By Jerry Thompson

More than a century after his death in 1894, the legacy of Juan Nepomuceno Cortina remains one of considerable confusion and debate. Through the years, scholars have attempted to place his life into historical context and thereby to understand what motivated him to lead a rebellion. Whether taken as hero or villain, Cortina seems one of those historical figures whose biography elicits little compromise. In such cases, distortion and misunderstanding seem the inevitable result. A study of how Cortina has been studied reflects his elusiveness and suggests, more generally, some of the issues underlying all historical narrative.