Medieval Historians and Their Modern Counterparts

The Historian's Craft in Medieval Iberia Guest Editor Aengus Ward MEDIEVAL HISTORIANS AND THEIR MODERN COUNTERPARTS Aengus Ward University of Birmingham Until the last decade or so, the study of medieval Iberian historiography was something of a poor relation in die wider field of medieval studies, but the recent explosion of interest in medieval historical texts has changed the panorama significandy. In addition to the works mentioned below in Leonardo Funes's article, die various productions of die Medieval™ project in Mexico and the ongoing studies provided by the Cahiers de linguistique hispanique médiévale have ensured that die discipline is particularly well served, both in terms of philological and hermeneutic studies. The current Criücal Cluster is conceived of as an effort to build on the solid foundations constructed in the recent past and, in examining a disparate range of texts and diemes, to suggest ways of advancing our understanding of the dieory and practice of medieval historiography. To this end, the contributors were invited to consider a number of basic questions widi respect to die future of die discipline and to bear these in mind in the construction of their arguments . The approaches taken range from die examination ofmeworking ofmedieval vernacular historiography from its earliest manifestadons; the examination of particular genres of historical writing; the place of gendered readings; and the study of historiography as interrogation of individual text and individual manuscript. The first of these is Leonardo Funes' response to die suggestion contained in the guidelines sent to contributors diat our understanding of die phenomenon of medieval Iberian historiography is overshadowed by die place accorded to die figure of Alfonso el Sabio. As one of the foremost practitioners of die hermeneutic approach to die study of medieval texts, Funes situates his work in his series of árdeles and longer works dealing with questions of history and fiction, U CORoNICA 32.3 (Summer, 2004): 5-11 6 Aengus WardLa coránica 32.3, 2004 iiarrativity, and the place of historiography in the light of contemporary ideology and political context. The principal focus is diat of the "modelo historiográfico alfonsi" which forms the background to so much of the subsequent historiographical production in the peninsula , and the ideological workings of this model are laid bare by reference to a number ofspecific compilatory techniques. All of this permits the audior to make a series of global comments about the nature of historiographical emplotment, as a result of which Funes can demonstrate that the use of the techniques of fiction do not necessarily lead to the fictionalising of history. By virtue of reading chronicles as generators of particular ideologies which themselves provide parameters of social action to their readers, we can analyse medieval chronicles in a host of fruitful ways. If Alfonso el Sabio represents both the beginning of vernacular historiography, as well as one of its high points, anodier of its high points is embodied by the figure of Alvar García de Santa María, author of die Crónica deJuan II, the object of the critical eye of Fernando Gómez Redondo. Despite its importance, and diat of its author as a trend setter in late medieval histories, the chronicle, which remains without a suitable critical edition, has been poorly understood. Gómez Redondo seeks to address this by means of a two-fold approach. First, the textual question is broached, and the status of die three constituent parts of the chronicle clarified. The complex inter-relation of the three semi-autonomous components and die different impulses diat led to their composition have obscured Alvar García's value as link between die general and royal chronicles, however, Gómez Redondo's work enables us to appreciate the chronicler's importance as the restorer of a historiographical tradition broken after Pedro López de Avala. Furthermore, Gómez Redondo's close reading of the first part of the chronicle permits him to situate die text within its ideological context: a royal court, which also provides it widi its principal audience. Gómez Redondo's work is therefore an exemplary piece of historiographical enquiry, in that it seeks to cover both textual and hermeneutic ground, recognizing...