Law, Culture and Regionalism in Early Medieval Spain

Roger Collins deals here with the history of Spain, specifically Christian Spain, in the period from the 6th to the 10th century - from the Visigoths, through the time of the Arab conquests, up to the end of the era of Carolingian dominance across the Pyrenees. Particular emphasis, indeed, is placed upon the importance of this Pyrenean region, in the lands now known as France as well as those in Spain, with the author also calling into question the received notion of an Aquitanian identity in the 5th-9th centuries. Of the themes running through this volume, that of regionalism is most evident here and in the articles on the Basques, but appears equally, for instance, in the study on the relations between Merida and the Visigothic government. Similarly, legal and cultural themes provide the focus for the articles on the workings of Visigothic law in the 9th-10th centuries, or on the intellectual culture of Navarre, but recur in other parts of the collection. Two of these articles appear for the first time in English, while a third has been re-written for this volume and others supplied with additional notes or illustrations. Roger Collins traite ici de l’histoire d’Espagne et, plus particulièrement, de celle de l’Espagne chrétienne entre le 6e et le 10e siècle: des Visigoths jusqu’à la fin de l’hégémonie carolingienne au nord du pays, en passant par les conquêtes arabes. L’importance de la région pyrénéenne, recouvrant des terres qui font de nos jours partie de la France ainsi que de l’Espagne, est soulignée par l’auteur, qui remet par ailleurs en question l’idée reçue d’identité aquitaine qui prévalait entre le 5e et le 9e siècle. Certains thèmes légaux et culturels forment la base d’articles sur le fonctionnement du droit visigoth aux 9e et 10e siècles, ou encore sur la culture intellectuelle de la Navarre et ressurgissent à d’autres endroits de la collection. Le régionalisme reste cependant le plus prédominant

Roger Collins