Jesús Alturo i Perucho (born 10 March 1954 in El Pont de Suert) is a Catalan

palaeographer Palaeography ( UK) or paleography ( US) (ultimately from , , 'old', and , , 'to write') is the study and academic discipline of historical writing systems. It encompasses the historicity of manuscripts and texts, subsuming deciphering and dati ...

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also defined as the study of ...

and cultural historian.

Academic career

Alturo is professor at the

Autonomous University of Barcelona The Autonomous University of Barcelona (; Spanish: ; ; UAB) is a public university mostly located in Cerdanyola del Vallès, near the city of Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. , the university consists of 57 departments in the experimental, lif ...

, initially in Latin Philology (since 1976) and later in palaeography, codicology and diplomatics (since 1992), as chair and replacing his teacher, Anscari M. Mundó. A doctor in

classics Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

, he is a specialist in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, in particular in the field of

cultural history Cultural history records and interprets past events involving human beings through the social, cultural, and political milieu of or relating to the arts and manners that a group favors. Jacob Burckhardt (1818–1897) helped found cultural history ...

, not only in

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

, but also in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. He became a member of the Comité International de Paléographie Latine in 1994. He is a member of the Société nationale des antiquaires de la France (2013), a corresponding member of the

Reial Acadèmia de Bones Lletres de Barcelona The Reial Acadèmia de Bones Lletres de Barcelona (in Spanish ''Real Academia de Buenas Letras de Barcelona'', Royal Academy of the Good Writings of Barcelona) is a Catalan literary society, based in Barcelona. It was founded in 1729 and it has i ...

(2007), an honorary member of the Societat Catalana de Numismàtica and a member of the Societat Catalana d'Estudis Litúrgics (

Institut d'Estudis Catalans The Institute for Catalan Studies ( ), also known by the acronym and initialism, acronym IEC, is an academic institution which seeks to undertake research and study into "all elements of Catalan culture". It is based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spai ...

). He has been ''Directeur d'Études invité'' at lÉcole Pratique des Hautes Études de París. Under the project ''Monumenta Palaeographica Medii Aevi'', he is director of the ''Series Hispanica''. In 2017 he published ''Chartae Latinae Antiquiores Cataloniae'', which bring together a total of 100 original charters from the

9th century The 9th century was a period from 801 (represented by the Roman numerals DCCCI) through 900 (CM) in accordance with the Julian calendar. The Carolingian Renaissance and the Viking raids occurred within this period. In the Middle East, the H ...

, preserved in Catalan archives. Alturo is author of an extensive bibliographic and academic production with more than three hundred papers, books or chapters of books, IdRef - Agence bibliographique de l'enseignement supérieur which includes the publication and analysis of various medieval charters collections, and of fragments of manuscripts, identifying and studying pieces as relevant as the earliest known evidence of the ''Liber de dono perseuerantiae'' by

Augustine of Hippo Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced the development of Western philosop ...

, of the ''

Pamphilus de amore ''Pamphilus de amore'' (or, simply, ''Pamphilus'' or ''Pamfilus'') is a 780-line, 12th-century Latin comedic play, probably composed in France, but possibly Spain.Vincente Cristóbal, "Ovid in Medieval Spain", in ''Ovid in the Middle Ages'', ed. ...

'', of the ''

Jaufré ''Jaufre'' (also called ''Jaufré'' or ''Jaufri'') is the only surviving Arthurian romance written in Occitan. A verse romance approximately 11,000 lines long, its main character is equivalent to Sir Griflet son of Do, a Knight of the Round Tabl ...

'', of the pilgrim Egeria, among others. He is also the author of critical editions of medieval literary texts, such as sermons attributed to the bishop and

abbot Oliba Oliba (; 971–1046) was the count of Berga and Ripoll (988–1002), and later abbot of the monasteries of Santa Maria de Ripoll and Sant Miquel de Cuixà (1008–1046) and the bishop of Vic (1018–1046). He is considered one ...

or the grammarian Borrell Guibert, and of early medieval epigraphic texts and studies of early medieval Latin glossaries, among which those that denote the diffusion of the ''

Liber glossarum The ''Liber glossarum'' (also called the ''Glossarium Ansileubi'') is an enormous compendium of knowledge used for later compilations during the Middle Ages, and a general reference work used by contemporary scholars. It is the first Latin encyclo ...

'' in

. In 2019 he produced a new critical edition of the ''Planctus monialis'' transmitted by the ms. Vat. lat. 3251. He also identified and published a critical edition of an unknown testimony of another planctus monialis from Santa María de Obarra. As a

, Alturo has also identified the authors of numerous copies of entire manuscripts, simple fragments of codices and even anonymous charters, with names such as Altimir, At, Eiximèn, Isarn, Llop and Recared. He has done so by unequivocally proving that the presbyters of the diplomas and the amanuensis who copied the codices were very often the same person and applying to his study his own approach based on the study of graphic particularities, that is, the smallest details that personalize the script. In October 2021 Alturo, with Tània Alaix, identified the author of the Complaints of Guitard Isarn, Lord of Caboet, in the person of the

subdeacon Subdeacon is a minor orders, minor order of ministry for men or women in various branches of Christianity. The subdeacon has a specific liturgical role and is placed below the deacon and above the acolyte in the order of precedence. Subdeacons in ...

