Category Archives: Castilian

Francisco Núñez Muley, Memorial (Granada, 1566)

Posted on by
Reply

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]

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

Posted on by
Reply

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]

Have you used this unit in the classroom (or elsewhere)? Please share your experience in the comments!

Anónimo, La danza general de la Muerte (s. XV)

Posted on by
Reply

The Danza general de la muerte (Dance of Death) (late 14th-century) is a rhymed dialogue in Castilian in which death personified greets one victim after another. It is the earliest of 3 extant Castilian versions of the Dance of Death, which was popular across Europe in the Middle Ages. The Dance of Death gives expression to the premodern view that death is inevitable regardless of social class or religious affiliation. The Castilian version reflects the realities of medieval Iberian society, and death’s victims include Christians, Muslims and Jews. The work shows people from the highest positions, the emperor and the pope for example, to the lowest, the friar and parish priest. The figure of Death as depicted in this work may be a reflection of the multi-faith society of premodern Iberia. Death is not described in detail, but it is nowhere described as a skeleton, as it is often depicted in other European dances of death. Death has elements associated with the angels of death from the Jewish and Muslim traditions.

This unit contains an edition of the medieval Castilian text, accompanied by an introduction and notes in both Spanish and English versions:

[English version] [Spanish version]

Have you used this unit in the classroom (or elsewhere)? Please share your experience in the comments!

Mocedades de Rodrigo (ca. 1300)

Posted on by
Reply

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]

Have you used this unit in the classroom (or elsewhere)? Please share your experience in the comments!

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

Posted on by
Reply

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]

Have you used this unit in the classroom? Please share your experience in the comments!

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

Posted on by
1

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]

Have you used this unit in the classroom (or elsewhere)? Please share your experience in the comments!

Conversos and Identity (poems of Comendador Román and Antón de Montoro, excerpts from Andrés Bernáldez’s Memorias and the Libro de Alborayque (late 15th century)

Posted on by
1

Conversos and Identity (poems of Comendador Román and Antón de Montoro, excerpts from Andrés Bernáldez’s Memorias and the Libro de Alborayque (late 15th century)

This is a pedagogical edition of the medieval Castilian texts with English introduction, translation, notes, and bibliography by Ana Gómez Bravo, of a series of excerpts of late fifteenth-century texts related to the cultural practices (perceived and actual) of judeo-conversos, or Jews who have converted to Christianity.

It includes an introduction providing historical and cultural context, selections of the anti-converso verse of Diego Román (d. ca. 1490), poetry of converso poet Antón de Montoro (d. 1483), and excerpts from historian Andrés Bernáldez’s (d. 1513) Memorias and the anonymous anti-converso treatise Libro del Alborayque or Book of Alborayque.

This unit is part of Open Iberia/América, an online, open-access teaching anthology of texts from the premodern Hispanic world. https://openiberiaamerica.hcommons.org/ This file is the .rtf formatted English version, with introduction and notes in English, and the text in facing medieval Castilian/English translation.

[English version] [[Spanish version]

Have you used this unit in the classroom (or elsewhere)? Please share your experience in the comments!

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

Posted on by
Reply

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]

Have you used this unit in the classroom (or elsewhere)? Please share your experience in the comments!

Siete Infantes de Lara (Castile, ca. 1280)

Posted on by
Reply

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]

Have you used this unit in the classroom (or elsewhere)? Please share your experience in the comments!

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

Posted on by
Reply

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]

Have you used this unit in the classroom (or elsewhere)? Please share your experience in the comments!