Premio del Rey Recipients
The Premio del Rey was established in 1990 by a generous gift from Rev. Robert I. Burns, SJ. It is to be awarded biennially for the best book written on the medieval periods in Spain’s history and culture, 500–1516 CE.
2014 Premio del Rey
Janina Safran, Pennsylvania State Univ.
Defining Boundaries in al-Andalus: Muslims, Christians, and Jews in Islamic Iberia (Cornell Univ. Press)
Safran’s book explores complex issues of ethno-religious identity and communal relations in al-Andalus after the eighth-century Muslim conquest and the implications of the elaboration and maintenance of community boundaries. Using complicated juridical texts, Safran traces how conversion, intermarriage, and acculturation complicated rigid notions of Islamic and non-Islamic identity and reveals the contingent and shifting nature of ethno-religious identity. It is a compelling and sophisticated book with applications beyond al-Andalus and Islamic world.