Power of Cities

"The Power of Cities focuses on Iberian cities during the lengthy transition from the late Roman to the early modern period, with a particular interest in the change from early Christianity, to the Islamic period, and on to the restoration of Christianity. Drawing on case studies from cities such as Toledo, Cordoba, and Seville, it brings together for the first time recent research in urban studies that includes both archaeological and historical sources. Against the common portrayal of these cities characterised by discontinuities due to decadence, decline and invasions, it is instead a continuity, a so-called slow change, transformation, that can be regarded as the defining marker. Sabine Panzram and the volume contributors provide available data sufficient to arrive at a new interpretation, understanding the history of cities as a continuum of structural changes, and suggesting to rewrite the history of the Iberian Peninsula from their perspective. Contributors are Javier Arce, María Asenjo González, Antonio Irigoyen López, Alberto León Muñoz, Matthias Maser, Sabine Panzram, Gisela Ripoll, Torsten dos Santos Arnold, Isabel Toral-Niehoff, Fernando Valdés Fernández, and Klaus Weber"--