The ''Libro de Alexandre'' is a
medieval Spanish epic poem
In poetry, 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. With regard to ...
about
Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...
written between 1178 and c. 1250 in the ''
mester de clerecía''.
[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 language, Latin epic poetry, epic poem by Walter of Châtillon, a 12th-century France, French writer and theology, theologian. It gives an account of the life of Alexander the Great, ba ...
'' 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.
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, 1st Duke of Osuna, Pedro Girón de la Cueva, (Osuna, Seville, 29 July 1537 – 1590). Pedro was also Viceroy of Naples, (1582–15 ...
(whence ''O'') and was known to Íñigo López de Mendoza, 1st Marquess of Santillana.[ ''P'', from ]Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
, 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'', 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 (floruit, fl. 950s), also called Leo the Archpriest (), 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 undertook a diplomatic miss ...
and several ancient authorities, including Leo's source, Quintus Curtius, Flavius Josephus
Flavius Josephus (; , ; ), born Yosef ben Mattityahu (), was a History of the Jews in the Roman Empire, Roman–Jewish historian and military leader. Best known for writing ''The Jewish War'', he was born in Jerusalem—then part of the Judaea ...
, and the '' Pindarus Thebanus''.[ The work of ]Isidore of Seville
Isidore of Seville (; 4 April 636) was a Spania, Hispano-Roman scholar, theologian and Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Seville, archbishop of Seville. He is widely regarded, in the words of the 19th-century historian Charles Forbes René de Montal ...
and the ''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 (sometimes thought to be merely a scribe), Alfonso X of Castile, and Gonzalo de Berceo.][
Following is a sample text from the ''Libro'', with translations in Modern Spanish and English. This fragment]
Notes
Further reading
*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