The ''Libro de los juegos'' (Spanish: "Book of games"), or ''Libro de axedrez, dados e tablas'' ("Book of chess, dice and tables", in Old Spanish), was a

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, Can ...

translation of Arabic texts on chess, dice and tables (backgammon forebears) games,Robert I. Burns, "Stupor Mundi," in ''Emperor of Culture: Alfonso X the Learned of Castile and His Thirteenth-Century Renaissance'', ed. Robert I. Burns (Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1990): 1–13, 2. commissioned by

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 Ger ...

of Castile,

Galicia Galicia may refer to: Geographic regions * Galicia (Spain), a region and autonomous community of northwestern Spain ** Gallaecia, a Roman province ** The post-Roman Kingdom of the Suebi, also called the Kingdom of Gallaecia ** The medieval King ...

and León and completed in his

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 an ...

in Toledo in 1283.Sonja Musser Golladay
"Los Libros de Acedrex Dados E Tablas: Historical, Artistic and Metaphysical Dimensions of Alfonso X’s Book of Games"
(PhD diss., University of Arizona, 2007), 31. Although Golladay is not the first to assert that 1283 is the finish date of the ''Libro de Juegos'', the ''a quo'' information compiled in her dissertation consolidates the range of research concerning the initiation and completion dates of the ''Libro de Juegos''.Wollesen, Jens T. "Sub specie ludi...: Text and Images in Alfonso El Sabio's Libro de Acedrex, Dados e Tablas", ''Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte'' 53:3, 1990. pp. 277–308. It contains the earliest European treatise on chess as well as being the oldest document on European

tables games Tables games are a class of board game that includes backgammon and which are played on a tables board, typically with two rows of 12 vertical markings called points. Players roll dice to determine the movement of pieces. Tables games are among ...

, and is an exemplary piece of the literary legacy of the

Toledo School of Translators The Toledo School of Translators ( es, Escuela de Traductores de Toledo) is the group of scholars who worked together in the city of Toledo during the 12th and 13th centuries, to translate many of the Judeo-Islamic philosophies and scientific w ...

Significance

The ''Libro de los juegos'' is one of the most important documents for researching the

history of board games Board games are tabletop games that typically use . These pieces are moved or placed on a pre-marked board (playing surface) and often include elements of table, card, role-playing, and miniatures games as well. Many board games feature a co ...

. This "celebrated MS book of games" has been described as "one of the choicest treasures of the library of the

Escorial El Escorial, or the Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial ( es, Monasterio y Sitio de El Escorial en Madrid), or Monasterio del Escorial (), is a historical residence of the King of Spain located in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, up ...

"Fiske (1905), p. 87. as well as the "perhaps the greatest source of information on board games ever compiled during the Middle Ages." It is both "the earliest treatise on chess and the oldest document relating to tables which have had their origin in Europe."

Description

The book consists of ninety-seven leaves of

parchment Parchment is a writing material made from specially prepared untanned skins of animals—primarily sheep, calves, and goats. It has been used as a writing medium for over two millennia. Vellum is a finer quality parchment made from the skins ...

, many with color illustrations, and contains 150 miniatures. The text is a treatise that addresses the playing of three game types: a

game of skill A game of skill or game of wits is a game where the outcome is determined mainly by mental or physical skill, rather than chance. Alternatively, a game of chance is one where its outcome is strongly influenced by some randomizing device, such ...

, or

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

; games of chance, or

dice Dice (singular die or dice) are small, throwable objects with marked sides that can rest in multiple positions. They are used for generating random values, commonly as part of tabletop games, including dice games, board games, role-playing ...

; and a third game type, tables, which combines elements of both skill and chance. These games are discussed in the final section of the book at both an

astronomical Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, galaxi ...

and

astrological Astrology is a range of divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of celestial objects. Dif ...

level. Examining further, the text can also be read as an

allegorical As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a hidden meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory t ...

initiation tale and as a

metaphysical Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies the fundamental nature of reality, the first principles of being, identity and change, space and time, causality, necessity, and possibility. It includes questions about the nature of conscio ...

guide for leading a balanced, prudent, and virtuous life. In addition to the didactic, although not overly moralistic, aspect of the text, the manuscript's illustrations reveal a rich cultural, social, and religious complexity.

