Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Identification of the sole extant original charter issued by Fernán González, Count of Castile (932–970)

2012; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 4; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/17546559.2012.732441

1754-6567

Julio Escalona, Isabel Velázquez Soriano, Paloma Juárez Benítez,

Archaeological and Historical Studies

Abstract A 937 charter now at the British Library is identified as the sole extant original issued by Fernán González, Count of Castile, and as having been written by the monk Florentius of Valeranica, the best-known scribe in tenth-century Castile. The piece's authenticity is established through detailed diplomatic and palaeographical analysis, including comparison with other works by Florentius. Keywords: County of CastileFernán GonzálezFlorentius of ValeranicaSan Pedro de ArlanzaVisigothic scriptcharter writing Acknowledgements The authors are grateful to the editors of the Journal of Medieval Iberian Studies for their extremely helpful assistance throughout the peer review process. We would also like to thank the two anonymous JMIS readers for their very constructive criticism. Our gratitude is also due to all the institutions that provided access to the sources used in this research, as well as permission to reproduce the accompanying pictures: The British Library (London), Archivo Histórico Nacional (Madrid), Biblioteca Nacional de España (Madrid), Real Academia de la Historia (Madrid), and the Archivo del Monasterio de Silos. Likewise, we must acknowledge our debt to colleagues that were consulted in the course of our work and who provided invaluable suggestions and help: Isabel Alfonso, Anna Bellettini, Carmen del Camino, Wendy Davies, José Antonio Fernández Flórez, Cristina Jular, María Luisa Pardo, Gregorio del Ser, Miguel C. Vivancos and Flora Ward. While this article owes much to their input, the authors remain exclusively responsible for its contents. Notes 1The research on which this article is based was carried out within the framework of the research project reference no. HAR2010-21950-C03-01 of the Plan Nacional de I + D + i, funded by the Spanish Government. 2Zabalza Duque, Condes de Castilla, 65. 3Huidobro Serna, “El monasterio de San Pedro de Berlangas. I”; Huidobro Serna, “El monasterio de San Pedro de Berlangas. II”; Williams, “A contribution”; Shailor, The scriptorium of San Pedro de Berlangas; Pérez de Úrbel, “El monasterio de Valeránica”; Díaz y Díaz, “El escriptorio de Valeránica”; García Molinos, “Florencio de Valeránica”. 4Centre, bottom, upside-down orientation, with the title SANTA MARIA DE KARDABA in Visigothic capital letters. 5Centre, bottom, same orientation, late medieval hand: donacio(n) de cardava: Arguably related to the 1488 exchange between Arlanza and Sacramenia (see later). Below, eighteenth-century hand: a(ño) q(ue) se hizo la donación D.LXX… [illegible] / Era D CCCC LXX V / Tumbo. Fol. 190. era de 975 / Año de 937 / Privilegio 1° / Cax. 6. This probably corresponds to the mid-eighteenth-century reorganization of Sacramenia's archive, as it mentions the contemporary cartulary (Archivo Histórico Nacional, Madrid [AHN], Códices, 104 B). 6Upper right corner, stamp of the British Museum in red ink; upper right corner, “Add. Ch. 71356” in pencil; immediately below, “Add. Ch. 71356” in black ink. 7Besides Add. Ch. 71356, these are: Add. Ch. 71360; “simple copy of the privilege by which Alfonso VIII, King of Castile, grants to the monastery of San Pedro de Arlanza the right to have collazos (bonded peasants) in Cárdaba” (1176), original preserved in the AHN, Sigil-Sellos, carpeta 3, no. 1; and Add.Ch. 71367; “simple copy of the privilege by which Alfonso X, King of Castile and León confirmed the donation of Santa María de Cárdaba to San Pedro de Arlanza by Fernán González” (1255), original preserved in the AHN, Clero, carpeta 370, no. 7. 8A note in a memorandum from 1712 recording Arlanza's rights and property (Biblioteca Nacional de España, Madrid [BNE], Ms. 1071) mentions this exchange: “Este monasterio con todo lo que le pertenecia se dio año de 1488 en cambio con autoridad apostolica a los monges Bernardos de S. María de Sacramenia, uno y otro estan en el obispado de Segovia. Y estos monges nos dieron [lacuna] simples, o prestamos de Aldea del Orno, y Hontoria del [lacuna] con sus aldeas, que son Navas, y la Aldea” (Compendio de Arlanza, fol. 4r–v). 