Alfonso X de Castilla, patrono de las letras y del saber [Reseña]

Filma Alcana e III.wp8-- Pág. 345 -- 345 E elyn S. P oc e , Al onso X de Cas illa, pa ono de las le as y del sabe . T aducción y no as po Manuel González Jiménez; aducción e isada po Ma y O’Sulli an. Mu cia: Real Academia Al onso X el Sabio, 2003. ISBN: 84-88996-76-4 Al onso X de Cas illa, pa ono de las le as y del sabe A e all he a en ion he many ace s o he eign o Al onso X and his omni o ous in ellec ual appe i e ha e ecei ed since 1951, i may seem ema kable ha a slim olume on he subjec published by an English lady –a e y English lady– in ha yea should be hough o me i a ansla ion in o Spanish in he yea 2003. Ye , o all he schola ly sophis ica ion (no o say mys i ica ion) ha codicologis s and s uden s o science, his o y and jus abou e e y hing else ha e la ished on he enigma ic mona ch o e he in e ening hal -cen u y, E elyn P oc e ’s s udy o he man e ains i s eshness s ill – a guably indeed, and pa adoxically, a eshness sha pe e en han he Cu ia and Co es in León and Cas ile 1072-1295 possessed a he ime o i s pos humous publica ion in 1980. By he ligh s o he ime, Miss P oc e ’s Filma Alcana e III.wp8-- Pág. 346 -- ÈPe e Linehan 346 own his o y was ema kable oo. Tha an Ox o d spins e should ha e chosen medie al Spain as a subjec o esea ch jus a e he Fi s Wo ld Wa , and (e en i she en u ed no u he a ield) ha e aken he chances in he s a e a chi es o Ba celona, Lisbon, Mad id and Pamplona, a he han de o ing he sel o he edi ion o an English bishop’s egis e o he ela i e secu i y o he Public Reco ds O ice speaks olumes. ‘Muje de apa iencia ímida’ she may ha e been, as he ansla o epo s in he P esen ación o his elegan li le book, bu she could p o e obdu a e oo, as he cus odians o he Sección de Manusc i os o he Biblio eca Nacional disco e ed when hey ied o igh en he o wi h ho o s o ies abou he e being no ladies’ la a o ies in he building, and as he P incipal o S Hugh’s College needed o be in he man’s wo ld ha Ox o d was a e 1945. Though on he small numbe o occasions on which I me he she was d y-eyed, legend had i ha she was e y good a u ning on he wa e wo ks and mel ing he pe i ied hea s o he male colleague. As Shakespea e’s Desdemona sang, ‘He sal ea s ell om he , and so en’d he s ones.’ And, mo e han ha , she was clea -minded, as academic adminis a o s we e once upon a ime, and e e -conscious o he need o dis inguish whea om cha and wood om ees. Hence pe haps wha s ands ou as one o he p incipal i ues o he Al onso X o Cas ile, Pa on o Li e a u e and Lea ning (Ox o d: Cla endon P ess, 1951): i s exposi o y quali y. (And be i emembe ed, he book s a ed li e as he No man Maccoll Lec u es in he Uni e si y o Camb idge o he yea 1948-49, and he e can be no exe cise mo e demanding o a schola w es ling wi h a complex subjec , e en an Ox o d schola , han ha o ha ing o o ganize his o he hough s in o a o m in elligible o a Camb idge lec u e audience.) Tha pa icula i ue o he cau iously s a ed accoun emains sca cely less admi able han he acknowledgemen o he need o seek o econcile he a ious aspec s o he p o ean subjec . Many a e he mo e ecen oile s in he ield o Al onsine s udies who migh ha e p o i ed by aking he co espondence cou se. Time and again –as o example in he iden i ica ion o he di e en componen s o he C ónica de Al onso X– she demons a ed ha ex s long in p in can be made o yield hei sec e s o an acu e and unclu e ed in elligence. Finally, jus conside how po e y-s icken he English-language li e a u e on he Filma Alcana e III.wp8-- Pág. 347 -- È ALFONSO X DE CASTILLA, PATRONO DE LAS LETRAS Y DEL SABER 1As he Camb idge Uni e si y P ess e en ually disco e ed o i s ho o , hey we e la gely plagia ized wo k by A. González Palencia o whom he G ea Man had delega ed his commission. See my ‘The Making o he Camb idge Medie al His o y’. Speculum, 57 (1982) [ ep . Pe e Linehan, Pas and P esen in Medie al Spain, Alde sho 1992], pp. 479-81. 347 subjec was a he ime a which Miss P oc e en e ed he ay: li le mo e han ansla ions o Ma iana and Al ami a’s chap e s in he old Camb idge Medie al His o y, which we e no by Al ami a anyway. 1 O cou se he wo k is da ed now, as P o esso González Jiménez indica es wi h he assis ance o some mo e ecen bibliog aphy. Bu a e i y yea s whose wo k isn’ ? Tha is no he poin . The poin –and he eason why, wha e e ex ual ad ances may meanwhile ha e been made in Madison WI. and poin s eas , his ansla ion o he Al onso X is so wa mly o be welcomed– is ha he s is his o y ha li es. Pe e Linehan S John’s College, Camb idge