Location

The earliest manuscript is in the library of the monastery of

El Escorial El Escorial, or the Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial ( es, Monasterio y Sitio de El Escorial en Madrid), or Monasterio del Escorial (), is a historical residence of the King of Spain located in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, u ...

near

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

in Spain, as manuscript T.I.6. It is bound in sheepskin and is 40 cm high and 28 cm wide (16 in × 11 in). A 1334 copy is held in the library of the Spanish

Royal Academy of History The Real Academia de la Historia (RAH, 'Royal Academy of History') is a Spanish institution in Madrid that studies history "ancient and modern, political, civil, ecclesiastical, military, scientific, of letters and arts, that is to say, the diff ...

Background

Alfonso was likely influenced by his contact with scholars in the Arab world. Unlike many contemporary texts on the topic, he does not engage the games in the text with moralistic arguments; instead, he portrays them in an

context. He conceives of gaming as a dichotomy between the

intellect In the study of the human mind, intellect refers to, describes, and identifies the ability of the human mind to reach correct conclusions about what is true and what is false in reality; and how to solve problems. Derived from the Ancient Gre ...

and chance. The book is divided into three parts reflecting this: the first on chess (a game purely of

abstract strategy Abstract strategy games admit a number of definitions which distinguish these from strategy games in general, mostly involving no or minimal narrative theme, outcomes determined only by player choice (with no randomness), and perfect information ...

), the second on dice (with outcomes controlled strictly by chance), and the last on tables (combining elements of both). The text may have been influenced by Frederick II's text on

falconry Falconry is the hunting of wild animals in their natural state and habitat by means of a trained bird of prey. Small animals are hunted; squirrels and rabbits often fall prey to these birds. Two traditional terms are used to describe a person ...

Chess

The ''Libro de los Juegos'' contains an extensive collection of writings on chess, with over 100

chess problem A chess problem, also called a chess composition, is a puzzle set by the composer using chess pieces on a chess board, which presents the solver with a particular task. For instance, a position may be given with the instruction that White is to ...

s and

variants Variant may refer to: In arts and entertainment * ''Variant'' (magazine), a former British cultural magazine * Variant cover, an issue of comic books with varying cover art * ''Variant'' (novel), a novel by Robison Wells * "The Variant", 2021 e ...

. Among its more notable entries is a depiction of what Alfonso calls the ''ajedrex de los quatro tiempos'' ("chess of the four seasons"). This game is a chess variant for four players, described as representing a conflict between the

four elements Classical elements typically refer to earth, water, air, fire, and (later) aether which were proposed to explain the nature and complexity of all matter in terms of simpler substances. Ancient cultures in Greece, Tibet, and India had simi ...

and the

four humors Humorism, the humoral theory, or humoralism, was a system of medicine detailing a supposed makeup and workings of the human body, adopted by Ancient Greek and Roman physicians and philosophers. Humorism began to fall out of favor in the 1850 ...

. The

chessmen A chess piece, or chessman, is a game piece that is placed on a chessboard to play the game of chess. It can be either white or black, and it can be one of six types: king, queen, rook, bishop, knight, or pawn. Chess sets generally come with s ...

are marked correspondingly in green, red, black, and white, and pieces are moved according to the roll of dice. Alfonso also describes a game titled " astronomical chess", played on a board of seven concentric circles, divided radially into twelve areas, each associated with a constellation of the

Zodiac The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north or south (as measured in celestial latitude) of the ecliptic, the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. The pa ...

. Another variant described in the book is the "

Grant Acedrex Grant Acedrex is a medieval chess variant dating back to the time of King Alfonso X of Castile. It appears in the ''Libro de los Juegos'' of 1283. Rules The following rules are from the reconstruction given on the website of Jean-Louis Cazaux, b ...

", played over a 12x12 board with alternative pieces as the giraffe and the unicornio.

Tables

The book describes the rules for a number of games in the tables family. One notable entry is ''todas tablas'', the equivalent of the Anglo-Scottish game of

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

, which some scholars have argued has several similarities to modern

backgammon Backgammon is a two-player board game played with counters and dice on tables boards. It is the most widespread Western member of the large family of tables games, whose ancestors date back nearly 5,000 years to the regions of Mesopotamia and Pe ...

including an identical starting position and the same rules for movement and bearing off, albeit the accompanying image has a different opening layout. Alfonso also describes a variant played on a board with seven points in each table. Players rolled seven-sided

to determine the movement of pieces, an example of Alfonso's preference for the number seven. The tables games described are:

Art

The miniatures in the ''Libro de juegos'' vary between half- and full-page illustrations. The half-page miniatures typically occupy the upper half of a

folio The term "folio" (), has three interconnected but distinct meanings in the world of books and printing: first, it is a term for a common method of arranging sheets of paper into book form, folding the sheet only once, and a term for a book ma ...

