The ("General History") is a universal history written on the initiative of Alfonso X of Castile (1252–1284), known as (the Wise). The work was written in

Old 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 ...

, a novelty in this historiographical genre, up until then regularly written in Latin. The work intended to narrate the world’s history from the beginnings (Creation, as narrated in the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

) until the time of Alfonso, but it was never completed. The extant work covers from the creation until the birth of the

virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...

, in the biblical section, and until year zero, in the history of the non-Jewish peoples. For the writing of this huge work, many older books were used as sources. Most of them were written in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

, but there were French and Arabic sources, as well.

Structure

The ''General estoria'' is divided into six parts (“partes”), the last of which was never completed. This structure was conceived to match the schema of the six ages of history as explained by

Augustine of Hippo Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Af ...

: the first part would have covered the facts happened between the creation and the

great flood A flood myth or a deluge myth is a myth in which a great flood, usually sent by a deity or deities, destroys civilization, often in an act of divine retribution. Parallels are often drawn between the flood waters of these myths and the primaeval ...

(first age), the second part would have narrated the history between the great flood and the birth of

Abraham Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the special relationship between the Jew ...

(second age), the third part would have covered the history from this moment until the reign of

David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

(third age), the fourth part until the

Babylonian captivity The Babylonian captivity or Babylonian exile is the period in Jewish history during which a large number of Judeans from the ancient Kingdom of Judah were captives in Babylon, the capital city of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, following their defeat ...

(fourth age), the fifth part until the birth of

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

(fifth age), and the sixth from this moment until the reign of Alfonso X. But following the intended division of one world age narrated in each part, the first books would have been very short, and the last unmanageable. This led to the division of the work in parts (called in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

“partes”) of similar length, the first covering the first and second ages and nearly the first half of the third, the second narrating the second half of the third age and the first of the fourth, the third “parte” covering the second half of the fourth age, and the fourth and fifth parts narrating the fifth age of the world. From the sixth “parte” only the first pages are known, possibly the only ever written. To achieve the ambitious aim of narrating the whole of mankind’s history, many sources and a complicated structure were needed to relate both the Jewish and the non-Jewish history. The redactors of the ''General estoria'' were able to ascertain which events happened at the same time in different civilisations thanks to a work by

Eusebius of Caesarea Eusebius of Caesarea (; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος ; 260/265 – 30 May 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilus (from the grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος τοῦ Παμφίλου), was a Greek historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christia ...

, the second part of his ''Chronicle'', known as ''Canons'' (''Chronikoi kanones''). They set then to work, narrating first some years from the Jewish history (drawn mainly from the

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

Petrus Comestor Petrus Comestor, also called Pierre le Mangeur (died 22 October 1178), was a twelfth-century French theological writer and university teacher. Life Petrus Comestor was born in Troyes. Although the name ''Comestor'' (Latin for 'eater', ''le M ...

), then all things happened in the same years in other cultural circles, such as

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

Carthage Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classi ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. For these contents, the sources are more numerous. The

Alfonsine Alfonsine ( rgn, Agl'infulsẽ or ''Agl'infulsèn'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Ravenna in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna. It is located east of Bologna and northwest of Ravenna. It is located between the Senio Ri ...

redactors did not maintain a strict distinction between historical and non-historical works, and treated mythological material, such as

Ovid Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (; 20 March 43 BC – 17/18 AD), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom he is often ranked as one of the th ...

’s ''

Metamorphoses The ''Metamorphoses'' ( la, Metamorphōsēs, from grc, μεταμορφώσεις: "Transformations") is a Latin narrative poem from 8 CE by the Roman poet Ovid. It is considered his ''magnum opus''. The poem chronicles the history of the wo ...