9In the seventeenth century, the original seems to have been used in a report commissioned by Diego de Colmenares which copies literally parts of the charter (preserved in his “Aparato para la Historia de Segovia. Colección de documentos que sirvieron al autor para su obra”, fol. 49, Archivo de la Catedral de Segovia, B-360). 10BNE, Ms. 6930, fol. 255r; BNE, Ms. 1071, fol. 4r–v; Biblioteca Zabálburu, Indice de Arlanza, D-124/D-125, D-176, D-206. 11Serrano, Arlanza, 43–5. 12Pérez de Úrbel, Condado de Castilla, vol. 3, 1115. 13Martín Postigo, Santa María de Cárdaba, 11–16. 14Zabalza Duque, Condes de Castilla, no. 10, 186–192. 15García Molinos, “Florencio de Valeránica”, no. 1, 395–97. 16Zabalza Duque, Condes de Castilla, 191–92. 17Sánchez-Albornoz, Despoblación y repoblación. Cf. Escalona, “The early Castilian peasantry”. 18Known only through its copy in the Arlanza cartulary: Serrano, Arlanza, no. 14, 40–43. Bishop Diego's name is missing and Sebastián is titled abbot, instead of bishop. These oddities were attributed to scribal errors in the cartulary by Martínez Díez, “Los obispos de la Castilla condal”, 115. 20 Ego Didaco Rodaniz et uxor mea Tarasia, tibi patri nostro Gaudio vel cunctorum sodalium tuorum in domino Deo eternam salutem. Magnus est titulus donationis vel tradiccionis, in quo nemo potest actum largitatis inrumpere neque foras legem proicere, set quisquis grato animo pronaque volumtate aliquid voluerit facere, semper libenter amplectetur. 21Serrano, Arlanza, no. 21, 52–5. 19See, for instance, Martínez Díez, Cardeña, no. 6, AD 913: Gusdesteus, gratia Dei episcopus, cf. – Fronismus, preceptum Dei episcopus, cf.; no. 19, AD 929: Obecus, gratia Dei aepiscopus; Reglero de la Fuente, San Isidro de Dueñas, no. 2, AD 915: Annadius, Dei gratia episcopus. Sub Christi nomine, Dei gratia Fortunius episcopus confirmans. The invocation Sub imperio beate trinitatis, is certainly rare in this period except in forged documents, but the distinctive expression sub imperio is quite frequent in dating clauses of tenth-century San Millán documents: regnante Domino nostro Ihesu Christo, et sub eius imperio ego Garsea Sancionis rex (Ubieto Arteta, San Millán, no. 65; see also nos. 69, 72, 73, 74, 75, 77, etc.). 22García Molinos, “Florencio de Valeránica”, 381–92. 23See Appendix 1. 24Which is the reason why Real Academia de la Historia, Madrid (RAH) was based upon it. “RAH” describes its model as a parchment with a wax seal hanging from a blue silk cord, with the figure of a horse-riding monarch on the obverse and two lions and two castles on the reverse, matching closely the characteristics of “1255”. 25Azcárate Aguilar-Amat et al., “Volver a nacer”. 26See for instance AHN, Clero, carpeta 916, no. 7 and no. 19; AHN, Clero, carpeta 375, no. 15. 27For instance, correcting heficandi to hedificandi, changing the place name Quintanas to Quintanellas, inserting aut disrumpere in the phrase… aliquid uoluerit confringere \ aut disrumpere/ aut disturbare… or omitting signum roboravimus from the introduction to the subscriptions. Other variants, though, may derive from hesitations in reading the Visigothic minuscule script (Dictum/dictam; ipsum/ipsam). 28For example: protestatem for potestatem; Damini for Domini and gloriorissimo for gloriosissimo. 29García Molinos, “Florencio de Valeránica”, 258. 30Archivo de la Catedral de Burgos (ACB), vol. 69, I Parte, fol. 87r; Serrano, Covarrubias, no. 2, and Zabalza Duque, Condes de Castilla, no. 48. 31“978A”: Archivo Colegial de Covarrubias (ACC), leg. I, no. 4; Serrano, Covarrubias, no. 7 and Zabalza Duque, Condes de Castilla, no. 52; “978B”: ACB, vol. 69, I Parte, fol. 85r; Serrano, Covarrubias, no. 8 and Zabalza Duque, Condes de Castilla, no. 53. 32Serrano, Arlanza, 40–3. 33Serrano, Arlanza, 45–7. Florentius's name does not actually feature in the cartulary version but the piece is often attributed to him (García Molinos, “Florencio de Valeránica”, 384). 34Zabalza Duque, Condes de Castilla, no. 54. 