Abstract
This essay brings the medieval past into dialogue with contemporary portrayals of Muhammad XI, known as Boabdil, the last Muslim king of Granada, who surrendered his city to the Catholic Monarchs Fernando and Isabel in 1492. The discussion evaluates his ambivalent status as both tragic victim and hero and focuses on his representation in twenty-first century television. Boabdil is centre stage in Vicente Escrivá’s Réquiem por Granada (1990), while the Moorish ruler plays a key role in the series Isabel (2012–2014), which charts the life of the Castilian queen. Their opposing perceptions of Boabdil and the fall of Granada shed fresh light on the adaptation of medieval history for television, and on the nature and status of the last Muslim ruler in Spain.
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Drayson, E. (2018). Televising Boabdil, Last Muslim King of Granada. In: North, J., Alvestad, K., Woodacre, E. (eds) Premodern Rulers and Postmodern Viewers . Queenship and Power. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68771-1_15
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