Spanish History Collections

Introduction

The Spanish collection is one of the best collections of sources and reference works for Spanish history in Britain. The collection covers the history of Spain from the Visigothic period to modern times. There is an extensive amount of material relating to the medieval Kingdoms, especially Castille and Aragon, Habsburg Spain and the twentieth century. There is particular emphasis on material covering the Spanish Civil War, with a range of resources from historical texts to personal narratives.

One of the highlights of the collection is the large concentration of regional and local material. This includes many archives of particular regions, from various different sources, including government and church records. The diverse history of Spain is reflected in the regional materials, with works in Castilian, Catalan, Galician, Basque and Arabic. The material includes substantial sub-collections on Catalonia, Andalucía and Castile as well as works covering all other Spanish regions.

The collection reflects the diverse history of Spain, covering the history of the kingdoms of Medieval, Early Modern and Modern Spain. Religious history is represented as well, including information on Catholics and Jews in Spain, and Arabic language materials covering Islamic Spain.