News

To the Membership:

Our triennial elections had a solid turnout, and have selected as the new President of AARHMS:

Maya Soifer Irish, Associate Professor of History, Rice University

Simon Doubleday now assumes the position of Former President, and retains ex officio, a seat on the AARHMS' Executive Board.

The election for Secretary-Treasurer confirmed for re-election to that same post: 

Miguel D. Gómez, Lecturer of History, Dayton University.

Thanks to all who voted in these elections, and best wishes to Maya and Miguel as they embark on their new, three-year term.

I would like to thank the American Academy of Research Historians of Medieval Spain for their generous support of my research through the 2017 Junior Scholar Travel Grant. This award facilitated my participation in the bi-annual conference of the Society for the Medieval Mediterranean at the University of Ghent in July 2017. For this conference, I organized a panel with other junior scholars with the title “Political Ideology and the Search for Legitimacy in Twelfth- and Thirteenth-Century al-Andalus.” The panel explored the exercise and expression of power in different Muslim kingdoms and taifastates, and examined how leaders projected their authority through a range of materials and forums to their subjects with varying degrees of success. The fruit of this research bridges a gap in the narrative of medieval Spanish history about Andalusi politics after the collapse of the taifa states and the rise of Magrebi regimes on the peninsula. 

I also provided a paper for the panel, “A Taifa in Exile: The Survival of the Banu Hud in the Twelfth Century and Beyond,” which represents the first chapter of a new book. The project traces the history of the Banu Hud over the course of two centuries, examining how the exiled Zaragozan dynasty participated in Andalusi political affairs and exercised power in the face of Magrebi and Christian overlordship and conquest. This particular chapter establishes trends in the Banu Hud’s political platform after their exit from Zaragoza, showing how one Hudid leader used Islamic political traditions, coinage, and a network of fellow exiles to become a symbol of resistance and solidarity.

The panel’s focus on the fashioning of legitimacy fit well within the conference’s theme of “Communities, Imaginations and Emotions in the Medieval Mediterranean” and generated a productive discussion after the panel about future directions for research. I am particularly grateful for the support of the AARHMS through this grant as it allowed me to present a new project to a diverse body of distinguished scholars from around the world. With the feedback that I received during and after the panel, I look forward to incorporating my notes from the conference into the project as I go forward with the monograph. Many thanks again to the grants committee and fellow members of the AARHMS.

The American Academy of Research Historians of Medieval Spain (AARHMS) welcomes applications for our newly-created AARHMS Junior Scholar Travel Grants. In 2017, AARHMS will offer three grants of $500 each in support of travel for research or conference presentations in the field of medieval Iberian history.

Qualifications and Scope: The grant program is open to US citizens or permanent residents wishing to travel abroad for research or conference presentation, and to non-US citizens who wish to travel to the US for one of these purposes. All applicants must be active members of AARHMS, and must either be enrolled in doctoral programs or have received their doctorate within the previous five years.

Application Process:  Applicants must send a current CV, a letter of application explaining how they intend to use the grant, a brief external letter of endorsement, and a simple proposed budget. Applicants for a conference travel grant must also provide proof of their acceptance on an academic conference panel. All applications must be submitted as PDF files, via email, to the Secretary of AARHMS, at sec.tres.AARHMS@gmail.com.  Please submit any questions to the same email address. Applications must be submitted by May 15, 2017.

Conditions: The names of successful applicants will be announced by May 31, 2017. Grants will be directly payable to the awardees, who will be asked to write a reflection on their travel and experiences for the AARHMS website blog. All publications resulting from research or conference presentations supported by the grant must acknowledge the support of AARHMS.

In collaboration with the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas in Madrid and Princeton's departments of Art & Archaeology and History, the Index of Christian Art will sponsor a two-day interdisciplinary conference, “The Medieval Iberian Treasury in the Context of Muslim-Christian Interchange,” on 19-20 May 2017.

