Accounts of the Anti-Jewish Riot in Valencia, July 1391

This unit contains a brief introduction and four accounts of the anti-Jewish riot that took place in Valencia on July 9, 1391. During this riot, one of many across Spain in the summer of 1391, a mob attacked the Jewish community of Valencia, killing at least a hundred people and forcibly converting most of the rest. These attacks destroyed the Jewish communities of Valencia and many other cities in Spain, making 1391 a crucial turning point in both Spanish and Jewish history.

The Valencian attack is particularly well recorded, with surviving accounts from multiple independent sources, all newly translated into English from the original Catalan and Valencian. These four accounts are from three different perspectives: the king’s brother, Prince Martí, senior royal official on the scene; that of the jurats, senior municipal officials in Valencia; and that of Juceff Abraim, a Valencian Jew who was forcibly converted during the assault. Each of these accounts reflects the different pressures the witnesses faced in constructing a narrative of the events.

The unit is published in two versions: one with introduction and notes in Spanish, with the primary texts in the original medieval Valencian with modern Spanish translation, and another with the introduction and notes in English, and primary texts in original medieval Valencian and English translation.

The original text was edited and translated into English by Abigail Agresta, then into Spanish by Sol Miguel-Prendes. The introduction and notes were written by Abigail Agresta and translated into Spanish by Sol Miguel-Prendes. Albert Lloret supervised edition of the Valencian text.

Types of courses where the text might be useful: History (medieval, Jewish, Iberian), Religious Studies, Jewish Studies, Sephardic Studies. It is also a useful case study on bias in historical sources.

[English version]

[Spanish version]

Mocedades de Rodrigo (ca. 1300)

The Mocedades de Rodrigo is an epic poem in Castilian that narrates the fictional deeds of Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, the young Cid. The prose narrative of his youth first appears in 1295. The unique version in verse is preserved in a much later manuscript (ca. 1400). The poem includes the early history of the families of the poem’s two main protagonists, Rodrigo and the king of Castile, Fernando I, before focusing more exclusively on their relationship. These protagonists and their ancestors are linked by their struggles to preserve their individual independence as well as that of their clan, nation, and ultimately all the kingdoms of Spain. Rodrigo first emerges as a fierce yet reluctant vassal of the king, but by the poem’s final episode he has earned the king’s respect and become his most trusted counselor and valuable warrior.

This is a pedagogical edition of a selection of the Mocedades de Rodrigo (ca. 1300) with a short general introduction, notes, and brief bibliography. The edition and translation are by Matthew Bailey (2020). The Spanish introduction and notes were translated by Sol Miguel-Prendes.

Types of courses where the text might be useful: History, literature, and culture of medieval Spain, Epic poetry, Chivalric culture.

[Spanish version] [English version]

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Ferrán Martínez’s speech at the Tribunal del Alcázar in Seville, 19 February, 1388

Ferrán Martínez’s speech at the Tribunal del Alcázar in Seville, 19 February, 1388

This unit contains a brief introduction (English), edition of the original Castilian text with facing English translation and notes, and a short bibliography.

The text is the first English translation from the medieval Castilian of Ferrán Martínez’s speech at the royal court in Seville in 1388. Martínez was a canon at the Cathedral Chapter and the archdeacon of Écija, who was later held responsible for the attack on the Jews of Seville in June 1391. The Jewish community initiated a lawsuit against the archdeacon in an attempt to stop Martínez’s virulently anti-Jewish preaching. The proceedings took place over the course of two days, 11 and 19 February, before the gates of the royal Alcázar.

The text picks up the narrative at the end of the first day and continues with the events of the second day, when the archdeacon delivered a speech in his own defense. Since none of his sermons have survived, the speech provides a rare glimpse into Martínez’s inflammatory rhetoric. Its consequences were tragic: in the summer of 1391, anti-Jewish violence spread from Seville to other parts of Spain, leading to thousands of forced conversions and deaths.

Types of courses where the text might be useful: History (medieval, Jewish, Iberian, anti-Semitism), Religious Studies, Jewish Studies, Sephardic Studies, Hispanic Languages and Literatures. It might also be useful to scholars in affiliated fields who do not necessarily focus on medieval Iberia.

[English version] [Spanish version]

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Ramon Muntaner, Crònica (Valencia, ca. 1330) on the Catalan vengeance (1305-1307)

Ramon Muntaner, Crònica (Valencia, ca. 1330) on the Catalan vengeance (1305-1307)

This is a pedagogical edition of a section of Ramon Muntaner’s Crònica (Valencia, ca. 1330) relating the events leading up to the so-called ‘Catalan vengeance,’ in which the Catalan company who had been invited by the Byzantine Emperor to defend Constantinople were deceived, massacred, and then launched a bloody counterattack that earned them control of a large territory in the Eastern Mediterranean. Edition of Catalan text, introduction, and translations into English and Spanish by Vicente Lledó-Guillem (2019)

(English version) (Spanish version)

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Juan Ruiz, Libro de buen amor (ca. 1335)

Juan Ruiz may or may not be the author of the Libro de buen amor (‘Book of Good Love’) (ca. 1335), a jocular and disorganized miscellany of songs, fables, and first-person misadventures of a priest very much unlucky in love.

The English version has an introduction and notes in English, with the primary text in facing medieval Castilian/English translation. The Spanish version has an introduction and notes in Spanish, with the primary text in facing medieval Castilian and modern Spanish.

Mary-Anne Vetterling provides us with a selection of passages from the work in two parts:

Part 1: The Debate Between the Greeks and the Romans, The Story of Pitas Payas, Painter from Brittany, Fable of the Country Mouse and the City Mouse

[English version] [Spanish version]

Part 2: The Prophecies for the Son of King Alcaraz, Greed and the Fable of the Dog and his Reflection, The Properties of Money, The Encounter with the Mountain Woman (serrana), Characteristics of Small Women

[English version] [Spanish version]

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