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The MARQ-Museo Arqueológico de Alicante, expresses its sorrow for the death of the French archaeologist Pierre Guichard, born in Toulouse in 1939, One of the leading medievalists in studies on al-Andalus, medieval Islam and its Mediterranean expansion, as well as the relations between Andalusian and Christian society in the Iberian Peninsula. Professor Emeritus of Medieval History at the University of Lumière-Lyon 2, member of the Institute of France and member of the scientific section of the Casa Velázquez in Madrid, Pierre Guichard is one of the leading medievalists in studies on al-Andalus, medieval Islam and Mediterranean expansion, as well as on the relations between Andalusian and Christian society in the Iberian Peninsula. has been a key figure in the medieval historiography of our territory, being a light and guide for several generations of archaeologists and historians of the Middle Ages in our country.
His work "Al-Andalus. The anthropological structure of an Islamic society in the West"published in Spanish 45 years ago, had an enormous impact on research into the Valencian Andalusian world. Guichard argued that al-Andalus had not been a society with a simple Arab cultural veneer, as Spanish historiography had been defending until then, but rather a tribal and Islamic society that has become the current paradigm and starting point on which all research undertaken by archaeologists and historians of the Valencian Middle Ages over the last 40 years has been based.
Author of numerous books and articles, such as "Al-Andalus facing the Christian conquest: the Muslims of Valencia (11th-13th centuries)", "From Arab Expansion to the Reconquest. The Splendour and Fragility of al-Andalus"Among others, Pierre Guichard will go down in the "History of History" of al-Andalus and for a long time to come his writings will continue to be quoted, read and studied in universities, libraries, museums and research centres, as a key figure in the historiography of al-Andalus.
Pierre Guichard and the MARQ joined forces between 2007 and 2009, thanks to the research project carried out at Castellar d'Elx or de la Morera, in collaboration with the Professor of Archaeology at the University of Alicante, Dr. Sonia Gutiérrez Lloret and the MARQ archaeologist, Dr. Jose Luis Menéndez. The excavations at El Castellar revealed key data for the study of the Islamic origin of the city of El Castellar. Ilš (Elx), which was the subject of a monographic exhibition inaugurated in 2010 in the temporary exhibition hall of the MAHE-Museu Arqueològic i d'Història d'Elx, entitled El Castellar d'Elx. The origin of the medieval citywhose catalogue showed the importance of this site for the medieval history of the territory of Elche. This collaboration also provided lessons from his teaching, such as the lecture he gave on 10 April 2008, to a packed MARQ auditorium, entitled "Modelled ceramics in the Western Mediterranean countries".
In addition to the enormous scientific quality and merit he treasured, Pierre Guichard's warmth and personal touch made him enormously special. His simplicity and modesty, typical only of someone with enormous respect and passion for everything he undertook, help us to understand the calibre of the figure we have lost today. We are left with his words, his writings and the depth of his studies, an incalculable treasure that he leaves behind for future generations. May he rest in peace.
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