From The Editor

As our search for new editors continues (announcements are published in the back matter), it is satisfying to see here, in what could be my last volume, contributions from scholars publishing in our pages for the first time, and returning veterans who continue to share their new research and expertise with our readers. Thanks to the generosity of colleagues who volunteer their time, La corónica has always been a resource for scholars starting out in their careers, and an outlet for the best academic publishing on medieval Iberian languages, literatures, and cultures. It has been an honor to serve as Editor-in-Chief, and I am excited about the future of our journal.

The editorial staff of La corónica will be in good hands with our Executive Committee and Editorial Board, and our impact in the field continues to grow through our collaboration with ProjectMuse, but there will be new opportunities for the editors moving forward. I once said at a conference—in another of my attempts at humor—that La corónica was a non-denominational, peer-reviewed academic journal, and by that I meant that it did not have a specific theoretical orientation. I have always wanted to make La corónica as capacious as possible, and I am proud of the breadth of our publications, but every new editor has the opportunity to move the field and our journal in different directions. It has been my great pleasure to get to know our readers personally over the years, and what I have learned is that we are always ready to support our colleagues, so I know that the future editors will be able to count on our collaboration and feedback as they develop their vision for La corónica.

Looking at the history of La corónica and the list of past editors (see page 139), I am reminded again of our foundational mission statement as it appears on the cover of volume 1: "Linking the Old and the New". In our forty-six years of publishing, the Old and the New Worlds have become linked in ways that few could have imagined in 1972. It is clear that born-digital scholarship, online publishing, and questions of access will continue to shape the direction of La corónica, but I hope that we will be able to continue reaching out to our national and international audiences through old-fashioned, personal communication at our annual sponsored events and conference meetings. I know that I speak for many when I say that the best part of attending a conference like the International Congress on Medieval Studies in Kalama- zoo, or the Kentucky Foreign Language Conference in Lexington, is meeting new scholars and reconnecting with old friends. As I step down as Editor-in-Chief, I will be looking forward to keeping in touch with all of you there, and wherever else La corónica brings us together.

Finally, the senior editorial staff joins me in expressing our gratitude to Dean David Manderscheid, College of Arts and Sciences, and to Dr. Laura Podalsky, Chair of the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at The Ohio State University. We also thank Dean Carl W. Lejuez, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and the Chair of the Department of Spanish and Portuguese, Prof. Santa Arias, at the University of Kansas. Without their continued support, this journal could not continue.