In both the Iberian Peninsula and the New World, the archive played a central role in the creation of borders. Through the alchemy of litigation and treaty mediation, the paperwork of fictional claims was transformed into lines on the ground.  

Christian cultural practice in the Iberian Peninsula belies a lingering paganism in the Peninsula well after we assume the total defeat of organized pagan religion: you just have to know where to look.

Did the 'lady in the lake' motif of Arthurian legends make it to Castilian via an Arabic chivalric tradition? 

The first example of chivalric romance in the Iberian Peninsula was written in Arabic.  

Over the past few years I have used this space mainly as a sounding board for ideas and arguments that I worked into my book In Defense of Religious Moderation. Looking back over those posts I can see the progression of the project, even down to the change of title, and relive some of the debates that informed it and criticisms that enriched it.

The Spanish national soccer (football) team earned the title of World Champion for the next four years, after its 1-0 win over the Netherlands on Sunday, July 11. The following day the national team returned to Spain, specifically to Madrid, for a triumphal procession through the capital city where they greeted throngs of screaming fans. Their chariot—an open-air bus—proclaimed not only their championship but also their conquest of the world.