Los acontecimientos del siglo VIII a la luz de la historiografía tradicional. Reflexiones en torno a una obra de Enrique Herrera Oria

Abstract

1299

The purpose of this study is to analyze how Spanish historiography in the latter half of the 19th century which was not carried out under the auspices of the Spanish Royal Academy of History (Real Academia de la Historia) framed the fall of the Visigoth kingdom and the Battle of Covadonga in romantic and nationalist terms; and to examine the ways in which that interpretation was reflected and reinforced in literary works. This approach discloses that the nationalist definition of the "reconquest" is of relatively recent provenance. Until the 19th century, the process begun by Pelayo was understood as a "restoration" of the pre-existing political order and of freedom to a Christian people, rather than as a struggle against a foreign enemy which had been waged continuously for seven hundred years. That latter position was adopted by historians during the 19th century as part of a project which sought to bolster the definition of collective identity in terms of the nation-state.

Keywords

Historiography, Nationalism, Reconquista, Spain XIX century, Middle Ages