The (), known in full as the ''Compendio de crónicas de los reyes del Antiguo Testamento, gentiles, cónsules y emperadores romanos, reyes godos y de los reinos de Castilla, Aragón, Navarra y Portugal'', is an
illuminated
Illuminated may refer to:
* Illuminated (song), "Illuminated" (song), by Hurts
* Illuminated Film Company, a British animation house
* ''Illuminated'', alternative title of Black Sheep (Nat & Alex Wolff album)
* Illuminated manuscript
See also Old Castilian collection of biographies of rulers compiled around 1315/1320 for King
Alfonso XI
Alfonso XI (11 August 131126 March 1350), called the Avenger (''el Justiciero''), was King of Castile and León. He was the son of Ferdinand IV of Castile and his wife Constance of Portugal. Upon his father's death in 1312, several disputes en ...
. It survives in a single late copy, probably from the 1470s, now manuscript 7415 in the
Biblioteca Nacional de España
The (National Library of Spain) is the national library of Spain. It is the largest public library in the country, and one of the largest in the world. Founded in 1711, it is an autonomous agency attached to the Ministry of Culture since 1 ...
.
The ''Semblanzas'' consists of a prologue followed by 172 short biographies of, in order: the
kings of Israel and Judah
The article deals with the biblical and historical kings of the Land of Israel— Abimelech of Sichem, the three kings of the United Kingdom of Israel and those of its successor states, Israel and Judah, followed in the Second Temple per ...
, the kings of the gentile nations (
Assyria
Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , ''māt Aššur'') was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization that existed as a city-state from the 21st century BC to the 14th century BC and eventually expanded into an empire from the 14th century BC t ...
,
Babylonia
Babylonia (; , ) was an Ancient history, ancient Akkadian language, Akkadian-speaking state and cultural area based in the city of Babylon in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq and parts of Kuwait, Syria and Iran). It emerged as a ...
,
Egypt
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
),
Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...
,
Roman consuls
The consuls were the highest elected public officials of the Roman Republic ( to 27 BC). Romans considered the consulship the second-highest level of the ''cursus honorum''an ascending sequence of public offices to which politicians aspire ...
and
Roman emperors,
Muḥammad
Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...
, the
kings of the Visigoths,
Ṭāriq ibn Ziyād and the rulers of the Iberian realms (
Asturias
Asturias (; ; ) officially the Principality of Asturias, is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwest Spain.
It is coextensive with the provinces of Spain, province of Asturias and contains some of the territory t ...
,
León,
Castile,
Navarre
Navarre ( ; ; ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and New Aquitaine in France. ...
,
Aragon
Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces of Spain, ...
,
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
). The biographical sketches vary in length between five and twenty-nine lines. The dating of the work is based on the image of Alfonso XI, which depicts a child. The work was almost certainly produced on the orders of Queen
María de Molina
María Alfonso Téllez de Meneses (c. 1265 – 1321), known as María de Molina, was queen consort of Kingdom of Castile, Castile and Kingdom of León, León from 1284 to 1295 by marriage to Sancho IV of Castile, and served as regent for her min ...
, the young king's regent and grandmother.
The manuscript is made of
parchment
Parchment is a writing material made from specially prepared Tanning (leather), untanned skins of animals—primarily sheep, calves and goats. It has been used as a writing medium in West Asia and Europe for more than two millennia. By AD 400 ...
and consists of 44
folio
The term "folio" () has three interconnected but distinct meanings in the world of books and printing: first, it is a term for a common method of arranging Paper size, sheets of paper into book form, folding the sheet only once, and a term for ...
s. Each page has two biographies in parallel columns beneath an image of both rulers. The text is written in
Gothic ''cursiva textualis'', with the only decorated
initial
In a written or published work, an initial is a letter at the beginning of a word, a chapter (books), chapter, or a paragraph that is larger than the rest of the text. The word is ultimately derived from the Latin ''initiālis'', which means '' ...
s at the start of the prologue and the first biography. Beneath the first biographies there is an unidentified
coat of arms
A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...
—probably indicating that the original owner was from the
Lordship of Biscay
The Lordship of Biscay (, Basque language, Basque: ''Bizkaiko jaurerria'') was a region under feudal rule in the region of Biscay in the Iberian Peninsula between 1040 and 1876, ruled by a political figure known as the Lord of Biscay. One of the ...
. The iconography of the manuscript is stereotyped and repetitive. The drawing is rough but colourful with ample use of gold. All the kings are depicted enthroned in a niche with
Gothic characteristics. Most have long hair and beards. They all carry either a sceptre or a sword and either an orb or a book. The greatest variation is found in the headdresses. The
counts of Castile and
counts of Portugal
The County of Portugal (Galician-Portuguese: ''Comtato de Portugalle''; referred to as Portugalia in contemporary documents) refers to two successive medieval counties in the region around Guimarães and Porto, today corresponding to litoral Nor ...
, for example, do not wear crowns. There is other variation in the details. The swords vary between sheathed and unsheathed, and the design of the sceptres and orbs varies.
Despite the stereotyping, some individual rulers are provided with distinguishing details. Alfonso XI and
Henry I of Castile
Henry I of Castile (in Spanish, ''Enrique I'', 14 April 1204 – 6 June 1217) was King of Castile. He was the son of Alfonso VIII of Castile and Eleanor of England, Queen of Castile (daughter of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine). He ...
are portrayed as children.
Sancho the Fat is portrayed as fat. Pious rulers have a
halo
HALO, halo, halos or haloes may refer to:
Most common meanings
* Halo (optical phenomenon)
* Halo (religious iconography), a ring of light around the image of a head
* ''Halo'' (franchise), a sci-fi video game series (2001–2021)
Arts and en ...
and a
globus cruciger
The for, la, globus cruciger, cross-bearing orb, also known as ''stavroforos sphaira'' () or "the orb and cross", is an Sphere, orb surmounted by a Christian cross, cross. It has been a Christian Church, Christian symbol of authority since the M ...
. Legislators are shown holding a book. The most distinctive rulers are Muḥammad and Ṭāriq, who are both depicted in eastern dress. Muḥammad is depicted, not as a military leader, but as a preacher. He points with his left hand to
a book in his right. He appears beside
Athanaric
Athanaric or Atanaric (; died 381) was king of several branches of the Thervingian Goths () for at least two decades in the 4th century. Throughout his reign, Athanaric was faced with invasions by the Roman Empire, the Huns and a civil war with C ...
, the first king of the Visigoths, just as Ṭāriq, the Muslim conqueror of the Visigoths, appears beside the last Visigothic king,
Roderic
Roderic (also spelled Ruderic, Roderik, Roderich, or Roderick; Spanish language, Spanish and , ; died 711) was the Visigoths, Visigothic king in Hispania between 710 and 711. He is well known as "the last king of the Goths". He is actually an ex ...
.
Notes
Bibliography
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External links
{{commons category, Compendio de crónicas de reyes (Biblioteca Nacional de España)
Madrid, Biblioteca Nacional de España, MS 7415 full scan of manuscript
Old Spanish literature
14th-century books
15th-century illuminated manuscripts