Sensory History and the Religious Conversion of Granada, Spain

Aaron Stamper, Postdoctoral Fellow, ERC-sponsored, “Female Slavery in Mediterranean Catholic Europe, 1500-1800” (FemSMed), School of Historical Studies, Tel Aviv University.

This video presents a brief description of sensory history as a method of historical inquiry. Our conversation considers the sensorial experiences of Muslim converts in Granada, Spain, following the Catholic conquest of the city and wider-region, in 1492. We reflect on how a broader study of the senses can bring us closer to the everyday lives of Granada’s converted population. Further, we discuss how these methods enrich our understanding of the past and contribute to the broader discipline of history. 

Video

Further Reading

  • Mark M. Smith, A Sensory History Manifesto (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2021).

  • Olivia Remie Constable, To Live like a Moor: Christian Perceptions of Muslim Identity in Medieval and Early Modern Spain (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2018).

Discussion Questions

  1. What can the five senses tell us about the past?

  2. What sources can we use to unpack how people understood sound, smell, taste, sight, and touch, in different places and time?

Cite

Stamper, Aaron. "Sensory History and the Religious Conversion of Granada, Spain," Middle Ages for Educators, February 21, 2025. Accessed [date].https://middleagesforeducators.princeton.edu/sensory-history-and-religious-conversion-granada-spain