Fernando Arias Guilln - The Triumph of an Accursed Lineage

The Triumph of an Accursed Lineage analyses kingship in Castile between 1252 and 1350, with a particular focus on the pivotal reign of Alfonso XI (r. 13121350).

This century witnessed significant changes in the ways in which the Castilian monarchy constructed and represented its power in this period. The ideas and motifs used to extoll royal authority, the territorial conceptualisation of the kingdom, the role queens and the royal family played, and the interpersonal relationship between the kings and the nobility were all integral to this process. Ultimately, this book addresses how Alfonso XI, a member of an accursed lineage who rose to the throne when he was an infant, was able to end the internal turmoil which plagued Castile since the 1270s and become a paradigm of successful kingship.

This book will appeal to scholars and students of medieval Spain, as well as those interested in the history of kingship.

Fernando Arias Guilln is a Ramn y Cajal Fellow at the University of Valladolid, Spain. His research focuses on kingship in Castile, particularly during the reign of Alfonso XI (r. 13121350).

Studies in Medieval History and Culture

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The Triumph of an Accursed Lineage

Kingship in Castile from Alfonso X to Alfonso XI (1252-1350)

Fernando Arias Guilln

For more information about this series, please visit: https://www.routledge.com/Studies-in-Medieval-History-and-Culture/book-series/SMHC

First published 2021

by Routledge

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2021 Fernando Arias Guilln

The right of Fernando Arias Guilln to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

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British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Arias Guillen, Fernando, 1983- author.

Title: The triumph of an accursed lineage : kingship in Castile from Alfonso X to Alfonso XI (1252-1350) / Fernando Arias Guillen.

Description: First edition. | New York : Routledge, 2021. |

Series: Studies in medieval history and culture | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2020031205 (print) | LCCN 2020031206 (ebook) |

ISBN 9780367512279 (hardback) | ISBN 9781003052920 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Alfonso XI, King of Castile and Leon, 1311-1350. |

Alfonso X, King of Castile and Leon, 1221-1284. | Castile (Spain)HistoryAlfonso XI, 1312-1350. | Castile (Spain)HistoryAlfonso X, 1252-1284. |

MonarchySpainHistoryTo 1500. | Power (Social sciences)SpainHistoryTo 1500. | SpainPolitics and governmentTo 1479.

Classification: LCC DP141.3 .A756 2021 (print) | LCC DP141.3 (ebook) |DDC 946/.3020922dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020031205

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020031206

ISBN: 978-0-367-51227-9 (hbk)

ISBN: 978-1-003-05292-0 (ebk)

To Anna

Alfonso X, Sancho IV, Fernando IV, and Alfonso XI. Compendio de crnicas de reyes del Antiguo Testamento, gentiles, cnsules y emperadores romanos, reyes godos y de los reinos de Castilla, Aragn, Navarra y Portugal (14th c.), f. 37v38r

Biblioteca Nacional de Espaa (Madrid)

This book was made possible by the Ramn y Cajal Fellowship (RYC2018-025440-I) I was awarded by the Spanish Government, the research project El ejercicio del poder: espacios, agentes y escrituras (siglos XI-XV) (ref. HAR2017-84718-P) which I am part of, and the programme MOVILIDAD INVESTIGADORES UVa-BANCO SANTANDER 2019, which funded my research stay in Madrid in March 2019. I also want to thank the Archivo Histrico Nacional (Madrid), the Archivo Histrico de la Nobleza (Toledo), the Biblioteca Nacional de Espaa (Madrid), Patrimonio Nacional, and the Archivo Municipal de Toledo for allowing me to use images of their fantastic privilegios rodados, the Compendio de crnica de reyes, and of the famous sculpture of Santiago del Espaldarazo (Monastery of Las Huelgas, Burgos) in this book.

I am most grateful to Ana Rodrguez. Her encouragement and feedback helped me immensely when writing the first draft of this book, and her comments and suggestions have always been poignant and useful. There is also a long list of friends and colleagues from St Andrews, Vitoria, Zaragoza, and Valladolid with whom I have had the opportunity to discuss some, and in some cases all, of the topics analysed in this work and whose observations, remarks, questions, and support have been of enormous value: Guillermo Toms, Ekaitz Etxeberra, Chris Given-Wilson, Simon MacLean, John Hudson, Jos Ramn Daz de Durana, Jon Andoni Fernndez de Larrea, Juanjo Larrea, Ernesto Pastor, Francesca Tinti, Pascual Martnez Sopena, Carlos Reglero, Mario Lafuente, lvaro Sanz, and Mauricio Herrero. I am indebted to all of them for their help. In the case of Mauricio Herrero, I am also thankful that he and Francisco Molina allowed me to use the picture of Alfonso XIs royal seal they took at the monastery of Las Huelgas in Valladolid. I also want to thank the two reviewers, for their salient comments and suggestions, and Michael Greenwood and Stewart Beale from Routledge and the team at River Editorial for their editorial work.

I am very thankful to Jeremy Roe, who corrected my English on countless occasions and gave me very poignant feedback. The maps were made by Rubn Cascado, to whom I am most grateful. I would also like to thank Nieves Osorio, the secretary of the Departamento de Historia Antigua y Medieval de la Universidad de Valladolid, for her invaluable help throughout this project.