35It differs significantly from other elongated styles like those in the headings and signatures of some Asturian and Catalan diplomas. Castilian-Riojan elongata covers the whole charter and is not simply elongated, but also “curly”: the letters are composed of characteristic undulations and curves, including particular forms of specific letters like b, q or p: Mundó, “Notas para la historia de la escritura visigótica”, 180. 36Florentius's Covarrubias charters closely resemble another 950 charter attributed to the scribe Vigila who also used elongata occasionally in the Albelda codex. Archivo de la Catedral de Logroño (Seminario Diocesano), pergamino, 1 ter. See Ubieto Arteta, “¿Con qué tipo de letra…?”, 422; Fernández Flórez and Herrero de la Fuente, “El Códice Albeldense”, 143–4; Zabalza Duque, Condes de Castilla, 403–4; Fernández Flórez, “Un calígrafo miniaturista”, especially 177–80. 37For the sake of brevity, we shall avoid a detailed comparison of the sections in elongata in both charters. Suffice to say that, while conceptually similar, they show such important variations in letter forms that, even though Florentius is explicitly credited as scribe, it is difficult to establish whether there was involvement from any other member of the scriptorium or whether there is just one hand. Florentius undoubtedly possessed the ability to introduce significant variations to the letters based purely on his imagination and artistic skills. 38A capital A without bar appears in Albaro, (col. 4), but names beginning in A are more often in minuscule: Aluaro (col. 5); Açnariz (col. 2), Auriolo Aurioliz, with the first a in uncial and the second in minuscule (col. 3), Aznariz (col. 3), Assur (col. 3), Armendariz (col. 4). 39 Sabastian(us) and Iulian(us), col. 7. 40Not a conclusive argument, as such signs also occur in later texts. See examples in Millares Carlo and Ruiz Asencio, Tratado de Paleografía Española, vol. 2; and Documentos selectos. 41Ostolaza Elizondo, “La validación en los documentos”, 456–62. 42Although sps normally means spiritus, this would be meaningless in this context. The most usual abbreviation for subscripsit is sss, which leads to a number of variations in signa: Mendo Carmona, “La suscripción altomedieval”; Ostolaza Elizondo, “La validación en los documentos”. 43Díaz y Díaz considered depingere more appropriate for manuscript illumination than for a notary's work, and worried about a possible forgery: Díaz y Díaz, “La cultura altomedieval”; the subject is also mentioned (without a verdict) by García Molinos, “Florencio de Valeránica”, 383. 44 Exarare: in both versions of the Covarrubias foundational charter, in the colophon to the Moralia in Job and in the Preface to the Esmaragdo de Córdoba (on those codices, see later); scribere: in the Covarrubias 972 charter and in the colophon to the Moralia in Job; praescribere: in the lost codex of the Cassiodorus Psalms, as witnessed by Risco, Historia de la ciudad y corte de León, 155–56. 45Pérez González, Lexicon latinitatis, s.v. “depingo, -ere”. We are grateful to Wendy Davies for her comments on this matter. 46Andrade Cernadas, Díaz Tie, and Pérez Rodríguez, O tombo de Celanova, no. 814. 47There is a comparable use in a San Millán charter from the year 937 that reads: “Hec scripsit Monnio episcopo, primitus legi et confirmavit” (Ubieto Arteta, San Millán, I, no. 24). 48This could be the case of “1255”, which reads Gaudencius, Potencius, Florencius. 50Archivo del Monasterio de Silos, frag. 19, one fragment of 481 × 308 mm in two columns. Rome: Hermandad de Sacerdotes Operarios Diocesanos, no signature, twelve fols. of 476 × 337 mm in two columns. See Ayuso Marazuela, La Biblia de Oña. 51BNE, ms. 80. Codex measuring 488 × 339 mm. 510 fols. in two columns. Derived from a Carolingian model, probably through the manuscript copied by Gómez in 914 at San Pedro de Cardeña. On the date see García Molinos, “Florencio de Valeránica”, 317. See sample of Florentius's hand in Figure 8. 52García Molinos, “Florencio de Valeránica”, 323. 53León, Colegiata de San Isidoro de León. Whereabouts currently unknown. 54RAH, ms. 8, from San Millán de la Cogolla, is also considered a copy of Endura's manuscript. 