Premio del Rey
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. See the list of past recipients.
The general rules for submission are:
- 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.
- 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 2018 or 2019 are eligible for the 2020 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.
- 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: Given the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 crisis, we are adjusting the submission process for AHA Book Prizes:
- Nominators must complete the online prize submission form by MAY 15.
- When possible, nominators are also encouraged to send hard copies (or e-books, if hard copies are unavailable) by the May 15 deadline to provide prize committees with ample time to review submissions.
- However, we are extending the deadline to receive hard copies of books by JUNE 15.
Entries will not be returned. Recipients will be announced on the AHA website in October 2020 and recognized during a ceremony at the January 2021 AHA annual meeting in Seattle.
For questions, please contact the Prize Administrator.
Contact Information for Committee Members
Send one copy to each committee member and complete the prize submission form (above).
| Brian Catlos Univ. of Colorado, Boulder Dept. of Religious Studies Humanities 282 292 UCB Boulder, CO 80309 brian.catlos@colorado.edu |
Adam Kosto 141 Lodges Ln. Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004 ajkosto@columbia.edu |
Janina Safran PO Box 513 Lemont, PA 16851 jxs57@psu.edu |
2018 Premio del Rey
Michelle Armstrong-Partida, University of Texas at El Paso
Defiant Priests: Domestic Unions, Violence, and Clerical Masculinity in Fourteenth-Century Catalunya (Cornell Univ. Press)
This meticulously researched and documented book uses diocesan visitation records to show that a majority of parish priests in late medieval Catalonia cultivated marriage-like relationships and utilized violence to maintain authority in their communities. Grounded in the history of gender, violence, and the family, and in regional and church history, Defiant Priests challenges commonplace assumptions about clerics in post-Gregorian, post-Lateran IV Europe. Michelle Armstrong-Partida’s evidence and conclusions will be important for Iberianists and medievalists of all stripes.