Open Iberia/América

Permanent URI for this collection

https://hdl.handle.net/1794/13658

Anyone who has taught panoramic survey courses of literature knows the frustration of working with published textbooks. No one textbook can serve the curricular and pedagogical needs of any one instructor in any given class. Bound printed textbooks are shaped by market considerations and tend toward highly canonical selections from Castilian authors that no longer reflect the literary history practiced by most scholars of Iberian literatures. Curricular aims and times schedules vary considerably by institution and by instructor. It is extremely difficult to find a textbook of Iberian culture that satisfies the pedagogical interests of the instructor and the economic interests of the student.

Print textbooks in general are becoming more expensive, outpacing inflation and adding increased financial burden to university students who are bearing ever-increasing debt loads. In addition to their cost, traditional print textbooks are inflexible, forcing instructors —many of whom are already time impoverished, with high teaching loads and increasing service burdens— to subordinate their own pedagogical interests and strengths to the materials and approaches offered by traditional print textbooks. This state of affairs is one in which market forces are distorting the way in which we represent Iberian cultures to our students.

Open Iberia/América offers maximum flexibility to instructors, minimal costs to students. Open Iberia/América will bring together short selections of Iberian texts in pedagogical editions. Editors will write short introductions, study questions, and a basic bibliography for further reading. This format will allow instructors to include any combination of the texts for inclusion in their course packets. The Creative Commons License under which Open Iberia/América units will be distributed allows for re-editing, re-combining, and re-distribution of the licensed texts, so that instructors and students may freely edit, annotate, and redistribute the texts for non-commercial purposes, provided they attribute the text’s original editor, date, and URL in the collection. Editors of commercial textbooks, however, may not reuse Open Iberia/América texts under any circumstances.

For more information, please contact David Wacks, Professor of Spanish, 346-4029.

