The Kingdom of León-Castilla under King Alfonso VII, 1126-1157 by Bernard F. Reilly (review)

608book reviews The Kingdom of León-Castilla under King Alfonso VLL, 1126-1157. By Bernard F. Reilly. [The Middle Ages Series.] (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. 1998. Pp. xv, 431. $65.00.) This volume completes a trilogy that encompasses the history of the Iberian kingdom of Leon-Castile from 1065 to 1157.Earlierworks(1982,1988) dealt with the reigns of Alfonso VI and his daughter Urraca. The present study extends through the reign of the grandson,Alfonso VII, and affords Bernard Reilly an opportunity to revisit a number of issues and to reflect upon the character of monarchy and government during the foundational century of this realm. The first four chapters are chronological in organization. They successively (1) summarize the reigns ofAlfonsoVLTs predecessors,(2) treat the difficulties of the succession , (3) explore Alfonso VIFs relations with the other Christian realms of Iberia, and (4) examine the king's contribution to the Hispanic reconquista. Five chapters are topical and treat (5) the institution of kingship, (6) the royal curia and counts, CJ) local officers of the crown, castellans, and merinos, (S) royal military and fiscal resources,(9) bishops and royal policy toward the Church,and (10) the towns and the appearance of concejos. The final chapter (1 1) is an appraisal of the king,who is judged to be strong, energetic, but above all traditional. The work is well edited and helpfully places notes where they belong, at the foot of each page. Given the importance of place names, the absence of maps is bothersome, and puzzling is a subsequent reference to Ramiro II of Aragon (p. 61) as Sancho II. Reilly's work is foundational, if sometimes unwieldy. On the one hand, it is pioneering in its efforts to reconstruct the diplomatic record—for the reign ofAlfonso VII amounting to a thousand royal diplomas and another thousand private documents, which are calendared in an appendix and rated according to their trustworthiness. With this material, supplemented by the two narrative chronicles of the reign, Reilly provides a patient reconstruction of the royal itinerary , establishes a chronology of events,excavates the names of prominent nobles , bishops, and court officials, dates the larger meetings of the royal curia, and estimates the size of the royal army, its capabilities, and underlying needs and resources. Reilly admirably fulfills his stated objective of providing "an adequate history" of the reign; this will serve as the essential point of departure for any who seek to follow in his footsteps. Reilly is a cautious historian who refuses to push his sources beyond any reasonable level of inference; indeed, there are frequent cautions about the reliability of underlying documentation. Consequently, apart from a few interesting discussions of episcopal, capitular, and military institutions,there is a reluctance to generalize and an aversion to the construction of models. Reilly would surely argue that such prudence is dictated by the paucity and character of the sources (principally property donations) and the personal and peripatetic nature of this kingship, whose institutions were only just beginning to crystalize. Yet, because the result of this sort of approach is an encyclopedic laying out of fact, this work will be useful principally to scholars as a work of reference; stu- BOOK REVIEWS609 dents seeking a broader overview would be better directed toward other works, such as Reilly's earlier Contest of Christian and Muslim Spain (1992). Nevertheless, the entire trilogy, and this final volume in particular, is a remarkable achievement that provides a solid foundation for our understanding of this era of medieval Spanish history. James William Brodman University ofCentralArkansas The Letters ofHildegard ofBingen,Volume II. Translated byJoseph L. Baird and Radd K. Ehrman. (New York: Oxford University Press. 1998. Pp. xv, 215. $45.00.) The appearance of the second volume of translations of Hildegard's letters, almost four years after the first (see ante, LXXXII [July, 1996], 542-543), is an event to be welcomed. It makes accessible, in readable and accurate translations , another tranche of Hildegard's correspondence. This volume includes letters to and from members of religious orders whose location can be established, starting with correspondents from Ellwangen and finishing, at letter 217, with Trier. The arrangement follows the order of Van...