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" Many Waters: An Environmental History of Valencia, 1300-1500 "
Abigail Newton Agresta
Freedman, Paul H.
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Latin Dissertation
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| Language of Document
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English
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| Record Number
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804069
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| Doc. No
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TL48882
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| Call number
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1813539642; 10150423
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| Main Entry
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Makke, Racha
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| Title & Author
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Many Waters: An Environmental History of Valencia, 1300-1500\ Abigail Newton AgrestaFreedman, Paul H.
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| College
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Yale University
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| Date
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2016
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| Degree
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Ph.D.
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| student score
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2016
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| Page No
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388
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| Note
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Place of publication: United States, Ann Arbor; ISBN=978-1-369-05336-4
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| Abstract
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How did medieval people think about the environments in which they lived? In a world shaped by the hand of God, how did they understand their own capacity for action? This dissertation is an analysis of the relationship between God, human beings, and nature, as imagined by the city council of Valencia in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. It argues, first, that the landscape of Valencia was understood to be a human construction, shaped primarily by human will. Second, that the ways in which the city council sought to shape this landscape, particularly within the city, reflect their understanding of its religious past and present. And third, that the council's religious responses to natural disaster were not the result of ignorance or helplessness, but rather moves to stake a claim for the city on a special relationship with God. This relationship was best articulated by Dominican preacher and Valencia native Vicent Ferrer, who described Christians as the legitimate children of God, Jews and Muslims as his bastard children, and nature as a surly slave girl charged with their care. Though nature was understood to act independently of her master, her agency was not considered legitimate, and her whims presented opportunities for Christians to claim their status as God's true-born children.
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| Subject
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European history; Medieval history
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| Descriptor
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Social sciences;Environmental History;Jews;Medieval Spain;Natural Disasters;Water Projects
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| Added Entry
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Freedman, Paul H.
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Yale University
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