2 Cultural Filters: Roderick and La Cava through the Eyes of Medieval Historians 3 True and False Histories: The Case of the Master Forger Miguel de Luna 4 Metamorphosis into Song 5 New Life in Drama and Music: From Poetry to Theatre 6 Censored!-The Eighteenth Century 7 Romanticism and Renewal 8 Multiple Perspectives in Hispanic Romanticism 9 The Once and Future King Conclusion Appendix 1 Genealogy of the Crónica de 1344 Manuscripts (according to Cintra) Appendix 2 Visual Images of King Roderick and La Cava.…