Distinguished Professor of History & Peter H. Reill Term Chair in European History

A student of Joseph R. Strayer, Distinguished Professor Teofilo (“Teo”) Ruiz received his Ph.D. from Princeton in 1974 and has taught at Brooklyn College, the CUNY Graduate Center, the University of Michigan, the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales and Princeton–as 250th Anniversary Visiting Professor for Distinguished Teaching–before coming to UCLA in July 1998. A scholar of the social and cultural (popular culture) of late medieval and early modern Castile, Prof. Ruiz has recently completed three books: the first two, The Terror of History: On the Uncertainties of Life in the Western World and A King’s Travels: Festivals, Spectacles, and Power in Late Medieval and Early Modern Spain were published by Princeton University Press in 2011 and 2012, respectively. The third is a co-edited book with Angel Luis Encinas, titled Viajes apostolicos de California de los religiosos de Propaganda Fide, del Colegio de San Fernando de Mexico por Junipero Serra y Fr. Juan Crespi, published by Miraguano Ediciones, Madrid. In addition, he is currently under contract with Blackwell for a new book titled The Western Mediterranean and the World, 400 to the Present. 

In Professor Ruiz’s own words: “I hope to be able to work closely with students and to help in providing a scholarly and nurturing environment for graduate studies in medieval history at UCLA.“

Education

  • Ph.D. (1974) History, Princeton University
  • M.A. (1970) History, New York University
  • B.A. (1969) History, City College, C.U.N.Y. (Magna Cum Laude)

Research

  • Medieval Europe
  • Early Modern Europe
  • The social and the cultural (popular culture)

Books

Articles

  • “Textile Consumption in Late Medieval Castile: The Social, Economic, and Cultural Meaning of Clothing, 1200-1350″ forthcoming in a collection of essays Trans-Atlantic Consumption Patterns, edited by Amanda Angel.
  • “Philip II’s Entry into Zaragoza in 1685: A Theater of Power or Contestation?” in Mobs. An Interdisciplinary Inquiry, eds. Nancy Van Dusen and Leonard M. Koff (Leiden: Brill, 2012), 269-84.
  • Epilogue: “Spain in California,” in Viajes apostolicos de California de los religiosos de Propaganda Fide, del Colegio de San Fernando de Mexico por Junipero Serra y Fr. Juan Crespi, edited by Angel Luis Encinas and Teofilo F. Ruiz. Prologo y transcripción de Encinas Epilogo de T. F. Ruiz (Madrid: Miraguano Ediciones, 2011).
  • “Voices of the Oppressed: Peasant Resistance in Late Medieval Castile,” in Castilla y el mundo feudal. Homenaje al Profesor Julio Valdeón, eds. María Isabel del Val Valdivieso and Pascual Martínez Sopena, 3 vols. (Valladolid: Junta de Castilla y León, 2009): III, 63-72.
  • “The Symbolic Meaning of Sword and Palio in Late Medieval and Early Modern Ritual Entries: The Case of Seville,” in Memoria y civilización. Anuario de Historia, Universidad de Navarra, 12 (2009), 13-48.
  • “Urban Historical Geography and the Writing of Late Medieval Urban History,” in A Companion to the Medieval World, ed. Carol Lansing and Edward D. English (Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009), 397-412.
  • “Jews, Muslims, and Christians,” in A People’s History of Christianity, ed. Daniel E. Bornstein, 4 vols. (Minneapolis, 2009), vol. 4: 265-99.
  • “A Master Historian at the Movies,” Perspectives on History, December 2008 (Essay).
  • “Medieval Europe and the World: Why Medievalists Should Also Be World Historians” in History Compass, a Blackwell on-line journal, November 2006.
  • “The Diocese Of Avila,” in International Encyclopaedia for the Middle Ages – Online Brepols.
  • “Reading Violence: Moriscos in Sixteenth-Century Spain,” in Sociedad y memoria en la Edad Media: Estudios in Homenaje de Nilda Guglielmi. (Buenos Aires, 2005), 351-57.
  • “Poverty,” in Dictionary of the Middle Ages. Supplement I (New York, 2004), 497-508. This is a synthetic and extensive examination of medieval poverty.
  • “Spain: Early and Medieval Economy,” in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Economic History, ed. Joel Mokyr (NY-Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003), vol. 5: 539-541.
  • “Seville,” in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Economic History, ed. Joel Mokyr (NY-Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003), vol. 5: 471-73.
  • “Granada,” in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Economic History, ed. Joel Mokyr (NY-Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003), vol. 2: 446-47.

Grants and Awards

Grants

  • Elected to the American Academy of Arts ad Sciences, 2013
  • Elected as a fellow by the Medieval Academy of America, 2012
  • PBK Visiting lecturer, 2011-13
  • The National Humanities Medal, 2011-12
  • Guggenheim Fellow, 2007-2008
  • 250th Anniversary Visiting Professor for Distinguished Teaching, Princeton 1997-98
  • Premio del Rey, the American Historical Association Biennial Award for the best book on Spanish History, January 1995
  • Chosen as “Outstanding Master’s Universities and Colleges Professor of the Year” by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, 1994-95
  • Director of Studies, École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (Paris, France), January 1993, 1987, 1983
  • The Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, New Jersey, 1983-84
  • NEH Fellowship, 1983-84.

Awards

  • Carnegie Foundation, Outstanding Teacher of the Year, 1994-95
  • AHA Premio del Rey for the best book in Spanish History before 1536. 1995