Building Context: The Church of San Julian De Los Prados and Medieval Architecture in the Kingdom of Asturias (718-910)

This dissertation investigates the date, patronage and style of King Alfonso IIs (d. 842) extant church of San Julin de los Prados in Oviedo, Spain. More specifically, I challenge traditional methods of dating the building, which almost exclusively depend on the repetition of unreliable medieval Asturian chronicle sources and antiquarian records. I arrive at the proposed date for the church (812-842) by broadening the conventional scope of analysis to include the combined impact of the Islamic Conquest of the Iberian Peninsula (711), King Alfonso IIs Visigothic bloodline, his stance against the Adoptionist controversy in the late eighth century, and his diplomatic ties with Charlemagne. This assessment builds upon an analysis of the kings political aspirations and his desire to propagate a sovereign, unchallenged rule. I similarly challenge problematic terminology, specifically the Mozarab label, that continues to saturate the discourse and perpetuate separatist views of Spanish history. In addition to the above, I provide a detailed catalogue of medieval Asturian buildings, wherein the architecture and historiography of fourteen related churches in the northwest of Spain are analyzed; each church plays a fundamental role in our understanding of San Julin de los Prados and its complex history. Though my dissertation is primarily a study of architecture, it is heavily informed by post-colonial and religious acculturation methodologies, concepts of artistic and architectural transmission, and medieval iconography.