The American Historical Association awards the Premio del Rey biennially for a distinguished book in English in the field of early Spanish history. It was endowed by a gift of Robert I. Burns, SJ, from his Llull and Catalonia prizes and covers the medieval period in Spain’s history and culture CE 500–1516.
The terms of the prize include works on Hispanic history and culture, including the Islamic and Jewish communities of medieval Spain as well as early New World topics prior to 1516. The current prize amount is $1,000.
The general rules for submission are:
- Only books of a high scholarly historical nature should be submitted. Research accuracy, originality, and literary merit are important factors.
- Books with a copyright of 2024 or 2025 are eligible for the 2026 award.
- Nomination submissions may be made by an author or by a publisher. Publishers may submit as many entries as they wish. Authors or publishers may submit the same book for multiple AHA prizes.
- Nominators must complete an online prize submission form for each book submitted. Once you fill out the form you will receive an email with the committee’s contact information.
- One copy of each entry must be sent to each committee member and clearly labeled “Premio del Rey Entry.” Print copies preferred unless otherwise indicated. If only e-copy is available, please contact review committee members beforehand to arrange submission format.
Please Note: The competition will open in mid-March 2026. Entries must be received by May 15, 2026, to be eligible for the 2026 competition. Entries will not be returned. Recipients will be announced on the AHA website in October 2026 and recognized during a ceremony at the January 2027 AHA annual meeting in New Orleans.
For questions, please contact the Prize Administrator.
Past Recipients
Current Recipient
Abigail Krasner Balbale, New York University
The Wolf King: Ibn Mardanīsh and the Construction of Power in al-Andalus (Cornell Univ. Press)
Abigail Krasner Balbale’s study explores the life and lasting legacy of Andalusī ruler Ibn Mardanīsh. Drawing on Latin and Arabic literary, administrative, and material sources, Balbale demonstrates what his rule and identity signified for medieval Christian and Muslim rulers within the Islamicate world and Iberian borderlands, thereby pushing against past scholarly tendencies to oversimplify the Christian–Muslim divide. Balbale shows how later generations refashioned their accounts of Ibn Mardanīsh to bolster their historical memories of al-Andalus as they grappled with Islam’s relation to the West, definitions of race, and models of rulership.