Libro de Alexandre
Encyclopedia
The Libro de Alexandre is a medieval Spanish epic poem about Alexander the Great written between 1178 and c. 1250 in the mester de clerecía
. It is largely based on the Alexandreis
of Walter of Châtillon
, 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 (whence O) and was known to the Marqués de Santillana. P, from Paris
, 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.
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 and several ancient authorities, including Leo's source, Quintus Curtius, Flavius Josephus, and the Pindarus Thebanus. The work of Isidore of Seville
and the Old French
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
.
Mester de Clerecía
Mester de Clerecía is a Castilian literature genre that can be understood as an opposition and surpassing of Mester de Juglaría. It was cultivated in the 13th century by Spanish clergymen....
. It is largely based on the Alexandreis
Alexandreis
Alexandreis is a medieval Latin epic poem by Walter of Châtillon, a 12th-century French writer and theologian. A version of the Alexander romance, it gives an account of the life of Alexander the Great, based on Quintus Curtius Rufus' Historia Alexandri Magni...
of Walter of Châtillon
Walter of Chatillon
Walter of Châtillon 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 student years that he wrote a number of Latin poems in the Goliardic manner that found their way...
, but also contains many fantastical elements common to the Alexander romance
Alexander Romance
Alexander romance is any of several collections of legends concerning the mythical exploits of Alexander the Great. The earliest version is in Greek, dating to the 3rd century. Several late manuscripts attribute the work to Alexander's court historian Callisthenes, but the historical figure died...
. It consists of 2,675 stanzas of cuaderna vía and 10,700 lines.
Bibliothèque nationale de France
The is the National Library of France, located in Paris. It is intended to be the repository of all that is published in France. The current president of the library is Bruno Racine.-History:...
, 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
Kingdom of Castile
Kingdom of Castile was one of the medieval kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula. It emerged as a political autonomous entity in the 9th century. It was called County of Castile and was held in vassalage from the Kingdom of León. Its name comes from the host of castles constructed in the region...
, 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.
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
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 González. It was written between 1250 and 1266 by a monk of San Pedro de...
, 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 and several ancient authorities, including Leo's source, Quintus Curtius, Flavius Josephus, and the Pindarus Thebanus. The work of Isidore of Seville
Isidore of Seville
Saint Isidore of Seville served as Archbishop of Seville for more than three decades and is considered, as the historian Montalembert put it in an oft-quoted phrase, "le dernier savant du monde ancien"...
and the Old French
Old French
Old French was the Romance dialect continuum spoken in territories that span roughly the northern half of modern France and parts of modern Belgium and Switzerland from the 9th century to the 14th century...
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
Alfonso X of Castile
Alfonso X was a Castilian monarch who ruled as the King of Castile, León and Galicia from 1252 until his death...
, and Gonzalo de Berceo
Gonzalo de Berceo
Gonzalo de Berceo was a Spanish poet born in the Riojan village of Berceo, close to the major Benedictine monastery of San Millán de la Cogolla...
.
External links
- Edition of Francisco Marcos MarínFrancisco A. Marcos-MarínFrancisco A. Marcos-Marín is a linguist, a professor of Hispanic Linguistics at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Previously he was professore ordinario per chiara fama in the Università di Roma 'La Sapienza', catedrático de Lingüística General at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and...
, Libro de Alexandre - Emilio Alarcos Llorach, ¿Berceo, autor del «Alexandre»?
- Amaia Arizaleta, Hacia una bibliografía del Libro de Alexandre
- Elisa Benvavent Payá, El Libro de Alexandre y el relato conversacional: dos formas de oralidad para "decir" el discurso directo
- Emiliano Jerónimo Buis, ¿Una Troya cristiana...
- Enrique Celis Real, Análisis comparativo del Libro de Alexandre (estrofas 322-762) y la Ilíada de Homero.
- Francisco Marcos MarínFrancisco A. Marcos-MarínFrancisco A. Marcos-Marín is a linguist, a professor of Hispanic Linguistics at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Previously he was professore ordinario per chiara fama in the Università di Roma 'La Sapienza', catedrático de Lingüística General at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and...
, Génesis 11 y Libro de Alexandre 1505-1517 - Francisco Marcos MarínFrancisco A. Marcos-MarínFrancisco A. Marcos-Marín is a linguist, a professor of Hispanic Linguistics at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Previously he was professore ordinario per chiara fama in the Università di Roma 'La Sapienza', catedrático de Lingüística General at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and...
, Etimologías engañosas y sus consecuencias: los numerales y el Libro de Alexandre. - Marisa Martínez Pérsico, Fronteras del mundo, fronteras del saber y fronteras del relato en El libro de Alexandre
- Isabel Álvarez Sancho and Ana Marco González, Libro de Alexandre, el libro de “los que ruegan”
- María Dolores Solís Perales, La figura de Paris en el Libro de Alexandre
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.
- 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.