King Alfonso VIII of Castile

King Alfonso VIII of Castile: Government, Family and War brings together a diverse group of scholars whose work concerns the reign of Alfonso VIII (1158-1215). This was a critical period in the history of the Iberian peninsula, when the conflict between the Christian north and the Moroccan empire of the Almohads was at its most intense, while the political divisions between the five Christian kingdoms reached their high-water mark. From his troubled ascension as a child to his victory at Las Navas de Tolosa near the end of his fifty-seven-year reign, Alfonso VIII and his kingdom were at the epicenter of many of the most dramatic events of the era.

Contributors: Martin Alvira Cabrer, Janna Bianchini, Sam Zeno Conedera, S.J., Miguel Dolan Gomez, Carlos de Ayala Martinez, Kyle C. Lincoln, Joseph O’Callaghan, Teofi lo F. Ruiz, Miriam Shadis, Damian J. Smith, James J. Todesca

Author Biography

Miguel Gómez (Edited By) Miguel Gómez is Lecturer in History at the University of Dayton, and is finishing a manuscript on the crusade of Las Navas de Tolosa. His articles have appeared in the Anuario de la Historia de la Iglesia, and in 2012 he edited a special volume of the Journal of Medieval Iberian Studies about the campaign of Las Navas de Tolosa. Kyle C. Lincoln (Edited By) Kyle C. Lincoln is Visiting Assistant Professor at Kalamazoo College. His articles have appeared in the Anuario de la Historia de la Iglesia and the Revista Chilena de Estudios Medeivales. His doctoral thesis investigated the Church in the Kingdom of Castile during the reign of Alfonso VIII of Castile. Damian J. Smith (Edited By) Damian J. Smith is Professor of History at Saint Louis University. His works include Innocent III and the Crown of Aragon (Aldershot, 2004), Crusade, Heresy, and Inquisition in the Lands of the Crown of Aragon (Leiden, 2010), and the English-language translation, with Helena Buff ery, of the Llibre dels Feits of James I of Aragon (Aldershot, 2003).