Resumen de Alfonso VIII and Las Navas de Tolosa
This essay begins with an epistemological approach, commenting on how a particular event is followed, by way of consequence, by a further chain of events; it is not meaningful to envision a simple relation of cause and effect. The event is better understood in a context in which processes and structures are most important. To assess the value of using the date of 1212 for historical periodization, we compare the events at Las Navas de Tolosa to the conquest of Toledo in 1085, and highlight what this event meant for the reign of Alfonso VIII. Finally, the essay concludes, the most important element in determining the significance of the battle is the consideration of how it was perceived by contemporaries and how it was recorded in memory.
