Was the Story of Cortés Plagiarized from Arabic?
The mythic stories of the Spanish conquest of Mexico seem to have been largely taken from earlier tales of the Muslim conquest of southern Spain.
The Power of the Veil for Spanish Women
In sixteenth-century Spain, veiling allowed women to move freely through cities while keeping their identities private.
Nostalgia for Manly Men in Seventeenth-Century Spain
Moralists found it easy to criticize Spanish men, particularly the high-born among them, for all sorts of supposed failures of masculinity.
How the Fascists Rewrote Spanish National History
National origin stories can be the stuff of fancy. Francoist Spain also showed how quickly those stories could be rewritten.
The Bizarre Marvels of Segundo de Chomón, Father of Spanish Cinema
Segundo de Chomón made “trick films” that experimented with color and temporality, influencing the surrealist work of Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí.
The Paintings That Tried (and Failed) to Codify Race
Casta paintings of the eighteenth century tried to show who was who in New Spain. But reality was much more complicated.
What Did Franco’s Spain Do to Spanish Music?
Contemporary Spanish genres like flamenco and zarzuela still carry the weight of cultural associations with Franco’s fascist regime.
Is Don Quixote to Blame for Modern Movie Reboots?
The culture industry has long repackaged content from the past for the present. Just look at Miguel de Cervantes’s Don Quixote.
Two Women of the African Slave Resistance
African women, always a minority in the slave trade, often had to find their own ways of rebellion against slavery if they could.
When C-Sections Were Performed to Save Dead Babies’ Souls
In 1804, Charles IV, King of Spain, issued a legal admonition telling officials not to bury any pregnant woman without giving her a C-section first.