Abstract

Friendship, with its plethora of representions and invocations, was – and still is – central in political and diplomatic communication. Focusing on the fluctuating relationships between the thirteenth-century Iberian rulers, Alfonso X of Castile and James I of Aragon, this study will examine how the rhetoric, discourses and performance of friendship, which were based upon widespread cultural models, functioned as powerful tools of communication, self-representation and political legitimisation recognised across and beyond textual communities and geopolitical boundaries.The analysis of legal records, literary and narrative sources from both Castile and Aragon will shed light on the multiple discursive functions of the rhetoric of friendship which, for its historical and cultural legacy, and universal appeal, constituted a cross-cultural tool to legitimise the establishment and preservation of social networks, along with the power structures that they contributed to shape and strengthen.