Hidrofobia medieval: miedos y peligros vinculados al agua en la literatura castellana del XV

Abstract

Studies about fear can offer an interesting perspective for addressing the History of mentalities.
Although fear as a field of study has enlarged its presence in recent works, researchers have focused on aspects different from those we have dealt with. Water, as an energy source, a communication route and a resource essential to life, has also been seen with distrust, and the contact with it has been faced with caution, especially when referring to the sea and its hidden dangers. We have examined some of the best-known literary works from the Late Middle Ages in Castile in an attempt to understand the suspicions and insecurities connected with water that the people from the Middle Ages felt.