Description
Book SynopsisDuring the 13th and 14th centuries, medieval Castile produced some of the liveliest, most sophisticated vernacular reworkings of narratives inherited from classical and late antiquity, including those about Alexander the Great, the Trojan War, or Apollonius of Tyre. This study recovers the overlooked tradition of the Castilian romances of antiquity, showing how these works offered a nuanced reflection of the relationship between cultural memory, the media through which memory is shaped and transmitted, and Castile’s imperial ambitions. Clara Pascual-Argente restores a genre of great cultural and political importance to its rightful place in Castilian and European literary history.
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements List of Illustrations Introduction 1 The Castilian Romances of Antiquity in Their European Context 2 Cultural Memory and the Romances of Antiquity 3 Alexander’s Heirs 1 Mirroring Monuments: Reflecting on the Media of Memory in the Libro de Alexandre and the Libro de Apolonio 1 Monumental Memory in the Libro de Alexandre 1.1 The Persian Tombs: Erasing Representational Friction 1.2 Word, Image, and Mise en Abyme in Achilles’s Sepulcher 1.3 Historia and Figura 2 Memory, Identity, and Visuality in the Libro de Apolonio 2.1 A Monumental Frame 2.2 Metanarrative Proliferation 2.3 From Memory to Written Record? 2 Remembering (for) Empire in the Libro de Alexandre and Its Literary Lineage (Poema de Fernán González, Poema de Alfonso Onceno) 1 Remembering (at) Troy in the Libro de Alexandre 2 Trojan Lessons in the Poema de Fernán González 2.1 Trojan Past, Iberian Past 2.2 A Monastic Troy 3 Fulfilling Promises in the Poema de Alfonso XI 3 A Tale of Two Troys: Remediating the Roman de Troie in Alfonso XI’s Court 1 “Sin Pecado:” The Libro de Alexandre, a Sinless Romance of Antiquity 2 “Rex Dogma Dat Hyspanis:” Monarch and Media in the General Estoria 3 The Twin Troys 3.1 “Mester de cavallería:” Chivalric Community in the Crónica troyana de Alfonso XI 3.2 “Esto amor lo faze:” Love’s Community in the Historia Troyana Polimétrica 3.3 Media, Mediators, and Community at the Court of Alfonso XI 4 From Empire to Exile: Troy in 14th-century Castile 1 Alfonso’s Imperial Troy 1.1 Castilian Empire, Greek Heroes 1.2 Marinids as Trojans 2 A Turning Point: Pedro’s Troy 2.1 Empire: The Historia troyana de Pedro I 2.2 Exile: Galician Troys 3 Catalina’s Troy: A Restoration? 3.1 Two Trojan Compilations: Sumas de Historia Troyana and Confisión del Amante 3.2 Troy and Petrismo in El Victorial Conclusion Appendix Bibliography
