Joseph F. O’Callaghan. Alfonso X, The Justinian of His Age: Law and Justice in Thirteenth-Century Castile. Ithaca, NY, and London: Cornell University Press, 2019, xiii, 374 pp.

Abstract

Abstract: Joseph O’Callaghan is one of most eminent and respected scholars of medieval Spanish history. Researchers studying the reign of Alfonso X have profited immeasurably from his earlier works, such as his 1993 book The Learned King: Alfonso X of Castile, Alfonso X and the Cantigas de Santa Maria: A Poetic Biography (1998), and Alfonso X, the Cortes and Government in Medieval Spain (1998). This volume, dealing with Alfonso’s law codes, addresses the evolution of the Learned King’s law-making and the impact that his legal treatises have had on the history of jurisprudence. The book is meticulously referenced, written in a clear and accessible style that makes it suitable for both students and scholars of the reign of Alfonso X.