Women, new churches, and the Conquest of Granada
Supervisor: Dr Tom Nickson
Advisor: Professor Susie Nash
Funded by Consortium for the Humanities and Arts South-East England (CHASE)
This thesis examines the patronage systems through which the new churches of Granada were furnished following the conquest of the Nasrid Kingdom in 1492.
The conquest of Granada by Queen Isabella of Castile and King Ferdinand of Aragon signified the conclusion of Muslim rule in Western Europe. The subsequent forced conversion of the Muslim population and the transformation of mosques into churches between 1500 and 1501 marked the conclusion of centuries of Christian consolidation on the Iberian Peninsula, a process controversially referred to as the Reconquista. In the period between 1492 and 1570, the city of Granada alone saw the construction of 25 parishes, 22 religious houses, and over a dozen sanctuaries and chapels. The rapid establishment of numerous churches gave rise to an urgent campaign to furnish them with Christian images and liturgical objects.
This research project focuses on a group of religious foundations with the aim of addressing vital questions regarding the individuals involved in the process of Christianisation and how they exploited the city’s changing religious landscape at a time of mass migration, conversion and religious change on the borders of Christian Europe. In this way, the dissertation will shed critical light on a moment considered as a watershed between medieval and modern, and instrumental in Europe’s relationship with Islam.
Research Interests:
- Patronage
- Muslim-Christian relationships
- Art and politics
- Self-fashioning and identity making
Education:
2022 – present: PhD, Courtauld Institute of Art.
2016-2017: MA History of Art, Courtauld Institute of Art, Special Option: Art in Northern Europe c. 1380-1500. Reinterpreting the Object (taught by Susan Jones).
2013-2026: BA (Hons) in the History of Art, University of Warwick
Research Grants:
Travel Grant, Casa de Velázquez, École des Hautes Édutes Hispaniques et Ibériques.
Research done in collaboration with the project MARCAM (Grant PID2021-128754NA-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033 and “ERDF A way of making Europe”).
Relevant Work Experience:
2019 – 2021: Enriqueta Harris Frankfort Curatorial Assistant, Wallace Collection. Funded by the Centro de Estudios Europa Hispánica (CEEH)
2017 – 2019: Cataloguer of Old Masters and Nineteenth-century Paintings, Christie’s, London