The ''Libro de Alexandre'' is a

medieval Spanish Old Spanish, also known as Old Castilian ( es, castellano antiguo; osp, romance castellano ), or Medieval Spanish ( es, español medieval), was originally a dialect of Vulgar Latin spoken in the former provinces of the Roman Empire that provided ...

epic poem An epic poem, or simply an epic, is a lengthy narrative poem typically about the extraordinary deeds of extraordinary characters who, in dealings with gods or other superhuman forces, gave shape to the mortal universe for their descendants. ...

about

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, wikt:Ἀλέξανδρος, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Maced ...

written between 1178 and c. 1250 in the ''

mester de clerecía Mester de Clerecía ("Ministry of Clergy") is a Spanish literature genre that can be understood as an opposition and surpassing of Mester de Juglaría. It was cultivated in the 13th century by Spanish learned poets, usually clerics (hence the n ...

''.Colbert Nepaulsingh, "''Libro de Alexandre''", in Germán Bleiberg, Maureen Ihrie, and Janet Pérez, edd., ''Dictionary of the Literature of the Iberian Peninsula'', pp. 40–42 (Greenwood Publishing Group, 1993). It is largely based on the ''

Alexandreis The ''Alexandreis'' (or ''Alexandreid'') is a medieval Latin epic poem by Walter of Châtillon, a 12th-century French writer and theologian. It gives an account of the life of Alexander the Great, based on Quintus Curtius Rufus' ''Historia Alexan ...

'' of

Walter of Châtillon Walter of Châtillon ( Latinized as Gualterus de Castellione) was a 12th-century French writer and theologian who wrote in the Latin language. He studied under Stephen of Beauvais and at the University of Paris. It was probably during his studen ...

, but also contains many fantastical elements common to the Alexander romance. It consists of 2,675 stanzas of '' cuaderna vía'' and 10,700 lines. F 45v del Libro de Alexandre (ms O)

The ''Libro'' is preserved in two manuscripts, called ''P'' and ''O'', neither of which appears to be an original. There are as well three fragments preserved in separate manuscripts. Manuscript ''O'' is the earlier, copied around 1300, and includes 2,510 stanzas of ''cuaderna vía'' and two epistles. It was once owned by the

Duke of Osuna Duke of Osuna is a Spanish noble title that was first awarded in 1562 by King Philip II of Spain to Pedro Girón de la Cueva, (Osuna, Seville, 29 July 1537 – 1590). Pedro was also Viceroy of Naples, (1582–1586), Ambassador in Portugal and ...

(whence ''O'') and was known to Íñigo López de Mendoza, 1st Marquess of Santillana. ''P'', from

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, was copied in the fifteenth century and contains 2,639 stanzas. It is generally more reliable and together the two manuscripts make a coherent whole. R. S. Willis, Jr., produced an edition of both manuscripts where a page from ''O'' faces the corresponding page from ''P'', with fragments noted at the bottom, so that one reading can readily be corrected by the other text. ''O'' is generally considered to be from eastern Castile, while ''P'' was copied in western Castile. The fragment ''G′'' is named after Gutierre Díez de Gamés, who included stanzas from the first part of the ''Libro'' in his early fifteenth-century '' Victorial''.Christopher J. Pountain, ''A History of the Spanish Language Through Texts'' (Routledge, 2001), p. 73. The date of composition is uncertain. However, it must postdate 1178, the earliest year when Walter completed the ''Alexandreis'', and predate 1250, the approximate date of the ''

Poema de Fernán González The ''Poema de Fernán González'' is a Castilian epic poem, specifically, a ''cantar de gesta'' of the Mester de Clerecía. Composed in a metre called the '' cuaderna vía'', it narrates the deeds of the historical Count of Castile, Fernán Go ...

'', which it influences. Some scholars have fixed the date as between 1202 and 1207. Besides the ''Alexandreis'', the author of the ''Libro'' claimed many sources. In his own words: ''el uno que leyemos, el otro que oyemos / de las mayores cosas Recabdo vos daremos'' ("the one that we read, the other that we hear / of the greatest things collected we give you"). These sources include the '' Historia de proeliis'' of

Leo of Naples Leo of Naples ( fl. 950s), also called Leo the Archpriest ( it, Leone Arciprete), was a diplomat and translator in the service of Dukes John III and Marinus II of Naples. He undertook a diplomatic mission to Constantinople, the capital of the Byza ...

and several ancient authorities, including Leo's source,

Quintus Curtius Quintus Curtius Rufus () was a Roman historian, probably of the 1st century, author of his only known and only surviving work, ''Historiae Alexandri Magni'', "Histories of Alexander the Great", or more fully ''Historiarum Alexandri Magni Macedon ...

Flavius Josephus Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for ''The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly d ...

, and the '' Pindarus Thebanus''. The work of

Isidore of Seville Isidore of Seville ( la, Isidorus Hispalensis; c. 560 – 4 April 636) was a Spanish scholar, theologian, and archbishop of Seville. He is widely regarded, in the words of 19th-century historian Montalembert, as "the last scholar of ...

and the

Old French Old French (, , ; Modern French: ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France from approximately the 8th to the 14th centuries. Rather than a unified language, Old French was a linkage of Romance dialects, mutually intelligib ...

