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Title: Early Medieval Spain: Unity in Diversity, 400-1000 (New Studies in Medieval History) by Roger Collins ISBN: 0-312-12662-X Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Pub. Date: September, 1995 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $26.95

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Average Customer Rating: 4 (2 reviews)

Rating: 5
Summary: An Excellent Comprehensive History of Early Medieval Spain
Comment: In "Early Medieval Spain," Collins describes the background to the 711 Arab conquest, the establishment of an Umayyad Arab state, and the reemergence of the Christian kingdoms in the north of the peninsula. Overall, Collins' style is sometimes dry yet objective; his source criticism and analysis are notably excellent. Collins does a particularly thorough job of demonstrating how Roman influences in Hispania (Iberia, al-Andalus, or Spain whichever you prefer) permeated the Visigothic period.

Following the Visigothic era, Collins discusses tha Arab/Berber conquest. He then discusses the establishment of the Umayyad caliphate as well as the difficulties the Umayyads, not unlike the Visigoths, had in maintaining control over the peninsula. In doing so, Collins analyzes numerous sources in discussing the complex nature of Iberia, while steadily progressing through six centuries of history. By the end of the tenth-century, the Christian kingdoms in Northwestern Spain began to reemerge as a power in the peninsula. Collins details this reemergece beginning with Pelagius' revolt and the establishment of the kingdom of the Asturias. As the Christian kingdoms emerged, they also began to increase their interaction with the rest of Europe. One interesting connection was between the Cluny monastary and the kingdoms of Leon and Castile. Eventually, the combined kingdoms of Leon and Castile would become the biggest donors to the monastery of Cluny. This becomes significant since Castile played a leading role in the Reconquest and Cluny became the monastery where the idea of crusade was discussed.

Overall, "Early Medieval Spain" is a comprehensive work carried out in a very scholarly fashion. It includes excellent appendixes that document the different rulers--Islamic, Christian, and Roman--which increases the value of the work. This makes "Early Medieval Spain" an excellent choice for a standard text of this particular era.

Rating: 3
Summary: It should be "Iberia", not "Spain"
Comment: Although I found the book very useful and reliable for research of early medieval Iberia, I must emphasize the following: The use of "Spain" to indicate the Iberian Peninsula (and vice-versa) is not correct since in our times it refers only to one of the countries located there. Living in the Iberian Peninsula throughout the whole timespan covered by this book there were NOT ONLY the ancestors of the Spanish but also of the Portuguese people. Everybody knows (and obviously also the authors of the book) that until the XV century there was NOT a single country named "Spain" (just a series of kingdoms which would unite under such name)! Even Portugal, one of the oldest countries in Europe still mantaining its original borders, was not a independent country until the XII century, just three centuries before Spain...

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