55Archivo de la Catedral de Córdoba, ms. 1. Codex consisting of 456 fol., measuring 450 × 330 mm, in three columns, except for the Preface which occupies the first four folios. 56Paul the Deacon's Homilies and Fulgentius of Ruspe's De incarnatione Filii Dei. 57Gómez and Zapke, “Homiliario”. The authors date the codex to 953. 58García Molinos, “Florencio de Valeránica”, 375–77. 49Díaz y Díaz, Códices visigóticos, 249–55; Díaz y Díaz, “El escriptorio de Valeránica”. See the detailed descriptions of the codices in Millares Carlo, Corpus de códices visigóticos, nos. 39 (Córdoba), 98 (León), 152 (Madrid), 281 (Rome) and 306 (Silos), with all the main references for each manuscript. More recently, García Molinos, “Florencio de Valeránica”, passim. 59León, Colegiata de San Isidoro de León, ms. 2. Millares Carlo, Corpus de códices visigóticos, no. 96; Díaz y Díaz, Códices visigóticos, 311–12; Suárez, “Arqueología del códice”. 60García Molinos, “Florencio de Valeránica”, 293. 61In our opinion, the script in the Preface, so clearly different from the rest of the codex, may be seen as a variant of “escritura publicitaria”, an expression that has been proposed for the tituli currens and other parts of codices that stand out from the main text; see García Lobo, “La escritura publicitaria”; Martín López, “La escritura publicitaria”. 62An entirely different matter is the script in the Preface, apparently by Florentius, but in a remarkably different writing style from the rest of the work, as already noted. 63Compare Gundisaluiz (line 1) and fiducialiter (line 2). 64The only diverging usage appears in “BL” in the subscriptions (that is, a different hand than the main text), where a semi-uncial g with a very prolonged descender appears in the word gra(tia) (col. 1, l. 3); in that case the use of d in Didacus has also been reversed by putting the uncial form first and the round form second, when the norm is the opposite, as in the subscriptions found in “972”. 65The second s in this word is crossed by a stroke that seems to be an amendment by the scribe himself, to change it to the correct situm: monasterium s(an)c(t)e marie quod est sitis (recte situm). 66García Molinos, “Florencio de Valeránica”, 327. 67See the Emilianense 46 (RAH) and ms. 2855 of the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, by Gomesanus, whose second portion (fols. 69–160) was written at the monastery of Albelda in 951; Díaz y Díaz, “El códice latino 2855”. 68See Millares Carlo and Ruiz Asencio, Tratado de Paleografía Española, 2: plate 51–1, no 45. 69It can be detected both in the Silos fragment of the Oña Bible and in Florentius's hand in “ms. 80”: for instance, in fol. 96v, col. a, l. 20, 38; fol. 205v, col. a, l. 36 (almost identical to the one in “BL”, l. 14: …et uxor mea). 70García Molinos does not register this form of t, although she lists a fourth one that occurs in “ms. 80”'s Hand “B”, but neither in Florentius's part, nor in “BL”. García Molinos, “Florencio de Valeránica”, 335. 71For example, in “ms. 80”, in fol. 205v, col. a, l. 1: uidelicet, followed by et in the aforesaid more schematic style, and again in fol. 205v, col. b, penultimate line uidelicet. Compare with “BL” in the word et, twice on line 8. 72See García Molinos, “Florencio de Valeránica”, 328–37 and especially 328 and 335, for a full description of the abbreviation system of “ms. 80”. 73García Molinos, “Florencio de Valeránica”, 335. 74For instance, in ending nasal in fol. 10r. 75Cf. paruulu(m), line 1, remissione(m), line 11. 76This contradicts Florentius's general practice in “ms. 80”. Compare spiritus meus or spiritum meum in fols. 9 and 10 of “ms. 80” to dno nso Ihu xpo in line 13 of “BL”. 77Abbreviations of -us in “BL”: confirmam(us), line 7, dam(us), line 2; hereditatib(us), line 2, manib(us), line 14, mun(us), line 1, offerim(us), line 10, restauram(us), line 7, roborauim(us), line 15, tradim(us), line 15, uolum(us), line 14. Likewise, for -ue: adq(ue), line 8, q(ue) instead of quae, relative pronoun, lines 5, 10), usq(ue), line 12. Quae occurs most frequently in enclitic position, but also, occasionally, as a pronoun. 78See integr(um), lines 5, 7, peccator(um), line 11, sit(um), line 2 (in this instance amended to situm from sitis, suor(um), line 11.