This chapter examines the evolution and applicability of the concepts of centre and periphery to the study of medieval Iberia. It begins with a historiographical overview, tracing these ideas from early geopolitical models such as Mackinder’s “pivot theory” to Braudel’s and Wallerstein’s analyses of world-economies and dependency systems. It then considers their reception and adaptation within medieval studies, highlighting both their explanatory value and their methodological limits. Building on this theoretical framework, the chapter offers a long-term historical synthesis of shifting political, economic, and cultural centralities across the Iberian Peninsula—from the fragmentation of the Western Roman Empire to the formation of the Hispanic Monarchy—showing how the interplay between centres and peripheries shaped the medieval western Mediterranean.