Ramon de Cabó, who has become, for now, the first author of

Catalan literature Catalan literature (or Valencian literature) is the name conventionally used to refer to literature written in the Catalan language. The focus of this article is not just the literature of Catalonia, but literature written in Catalan from anywhe ...

. Interested also by the first written witnesses of

Catalan language Catalan () is a Western Romance languages, Western Romance language and is the official language of Andorra, and the official language of three autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous communities in eastern Spain: Catalonia, the Balearic I ...

, he has dated the

Homilies d'Organyà The Homilies d'Organyà () constitute one of the oldest known literary documents (longer than a mere fragment) in the Catalan language. It is known for the antiquity of its language, between vulgar Latin and Catalan. Older texts in Catalan include ...

, and of the Catalan translation of the

Visigothic Code The ''Visigothic Code'' (, or Book of the Judgements; ), also called ''Lex Visigothorum'' (English: ''Law of the Visigoths''), is a set of laws first promulgated by king Chindasuinth (642–653 AD) of the Visigothic Kingdom in his second year of ...

, both preserved in a fragment of a codex from

Santa Maria de Montserrat Abbey Santa Maria de Montserrat () is an abbey of the Order of Saint Benedict located on the mountain of Montserrat (mountain), Montserrat in Monistrol de Montserrat, Catalonia, Spain. It is notable for enshrining the image of the Virgin of Montserrat ...

and of the one served in the Archives of the Bishopric of

Urgell Urgell (), also known as ''Baix Urgell'' (''baix'' meaning "lower", by contrast with Alt Urgell "Upper Urgell"), is a ''comarca'' (county) in Ponent, Catalonia (Spain), forming only a borderland portion of the region historically known as Urgel ...

Awards

In 1982 Alturo was awarded with the Premi Ciutat de Barcelona for his research ''L'arxiu antic de Santa Anna de Barcelona del 942 al 1200. (Aproximació històrico-lingüística)''. In 2004 his work was awarded with the Premi Crítica Serra d'Or for the book ''Història del llibre manuscrit a Catalunya''. This book is considered the standard introduction to the subject in

. On 13 December 2021, he received the

Creu de Sant Jordi The Creu de Sant Jordi (, in English language, English 'St George's Cross') is one of the highest civil distinctions awarded in Catalonia (Spain), surpassed only in protocol by the Gold Medal of the Generalitat of Catalonia, Gold Medal of the G ...

for “his major contributions to the history of medieval literature and art of the Romanesque period in Catalonia”.

Books

*''L’Arxiu Antic de Santa Anna de Barcelona (Fons de Santa Anna i de Santa Eulàlia del Camp) del 942 al 1200: aproximació històrico-lingüística'', 3 vol., (1985) *''Diplomatari de Polinyà del Vallès: aproximació a la història d'un poble del segle X al XII'' (1985) * Mundó, Anscari M.''Obres completes''. 1, De la romanitat a la sobirania. (1997) * ''Diplomatari d’Alguaire i del seu monestir santjoanista, de 1076 a 1245'' (1999) * ''Studia in codicum fragmenta'' (1999) * ''El llibre manuscrit a Catalunya: orígens i esplendor'' (2000; 2d ed. 2001) * ''Liber iudicum popularis ordenat pel jutge Bonsom de Barcelona'', ed. by J. Alturo, J. Bellés, J.M. Font i Rius, Y. García, A.M. Mundó (2003) * ''Història del llibre manuscrit a Catalunya'' (2004) * ''El Llibre i la lectura: de l’antigüitat a l'època moderna'' (2008) * ''El calze i la lira entre reixes: culte i textos clandestins dins la Presó Model de Barcelona (1937)'' (2008) * ''Diplomatari d’Alguaire i del seu monestir duple de Sant Joan de Jerusalem (1245 a 1300)'' (2010) * ''Memòries de la Guerra Civil i notes parroquials de postguerra de Mn. Joan Agut i Ribera, rector de Santa Maria de Montmaneu'' (2011) * ''La Producció i circulació de llibres clandestins des de l'antiguitat fins als nostres dies: actes de les segones Jornades internacionals sobre història del llibre i de la lectura: 20 i 21 d'octubre de 2010'', ed. by J. Alturo, M. Torras and A. Castro (2012) * ''La Escritura visigótica en la Península Ibérica: nuevas aportaciones, Jornadas Internacionales'' ed. by J. Alturo, M. Torras and A. Castro (2012) * Alturo, J., and T. Alaix. ''L’església de Sant Salvador de Polinyà i les seves pintures'' (2016) * Alturo, J., and T. Alaix. ''Chartae Latinae Antiquiores Cataloniae'', 3 vol., (2017–18) (in English) * Alturo, J., and T. Alaix. ''Mil cent anys de la vila i de la parròquia de Santa Maria de Llinars'' (2019) * Alturo, J., and T. Alaix. ''L’antependi de Sant Martí de Lleida a Baltimore i altres obres de l’art medieval català'' (2020) * Alturo, J., and T. Alaix. ''El canonge Adanagell de Vic (ca. 860-925), llavor de noves semences: la cultura a la diòcesi d’Osona en els primers temps carolingis'' (2021)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alturo i Perucho, Jesus 1954 births Living people Spanish philologists Spanish medievalists Historians from Catalonia Autonomous University of Barcelona alumni 20th-century philologists