El VII Marqués del Carpio y las letras

Esta tesis pretende, por un lado, estudiar las distintas bibliotecas de Gaspar de Haro y Guzmán, VII marqués del Carpio. Durante sus 58 años de vida reunió alrededor de 6.000 libros que repartió en sus residencias de Madrid, Lisboa, Roma y Nápoles, y que conocemos gracias a distintos inventarios que permiten un estudio completo y cronológico. Se ha atendido para el estudio al conjunto del inventario de bienes, y no sólo a la parte dedicada a los libros, permitiendo reconstruir no sólo el contenido de la biblioteca sino también su decoración y sus usos prácticos. En segundo lugar, se atiende al intencionado uso político de las letras (dedicatorias, usos de la imprenta, patronazgo) como arma para la lucha política y cortesana. La tesis aspira a ser un trabajo relacionado con el amplio campo de la Cultura escrita, entendida como aquella línea de investigación histórica que reflexiona sobre los procesos que generan documentación (impresa y manuscrita), sus usos y fines, así como los espacios y dispositivos que han permitido su conservación, no siempre de forma conjunta. Pero es sobre todo un estudio que podríamos englobar en el vasto campo de la Historia cultural de la política, tomando como case study a Gaspar de Haro y Guzmán...

"Consolatoria super obitu inclyti principis Hispaniarum Iohannis" de Alfonso Ortiz: introducción, edición crítica, traducción y comentario

The present work submitted as a PhD thesis has the aim of studying from a philological point of view, the Latin text Consolatoria super obitu inclyti principis Hispaniarum Iohannis, written by the Castilian canon Alfonso Ortiz, who lived in the late 15th century in the time of the Catholic Monarchs (Isabel and Fernando), on the death of Prince John, first and only son of the sovereigns. The core of this work is the critical edition (the first complete edition ever made) on the comparison of two extant manuscripts (S and St), the second having the Spanish self-translation of the first. On the basis of this critical text we study the literary references as well as its structure and the literary genre to which it may be ascribed and, besides, we point out some features of the language used therein (Latin), the scope and characteristics of the self-translation and other style and rhetorical topics (e.g. the use of rhythmic clausulae at the end of sentences). Several appendices are added to complete and improve the text-study From that study it may be concluded that although the work follows a long time proven tradition based on medieval religious Ideas, the author, nonetheless, continuously shows within the text that he is willing to adapt that tradition into the new tunes of early Renaissance, not only by means of language and style features, but also through matter nuances that made it clear that life/death concepts were gradually shifting from the medieval times to the ideas of the new epoch. As the value of human life was rising, it needed a more attentive, profound and meticulous consolation through both conceptual and rhetorical arguments...

En torno a la imagen literaria de Alfonso V de Aragón: Fortún García de Ercilla y su traducción castellana del De dictis de Antonio Beccadelli. Edición y estudio

Alfonso V of Aragon (1396-1458), who won from his contemporaries the title “the Magnanimous”, became one of the most brilliant fifteenth century monarchs, not only because of being a shrewd politician and king of one of the main kingdoms in the Iberian Peninsula, but also due to his cultural activity. Thanks to him the Aragonese territories were extended throughout the Mediterranean up to Naples, where he established a magnificent court that turned into maybe the most remarkable centre of intellectual vitality and development of Humanism. His patronage attracted a considerable number of leading poets of the period, as well as the most important Italian humanists. The presence of so many writers and outstanding scholars, together with the academic environment that the monarch encouraged, promoted an enormous literary production in four languages: Latin, Spanish, Catalan and Italian. Additionally, the valuable library gathered by the king and the Academy founded in order to spread knowledge illustrate part of his intellectual concerns. This way, through his love to literature and generosity to men of letters, Alfonso the Magnanimous boosted the culture of that time. The principal protagonist in the cultural activities of the circle of erudites formed around the sovereign was Antonio Beccadelli, called Panormita (1394-1471). He, one of the most prominent personalities of Italian Humanism, assumed the role of main royal advisor. His work De dictis et factis Alphonsi regis (The sayings and deeds of king Alfonso), which will be studied in our dissertation, became a very popular text about Alfonso’s personality, as a kind of biography based on anecdotes of the Magnanimous’ life by way of exempla to be imitated. The success of these episodes lasted for a long time and they are appreciated even nowadays. The work was valued as specula principum and had great impact in sixteenth century, when De dictis was republished several times and translated from Latin into Spanish. One of these translations, the one by Fortún García de Ercilla, caught our interest since it is in a manuscript signed by Ercilla himself and this version is still unpublished...

Estudio, edición crítica y traducción del "Memoriale virtvtvm" de Alfonso de Cartagena

Alfonso de Cartagena (1385-1456), possibly the most representative figure of the courtly, political and cultural dimension built around Juan II, was the third son of the famous convert Pablo de Santa Maria, Burgos’ rabbi and, later on, bishop of that same town. He started his career as governor of Cartagena’s cathedral, afterwards he was named dean of Santiago and Segovia, canon of Burgos and, after his father’s death, bishop of Burgos. Alternatively, he played a vital role in Castile’s national and international politics, as an ambassador in Portugal’s court, at Basel’s council and before Poland’s and Germany’s kings. His work, written both in Latin and Romance, either as an historian, treatise writer, theologist or translator, is quite broad; his literary connections were strong either with Italian humanists or with those who were fond of the language arts from Spain. The first part of this Thesis seeks to provide a wide enough perspective of the author, for which we place the emphasis on the most distinctive aspects of his life. Therefore, we divided the introduction in three sections: a biographical overview, his work and, last, a study on the Memoriale uirtutum itself. Thus, regarding the first aspect, we focus on the course of his life (§1.1), where we can highlight his university education, which isn’t restricted to his training as a jurist, but we also observe that his mental vitality takes him to develop certain inquisitiveness for Moral Philosophy or Latin, which leads him to study Grammar and Rhetoric; this would allow the influence of studia humanitatis to emerge, although he never got to learn the Greek language, as we can deduce from the epistolary confrontation between him and Leonardo Bruni. We also focus on the significance of his Jewish past, upon the defence of the converts during the massacre experienced in the XVth century (§1.2), and on his presence at Basel’s council (§1.3). Despite the fact that his work as a diplomat begins during the missions in Portugal as an emissary of king Juan II, he will get recognition owing to his legation in Basel, not only among the European ecclesiastics, but also among the scholars from Italy; the importance of Basel’s council in Cartagena’s life goes beyond his official work there, either as defending the Castilian interests, or as an active member of the purely conciliar functions, since it also had a huge impact in his intellectual growth. During this time period, Cartagena establishes a friendship with Pizzolpaso, Bishop of Milan, writer, humanist, and friend of Leonardo Bruni. As a result of this type of relationship with men of such high cultural standard, he re-awakens the study of the Classical antiquity among his contemporaries, developing a huge interest in the Greco-Roman masterpieces, which will bring him closely to the highly-regarded Spanish humanists of the XVIth century...