'', as history. Therein they were guided by the

euhemeristic Euhemerism () is an approach to the interpretation of mythology in which mythological accounts are presumed to have originated from real historical events or personages. Euhemerism supposes that historical accounts become myths as they are exagge ...

interpretation of myths, following which they thought gods and goddesses were in reality old kings, queens and heroes, worshipped as deities after their deaths. The second unit in the organisation of the work, following the "parte" (part), is the one that wears the name of a biblical book: for example, the section in the first “parte” labelled as Éxodo (Exodus) contains the translation (with glosses and commentaries) of this book from the

''and'' the history of all things happened at the same time in the whole world (among them, the beginnings of

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

). This textual behaviour begins to waver in the fourth “parte”, which covers the first half of the fifth age, after the

(590 a. C.). Once the Jewish people have lost their “señorío” (political independence), the chronology is no longer guided by a Jewish ruler, but by the ruler of the most important empire (i. e. first

Babylon ''Bābili(m)'' * sux, 𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠 * arc, 𐡁𐡁𐡋 ''Bāḇel'' * syc, ܒܒܠ ''Bāḇel'' * grc-gre, Βαβυλών ''Babylṓn'' * he, בָּבֶל ''Bāvel'' * peo, 𐎲𐎠𐎲𐎡𐎽𐎢 ''Bābiru'' * elx, 𒀸𒁀𒉿𒇷 ''Babi ...

, then

, Macedonia and

); the name of the biblical books is likewise no more a cover for all world happenings of a period, but contains only the translation of that book, whereas the name of a “heathen” (gentil) ruler (e. g. Nabucodonosor /

Nebuchadnezzar Nebuchadnezzar II (Babylonian cuneiform: ''Nabû-kudurri-uṣur'', meaning "Nabu, watch over my heir"; Biblical Hebrew: ''Nəḇūḵaḏneʾṣṣar''), also spelled Nebuchadrezzar II, was the second king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, ruling ...

) gives their title to textual units where other material is also contained. Inside the biblical books or the section dedicated to the reign of a ruler, the following unit is the “libro” (book), which comprises from four or five until 80 or 90 “capítulos” (chapters). Not all biblical books are divided into minor books, many are directly organised in “capítulos” (the first procedure is usual for the First and Second parts, the last for the Third and Fourth). The non-biblical history is much too important to the Alphonsine redactors to occupy only a couple of chapters at the end of a biblical narration, and since the second Part, the outstanding features or figures of the non-biblical world are often given a continuous spell of hundreds of chapters where only the history of this figure (e. g.

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...

Romulus and Remus In Roman mythology, Romulus and Remus (, ) are twin brothers whose story tells of the events that led to the founding of the city of Rome and the Roman Kingdom by Romulus, following his fratricide of Remus. The image of a she-wolf suckling the ...

) or historical fact (e. g.

Trojan War In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans (Greeks) after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, king of Sparta. The war is one of the most important events in Greek mythology and has ...

Theban War The Boeotian War broke out in 378 BC as the result of a revolt in Thebes, Greece, Thebes against Sparta. The war saw Thebes become dominant in the Greek World at the expense of Sparta. However, by the end of the war Thebes’ greatest leaders, P ...

) are treated. These “estorias unadas” (united or unitary stories) are situated at the end of the reign of the current Jewish ruler (following whose time the Alphonsines order, as has been explained, the chronology).

Sources and source treatment

Prior to beginning the work on the ''General estoria'', sources were thought of, looked for, copied, and translated. Probably not all desired works were found; on the other hand, many historical or mythological works from the Antiquity were not widely known in the Middle Ages (e. g.

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...

). Among the most important sources are the

(''Historia Scholastica''),

('' Antiquitates Iudaicae'', not the original Greek, but a Latin version),

(''Canons'' or ''Chronikoi kanones''),

(''

'' and ''

Heroides The ''Heroides'' (''The Heroines''), or ''Epistulae Heroidum'' (''Letters of Heroines''), is a collection of fifteen epistolary Epistolary means "in the form of a letter or letters", and may refer to: * Epistolary ( la, epistolarium), a Christi ...

''),

Lucan Marcus Annaeus Lucanus (3 November 39 AD – 30 April 65 AD), better known in English as Lucan (), was a Roman poet, born in Corduba (modern-day Córdoba), in Hispania Baetica. He is regarded as one of the outstanding figures of the Imperial ...

(''

Pharsalia ''De Bello Civili'' (; ''On the Civil War''), more commonly referred to as the ''Pharsalia'', is a Roman epic poem written by the poet Lucan, detailing the civil war between Julius Caesar and the forces of the Roman Senate led by Pompey the Gre ...

''),

Pliny Pliny may refer to: People * Pliny the Elder (23–79 CE), ancient Roman nobleman, scientist, historian, and author of ''Naturalis Historia'' (''Pliny's Natural History'') * Pliny the Younger (died 113), ancient Roman statesman, orator, w ...