'' Roman d'Alexandre'' were also consulted. Structurally the ''Libro'' is a chronological story of Alexander's life set between an introduction in six stanzas and a conclusion in seven. There are digressions and authorial displays of erudition, but the narrative, from birth to death, is logical and smooth. The problem of authorship is unresolved. It has been variously attributed to

Juan Lorenzo de Astorga ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, t ...

(sometimes thought to be merely a scribe),

Alfonso X of Castile 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 ...

, and

Gonzalo de Berceo Gonzalo de Berceo (ca. 1197 – before 1264) was a Castilian Spanish poet born in the Riojan village of Berceo, close to the major Benedictine monastery of San Millán de la Cogolla. He is celebrated for his poems on religious subjects, written ...

. Following is a sample text from the ''Libro'', with translations in Modern Spanish and English. This fragment sums up the fall of Alexander because of his pride.

Notes

*Arnold, H. H. (1936). "Notes on the Versification of ''El Libro de Alexandre''". ''Hispania'', 19(2), 245–254. *Berzunza, Julius (1927). "A Digression in the ''Libro de Alexandre'': The Story of the Elephant". ''Romanic Review'', 18, 238–245. *Corfis, Ivy A. (1994). "''Libro de Alexandre'': Fantastic Didacticism". ''Hispanic Review'', 62(4), 477–486. *Davis, Gifford (1947). "The Debt of the ''Poema de Alfonso Onceno'' to the ''Libro de Alexandre''". ''Hispanic Review'', 15(4), 436–452. *Deyermond, A. D. (1975). "The Lost Genre of Medieval Spanish Literature". ''Hispanic Review'', 43(3), 231–259. *Dutton, Brian (1960). "The Profession of Gonzalo de Berceo and the Paris Manuscript of the ''Lebro de Alexandre''". ''Bulletin of Hispanic Studies'', 37(3), 137–145. *Espósito, Anthony P. (1994). "(Re)covering the Chiasmus: Restoring the ''Libro(s) de Alexandre''". ''Hispanic Review'', 62(3), 349–362. *Fraker, Charles F. (1987) "''Aetiologia'' in the ''Libro de Alexandre''". ''Hispanic Review'', 55(3), 277–299. *Fraker, Charles F. (1988) "The Role of Rhetoric in the Construction of the ''Libro de Alexandre''". ''Bulletin of Hispanic Studies'', 65(4), 353–368. *Gimeno Casalduero, Joaquín (1974). "Un nuevo estudio sobre el ''Libro de Alexandre''". ''Romance Philology'', 28(1), 76–91. *Gumbrecht, Hans Ulrich and Helga Bennett (1974). "Literary Translation and its Social Conditioning in the Middle Ages: Four Spanish Romance Texts of the 13th Century". ''Yale French Studies'', 51, Approaches to Medieval Romance, 205–222. *Michael, Ian (1960). "Interpretation of the ''Libro de Alexandre'': The Author's Attitude Towards His Hero's Death". ''Bulletin of Hispanic Studies'', 37(4), 205–214. *Michael, Ian (1961). "A Comparison of the Use of Epic Epithets in the ''Poema de Mio Cid'' and the ''Libro de Alexandre''". ''Bulletin of Hispanic Studies'', 38(1), 32–41. *Michael, Ian (1967). "A Parallel between Chrétien's ''Erec'' and the ''Libro de Alexandre''". ''The Modern Language Review'', 62(4), 620–628. *Nelson, Dana A. (1968). "''El libro de Alexandre'': A Reorientation". ''Studies in Philology'', 65(5), 723–752. *Nelson, Dana A. (1972). "Syncopation in ''El Libro de Alexandre''". ''Periodical of the Modern Language Association'', 87(5), 1023–1038. *Pacual-Argente, Clara (2022), ''Memory, Media, and Empire in the Castilian Romances of Antiquity: Alexander’s Heirs'', Leiden, Brill (The Medieval and Early Modern Iberian World, 83). ISBN 978-90-04-51226-9 *Rico, Francisco (1985). "La clerecía del mester". ''Hispanic Review'', 53(1), 1–23. *Ware, Niall J. (1965). "The Date of Composition of the ''Libro de Alexandre'': A Re-examination of Stanza 1799". ''Bulletin of Hispanic Studies'', 42(4), 251–255. *Ware, Niall J. (1967). "The Testimony of Classical Names in Support of Metrical Regularity in the ''Libro de Alexandre''". ''Hispanic Review'', 35, 211–226. *Williamson, J. R. (1977). "Darius and the Spring Landscape: Theme and Structure in the ''Libro de Alexandre''". ''Neophilologus'', 61(4), 534–540. *Willis, Raymond S. (1956/7). "''Mester de clerecía'': A Definition of the ''Libro de Alexandre''". ''Romance Philology'', 10, 212–224. *Willis, Raymond S. (1974). "The Artistry and Enigmas of the ''Libro de Alexandre'': A Review Article". ''Hispanic Review'', 42(1), 33–42.

External links

* Edition of Francisco Marcos Marín
Libro de Alexandre
* Amaia Arizaleta

* Enrique Celis Real

* Marisa Martínez Pérsico
Fronteras del mundo, fronteras del saber y fronteras del relato en El libro de Alexandre
{{DEFAULTSORT:Libro De Alexandre Alexander Romance Medieval literature Spanish literature Medieval documents 13th-century books 13th century in Castile

Notes

Further reading

External links