The ''Libro de las Estampas'' ("Book of the Pictures") or ''Testamentos de los Reyes de León'' ("Donations of the Kings of León") is a late twelfth-century

cartulary A cartulary or chartulary (; Latin: ''cartularium'' or ''chartularium''), also called ''pancarta'' or ''codex diplomaticus'', is a medieval manuscript volume or roll (''rotulus'') containing transcriptions of original documents relating to the fo ...

codex The codex (plural codices ) was the historical ancestor of the modern book. Instead of being composed of sheets of paper, it used sheets of vellum, papyrus, or other materials. The term ''codex'' is often used for ancient manuscript books, with ...

León Cathedral Santa María de Regla de León Cathedral is a Catholic church, the episcopal see of the diocese of León in north-western Spain, consecrated under the name of the Virgin Mary. It was the first monument declared by the Royal Order of Spain on ...

. It contains copies of donations from seven kings— Ordoño II, Ordoño III, Ramiro III,

Vermudo II Bermudo or Vermudo, from Latin Veremundus, is a given name of Germanic origin. It may refer to: *Veremund (fl. c. 500), Suevic king of Galicia *Bermudo I of Asturias (r. 788–91), king, called "the Deacon" (''el Diácono'') *Bermudo II of León (r. ...

, Alfonso V, Fernando I and

Alfonso VI Alphons (Latinized ''Alphonsus'', ''Adelphonsus'', or ''Adefonsus'') is a male given name recorded from the 8th century (Alfonso I of Asturias, r. 739–757) in the Christian successor states of the Visigothic kingdom in the Iberian peninsula. ...

—and one countess,

Sancha Muñiz is a district of Setagaya, Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area ...

. Each copy is preceded by an illustration of the donor. All but Ordoño II are shown bearing the original charter (a scroll with a large seal). These lavish depictions in the

Romanesque style Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe characterized by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque style, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 11th century, this later ...

served an authenticating function.A facsimile edition was published by Agapito Fernández Alonso, ''El Libro de las Estampas'' (León, 1981).Margarita Torres Sevilla Quiñones de León and Fernando Galván Freile
"La condesa Doña Sancha: Una nueva aproximación a su figura"
''Medievalismo: Boletín de la Sociedad Española de Estudios Medievales'', 5 (1995), pp. 9–30.Ana M. Gómez-Bravo, ''Textual Agency: Writing Culture and Social Networks in Fifteenth-Century Spain'' (University of Toronto Press, 2013), p. 104.Marta Herrero de la Fuente, "Cartularios leoneses: Del ''Becerro Gótico de Sahagún'' al ''Tumbo Legionense'' y al ''Libro de las Estampas''", in Elena E. Rodríguez Díaz and Antonio Claret García Martínez, eds., ''La escritura de la memoria: los cartularios'' (Universidad de Huelva, 2011), pp. 111–52, at 143–52. The illustrations, however, are anachronistic. The costume depicted is typical of the twelfth century, not the early tenth. Similarly, pendant

seals Seals may refer to: * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to impress an emblem, used as a means of a ...

did not become common in Iberia until the twelfth century. Each king is depicted crowned and seated on a throne, bearing a sceptre. The scrolls the donors hold bear their names and a confirmation of their donation. For example, ''Ego Ordonius minor rex confirmo'' ("I, Ordoño the younger .e., the third confirm his gift).Raymond McCluskey, "Malleable Accounts: Views of the Past in Twelfth-Century Iberia", in Paul Magdalino, ed., ''The Perception of the Past in 12th Century Europe'' (Hambledon Press 1992), pp. 211–26, at p. 223. The depiction of the countess differs from those of the kings in that she is bending her knees while a second figure lifts a sword ready to strike. In the iconography of the times, she is portrayed as a martyr because of her gift to the church.

Gallery

File:Ordono II of León Leon.jpg, Ordoño II File:Ordono III of León leon.jpg, Ordoño III File:Ramiro III of León.jpg, Ramiro III File:Bermudo II of León.jpg, Vermudo II File:Alfonso V of León.jpg, Alfonso V File:Ferdinand I of León.jpg, Fernando I File:Alfonso VI of Castile.jpg, Alfonso VI File:SanchaLeo2.jpg, Sancha

Notes

12th-century illuminated manuscripts {{manuscript-art-stub