Category Archives: Prose

Francisco Núñez Muley, Memorial (Granada, 1566)

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The Edict of 1567, or Anti-Morisco Edict, was promulgated by Spanish King Philip II on January 1, after being approved in Madrid on November 17, 1566. Its purpose was to eliminate specific Morisco customs, such as their language, dress, and dances. Núñez Muley’s Petition is an attempt to persuade Christian authorities to delay enforcing the 1567 Edict. The author lists each of the prohibitions and refutes their effectiveness. He compares Morisco customs to those of other Christian and Muslim communities in the Mediterranean and argues that the prohibitions will not eradicate any putative Islamic practices but instead erase Morisco cultural identity. Moriscos, he claims, are sincere Christians and loyal subjects who support the king’s decisions.

This unit, edited by Lisette Balabarca Fataccioli, has two versions, one with the introduction, notes, and original text in Spanish (for use in contexts where the language of instruction is Spanish), another with the introduction and notes in English, and the original Spanish text with facing English translation.

[Spanish] [English]

Leyenda de la Doncella Carcayçiyona (Aragón, ca. 1587)

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Pedagogical edition, transcription, and translation of the Aljamiado-Morisco Legend of the Damsel Carcayçiyona (Aragón, ca. 1587) found in MS J57 of the Biblioteca Tomás Navarro Tomás, CSIC, Madrid. A variant of the folktale of the “handless maiden,” this narrative details the conversion of the pagan princess Carcayçiyona to Islam and the trials that befall her.

The English version contains a short introduction in English, a transliteration of the Aljamiado into Latin characters, and English translation translation, accompanying notes, and a short bibliography.

The Spanish version contains a short introduction in Spanish, a transliteration of the Aljamiado into Latin characters, a modern Spanish translation, accompanying notes, and a short bibliography.

[English version]

[Spanish version]

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Omar Patón, Memorial de ida y venida hasta Makka (Memoir of the journey to and from Mecca) (Castile, 15th c.)

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Omar Paton was one of the last Castilian Muslims to complete the hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca. He undertook the journey from his home city of Ávila (Castile), departing in 1491. Upon his return from the East, Paton depicted the experiences and emotions he lived during his long and dangerous pious expedition in his Memoir of the Journey to and from Mecca.

This bilingual unit contains a brief introduction to the Memoria with notes and a short bibliography in Spanish and English versions. Both contain an edition of an excerpt of the original aljamiado text relating Patón’s experiences in Alexandria, Damascus, and Jerusalem, accompanied by a Spanish modernization or English translation for use in classes with either language as the language of instruction.

Types of courses where the text might be useful: Spanish literature, Spanish history, Islamic studies, Mediterranean Studies

[English version] [Spanish version]

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Pablo Tac, Conversión de los Saluiseños de la Alta California (c. 1840)

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Conversión de los Saluiseños de la Alta California (Conversion of the Saluiseños of Alta California) (c. 1840) by Pablo Tac is the only published document written by an indigenous Californian during the Spanish-Mexican period. Born at Mission San Luis Rey de Francia, north of San Diego, California in 1820, Tac wrote the manuscript while studying to be a Catholic priest at a seminary in Rome. Conversión de los Saluiseños is Tac’s attempt to present the history and customs of his people, the Quechnajuichom (Luiseños), to a readership unfamiliar with Native American life.

While part of the work deals with the encounter of the Tac’s ancestors with Spanish missionaries and soldiers that ultimately led to the founding of Mission San Luis Rey, the bulk of Conversión de los Saluiseños paints a portrait of life at the mission through the eyes of a native person. Tac portrays the mission as a native community under Spanish dominion, which strives to preserve its traditional ways while adapting to a new political and cultural order. As an indigenous ethnographer addressing a European audience, Tac is perhaps the final representative of a group that includes personalities such as Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, Huaman Poma de Ayala and Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxochitl.

[English version] [Spanish version]

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María de Zayas, Novelas amorosas y ejemplares, “La fuerza del amor” (1637)

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María de Zayas, Novelas amorosas y ejemplares, “La fuerza del amor” (1637)

Pedagogical edition/translation of María de Zayas y Sotomayor’s story “The Power of Love” from her collection ‘Amorous and Exemplary Novels’ (Zaragoza, 1637).

Contains short introduction in English, English translation of Zayas’ text, notes, and short bibliography.

[English version] [Spanish version]

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

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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)

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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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Siete Infantes de Lara (Castile, ca. 1280)

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Siete Infantes de Lara (Castile, ca. 1280)

Pedagogical edition, with short introduction, notes, and bibliography (in two versions with original text in medieval Castilian and facing translation in English and Modern Spanish) of the ‘Siete Infantes de Lara’ a reconstruction of a late medieval Castilian epic poem detailing the exploits of the dispute between the Lara and Velázquez families in the early 11th century. Introduction, notes, edition of medieval Castilian, and translation into English and Spanish by Peter Mahoney (2019). This version contains the medieval Castilian text with Spanish modernization, and introduction, notes, and bibliography in Spanish.

[Spanish version] [English version]

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Alfonso X, General estoria, Actaeon (ca. 1280) 

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Alfonso X, General estoria, Actaeon (ca. 1280)

A pedagogical edition, with short introduction, notes, and bibliography for further reading, of the section of Alfonso X’s universal history “General estoria’ (ca. 1280) dealing with the figure of Actaeon, hero of Thebes. Edition and translation into English by Erik Ekman (2019).

[Spanish version] [English version]

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Sendebar (1253)

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This unit contains a selection of texts from the Sendebar (1253), one of the most famous and widespread collections of exemplary literature in the Middle Ages, with versions in Arabic, Syriac, Farsi, Greek, Hebrew, and Spanish.

The importance of this work lies in the fact that, together with the Calila and Dimna, it was the first collection of Eastern tales to make it into the Iberian Peninsula, bringing with it a new way of organizing the plot around a narrative frame which gave meaning to each separate tale. The selection includes the three tales from the second day of the trial: the first is narrated by the woman, who claims that the Prince tried to rape her; the other two are narrated by one of the king’s counselors, who tries to convince the king to keep calm (first tale) and that all women are deceitful (second tale).

Types of courses where the text might be useful: History, literature, and culture of medieval Spain, al-Andalus, Maghreb, Translation, Tales.

[Spanish version] [English version]

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