Iberian kings borrowed crusading imagery to glorify local conquests.

Evidence

Jaume consistently portrays himself as a righteous crusader in his autobiography, the Llibre dels feyts; he focuses on his military contests against the Muslims of the Balearics and Valencia, passing over in silence his legislative and judicial career. … The choice of patron saint is telling: Jaume prefers George, the favorite of chroniclers of crusades to the East (as in the case of Petrus Tudebodus) rather than James or Isidore, associated with the reconquista of León and Castile. … Some historians hesitate to use the term “crusade” to describe Jaume’s conquests, noting (correctly) that even for the king himself, a crusade to the Holy Land had a special prestige that the Iberian campaigns lacked. Yet clearly Jaume uses the imagery and ideas of crusading to glorify his own exploits against Muslims closer to home. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 914

Categorization

• DEFINE: Illuminates the distinction between an ‘official’ crusade to the Holy Land and the aspirational borrowing of crusade imagery for near-home campaigns.