Imperator Totius Hispaniae? Military Leadership, the “Reconquista” and Imperial Authority during the Reign of Alfonso VII (r. 1126-1157)

This is the third and final installment of my short series on the Chronica Adefonsi Imperatoris (for part I: https://ballandalus.wordpress.com/2015/05/08/the-coronation-of-1135-and-the-question-of-empire-in-kingdom-of-castile-leon-in-the-12th-century/ and part II: https://ballandalus.wordpress.com/2015/05/11/the-chronica-adefonsi-imperatoris-ca-1148-cluniac-historiography-and-imperial-sovereignty-in-12th-century-iberia/) which has sought to explore some of the implications of Alfonso VII’s imperial coronation in 1135 in both contemporary chronicles as well as modern scholarship. In this piece, I want to look a bit more concretely at how the Chronica seeks to represent the authority of Alfonso VII by looking particularly at two elements: the role of military leadership and the role of Alfonso VII as a “holy warrior” against Islam in the Iberian peninsula.

Royal Authority and Rebellious Nobles: Alfonso VII as Virtuous Christian Prince and Pacifier of the Realm

From the outset, it is important to note that the Chronica Adefonsi Imperatoris is not the only source in which Alfonso VII is designated as imperator, since this title appears to have been utilized quite regularly from 1126 onwards in royal charters issued in the kingdom of León. [1] However, the Chronica is perhaps the most important twelfth-century text which clarifies in concrete terms what this title was intended to convey with regard to royal sovereignty. The chronicler declares that God worked His will through Alfonso VII “so that the salvation of the people of Christ in the midst of the earth might be achieved” in order to underscore the relationship between his sovereign’s reign and the divinely-ordained destiny of the Christian peoples in the Iberian peninsula.[2] Alfonso is also depicted as succeeding his mother, Queen Urraca (r. 1109–1126), and acceding to the throne of León with divine endorsement.[3] He is represented throughout the text as a just sovereign who is concerned with peace and security throughout the realm since it was conducive to Christian unity in the face of an increasingly-powerful Muslim threat.[4]

The Chronica Adefonsi Imperatoris (ca. 1148): Cluniac Historiography and Imperial Sovereignty in 12th-Century Iberia

In my previous post, I attempted to highlight the significance of the imperial coronation of Alfonso VII in 1135 and highlight the various historiographical debates surrounding this moment in Iberian history (https://ballandalus.wordpress.com/2015/05/08/the-coronation-of-1135-and-the-question-of-empire-in-kingdom-of-castile-leon-in-the-12th-century/). In this piece, I want to shed further light on one particular text–the Chronica Adefonsi Imperatoris–which is essentially a pro-Alfonsine historical chronicle that can greatly illuminate how Alfonso VII and his court sought to represent the sovereign’s imperial claims in light of the complex cultural and geo-political reality of 12th-century Iberia.

The Coronation of 1135 and the Question of “Empire” in Kingdom of Castile-León in the 12th Century

The emergence of the unified monarchy of León-Castile in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries is perhaps one of the most significant developments in the history of Iberia, and one which was to have long-lasting consequences for the religious, political, and cultural configuration of the Iberian peninsula. While traditional Spanish (national) historiography has tended to depict this political development as an inevitable reemergence of a “united Spain” following the rupture inaugurated by the Muslim conquest, more recent scholarship has tended to be wary of such an essentializing approach in which there is institutional and ideological continuity drawn between the Visigothic monarchy and the Christian kingdoms of northern Iberia. Rather than viewing the emergence of the kingdom of León-Castile as a natural political evolution, modern historians have emphasized the importance of the Muslim-Christian frontier in Iberia and the process of Christian conquest and settlement, known as the Reconquista, at the expense of al-Andalus (Muslim-ruled Iberia) as central to the rise of the Christian kingdoms of northern Spain between the tenth and twelfth centuries.