JAR's commitment to advocating for a multicultural Hispanic identity, shaped in the Middle Ages by the contributions of Arabs, Jews, and Christians, and distinguished from other European cultures, set him apart as a leading intellectual for historians associated with nationalist and liberal movements. In this "new history", the past was reconstructed to support a collective identity free from traumatic episodes, as well as the racial and national characterisations typical of the ideology that had underpinned the Inquisition, which remained prevalent in traditionalist historiography. For JAR, "race" was linked to religion, while the "nation" was a political entity of which Jews were also a part in the Middle Ages. The challenging coexistence of the three cultures in the late 15th century, along with the necessity of aligning the nation with its religion, led Queen Isabella I to expel non-Christians and implement a system to identify false converts. JAR thus justified the confessional aspect of the monarchy, which remained significant during Isabella II’s reign. However, he criticised the inquisitorial practices — of which the kings were excused — and lamented the economic repercussions that the expulsion had on the Peninsula.

From today’s perspective, JAR's work emerges as one of the key foundations of Spanish positivist historiography, along with all the production that accompanied it — such as extensive documentary collections, archaeological studies, and chronicle editions — aimed at centralising and organising the cultural legacy. The intellectual "type" that JAR embodied, characterised by extensive and diversified knowledge along with deep expertise as a bibliophile, antiquary, archaeologist, palaeographer, epigraphist, and numismatist, coupled with public roles related to teaching and heritage activities, fostered this idea of integration. This integration not only included and unified different elements of the past but also served as the foundation for new terminologies and conceptualisations. In this context, during his 1859 speech upon joining the Real Academia de San Fernando, JAR defined a concept that has shaped the study of Hispanic medieval architecture to this day: the "Mudéjar style". The term derives from the Arabic murayyann — domestic or domesticated — and traditionally refers to Muslims who continued to live in Christian territories

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