History and Chronicles in Late Medieval Iberia: Representations of Wamba in Late Medieval Narrative Histories

230 Pages·2011·1.58 MB·English

by  Aengus Ward

History and Chronicles in Late Medieval Iberia
Later Medieval Europe
Managing Editor
Douglas Biggs
University of Nebraska – Kearney
Editorial Board Members
Kelly DeVries
Loyola College
William Chester Jordan
Princeton University
Cynthia J. Neville
Dalhousie University
Kathryn L. Reyerson
University of Minnesota
VOLUME 7
History and Chronicles
in Late Medieval Iberia
Representations of Wamba in Late Medieval
Narrative Histories
By
Aengus Ward
LEIDEN • BOSTON
2011
Front cover illustration: King Wamba speaks to Archbishop Quiricus of Toledo as the Archbishop
presides over the XI Council of Toledo (675), Notule de primatu, nobilitate et dominio Ecclesiae
Toletanae (1253), Biblioteca Nacional de España, Fondos Reservados Vitrina 15-5, fol. 8r.
With kind permission of the Biblioteca Nacional-Madrid.
Back cover illustration: Detail from the Western facade of the church of Santa María de Wamba,
Valladolid
© G. Freihalter (http://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Datei:Wamba_Santa_Mar%C3%ADa
_Westfassade1200.JPG&filetimestamp=20100715131511)
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ward, Aengus.
History and chronicles in late medieval Iberia : representations of Wamba in late
medieval narrative histories / by Aengus Ward.
p. cm. — (Later medieval Europe, ISSN 1872-7875 ; v. 7)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-90-04-20272-6 (hardback : alk. paper)
1. Wamba, King of the Visigoths, d. 687 or 8 2. Spain—History—Gothic period,
414-711—Historiography. 3. Portugal—History—Gothic period, 414-711—Historiography.
4. Visigoths—Spain—Historiography. 5. Visigoths—Portugal—Historiography. I. Title.

DP96.W36W37 2011
946’.01—dc22
2011001062
ISSN 1872-7875
ISBN 978 90 04 20272 6
Copyright 2011 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Hotei Publishing,
IDC Publishers, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and VSP.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in
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Fees are subject to change.
contents v

Contents
Acknowledgements vii

Introduction 1
1 time Past, present and future 10
2 truth, trustworthiness and legitimation 13
3 Representation and the content of chronicles 15
4 narrative 18
Chapter one: Context of Composition: Wamba in context(s) 21
Chronicon Mundi 22
Historia Gothica, (1243/47) 27
Estoria de Espanna (primitiva 1270) 31
Estoria de Espanna (enmendada 1274) 37
Estoria de Espanna (versión crítica 1282) 38
Liber Regum 40
Libro de las Generaciones 43
Estoria delos godos 46
Sumario analístico de la Historia Gothica 50
Toledano romanzado (1400?) 53
Estoria del fecho de los godos 54
Crónica de Espanha de 1344a 56
Crónica de Espanha de 1344b 59
Arreglo toledano de la Crónica de 1344 62
Grant Crónica de Espayna de Juan Fernández de Heredia 65
Crónica d’Espayña de García de Eugui 68
textual relations: 70
Chapter two: Wamba in history, the history of Wamba I
narration and compilation 73
Chapter Three: Wamba in history, the history of Wamba II
The detail of history 107
Lucas de tuy, Chronicon Mundi 108
Rodrigo Jiménez de Rada, Historia Gothica 117
Alfonso X el sabio, Estoria de Espanna 124
vi contents
The navarrese tradition: the Liber Regum and the Libro de
las generaciones 135
translations of the Historia Gothica 139
Wamba in Portugual 146
Crónica de Espanha de 1344a 146
Crónica de Espanha de 1344b 148
navarre and Aragon: Wamba reclaimed 155
Crónica d’Espayña de Garcia de Eugui 155
Chapter Four: History in the making: text, context and the
dynamics of medieval chronicles 161
The past in the present, the present in the past 162
Re-writing the past: 1 Loci of historiographical action 174
origins of Wamba and his right to rule 174
The relationship between king, people and patria: the
nature of kingship 175
Law giving 176
Papal authority, divine inspiration and the role of the
Church 178
Re-writing the past: 2 techniques 179
Appropriation and naturalisation 179
Abbreviation, imbrication, substitution, displacement,
suppression and addition 180
Direct speech 181
textual organization 183
Wamba and the discourse of medieval chronicles 183
Genealogies of texts 186
structuring devices time past, present and future: 187
truth, trustworthiness and authenticity; representation,
legitimation and content 191
Language, prose and narrative 195
Conclusion 198
Bibliography 209
Index 215
acknowledgements vii

