The uses of the medieval past in late sixteenth-century Spanish historiography: Esteban de Garibay and Juan de Mariana

This article analyzes the uses of the medieval past in late sixteenth-century historiography through a comparative study of the Compendio Historial (1571) by the Basque historian Esteban de Garibay and the Historia general de España (1601) by the Castilian historian Juan de Mariana. It argues that medieval history was mobilized to legitimize competing visions of España, and to negotiate historiographical authority within the constraints of royal service, confessional discipline, and censorship. While Garibay employed medieval erudition as symbolic capital to support territorial plurality and advance his career within royal structures, Mariana used medieval authority as a normative framework for moral and political critique, showing how the medieval past served to articulate distinct political and historiographical positions. This reveals the importance of medieval historiography and the medieval past in the ideological construction of Early Modern imperial discourses.