This volume, inspired by the influential work of Robert I. Burns, S.J., one of the deans of American scholarship on medieval Spain, focuses on the relationship of Spain to the rich mosaic of cultures which bordered the medieval Mediterranean. The essays in this volume address such general topics as war, economy and society in landscapes as varied as the Crown of Aragon and the Balkans. Reflecting the wide-ranging but interconnected research interests of Father Burns himself, this volume maps the contours of the Iberian power and weakness in the centuries immediately preceding Spain’s ascent as a world power.