(''Historia naturalis''),

Flavius Eutropius Eutropius (AD363–387) was a Roman official and historian. His book, ''Breviarium Historiae Romanae'', summarizes events from the founding of Rome in the 8th century BC down to the author's lifetime. Appreciated by later generations for its clear ...

(''Breviarius historiae Romanae''),

Orosius Paulus Orosius (; born 375/385 – 420 AD), less often Paul Orosius in English, was a Roman priest, historian and theologian, and a student of Augustine of Hippo. It is possible that he was born in '' Bracara Augusta'' (now Braga, Portugal), t ...

(''Historiae adversus paganos''),

Geoffrey of Monmouth Geoffrey of Monmouth ( la, Galfridus Monemutensis, Galfridus Arturus, cy, Gruffudd ap Arthur, Sieffre o Fynwy; 1095 – 1155) was a British cleric from Monmouth, Wales and one of the major figures in the development of British historiograph ...

(''

Historia regum Britanniae ''Historia regum Britanniae'' (''The History of the Kings of Britain''), originally called ''De gestis Britonum'' (''On the Deeds of the Britons''), is a pseudohistorical account of British history, written around 1136 by Geoffrey of Monmouth. I ...

''), the ''

Historia de preliis Leo of Naples (floruit, fl. 950s), also called Leo the Archpriest ( it, Leone Arciprete), was a diplomat and translator in the service of Dukes John III of Naples, John III and Marinus II of Naples, Marinus II of Duchy of Naples, Naples. He underto ...

'', the ''Histoire ancienne jusqu’à César'', probably the ''Fet des Romains'' and several Old French ''romans''. Not only the number of the sources, but also the scope of their utilisation is astounding: for example, more than half the verses of the ''

'' are contained in the ''General estoria'', together with lengthy explanations and allegorical interpretations drawn from several glossators; two thirds of the ''

'' are inserted in the text in the suitable moment (Second and Third parts), and the whole of the translation of

’s ''

'' is contained in the Fifth part. After being translated, the different sources were combined in the historical relation. The sources treating the same fact were compared, and their similarities and differences carefully exposed; the narration of some years of the Jewish history always precedes, as said above, the part of the text dedicated to the happenings of the same period in other civilisations. Translation and commentary, facts and interpretation go hand in hand, completed by recapitulations and analogies with contemporary realities. Most of the content of the sources is acceptable for the Alphonsine redactors, and censorship or modifications due to a wish to avoid some thing are not frequent. Nevertheless, it is possible to find some places where this does occur: a very poetic tone appears to be sometimes objectionable, as personifications, metaphors or apostrophes are often not translated; the physical transformations narrated in the ''Metamorphoses'' need to be allegorically interpreted; some character traits (cruelty, doubts) are eliminated from the description of kings or powerful men and women.

Manuscripts and editions

More than forty manuscripts of the ''General estoria'' are known. Given the dimensions of the work, they only copy one part or, sometimes, two half parts. Only the First and the Fourth Part are copied in currently extant manuscripts from the royal

scriptorium Scriptorium (), literally "a place for writing", is commonly used to refer to a room in medieval European monasteries devoted to the writing, copying and illuminating of manuscripts commonly handled by monastic scribes. However, lay scribes and ...

, the rest are only known through later copies. Several of these later copies don’t contain a whole part, but a selection, normally either the biblical or the non-biblical contents, and sometimes a copy contains e. g. the biblical content of two parts. For the Fifth part, no manuscript is known that copies the whole text: three contain the non-biblical section, three only part of the non-biblical section (only the translation of ''

''), and one the biblical section. It is possible than this part was never quite completed and the different materials combined in one narration. The First and Second parts of the work were edited and published in 1930 and 1957-1961 by Solalinde and Solalinde, Kasten and Oelschläger. Several scholars have published transcriptions of the text of some manuscripts and partial editions, which contributed to the better knowledge of the work. 2009, a team of philologists published the whole of the work.See references under Sánchez-Prieto.

