The Xunta de Galicia was extremely saddened to receive the news of the recent death of Professor Simon Barton. The professor had been a member of the International Committee of Experts on the Way of St. James since 2014, with his intellectual and personal merit enabling him to make a significant contribution during this period.
Professor Barton was known for his efforts in promoting the Way of St James in Great Britain, where he worked with Turismo de Galicia on several activities. In his new position in Florida, United States, he had also began working to disseminate information about the pilgrimage to Santiago. He was on the editorial board of the magazine Ad Limina, to which he also contributed, as well as the most recent conferences organized by the International Committee of Experts on the Way of St. James, Maria y Iacobus en los caminos xacobeos (2015) and Jacobus patronus (2017).
Professor Simon Barton (1962) was a professor of medieval history at the University of Exeter (United Kingdom) and since early 2017, a professor at the University of Central Florida (USA). His works include Conquerors, Brides, and Concubines: Interfaith Relations and Social Power in Medieval Iberia; A History of Spain; Cross, Crescent and Conversion: Studies on Medieval Spain and Christendom in Memory of Richard Fletcher; The world of El Cid; and his doctoral thesis, The aristocracy in twelfth-century Leon and Castile.
Professor Barton received a number of honorary recognitions and awards, including President of the Society for the Medieval Mediterranean, Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, winner of the Premio Del Rey given by The American Historical Association, member of The Royal Historical Society and corresponding member of the Real Academia Matritense de Heráldica y Genealogía.
Turismo de Galicia expresses its sorry at this loss, which is added to that of Robert Plötz this past summer, depriving Galicia and the Way of St James of an excellent researcher and promoter. We offer our deepest sympathies and solidarity to his family and friends.