The medieval treasury offers an extraordinary material witness to the desires, aspirations, and self-conception of its creators. Treasuries could function as sources of gifts (and obligations) for their allies, as prestigious private storehouses for ostentation before an elite audience, or as financial reserves that could be made use of in times of need. Luxury items from non-Christian cultures, such as the many Islamic objects that found their way into church treasuries, or those made from materials of great intrinsic value, such as ivory, gold, silver, or silk, became even more valuable if the piece were turned to a sacred use. We will examine these dimensions of the treasury by giving special emphasis to the rich holdings of the royal-sponsored monastery of San Isidoro de León in northern Spain. Taken as a whole, both texts and objects offer a rich body of evidence for interdisciplinary investigation and serve as a springing point for larger questions about sumptuary collections and their patrons across Europe and the Mediterranean during the central Middle Ages.

Hosted at the Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies, the conference brings together international and US scholars from multiple disciplines and professions, with specializations including Islamic law and sumptuary production, Christian chronicles, patronage and royal studies, identity and gender studies, and political history across the cultures of medieval Spain. The diversity of questions and perspectives addressed by these scholars will shed light on the nature of treasury collections, as well as on the broad efficacy of multidisciplinary study for the Middle Ages.

For further information, contact Pamela Patton: ppatton@princeton.edu

SPEAKERS

THOMAS BURMAN, ROBERT M. CONWAY DIRECTOR OF THE MEDIEVAL INSTITUTE, UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME

        “Seeing and Not Seeing Islam in Twelfth-Century Europe”

ANA CABRERA, VICTORIA & ALBERT MUSEUM, AND MARÍA JUDITH FELICIANO, INDEPENDENT SCHOLAR AND DIRECTOR, “MEDIEVAL TEXTILES IN IBERIA AND THE MEDITERRANEAN”

      “Medieval Textiles in León in the Iberian and Mediterranean Context”

JERRILYNN DODDS, SARAH LAWRENCE COLLEGE 

      “The Treasury, Beyond Interaction”

AMANDA DOTSETH, MEADOWS MUSEUM, SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY AND PRADO MUSEUM, MADRID

      “Medieval Treasure and the Modern Museum: Christian and Islamic Objects from San Isidoro de León” 

MARIBEL FIERRO, INSTITUTO DE LENGUAS Y CULTURAS DEL MEDITERRÁNEO Y ORIENTE PRÓXIMO, CONSEJO SUPERIOR DE INVESTIGACIONES CIENTÍFICAS

      “Christian Relics in al-Andalus” 

JULIE HARRIS, SPERTUS INSTITUTE FOR JEWISH LEARNING AND LEADERSHIP

      “Jews, Real and Imagined, at San Isidoro and Beyond” 

EVA HOFFMAN, DEPARTMENT OF ART AND ART HISTORY, TUFTS UNIVERSITY

      “Arabic Script as Text and Image on Treasury Objects across the Medieval Mediterranean” 

JITSKE JASPERSE, INSTITUTO DE HISTORIA, CONSEJO SUPERIOR DE INVESTIGACIONES CIENTÍFICAS

      “Set in Stone: Questioning the Portable Altar of the Infanta Sancha (d. 1159)” 

BEATRICE KITZINGER, DEPARTMENT OF ART AND ARCHAEOLOGY, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY

      “The Treasury, a Material Witness to Long-Distance Contact and Pivot Point for Interdisciplinary Exchange” 

EDUARDO MANZANO, INSTITUTO DE HISTORIA, CONSEJO SUPERIOR DE INVESTIGACIONES CIENTÍFICAS

      “Beyond the Year 900: The ‘Iron Century’ or an Era of Silk?” 

THERESE MARTIN, INSTITUTO DE HISTORIA, CONSEJO SUPERIOR DE INVESTIGACIONES CIENTÍFICAS

      “Ivory Assemblage as Visual Metaphor: The Beatitudes Casket in Context” 

PAMELA A. PATTON, INDEX OF CHRISTIAN ART, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY

      “Demons and Diversity in León” 

ANA RODRÍGUEZ, INSTITUTO DE HISTORIA, CONSEJO SUPERIOR DE INVESTIGACIONES CIENTÍFICAS

      “Narrating the Treasury: What Medieval Iberian Chronicles Choose to Tell Us about Luxury Objects” 

ITTAI WEINRYB, BARD GRADUATE CENTER

      “The Idea of North”

https://ica.princeton.edu/conferences/

The annual race for funding from the Ministerio de Cultura, Educación y Deporte begins tomorrow: 

http://www.mecd.gob.es/mecd/servicios-al-ciudadano-mecd/catalogo/general/cultura/201577/ficha.html

Members will be delighted to know that, when so many other organizations are suffering, AARHMS is excited to be launching a series of new programs designed to help promote scholarship on the Medieval Iberian world.

