In his introductory appreciation James Campbell notes that the late Richard Fletcher was best known as an historian of medieval Spain, but retained his early interest in Anglo-Saxon England. Among his last books was a study of an especially intractable feud in eleventh-century Northumbria. Cross, crescent and conversion reflects the breadth and especially the comparative focus of the courteous, thought-provoking and generous man it honours. Twelve of the sixteen contributions to this volume concern Spain. In an era of non-Festschrift Festschriften, when British and American publishers encourage volumes of essays but will not abide dedication to a particular scholar, Brill deserves praise for the frank acknowledgment of what brought these articles together. As in any such collection, some contributions are rather focused, for example Roger Wright's inquiry into the Andalusian placename ‘Cabra’, or Emma Falque's discussion of the influence of Isidore of Seville on Lucas of Tuy's De altera vita. Others treat basic, even urgent topics: John Edwards on the converso debate (which looks beyond the absolute dichotomy between Jews and Christians in the work of Alfonso de Cartagena and Juan de Torquemada) and Ann Christys's refreshing ‘Picnic at Madīnat al-Zahrā’, a look at why we think that Córdoba and the taifa kingdoms were so opulent and how much of that impression is based on Arabic poetic mythology. All the articles are intriguing. Certain of them seem to be about one thing and end up turning into something else, so that Peter Biller begins ‘The abundance and scarcity of food in the inquisition records of Languedoc’ with a list of some of the surprisingly elaborate and sophisticated dishes given to Cathar holy men by their followers and then turns to the nature of the sources. Because the inquisitors in Occitania were interested in the Cathar dietary regulations, they paid attention not only to gifts in general but to what sort of food was presented in particular. By contrast the Waldensians, lacking any special teaching about what should or should not be eaten, generated inquisitorial records devoid of culinary information. Ian Michael's study of the survival of Mozarabic culture in Toledo after the Christian conquest ends with a theory about a possible Mozarabic identity for the author of the Libro de buen amor whose name ‘Juan Ruiz’ and his supposed office, ‘Archpriest of Hita’ may form a satirical bilingual pun. The Spanish essays reflect Richard Fletcher's view of medieval Spain as rich in wonderful characters, encounters and cultures, a place as interesting far away from the Christian-Islamic frontier as on that intermittent battle line.