Warrior Neighbours. Crusader Valencia in its International Context, Collected Essays of Father Robert I. Burns, SJ

Fr. Robert I. Burns (auth). Mary Elizabeth Perry (ed) Pages: 387 p. Illustrations:7 b/w, 2 tables b/w. Language(s):English, Latin, Spanish. Publication Year:2013. Brepols. ISBN: 978-2-503-53215-8. Hardback -- SUMMARY This volume presents the impressive corpus of studies by Robert I. Burns, S.J., on the topic that he has spent a half-century exploring in meticulous detail: the Crusader Kingdom of Valencia. These studies focus on one of Europe’s greatest medieval monarchs, James the Conqueror of Aragon-Catalonia, who made an enduring contribution to Western civilization. James I ‘the Conqueror’ conquered Mediterranean Spain from Islam during fifty crusading years (1225–1276). Not only did he contend with ‘infidel’ powers around him, he frequently vied with warring Christian neighbours. This book presents a rich depiction of King James’s warrior neighbours, Muslim and Christian, from the king who was his greatest ally and greatest rival, Alfonso X the Learned (1212–1284), to the redoubtable and resourceful al-Azraq, a Muslim adventurer, rebel, and leader of one of the most formidable Islamic countercrusades in Spain. These studies illuminate such themes as cultural conflict and interchange, border tensions and frontier relations, medieval warfare and crusading, piracy, brigandage and reprisals, grievance management, medieval queenship and papal relations, the role of Jews in a pluri-ethnic kingdom, Mudejars and Moriscos, and the warrior heroes of Islam. King James presided over a society more complex than any in Christendom, and these studies unlock the details of this stunning achievement. Robert I. Burns, S.J., Ph.D. (Johns Hopkins University), Doc. es Sc. Hist. (Fribourg University, Switzerland), was Professor Emeritus of History at UCLA and Director of the Institute of Medieval Mediterranean Spain. He was an elected Fellow of the Medieval Academy of America, and of the Hispanic Society of America, and a Guggenheim Fellow. His distinctions include the Haskins gold medal of the Medieval Academy of America, seven national book awards, eight honorary doctorates, and the Order of the Cross of St George. TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements and Editorial Comment - Mary Elizabeth Perry Introduction - Paul Freedman Chapter 1. Castle of Intellect, Castle of Force: The Worlds of Alfonso the Learned and Jaume the Conqueror Chapter 2. Warrior Neighbours: Alfonso the Learned (El Sabio) and Crusader Valencia — an Archival Case Study in his International Relations Chapter 3. The Many Crusades of Valencia’s Conquest (1225–80): An Historiographical Labyrinth Chapter 4. How to End a Crusade: Techniques for Making Peace in the Thirteenth-Century Kingdom of Valencia Chapter 5. Almohad Prince and Mudejar Convert: New Documentation on Abū Zayd Chapter 6. Daughter of Abu Zayd, Last Almohad Ruler of Valencia: The Family and Christian Seigniory of Alda Ferrándis, 1236–1300 Chapter 7. Regalo para una madre: una muchacha esclava musulmana del nieto de Abu Zayd, el senor de Borriol (1301) Chapter 8. The Crusade against al-Azraq: A Thirteenth-Century Mudejar Revolt in International Perspective Chapter 9. A Lost Crusade: Unpublished Bulls of Innocent IV on al‑Azraq’s Revolt in Thirteenth‑Century Spain Chapter 10. La guerra de al-Azraq de 1249 Chapter 11. A Medieval Earthquake: Jaume I, al-Azraq, and the Early History of Onteniente in the Kingdom of Valencia Chapter 12. The Loss of Provence. King Jaume’s Raid to Kidnap its Heiress (1245): Documenting a ‘Legend’ Chapter 13. The Crusade against Murcia: Provisioning the Armies of Jaume the Conqueror, 1264–67.…