Notes

References

*Ashton, J. R., “Putative Heroides Codex AX as a Source of Alfonsine Literature”, Romance Philology, 3 (1949–50), 275-289. *Eisenberg, Daniel, “The General Estoria: Sources and Source Treatment”, Zeitschrift für romanische Philologie, 89 (1973), 206-227. *Gormly, F. The Use of the Bible in Representative Works of Medieval Spanish Literature, 1250-1300. *Fernández-Ordóñez, Inés, Las ‘Estorias’ de Alfonso el Sabio, Madrid, Istmo, 1992. *Fraker, Charles F., “The Fet des romains and the Primera crónica general”, ''Hispanic Review'', 46 (1978), 199-220, reed. in Ch. F. Fraker, ''The Scope of History. Studies in the Historiography of Alfonso el Sabio'', University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor, 1996, pp. 133–154. *García Solalinde, Antonio (ed.), Alfonso X el Sabio, General Estoria. Primera Parte, Madrid, Centro de Estudios Históricos, 1930. *García Solalinde, Antonio, Lloyd A. Kasten, Victor R. B. Oelschläger (eds.), Alfonso X el Sabio, General Estoria. Segunda Parte, Madrid, C.S.I.C., 1957, 1961. *Gómez Redondo, Fernando, “La corte letrada de Alfonso X (1256-1284)”, ''Historia de la prosa medieval castellana'', I, Madrid, Cátedra, 1998, pp. 423–852. *González Rolán, Tomás y Pilar Saquero Suárez-Somonte (eds.), Alfonso X el Sabio, ''La historia novelada de Alejandro Magno. Edición acompañada del original latino de la Historia de preliis (recensión J²)'', Madrid, Universidad Complutense, 1982. *Jonxis-Henkemans, Wilhelmina (ed.), ''Text and Concordance of the “General Estoria VI”. Toledo ms. 43-20'', Madison, Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, 1993 (microfichas). *Jonxis-Henkemans, Wilhelmina (ed.), ''Text and Concordance of the “General Estoria V”. Escorial ms. R.I.10'', Madison, Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, 1994 (microfichas). *Jonxis-Henkemans, Wilhelmina, Lloyd A. Kasten y John Nitti (eds.), ''The Electronic Texts of the Prose Works of Alfonso X, el Sabio'', Madison, Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, 1997 (CD-ROM). *Kasten, Lloyd A., “The utilization of the Historia Regum Britanniae by Alfonso X”, ''Hispanic Review'', 38 (1970), special issue (5) “Studies in memory of Ramón Menéndez Pidal”, pp. 97–114. *Kasten, Lloyd y Wilhelmina Jonxis-Henkemans (eds.), ''Text and Concordance of the “General Estoria II”. BNE ms. 10273'', Madison, Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, 1993 (microfichas). *London, G. H. y Leslie, R. J., “A Thirteenth-Century Spanish Version of Ovid’s ‘Pyramus and Thisbe’”, ''Modern Language Review'', 50 (1955), 147-155. *Parker, Margaret A., “Juan de Mena’s Ovidian material: an Alfonsine influence?”, ''Bulletin of Hispanic Studies'', 55 (1978), 5-17. *Pérez Navarro, J. (ed.), ''General Estoria, Cuarta parte. Libro del Eclesiástico'', Padua, Università di Padova, 1997. *Sánchez-Prieto Borja, Pedro y Bautista Horcajada Diezma (eds.), Alfonso X el Sabio, ''General Estoria. Tercera Parte (IV. Libros de Salomón: Cantar de los Cantares, Proverbios, Sabiduría y Eclesiastés)'', Madrid, Gredos, 1994. *Sánchez-Prieto, Pedro (dir.), Alfonso X el Sabio, ''General Estoria. Primera parte'', ed. Pedro Sánchez-Prieto; Alfonso X el Sabio, ''General Estoria. Segunda parte'', ed. Belén Almeida; Alfonso X el Sabio, ''General Estoria. Tercera parte'', ed. Pedro Sánchez-Prieto; Alfonso X el Sabio, ''General Estoria. Cuarta parte'', ed. Inés Fernández-Ordóñez y Raúl Orellana; Alfonso X el Sabio, ''General Estoria. Quinta parte'', I (biblical history), ed. Elena Trujillo; II (non-biblical history), ed. Belén Almeida; Alfonso X el Sabio, ''General Estoria. Sexta parte'', ed. Pedro Sánchez Prieto y Belén Almeida, Madrid, Fundación José Antonio de Castro, 2009.

External links

Selections in Spanish and English (pedagogical edition) with introduction, notes, and bibliography in ''Open Iberia/América'' (open access teaching anthology)
{{Authority control Old Spanish literature Universal history books Alfonso X of Castile 13th-century history books