Faculty

Nicolás Agrait

Associate Professor

B. A., Yale UniversityM.A., Fordham University Ph.D., Fordham University

nicolas.agrait@liu.edu

Description

Professor Agrait is a specialist in medieval Spain, specifically the kingdom of Castile in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. His dissertation and subsequent research has focused on military practice and institutions in Castile during the first half of the fourteenth century. He is currently taking part in the semester-long workshop "Alfonso XI: A New Deal" addressing the manifold developments in mid-fourteenth-century Castile during and after the reign of Alfonso XI (1312-50).

Specialties

World Civilization, Western Civilization, Medieval Europe, Medieval Spain, Military History

Publications

• "Trying to overcome an impregnable city: the sieges of Algeciras, 1279-1344," Medieval Warfare Magazine, Vol. 9: 6 (2020)
• "Por la guarda de la mar: Castile and the Struggle for the Sea in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries," Journal of Medieval Military History Vol. 13 (2015)
• “The Castilian Navy During the Reign of Alfonso XI (1312-50),” chap. in The Emergence of León-Castile c. 1065-1500; Essays Presented to J.F. O’Callaghan. Ed. James Todesca (Farnham, 2015)
• "La inteligencia militar en la Península Ibérica (1252-1350): métodos y usos," Revista de Historia Militar (Madrid) vol. 114 (2013)
• “El asta de la lanza: los mecanismos de financiación de la guerra durante el reinado de Alfonso XI (1312-50)," Gladius; Revista de estudios sobre armas antiguas, armamento, arte militar y vida cultural en oriente y occidente (2012)
  
• Author, The Battle of Salado (1340), Revisited," Journal of Medieval Military History Vol. 10 (2012)
• Medieval Warfare and Military Technology: An Encyclopedia 2010
  - Alfonso XI of Castile, vol. 1, pp. 29-30.
  - Algeciras, Sieges of (1278-79 and 1342-44), vol. 1, pp. 32-33.
  - Argilers, Siege of (1344), vol. 1, pp. 60-61.
  - Burriana, Siege of (1233), vol. 1, pp. 267-68.
  - Caballeros Villanos (Urban Knights), vol. 1, pp. 311-12.
  - Fernando Antequera, vol. 2, pp. 41-42.
  - Gibraltar, Sieges of (1309, 1333 and 1350), vol. 2, pp. 209-10.
  - Heredía, Juan Fernández de, vol. 2, pp. 265-66.
  - Iberia 1300-1500 (Historiography), vol. 2, pp. 361-64.
• "Castilian Military Reform Under the Reign of Alfonso XI (1312-50)," The Journal of Medieval Military History vol. 3 (2005)
  
• "The Experience of War in Fourteenth-Century Spain: Alfonso XI and the Capture of Algeciras (1342-44)," chap. in Crusaders, Condottieri and Cannon
• "The Reconquest during Alfonso XI's Reign, 1312-1350," chap. in On the Social Origins of Medieval Institutions: Essays in Honor of Joseph F. O'Callaghan, ed. Donald J. Kagay and Theresa M. Vann (Boston, 1998)
  

Lectures and Presentations

Alfonso XI at 1350: A Missed Royalist Opportunity (May, 2019)
54th International Congress on Medieval Studies
Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI.

Ritual in Service to Royal Power: The Knighting and Coronation of Alfonso XI (1332) (March, 2019)
Ritual and Religion in the Medieval World: Conference in Honor of Richard F. Gyug
Fordham University, New York, NY

VII. Challenges of Cross-Disciplinary Teaching (October, 2011)
Long Island University-Brooklyn Teaching Narratives Conference

The Gathering of Military Intelligence in Thirteenth- and Fourteenth-Century Castile.” (May 2011)
46th International Congress on Medieval Studies
Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI.

Social Ritual, Propaganda and Royal Legitimation During the Reign of Alfonso XI (1312-50) (May 2009)
44th International Congress on Medieval Studies
Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI.

"Today Africa and all of its army shall be destroyed and forever shall the chivalry of Spain be honored!”: the Battle of Salado (1340) Revisited (May 2008)
43rd International Congress on Medieval Studies
Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI.

“Mitos persistentes de la guerra medieval (Persistent Myths Regarding Medieval Warfare) (April 2008)
La Edad Media; Sesgos y Prejuicios Historiográficos,
Universidad de Extremadura, Cáceres, España.

The Assembly and Finance of Navies in Fourteenth-Century Castile (May 2006)
41st International Congress on Medieval Studies
Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI

A Flashpoint in the Christian-Muslim Struggle: The Strait of Gibraltar, 1279-1379 (May 2005)
40th International Congress on Medieval Studies
Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI

Military Command Structures and the Definition of Merit in Fourteenth-Century Castile (February 2005)
Society for Military History Annual Conference
The Citadel, Charleston, SC

Military Reform Under the Reign of Alfonso XI (1312-50) (May 2004)
39th International Congress on Medieval Studies
Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI

Military Logistics During the Reign of Alfonso XI (May 2002)
37th International Congress on Medieval Studies
Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI

The Siege of Algeciras, 1342-44 in its Reconquest and Military Contexts (May 1997)
32nd International Congress on Medieval Studies
Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI

The Reconquista During Alfonso XI's Reign, 1312-50 (Sept. 1995)
Texas Medieval Association Conference, Trinity University, San Antonio, TX

Honors/Awards

USMA Military History Summer Seminar (June 2004)
United States Military Academy, West Point, NY

Fulbright Full Grant, Spain (1997/98)
Madrid

Senior Teaching Fellowship (1996/97)
Fordham University, Bronx, NY

Professional Associations

Academy of Research Historians of Medieval Spain

De Re Military: Society for the Study of the Military History of the Middle Ages

Society for Spanish and Portuguese Historical Studies

Medieval Academy of America

American Historical Association