, with text explaining the game "problem" solved in the image occupying the bottom half. The back or second (

verso ' is the "right" or "front" side and ''verso'' is the "left" or "back" side when text is written or printed on a leaf of paper () in a bound item such as a codex, book, broadsheet, or pamphlet. Etymology The terms are shortened from Latin ...

) side of Folio 1, in a half-page illustration, depicts the initial stages of the creation of the ''Libro de juegos'', accompanied by text on the bottom half of the page, and the front or first ( recto) side of Folio 2 depicts the transmission of the game of chess from an Indian Philosopher-King to three followers.Vázquez de Parga, "Alfonso X el Sabio," 13. The full-page illustrations are almost exclusively on the verso side of later folios and are faced by accompanying text on the recto side of the following folio. The significance of the change in miniature size and placement may indicate images of special emphasis, could merely function as a narrative or didactic technique, or could indicate different artisans at work in Alfonso's scriptorium as the project developed over time. Having multiple

artisan An artisan (from french: artisan, it, artigiano) is a skilled craft worker who makes or creates material objects partly or entirely by hand. These objects may be functional or strictly decorative, for example furniture, decorative art ...

s working on the ''Libro de juegos'' would have been a typical practice for medieval chanceries and scriptoria, where the labor of producing a manuscript was divided amongst individuals of varying capacities, for example the positions of scribe, draftsman, and apprentice cutting pages. But in addition to performing different tasks, various artisans could have labored at the same job, such as the work of illustration in the ''Libro de juegos'', thereby revealing a variety hands or styles. The ''Libro de Juegos'' offers such evidence in the difference in size between the half- and full-page illustrations in addition to changes in framing techniques amongst the folios: geometrical frames with embellished corners, architectural frames established by loosely perspectival rooftops and colonnades, and games played under tents. Other stylistic variances are found in figural representation, in facial types, and in a repertoire of different postures assumed by the players in different folios in the manuscript. For example, in a comparison of two miniatures, found on Folios 53v and 76r, examples of these different styles are apparent, although the trope of a pair of gamers is maintained. In Folio 53v, two men are playing chess, both wearing turbans and robes. Although they may be seated on rugs on the ground, as suggested by the ceramic containers that are placed on or front of the rug near the man on the right side of the board, the figures' seated positions, which are full frontal with knees bent at right angles, suggests that they are seated on stools or perhaps upholstered benches. The figures' robes display a

Byzantine 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 ...

conservatism, with their modeled three-dimensionality and allusion to a Classical style, yet the iconic hand gestures are reminiscent of a Romanesque energy and theatricality. Although the figures are seated with their knees and torsos facing front, their shoulders and heads rotate in three-quarter profile toward the center of the page, the chess board, and each other. The

proximal Standard anatomical terms of location are used to unambiguously describe the anatomy of animals, including humans. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position ...

, inner arm of each player (the arm that is closest to the board) is raised in a speaking gesture; the

distal Standard anatomical terms of location are used to unambiguously describe the anatomy of animals, including humans. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position pro ...

, outside arms of the players are also raised and are bent at the elbows, creating a partial crossing of each player's torso as the hands lift in speaking gestures. The faces reveal a striking specificity of subtle detail, particular to a limited number of miniatures throughout the ''Libro de juegos'', perhaps indicative of a particular artist's hand. These details include full cheeks, realistic wrinkles around the eyes and across the brow, and a red, full-lipped mouth that hints at the

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

affectations in figural representation coming out of France during the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries. The style in the miniature in Folio 76v is markedly different from the style in Folio 53v. In this case, the framed miniature contains two men, perhaps Spanish, with uncovered wavy light brown hair that falls to the jaw line. The men seem young, as the player on the left has no facial hair and his face is unlined. In both folios, both pairs of players are playing tables and seem to be well-dressed, although there is no addition of gold detailing to their robes as seen in the wardrobes of aristocratic players in other miniatures. These players are seated on the ground, leaning on pillows that are placed next to a tables board. In this miniature, the figure on the left side of the board faces the reader, while the figure on the right leans in to the board with his back to the reader. In other words, each player is leaning on his left elbow, using his right hand to reach across his body to play. In the miniatures of this style, the emphasis seems to be more on the posture of the player than the detail of their faces; this crossed, lounging style is only found in the folios of the ''Libro de tablas'', the third section of the ''Libro de juegos'' which explains

tables game Tables games are a class of board game that includes backgammon and which are played on a tables board, typically with two rows of 12 vertical markings called points. Players roll dice to determine the movement of pieces. Tables games are among t ...