ACKnoWLeDGeMents
In the course of researching and writing this book I have benefited
from the help and wisdom of many colleagues and friends
In the first instance, I would like to thank my colleagues in the
Department of Hispanic studies, the school of Languages Cultures,
Art History and Music and the Centre for the study of the Middle
Ages at the University of Birmingham I had the good fortune to take
advantage of a period of study leave from the University in the
autumn of 2006 and again in the spring of 2009 These periods of
quiet reflection and furious writing are a tribute to a university sys-
tem that values the production of research which may not have an
immediate economic benefit but which reflects favourably on the
general academic and cultural environment
I owe a particular debt of gratitude to Georges Martin and Carlos
Heusch for inviting me to spend a month in the wonderful academic
surroundings of the École normale supérieure in Lyon in 2007 The
collaborative scientific atmosphere is a marvel to behold The activi-
ties of the sIReM (after 2009 the sIReM-AILP) are a tribute to the
CnRs as well as to those involved, and an inspiration to all those for
whom the humanities remain important
I would also like to thank Denis Menjot for the opportunity to
speak at the autumn gathering of the CIHAM in Lyon in november
2007 In particular I would like to thank Irene García salvo, nélida
Michaud, Laura Puerto and Jaime Avila-Martínez for their compan-
ionship and insights into a wide range of topics, by no means all of
which had a bearing on aspects of medieval Iberia
The material employed in my studies of late medieval Iberia
derives primarily from a range of libraries and archives The staff of
the Biblioteca nacional de españa, of the Real Biblioteca del
Monasterio de san Lorenzo de el escorial and of the Biblioteca
Menéndez y Pelayo were especially helpful in tracking down manu-
scripts A particularly large debt is owed to Inés Fernández-ordóñez
who, in a busy academic career the output of which puts most of the
rest of us to shame, still found the time to aid my pursuit of the
salamanca manuscript of the version crítica of the Estoria de Espanna
and respond generously to many other queries besides John o’neill
viii acknowledgements
of the Hispanic society of America, the late Diego Catalán and
enrique Jerez Cabrero also helped greatly in tracing manuscripts and
other related material
I have also profited greatly from the wisdom and help of Manolo
Hijano Villegas, Juan Carlos Conde and the late Alan Deyermond
especial mention must go to Leonardo Funes, whose wisdom is
matched only by his good-natured generosity
I have also had the opportunity to explore my thoughts in the con-
text of various colloquia and conferences I would therefore like to
mark my appreciation to those who attended the talks I gave at the
International Medieval Congress at the University of Western
Michigan in 2009; the Medieval History seminar at the University of
Birmingham in 2010 and the colloquium Construir la identidad en la
Edad Media Poder y memoria en la Castilla de los siglos VII a XV in
Cuenca in 2007 and also to the organisers of these sessions, simon
Doubleday, Christina Pössel and José Antonio Jara Fuente respec-
tively
early drafts of parts of this work were read by Mónica Jato, Frank
Lough and Antonio sánchez; my thanks to all three for their sensible
observations, wit and intelligence I am especially grateful to the
anonymous external reader for Brill whose comments will have saved
me from (at least some) embarrassment and which will have
improved the book enormously Any remaining flaws are of course
my responsibility Particular thanks are due to the highly professional
staff at Brill, especially Julian Deahl, Gera van Bedaf and Marcella
Mulder, whose patience in replying to a barrage of questions knew
no bounds
I would like to express my gratitude to several friends whose
knowledge of medieval Iberia may not be extensive, but who in a
variety of ways, in term time and study leave, helped me complete
this book; they are: Adrian Hunt, Graeme Murdock, Mary o’neill,
Frank Hayes, Karen Kenworthy, Bárbara Bordalejo and Craig Blunt
Finally, and most importantly, to solange, Lois and sé who were
forced to live with a seventh-century Iberian king for years, and with-
out whom there be no book, and life would have no meaning