Details will be coming soon from the Secretary-Treasurer, Miguel Gomez, who will be spearheading these new projects, with help from the executive board and with the continued support of active and involved members.

An announcement from the organizers of the annual Royal Studies Network's Kings & Queens Conference:

We are delighted to announce that the call for papers for Kings & Queens 6: ‘In the Shadow of the Throne’ is now open. The conference will be held in Madrid, hosted by UNED and will take place 12-15 September 2017. Deadline for proposals is 30 March 2017 and please note that we have 20 bursaries for postgraduate students and early career scholars. Full details can be found on the Royal Studies Network website: http://www.royalstudiesnetwork.org/k-q-conference-series

If your research intersects with queenship and/or royal studies you might be interested in the Royal Studies Journal/CCCU prize scheme. We offer two prizes, one for the best monograph in the field and another specifically for postgraduate students/early career scholars for the best article/chapter. The prize is £50 and for the article/chapter prize, the winning piece will be published in our open access electronic journal. Prizes will be conferred at the K&Q6 conference in Madrid and submissions are now open-deadline for nominations is 15 May 2017. For more information on the prizes, including the guidelines and nomination forms, seehttp://www.rsj.winchester.ac.uk/index.php/rsj/pages/view/CCCU

News from our sister society, the Association for Spanish and Portuguese Historical Studies, about their annual round of prizes :

The ASPHS offers three prizes for excellence in scholarship in Iberian history. To be eligible, authors must be current members of the ASPHS. All prizes have a call for submissions in the fall of each year and are awarded the following spring.

On a three-year rotation, the Association offers a prize for the best dissertation award, the best first article award, and best first book award. Prizes carry an honorarium of $250. Click here for more information on this year’s award and call for submissions.

In 2007 ASPHS held the first competition for the A.H. de Oliveira Marques Prize in Portuguese History. The prize was created through an endowment from Dr. Harold Johnson, and it carries an honorarium of $250. Click here for more information on the Oliveira Marques prize and call for submissions.

The annual Bishko Prize, in honor of Professor Charles Julian Bishko, recognizes the best article on medieval Iberian history published by a North American scholar. The prize carries an honorarium of $250. Click here for more information on the Bishko Prize and call for submissions.

The American Academy in Rome supports innovative artists, writers, and scholars living and working together in a dynamic international community. Founded in 1894, the Academy is the oldest American overseas center for independent study and advanced research in the arts and humanities. A not-for-profit, privately funded institution, the Academy awards the Rome Prize to thirty emerging artists and scholars who represent the highest standard of excellence and who are in the early or middle stages of their working lives. The winners are invited to Rome to pursue their work in an atmosphere conducive to intellectual and artistic experimentation and interdisciplinary exchange. The Rome Prize consists of room and board, a stipend ($28,000 for full-term fellowships; $16,000 for half-term fellowships) and separate work space, and privileged access to Rome. Rome Prize winners are the core of the Academy's residential community, which also includes Affiliated Fellows, Residents and Visiting Artists and Visiting Scholars.

The deadline for the nationwide Rome Prize competition is Tuesday, November 1, 2016. Applications will also be accepted between November 2-15, 2016. 

AARHMS Call for Papers (Leeds International Congress, 3-6 July 2017): Roundtable, “Alterity in Medieval Iberia”

As part of its ongoing commitment to research, scholarship, and community-building among scholars of the Medieval Iberian and Western Mediterranean worlds, the American Academy of Research Historians of Medieval Spain (AARHMS) plans to host a roundtable at the 2017 International Medieval Congress at the University of Leeds.

We seek welcome participants interested in addressing any form(s) of otherness/alterity, as they relate to culture and gender, religion and ethnicity, or the (ins)significance of frontiers, and to any parts of the Iberian Peninsula. We welcome encourage early career researchers as well as more advanced scholars. Send a working title and very short abstract indicating themes you wish to address by September 27 to simon.r.doubleday@hofstra.edu or Kyle.Lincoln@kzoo.edu

Participants should ensure their membership of AARHMS in advance of the International Medieval Congress.