s, again perhaps indicative of the work of a particular artist. Other visual details contemporaneous of Alfonso's court and social and cultural milieu infuse the ''Libro de juegos''. Although some of the miniatures are framed by simple rectangles with corners embellished by the golden castles and lions of Castile and León, other are framed by medieval Spanish architectural motifs, including Gothic and

Mudéjar Mudéjar ( , also , , ca, mudèjar , ; from ar, مدجن, mudajjan, subjugated; tamed; domesticated) refers to the group of Muslims who remained in Iberia in the late medieval period despite the Christian reconquest. It is also a term for M ...

arcades of columns and arches. At times, the figural depictions are hierarchical, especially in scenes with representations of Alfonso, where the king is seated on a raised throne while dictating to scribes or meting out punishments to gamblers. Yet a contemporary atmosphere of Spanish '' convivencia'' is evoked by the inclusion nobility, rogues, vagrants, young and old, men, women, Christian, Muslim, and Jewish characters. Alfonso himself is depicted throughout the text, both as participant and spectator and as an older man and as a younger. The pages are filled with many social classes and ethnicities in various stages of solving the challenges presented by games.

Iconography

The ''Libro de los Juegos'' can be divided into three parts: the games and problems it explores textually, the actual illuminations themselves, and the metaphysical allegories, where an analysis of the texts and illuminations reveals the movements of the macrocosmos of the universe and the microcosmos of man. The symbolism within the medieval illuminations, as explained by the accompanying texts, reveal allusions to medieval literature, art, science, law and philosophy. Intended as a

didactic Didacticism is a philosophy that emphasizes instructional and informative qualities in literature, art, and design. In art, design, architecture, and landscape, didacticism is an emerging conceptual approach that is driven by the urgent need t ...

text, the manuscript functions as a manual that documents and explains how and why one plays games ranging from pure, intellectual strategy (chess), to games of pure chance (dice), to games that incorporate both elements (tables). Conceivably, Alfonso hoped to elucidate for himself how to better play the game of life, while also providing a teaching tool for others. The game of ''ajedrex'', or chess, is not the only game explained in the ''Libro de los Juegos'', but it does occupy the primary position in the text and is given the most attention to detail. In the thirteenth century, chess had been played in Europe for almost two hundred years, having been introduced into Europe by

Arabs The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

around the year 1000. The Arabs had become familiar with the game as early as the eighth century when the

Islamic empire This article includes a list of successive Islamic states and Muslim dynasties beginning with the time of the Islamic prophet Muhammad (570–632 CE) and the early Muslim conquests that spread Islam outside of the Arabian Peninsula, and continuin ...

conquered

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

,William L. Tronzo, "Moral Hieroglyphs: Chess and Dice at San Savino in Piacenza," in ''Gesta'' 16, no. 2 (1977): 15–26, 18. where the game of chess was alleged to have been originated. It is said that a royal advisor had invented the game in order to teach his king prudence without having to overtly correct him. As Arab contact with the West expanded, so too did the game and its various permutations, and by the twelfth century, chess was becoming an entertaining diversion among a growing population of Europeans, including some scholars, clergy, the aristocracy, and the merchant classes;Tronzo, "Moral Hieroglyphs: Chess and Dice at San Savino in Piacenza," 15. thus, by the thirteenth century, the iconography and symbolism associated with chess would have been accessible and familiar to Alfonso and his literate court culture, who may have had access to the private library, and manuscripts, of Alfonso, including the ''Libro de los Juegos''. The ''Libro de los Juegos'' manuscript was a Castilian translation of Arabic texts, which were themselves translations of Persian manuscripts.Robert I. Burns, "Stupor Mundi," in ''Emperor of Culture: Alfonso X the Learned of Castile and His Thirteenth-Century Renaissance'', ed. Robert I. Burns (Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1990): 1–13, 2. The visual trope portrayed in the ''Libro de los Juegos'' miniatures is seen in other European transcriptions of the Arabic translations, most notably the German Carmina Burana Manuscript: two figures, one on either side of the board, with the board tilted up to reveal to the readers the moves made by the players. The juxtaposition of chess and dice in Arabic tradition, indicating the opposing values of skill (chess) and ignorance (dice), was given a different spin in Alfonso's manuscript, however. As Alfonso elucidates in the opening section of the ''Libro de los Juegos'', the ''Libro de ajedrex'' (Book of chess) demonstrates the value of the intellect, the ''Libro de los dados'' (Book of dice) illustrates that chance has supremacy over pure intellect, and the'' Libro de las tablas'' (Book of tables) celebrates a conjoined use of both intellect and chance. Further, the iconographic linkage between chess and kingship in the Western tradition continued to evolve and became symbolic of kingly virtues, including skill, prudence, and intelligence.

