CiSEM

Cultures and Societies of the Middle Ages

Detail Research lines Projects Publications Collaboration Theses

Date of inception 28 November 2014

The group's research revolves around the study of the Middle Ages, both from a strictly historical perspective and from the perspective of written culture, art history and didactics, which are the different areas of knowledge to which the member researchers belong. The aim of this diverse research activity, which is at the same time united by its focus on the final centuries of the Middle Ages, is to try to understand and make explicit the complexity of European societies that were much more dynamic and changing than is usually considered. The analysis is based on a concentric vision that reaches from the ancient Kingdom of Valencia to the Crown of Aragon, and from there to the western Mediterranean as a whole. Starting, therefore, from the local reality, the aim is a comparative approach that makes it possible to identify the common trends and explain the particularities and their whys and wherefores. Given the wealth of sources of all kinds that the panorama of medieval studies in the Valencian Country presents, and the tradition of research that has been typical of this University for some decades, research on this period is currently enjoying a great boost, recognised both at national and international level. The medieval kingdom of Valencia can thus constitute one of the privileged laboratories for the understanding of a fundamental period of the European past, only comparable, due to the possibilities of its archives, with Catalonia or some regions of Italy. This abundant and rich raw material allows us to tackle a wide range of subjects and raise a wide range of questions as part of a major research project. Given the size of the group, and the presence in it of specialists from different areas of knowledge, the aim is also to consolidate multidisciplinary studies that include political, economic and social history, the history of culture, the history of mentalities, the history of art, archaeology and the study of territory, among others. This research activity takes the form of five lines of research, supported by five funded projects: The study of the fundamental change that took place with the Christian conquest of the former Sharq al-Andalus and the implementation of the feudal system, with the consequent demographic, economic, social and spatial transformations... The configuration of a macrocephalic kingdom, a kingdom conceived for its capital, Valencia, which articulated around it the economic, but also the social, political and cultural realities of its territory, with a peculiar version of rural-urban relations in the Middle Ages. This arrangement corresponds to a society in which its elites were basically concentrated in the capital, and formed an urban patriciate that tried to monopolise power and at the same time present itself as the spokesman for the interests of the kingdom. The formation of this ruling class is therefore also fundamental to the explanation of the historical development of the country. Within this elite, the group of converts from Judaism stands out. Their integration into the majority society and into the machinery of power, and the imposition of the inquisitorial court as a filter for this process, is another line of research to be followed. This society, basically urban in its behaviour, gave rise to an abundant and refined literary production, and used writing as a means of expression and communication. The edition of medieval Valencian texts and their contextualisation therefore all

CiSEM

Cultures and Societies of the Middle Ages

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Contributors

Former members (13)

Researchers