ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an idealized portrait of warring, reconquering Castilians. It examines the structures of rural and urban life in medieval northern Castile, that is, how peasants, artisans, and merchants did their work, lived from day to day, succeeded and failed in small but meaningful struggles of everyday life. The chapter explores to chart the impact of the late medieval crisis on the social and economic structures of northern Castile. Studying history through social and economic structures, Teofilo Ruiz highlights long-term continuities between the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Ruiz's connection with Spanish history is tied to his family's roots in the land north of the city of Burgos in Old Castile. Ruiz shares an empathy for the land and people of Castile and his personal experiences intertwine with historical evidence to instill a quality of deeply felt understanding in his scholarship on Spain. Studying history through social and economic structures, Ruiz highlights long-term continuities between the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.