Literary context

Most of the work accomplished in Alfonso's scriptorium consisted of translations into the Spanish vernacular from Arabic translations of

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

texts or classical Jewish medicinal texts.Lloyd Kasten, "Alfonso’s Language," in ''Emperor of Culture: Alfonso X the Learned of Castile and His Thirteenth-Century Renaissance'', ed. Robert I. Burns (Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1990): 33–45, 34. As a result, very few original works were produced by this scholar-king, relative to the huge amount of work that was translated under his auspices. This enormous focus on translation was perhaps an attempt by Alfonso to continue the legacy of academic openness in Castile, initiated by Islamic rulers in Córdoba, where the

emirate An emirate is a territory ruled by an emir, a title used by monarchs or high officeholders in the Muslim world. From a historical point of view, an emirate is a political-religious unit smaller than a caliphate. It can be considered equivalen ...

s had also employed armies of translators in order to fill their libraries with Arabic translations of classic Greek texts. Alfonso was successful in promoting Castilian society and culture through his emphasis on the use of Galaico-Portuguese and Castilian, in academic, juridical, diplomatic, literary, and historical works. This emphasis also had the effect of reducing the universality of his translated works and original academic writings, as

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, 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 ...

was the ''

lingua franca A lingua franca (; ; for plurals see ), also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, vehicular language, or link language, is a language systematically used to make communication possible between groups ...

'' in both

Iberia The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese language, Aragonese and Occitan language, Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a pe ...

and Europe; yet Alfonso never desisted in his promotion of the Castilian vernacular.

Legacy

In 1217, Alfonso had captured the Kingdom of Murcia, on the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on ...

coast south of

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...

, for his father, King Alfonso IX, thereby unifying the kingdoms of Castile and León, bringing together the northern half of the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, def ...

under one Christian throne. With the Christian ''

Reconquista The ' ( Spanish, Portuguese and Galician for "reconquest") is a historiographical construction describing the 781-year period in the history of the Iberian Peninsula between the Umayyad conquest of Hispania in 711 and the fall of the N ...

'' of the Peninsula underway, inroads into Islamic territories were successfully incorporating lands previously held by the ''

taifa The ''taifas'' (singular ''taifa'', from ar, طائفة ''ṭā'ifa'', plural طوائف ''ṭawā'if'', a party, band or faction) were the independent Muslim principalities and kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula (modern Portugal and Spain), re ...

'' kingdoms. The arts and sciences prospered in the Kingdom of Castile under the confluence of Latin and Arabic traditions of academic curiosity as Alfonso sponsored scholars, translators, and artists of all three religions of the Book (Jewish, Christian, and Muslim) in his chanceries and scriptoria. Clerical and secular scholars from Europe turned their eyes to the Iberian Peninsula as the arts and sciences prospered in an early Spanish "renaissance" under the patronage of Alfonso X, who was continuing the tradition of (relatively) enlightened and tolerant ''convivencia'' established by the Muslim emirate several centuries earlier. As an inheritor of a dynamic mixture of Arabic and Latin culture, Alfonso was steeped in the rich heritage of

humanistic Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "human ...

philosophy, and the production of his ''Libro de los Juegos'' reveals the compendium of world views that comprised the eclectic thirteenth-century admixture of faith and science. According to this approach, man's actions could be traced historically, and his failures and successes could be studied as lessons to be applied to his future progress. These experiences can be played out and studied as they are lived, or as game moves played and analysed in the pages of the ''Libro de los Juegos''.Kasten, "Alfonso’s Language," 42. It is a beautiful and luxurious document, rich not only in workmanship but also in the amount of scholarship of multiple medieval disciplines that are integrated in its pages.

References

External links

Alphonso X Book of Games
at RenGeekCentral
Elliot Avedon Museum & Archive of Games

{{DEFAULTSORT:Libro De Los Juegos 13th-century books 13th century in chess Medieval chess Chess books Chess in Spain Books about board games 13th century in Castile Alfonso X of Castile Old Spanish literature 1283 works 1283 in Europe