In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Reviewed by:
  • The Wise King: A Christian Prince, Muslim Spain, and the Birth of the Renaissance by Simon R. Doubleday
  • Janna Bianchini
The Wise King: A Christian Prince, Muslim Spain, and the Birth of the Renaissance. By Simon R. Doubleday. (New York: Basic Books. 2016. Pp. xxix, 304. $29.99. ISBN 978-0-46-506699-5.)

In this highly readable new biography of Alfonso X el Sabio. of León-Castile, Simon Doubleday takes a fresh look at a ruler who styled himself "king of the three religions"—that is, of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. Alfonso X (r. 1252–1284) came to power in a kingdom that was struggling to absorb a vast amount of territory and people recently conquered from Muslim Iberia, and devoted himself to expanding his borders still farther. But he was also keenly aware of, and eager to participate in, the rich intellectual heritage created by generations of Muslim, Jewish, and Christian scholars in the lands he now ruled. He and the diverse scholars he patronized produced a dazzling array of books on a whole library of subjects, including history, [End Page 576] astrology, chess, the miracles of the Virgin, the properties of stones, and—perhaps most famously—law, in the great compendium known as the Siete partidas.

Doubleday uses this tour de force of cultural production as a lens through which to view the often tumultuous events of Alfonso's life and reign. The result is a gently humanizing portrait of the Wise King, which allows his personal aspirations and failures (he had plenty of both) to illuminate his creative and intellectual interests. Each of the nine chapters explores a theme of Alfonso's work—such as humor, friendship, medicine, or love—and relates it to significant episodes in his life. Yet the book's thematic structure also manages to be roughly chronological, so that the reader follows along the course of Alfonso's life from childhood to death. Double-day's skill in making this complex structure so accessible should not be overlooked.

The subtitle's reference to "the birth of the renaissance" may rouse medievalists' suspicions, accustomed as we are to the constant discovery of "renaissances" throughout the Middle Ages. But Doubleday is very clear that the late thirteenth century in León-Castile, culturally vibrant and innovative as it was, did not inaugurate the Italian Renaissance. Nevertheless, he argues, Alfonso's wide-ranging intellectual pursuits did not happen in a vacuum. Doubleday shows the broader European impact of Alfonso's work and patronage, ranging from a widely read treatise on astrology produced under his aegis to his personal acquaintance with the Florentine statesman and scholar Brunetto Latini. The book is thus a welcome reminder that later medieval Iberia had a profound cultural and political influence on the rest of western Europe, and was not merely a passive recipient of ideas and pressures from outside the peninsula.

The Wise King. is a welcome addition to Alfonsine studies. Impeccably researched, it is also easily accessible to a non-specialist audience, including undergraduates. One certainly hopes it will help acquaint a general English-speaking readership with this extraordinary Iberian monarch.

Janna Bianchini
University of Maryland
...

pdf

Share