[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-38846-en":3,"doc-seo-38846-105":29,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":83},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":20,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":20,"is_downloadable":20,"audit_status":20,"page_count":21,"language":22,"language_code":23,"site_id":24,"html_lang":23,"table_of_contents":25,"faqs":26,"seo_title":13,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":27,"read_time":28},38846,1099513958762,"Logic","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/1000023916a998db790?x-image-process=image/resize,m_fixed,w_180,h_180&k=1782109480056885918",8,"Research & Report","Beyond Convivencia: Critical Reflections on the Historiography of Interfaith Relations in Christian Spain","This article critically examines convivencia as a foundational but increasingly problematic concept in medieval Iberian studies. It argues convivencia functions more as an impediment than an analytical tool because attempts to reshape it have not succeeded. The piece challenges the insistence on a distinct Ibero-Islamic model for interfaith coexistence, noting limited evidence for Islamic influence in Christian Spain. It further analyzes the field’s polarization between “tolerance” and “persecution,” and the neglect of power relations shaping Jewish–Christian–Muslim coexistence.","Journal of Medieval  \nIberian Studies  \nISSN: 1754-6559 (Print) 1754-6567 (Online) Journal homepage: [http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ribs20](http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ribs20)  \nBeyond convivencia: critical reflections on the historiography of interfaith relations in Christian Spain  \nMaya Soifer  \nTo cite this article: Maya Soifer (2009) Beyond convivencia: critical reflections on the historiography of interfaith relations in Christian Spain, Journal of Medieval Iberian Studies, 1:1, 19-35, DOI: 10. 1080/17546550802700335  \nTo link to this article: [https://doi.org/10.1080/17546550802700335](https://doi.org/10.1080/17546550802700335)  \n Published online: 27 Feb 2009.  \n\n|  Submit your article to this journal  |\n| --- |\n|  Article views: 3589 |\n|  View related articles  |\n|  Citing articles: 14 View citing articles  |\n\nFull Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at [http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=ribs20](http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=ribs20)  \nJournal of Medieval Iberian Studies Vol. 1, No. 1, January 2009, 19–35  \nBeyond convivencia: critical reflections on the historiography of interfaith relations in Christian Spain  \nMaya Soifer*  \nIntroduction to the Humanities, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA  \nWhile Américo Castro’s convivencia remains an influential concept in medieval Iberian studies, its sway over the field has been lessening in recent years. Despite scholars’ best efforts to rethink and redefine the concept, it has resisted all attempts to transform it into a workable analytical tool. The article explores the malaise affecting convivencia, and suggests that the idea has become more of an impediment than a help to medieval Iberian studies. It argues that convivencia retains some of its former influence because scholars insist on understanding it asa distinctly Ibero-Islamic phenomenon. However, this article suggests that the evidence for Islamic influence on interfaith coexistence in Christian Spain is scarce. Instead of continuing to embrace the nationalist myth of Spain’s unique status in medieval Europe, scholars need to acknowledge the basic similarities in the Christian treatment of religious minorities north and south of the Pyrenees.  \nThe article also explores other aspects of convivencia’s problematic legacy: polarization of the field between “tolerance” and “persecution,” and the inattention to the nuances of social and political power relations that affected Jewish–Christian–Muslim coexistence in Christian Iberia.  \nKeywords: convivencia; toleration; Américo Castro; Jews; interfaith relations;  \nIslamic influence on medieval Europe  \nAs Robert I. Burns once remarked, the frontier – “a heroic place to take one’s stand”  \n– is to any progressively minded person a Good Thing.1 So, one might presume, is medieval convivencia, the putative “living together” of Jews, Muslims, and Christians. Ever since Américo Castro put the concept into wide circulation in 1948, it has been exerting steady influence on the field of medieval Iberian studies.2 It is easy to see why. Like S.D. Goitein, who felt “quite at home” in the free-trade Mediterranean world of the Geniza collection, professional and lay historians alike were often captivated by the notion of medieval Spain’s religious toleration, which they often painted in broad strokes as a prefiguration of the modern western ideal of inter-religious  \n*[Email: msoifer@stanford.edu](Email: msoifer@stanford.edu)  \n1Burns,“The Significance of the Frontier,” 307.  \n2Originally published as España en su historia. Cristianos, moros y judíos (Buenos Aires: Editorial Losada, 1948), it has been revised and reprinted numerous times. I use the 1971 English edition, The Spaniards: An Introduction to Their History, translated by W. King and S. Margaretten (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1971), as well as a 2001 reprint of the 1983 Spanish edition published by Editorial Crítica (Barcel","cbCaiiyfRuWxrbIi","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiiyfRuWxrbIi","pdf",216271,1,18,"English","en",105,"# Introduction\n## Convivencia’s influence and limits\n## Reframing interfaith coexistence and evidence","[{\"question\":\"What broader problems in the historiography does the article highlight beyond the Islamic-influence debate?\",\"answer\":\"It points to polarization between “tolerance” and “persecution,” along with a lack of attention to the nuanced social and political power relations affecting Jewish–Christian–Muslim coexistence.\"}]",1783073931,45,{"code":4,"msg":30,"data":31},"ok",{"site_id":24,"language":23,"slug":32,"title":13,"keywords":33,"description":14,"schema_data":34,"social_meta":78,"head_meta":80,"extra_data":82,"updated_unix":27},"beyond-convivencia-critical-reflections-on-the-historiography-of-interfaith-relations-in-christian-spain","",{"@graph":35,"@context":77},[36,53,68],{"@type":37,"itemListElement":38},"BreadcrumbList",[39,43,47,50],{"item":40,"name":41,"@type":42,"position":20},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":44,"name":45,"@type":42,"position":46},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":48,"name":12,"@type":42,"position":49},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":51,"name":13,"@type":42,"position":52},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/beyond-convivencia-critical-reflections-on-the-historiography-of-interfaith-relations-in-christian-spain/38846/",4,{"url":51,"name":13,"@type":54,"author":55,"headline":13,"publisher":57,"fileFormat":60,"inLanguage":23,"description":14,"dateModified":61,"datePublished":62,"encodingFormat":60,"isAccessibleForFree":63,"interactionStatistic":64},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":56},"Person",{"url":40,"name":58,"@type":59},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-07-08","2026-07-03",true,{"@type":65,"interactionType":66,"userInteractionCount":20},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":67},"ViewAction",{"@type":69,"mainEntity":70},"FAQPage",[71],{"name":72,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":74},"What broader problems in the historiography does the article highlight beyond the Islamic-influence debate?","Question",{"text":75,"@type":76},"It points to polarization between “tolerance” and “persecution,” along with a lack of attention to the nuanced social and political power relations affecting Jewish–Christian–Muslim coexistence.","Answer","https://schema.org",{"og:url":51,"og:type":79,"og:title":13,"og:site_name":58,"og:description":14},"article",{"robots":81,"canonical":51},"index,follow",{"doc_id":7,"site_id":24},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":84},[85,89,93,97,102,107,112,115,120,123,127],{"id":20,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":86,"show_sort_weight":87,"slug":88},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":90,"show_sort_weight":91,"slug":92},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":94,"show_sort_weight":95,"slug":96},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":98,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":99,"show_sort_weight":100,"slug":101},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":103,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":104,"show_sort_weight":105,"slug":106},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":108,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":109,"show_sort_weight":110,"slug":111},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":11,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":12,"show_sort_weight":113,"slug":114},30,"research-report",{"id":116,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":117,"show_sort_weight":118,"slug":119},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":118,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":121,"show_sort_weight":118,"slug":122},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":124,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":125,"show_sort_weight":124,"slug":126},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":128,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":129,"show_sort_weight":98,"slug":130},19,"General","general"]