The '' Chronica latina regum Castellae'', known in Spanish as the ''Crónica latina de los reyes de Castilla'', both meaning "Latin Chronicle of the Kings of Castile", is a

medieval Latin Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin used in Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. In this region it served as the primary written language, though local languages were also written to varying degrees. Latin functione ...

history of the rulers of Castile from the death of Count

Fernán González Fernan or Fernán is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: * Fernán Blázquez de Cáceres, Spanish nobleman * Fernán Caballero (1796–1877), Spanish novelist * Fernando Fernán Gómez (1921–2007), Spanish actor ...

in 970 to the reconquest of Córdoba by King Ferdinand III in 1236–39. It was probably composed by

Juan de Soria Juan de Soria (died 1 October 1246), also known as Juan Díaz,Martín Alvira Cabrer, ''Las Navas de Tolosa, 1212: idea, liturgia y memoria de la batalla'', Sílex, Madrid, 2012, pp. 40-41 ISBN 978-84-7737-721-4 Juan Domínguez de Medina

, the

Bishop of Osma The Roman Catholic Diocese of Osma-Soria ( la, Oxomen(sis)–Sorian(a)) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in northern Spain. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan ...

and chancellor of Ferdinand III, between 1217 and 1239. The majority of the text deals with the reigns of Alfonso VIII (1158–1214) and Ferdinand III (1217–1252). It was designed with two purposes: for use at the royal court as a '' speculum principis'' and to defend the interests of Castile against those of the Kingdom of León. The ''Chronica'' originally ended in 1230 with the death of

Alfonso IX of León Alfonso IX (15 August 117123 or 24 September 1230) was King of León and Galicia from the death of his father Ferdinand II in 1188 until his own death. He took steps towards modernizing and democratizing his dominion and founded the Universit ...

, who was succeeded by Ferdinand III. Modern historians disagree whether the continuation down to the capture of Córdoba six years later was written by Juan de Soria or by another author. One has even suggested a composition in three stages between 1223 and 1237 by the same author, Juan de Soria.Inés Fernández-Ordóñez
"La composición por etapas de la ''Chronica latina regum Castellae'' (1223–1237) de Juan de Soria"
''E-Spania: Revue électronique d'études hispaniques médiévales'', 2 (2006). The sources of the ''Chronica'' were the documents of the royal archives, to which its author had access, although he also records events from memory. He makes little use of other narrative histories, which were the main sources of the contemporary chronicles called ''

Chronicon mundi In historiography, a ''chronicon'' is a type of chronicle or annals. Examples are: * ''Chronicon'' (Eusebius) * ''Chronicon'' (Jerome) *''Chronicon Abbatiae de Evesham'' *'' Chronicon Burgense'' *'' Chronicon Ambrosianum'' *''Chronicon Compostellan ...

'' and ''

De rebus Hispaniae ''De rebus Hispaniae'' or ''Historia gothica'De rebus Hispaniae'' is the original Latin title. ''Historia gótica'' is the later vulgar title. It is also known as the ''Cronicón del Toledano'' or ''Cronicón de las cosas sucedidas en España' ...

''. Juan also includes contemporaneous events from the

Maghrib The Maghrib Prayer ( ar, صلاة المغرب ', "sunset prayer") is one of the five mandatory salah (Islamic prayer). As an Islamic day starts at sunset, the Maghrib prayer is technically the first prayer of the day. If counted from midni ...

, the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

, and the

Kingdom of France The Kingdom of France ( fro, Reaume de France; frm, Royaulme de France; french: link=yes, Royaume de France) is the historiographical name or umbrella term given to various political entities of France in the medieval and early modern period ...

in order to place Castilian history in context, something neither the ''Chronicon'' nor the ''De rebus'' do, although the later histories composed at the request of

Alfonso X Alfonso X (also known as the Wise, es, el Sabio; 23 November 1221 – 4 April 1284) was King of Castile, León and Galicia from 30 May 1252 until his death in 1284. During the election of 1257, a dissident faction chose him to be king of Germ ...

, the ''

Grande e general estoria Grande means "large" or "great" in many of the Romance languages. It may also refer to: Places * Grande, Germany, a municipality in Germany *Grande Communications, a telecommunications firm based in Texas *Grande-Rivière (disambiguation) * Arro ...

'' and the ''

Estoria de España The ''Estoria de España'' ("History of Spain"), also known in the 1906 edition of Ramón Menéndez Pidal as the ''Primera Crónica General'' ("First General Chronicle"), is a history book written on the initiative of Alfonso X of Castile ''"El S ...

'' do. The ''Chronica'' is preserved in only one late fifteenth-century manuscript, MS G-1 or 9/450, in the library of the Real Academia de la Historia in Madrid. It is a copy of the original and is found on folios 89 through 122. The structure found in most printed editions, of four sections subdivided into chapters, was added by its first editor, Georges Cirot.

Editions

*Georges Cirot, ed. "Chronique latine des rois de Castille jusqu'en 1236", ''Bulletin hispanique'', 14 (1912), 30–46, 109–18, 244–74, 353–74; 15 (1913), 18–87, 268–83, 411–27. ('' editio princeps'') *Luis Charlo Brea, ed. ''Crónica latina de los reyes de Castilla''. Cádiz: Universidad, 1984. *María D. Cabanes Pecourt, ed. ''Crónica latina de los reyes de Castilla''. Zaragoza: Anubar, 1985. *Luis Charlo Brea, ed. "Chronica latina regum castellae". ''Chronica hispana saeculi XIII'', Corpus Christianorum. Continuatio Mediaevalis. Brussels: Brepols, 1997. pp. 7–118. *Luis Charlo Brea, trans. ''Crónica latina de los reyes de Castilla''. Clásicos latinos medievales, 8. Madrid: Akal, 1999.
''Crónica Latina de los reyes de Castilla'' in Spanish online

Editions

References

Further reading