The '' Chronica latina regum Castellae'', known in Spanish as the ''Crónica latina de los reyes de Castilla'', both meaning "Latin Chronicle of the Kings of Castile", is a

medieval Latin Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin used in Roman Catholic Church, Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. It was also the administrative language in the former Western Roman Empire, Roman Provinces of Mauretania, Numidi ...

history of the rulers of Castile from the death of Count

Fernán González Fernan or Fernán is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: * Fernán Blázquez de Cáceres (fl. 14th-century), Spanish nobleman * Fernán Caballero (1796–1877), Spanish novelist * Fernando Fernán Gómez (1921� ...

in 970 to the reconquest of

Córdoba Córdoba most commonly refers to: * Córdoba, Spain, a major city in southern Spain and formerly the imperial capital of Islamic Spain * Córdoba, Argentina, the second largest city in Argentina and the capital of Córdoba Province Córdoba or Cord ...

by King Ferdinand III in 1236–39. It was probably composed by

Juan de Soria Juan de Soria (died 1 October 1246), also known as Juan Díaz,Martín Alvira Cabrer, ''Las Navas de Tolosa, 1212: idea, liturgia y memoria de la batalla'', Sílex, Madrid, 2012, pp. 40-41 ISBN 978-84-7737-721-4 Juan Domínguez de Medina

, the

Bishop of Osma The Diocese of Osma-Soria () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in northern Spain. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Burgos. Its cathedral ...

and

chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

of Ferdinand III, between 1217 and 1239. The majority of the text deals with the reigns of

Alfonso VIII Alfonso VIII (11 November 11555 October 1214), called the Noble (El Noble) or the one of Las Navas (el de las Navas), was King of Castile from 1158 to his death and King of Toledo. After having suffered a great defeat with his own army at Alarc ...

(1158–1214) and Ferdinand III (1217–1252). It was designed with two purposes: for use at the royal court as a '' speculum principis'' and to defend the interests of Castile against those of the

Kingdom of León The Kingdom of León was an independent kingdom situated in the northwest region of the Iberian Peninsula. It was founded in 910 when the Christian princes of Kingdom of Asturias, Asturias along the Bay of Biscay, northern coast of the peninsula ...

. The ''Chronica'' originally ended in 1230 with the death of

Alfonso IX of León Alfonso IX (15 August 117123 or 24 September 1230) was King of León from the death of his father Ferdinand II in 1188 until his own death. He took steps towards modernizing and democratizing his dominion and founded the University of Salaman ...

, who was succeeded by Ferdinand III. Modern historians disagree whether the continuation down to the capture of Córdoba six years later was written by Juan de Soria or by another author. One has even suggested a composition in three stages between 1223 and 1237 by the same author, Juan de Soria.Inés Fernández-Ordóñez
"La composición por etapas de la ''Chronica latina regum Castellae'' (1223–1237) de Juan de Soria"
''E-Spania: Revue électronique d'études hispaniques médiévales'', 2 (2006). The sources of the ''Chronica'' were the documents of the royal archives, to which its author had access, although he also records events from memory. He makes little use of other narrative histories, which were the main sources of the contemporary chronicles called '' Chronicon mundi'' and ''

De rebus Hispaniae ''De rebus Hispaniae'' or ''Historia gothica'De rebus Hispaniae'' is the original Latin title. ''Historia gótica'' is the later vulgar title. It is also known as the ''Cronicón del Toledano'' or ''Cronicón de las cosas sucedidas en España' ...

''. Juan also includes contemporaneous events from the

Maghrib Maghrib () is one of the five mandatory salah (Islamic prayers), and contains three cycles (''rak'a''). If counted from midnight, it is the fourth one. According to Shia and Sunni Muslims, the period for Maghrib prayer starts just after suns ...

, the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

, and the

Kingdom of France The Kingdom of France is the historiographical name or umbrella term given to various political entities of France in the Middle Ages, medieval and Early modern France, early modern period. It was one of the most powerful states in Europe from th ...

to place Castilian history in context, something neither the ''Chronicon'' nor the ''De rebus'' do, although the later histories composed at the request of

Alfonso X Alfonso X (also known as the Wise, ; 23 November 1221 – 4 April 1284) was King of Castile, León and Galicia from 1 June 1252 until his death in 1284. During the election of 1257, a dissident faction chose him to be king of Germany on 1 Ap ...

, the '' Grande e general estoria'' and the ''

Estoria de España The ''Estoria de España'' ("History of Spain"), also known in the 1906 edition of Ramón Menéndez Pidal as the ''Primera Crónica General'' ("First General Chronicle"), is a history book written on the initiative of Alfonso X of Castile ''"El ...

'' do. The ''Chronica'' is preserved in only one late fifteenth-century manuscript, MS G-1 or 9/450, in the library of the

Real Academia de la Historia The Royal Academy of History (, RAH) 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 different branches of life, of c ...

in Madrid. It is a copy of the original and is found on folios 89 through 122. The structure found in most printed editions, of four sections subdivided into chapters, was added by its first editor, Georges Cirot.

Editions

*Georges Cirot, ed. "Chronique latine des rois de Castille jusqu'en 1236", ''Bulletin hispanique'', 14 (1912), 30–46, 109–18, 244–74, 353–74; 15 (1913), 18–87, 268–83, 411–27. (''

editio princeps In Textual scholarship, textual and classical scholarship, the ''editio princeps'' (plural: ''editiones principes'') of a work is the first printed edition of the work, that previously had existed only in manuscripts. These had to be copied by han ...

'') *Luis Charlo Brea, ed. ''Crónica latina de los reyes de Castilla''. Cádiz: Universidad, 1984. *María D. Cabanes Pecourt, ed. ''Crónica latina de los reyes de Castilla''. Zaragoza: Anubar, 1985. *Luis Charlo Brea, ed. "Chronica latina regum castellae". ''Chronica hispana saeculi XIII'', Corpus Christianorum. Continuatio Mediaevalis. Brussels: Brepols, 1997. pp. 7–118. *Luis Charlo Brea, trans. ''Crónica latina de los reyes de Castilla''. Clásicos latinos medievales, 8. Madrid: Akal, 1999.
''Crónica Latina de los reyes de Castilla'' in Spanish online

Editions

References

Further reading