When Anthony Bale sits down to talk, you immediately sense his enthusiasm for the past, and above all, for recounting it. He is a professor of medieval literature at Cambridge University, but instead of confining himself to university lecture halls, he wanted to unleash his passion for travel in medieval times, breaking stereotypes and educating about what he describes as "tourism" of the Middle Ages. "Medieval travelers weren't so different from us," he says during the conversation with the ARA, "they also sought experiences, knowledge, and even entertainment. They wanted to see the world." He talks about it in the book. Travel guide to the Middle Ages, published in Spanish by Ático de los Libros

So much has been written about King Arthur that when American writer Lev Grossman (Lexington, 1969) wanted to approach him literary, he decided that this legendary character was dead. "Artur is both a king and a good man, but his past is full of terrible atrocities and bloody debts that must be paid. No matter how good he is, sooner or later they catch him and destroy him," explains the writer, best known for the previous trilogy, The magiciansWith the figure of Arthur absent and the kingdom dismantled, Grossman gave shape to the more than 800 pages of The Flashing Sword (Destino), a rich novel about the Knights of the Round Table after the death of their leader. The book, recently published in Spanish with a translation by Julio Hermoso, fuses history and fantasy and has been blessed by George R.R. Martin, the father of Game of Thunder.

Ernest Prunera (Sabadell, 1973) wanted to write a biography of Guifré el Pilós, but when he set about it he found that the information about that period, the second half of the 9th century, was "scarce and uncertain", so he changed his mind and allowed fiction into the project, which became one. When the storm passes (Column) imagines the childhood of Guifré el Pilós, when he was still a child without honors or glory. The book features Marwan, a young homosexual Muslim who acts as Guifré's tutor, and is the winner of the 29th Néstor Luján Historical Novel Award. "It's a very well-written work about a complex period in history," says Maria Carme Roca, a member of the award's jury, adding that one of the book's strengths is "how it explores a rarely fictionalized historical moment, transforming the lack of documentation into a freedom to create stories."

During the early Middle Ages, the ordeal was a legal institution by which disputes were settled through divine judgment. To this end, God was invoked to rule on a particular issue, and this was done through rituals to which the person accused of having sinned or broken human or divine laws had to submit. These rituals usually consisted of tests that allowed the court to determine God's opinion on the dispute in question. One of the most common tests consisted of forcing the accused to place their hands in a fire, or to hold a red-hot iron in their hands. If they did not burn, or the burns did not cause serious injuries or death, the court considered that divinity had sided with that person, and that they were free of guilt even before humankind. This seems to be the origin of common colloquial expressions such as "to put one's hand in the fire for someone," or "to cling to a red-hot iron or nail." Another classic ordeal consisted of immersing the accused in water for a long time: if they didn't drown, or didn't emerge crippled, it meant that God had declared them innocent. Since the jurists of the time had to admit that ordeals were based on magical approaches, from the 12th century onwards, with the adoption of Roman law, they evolved towards more rational means of proof: thus, torture was instituted, in which the tribunal of the Holy Inquisition excelled.

Josep Maria Salrach (Barcelona, 1945) is one of the great medievalists of Catalonia and Europe. Failing health, he has made an effort to speak to the ARA in this interview. Emeritus professor at the UPF, we review with him his career and his vision of Catalonia around the year 1000, at the time of the formation of the nation.