Vist the Open Iberia/América website here: Open Iberia/América

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Now showing 1 - 20 of 28

Open Access
Accounts of the Anti-Jewish Riot in Valencia, July 1391
(University of Oregon Libraries, 2024) Agresta, Abigail; Miguel-Prendes, Sol; Wacks, David A.
This unit contains a brief introduction and four accounts of the anti-Jewish riot that took place in Valencia on July 9, 1391. During this riot, one of many across Spain in the summer of 1391, a mob attacked the Jewish community of Valencia, killing at least a hundred people and forcibly converting most of the rest. These attacks destroyed the Jewish communities of Valencia and many other cities in Spain, making 1391 a crucial turning point in both Spanish and Jewish history. The Valencian attack is particularly well recorded, with surviving accounts from multiple independent sources, all newly translated into English from the original Catalan and Valencian. These four accounts are from three different perspectives: the king’s brother, Prince Martí, senior royal official on the scene; that of the jurats, senior municipal officials in Valencia; and that of Juceff Abraim, a Valencian Jew who was forcibly converted during the assault. Each of these accounts reflects the different pressures the witnesses faced in constructing a narrative of the events. The unit is published in two versions: one with introduction and notes in Spanish, with the primary texts in the original medieval Valencian with modern Spanish translation, and another with the introduction and notes in English, and primary texts in original medieval Valencian and English translation. The original text was edited and translated into English by Abigail Agresta, then into Spanish by Sol Miguel-Prendes. The introduction and notes were written by Abigail Agresta and translated into Spanish by Sol Miguel-Prendes. Types of courses where the text might be useful: History (medieval, Jewish, Iberian), Religious Studies, Jewish Studies, Sephardic Studies. It is also a useful case study on bias in historical sources.
Open Access
Actaeon in Alfonso X’s General estoria (ca. 1270)
(University of Oregon Libraries, 2019) Ekman, Erik; Wacks, David A.; Miguel-Prendes, Sol
A pedagogical edition, with short introduction, notes, and bibliography for further reading, of the section of Alfonso X’s universal history “General estoria’ (ca. 1280) dealing with the figure of Actaeon, hero of Thebes. Edition and translation into English by Erik Ekman (2019).
Open Access
Anonymous, The Dance of Death (La Danza general de la Muerte) (early 15th century)
(University of Oregon Libraries, 2021) Hamilton, Michelle M.; Wacks, David A.; Miguel-Prendes, Sol
The Danza general de la muerte (Dance of Death) (late 14th-century) is a rhymed dialogue in Castilian in which death personified greets one victim after another. It is the earliest of 3 extant Castilian versions of the Dance of Death, which was popular across Europe in the Middle Ages. The Dance of Death gives expression to the premodern view that death is inevitable regardless of social class or religious affiliation. The Castilian version reflects the realities of medieval Iberian society, and death’s victims include Christians, Muslims and Jews. The work shows people from the highest positions, the emperor and the pope for example, to the lowest, the friar and parish priest. The figure of Death as depicted in this work may be a reflection of the multi-faith society of premodern Iberia. Death is not described in detail, but it is nowhere described as a skeleton, as it is often depicted in other European dances of death. Death has elements associated with the angels of death from the Jewish and Muslim traditions. This unit contains an edition of the medieval Castilian text, accompanied by an introduction and notes in both Spanish and English versions
Open Access
Cantigas de Santa Maria: “Como Santa Maria ajudou a Emperadriz de Roma”/ “How the Virgen Mary Helped the Empress of Rome”
(University of Oregon Libraries, 2023) Gottlieb, Alison Carberry; Moneypenny, Dianne Burke; Miguel-Prendes, Sol; Wacks, David A.
Alfonso X was king of “Castilla, León, Sevilla, Córdoba, Murcia, Jaén, and el Algarbe.” As evidenced by his title, he came to have possession of various kingdoms in Iberia. He was born in Toledo in 1221 and died in Seville in 1284, at 63 years of age. He is called the Learned King because he was an author, poet, musician, and historian, and because he supported artists and translators. Furthermore, he employed Christians, Jews, and Muslims in his translation workshop in Toledo. His Cantigas de Santa Maria is a repertoire of songs compiled in four manuscripts between 1257 and 1283. The Cantigas consist of 420 narrative songs that focus on the Virgen Mary and the miracles that she performs across Christendom. Originally, the text was written in Galician-Portuguese, from the northeast region of Iberia. Galicia is the site of Santiago de Compostela, the final destination of the pilgrimage route known as the Camino de Santiago (Saint James’s Way). Each story is comprised of text, images, and music. The combination of texts and images portrays day-to-day life and, often, the less-documented common peoples of the Middle Ages in Europe. This unit, edited by Diane Burke Moneypenny and Allison Carberry Gottlieb, contains the original text in Galician-Portuguese of Cantiga 5, “How the Virgin Mary helped the Empress of Rome.” The Spanish version (for use in contexts where the language of instruction is Spanish) has an introduction, notes, and translation into modern Spanish (by Sol Miguel-Prendes). The English version has an English introduction and notes, and an English translation of the Cantiga.
Open Access
Comedy of Calisto and Melibea (Burgos, Spain, 1499), better known as Celestina
(University of Oregon Libraries, 2019) Montero, Ana M.; Wacks, David A.; Miguel-Prendes, Sol
This bilingual unit (Spanish/English text and translation, with intro and notes in English) contains a brief introduction to the Spanish masterpiece Celestina, or The Tragicomedy of Calisto and Melibea, and a fragment from a dialogue in Act VII adapted for modern readers with notes, and a short bibliography. Celestina deals with love, the decline of nobility, prostitution, witchcraft, money, death, and laughter. It also includes several medical beliefs that especially affect women´s health. Not surprisingly, it is one of those few works that has been continually read since its appearance in 1499, although it has often been accompanied by controversy and, at times, censorship. Today, Celestina remains as a groundbreaking creation, often seen as a piece that marks the transition in Iberia from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance. Types of courses where the text might be useful: History, literature, and culture of medieval and early modern Spain; birth of novel; gender literature; history of medicine.
Open Access
Conversos and Identity in Fifteenth-Century Poetry
(University of Oregon Libraries, 2020) Gómez-Bravo, Ana M.; Wacks, David A.; Miguel-Prendes, Sol
This is a pedagogical edition of the medieval Castilian texts with English introduction, translation, notes, and bibliography by Ana Gómez Bravo, of a series of excerpts of late fifteenth-century texts related to the cultural practices (perceived and actual) of judeo-conversos, or Jews who have converted to Christianity. It includes an introduction providing historical and cultural context, selections of the anti-converso verse of Diego Román (d. ca. 1490), poetry of converso poet Antón de Montoro (d. 1483), and excerpts from historian Andrés Bernáldez’s (d. 1513) Memorias and the anonymous anti-converso treatise Libro del Alborayque or Book of Alborayque. This unit is part of Open Iberia/América, an online, open-access teaching anthology of texts from the premodern Hispanic world. https://openiberiaamerica.hcommons.org/ This file is the .rtf formatted English version, with introduction and notes in English, and the text in facing medieval Castilian/English translation.
Open Access
Don Juan Manuel, Libro de los enxiemplos del conde Lucanor et de Patronio (ca. 1335)
(University of Oregon Libraries, 2020) Cossio, Mario; Savo, Anita; Miguel-Prendes, Sol; Wacks, David A.
Don Juan Manuel's Conde Lucanor (ca. 1335) is a frametale or collection of tales contained within another tale. The fictional Count Lucanor's advisor, Patronio, narrates to the Count a series of exemplary tales meant to teach the audience how to navigate to one's advantage a number of political situations. Here editors Savo and Cossío present a selection from Juan Manuel's general prologue, along with tale number 31, about the Dean of the Cathedral of Santiago and Don Yllán, sorcerer of Toledo. The English version has an introduction and notes in English, with the primary text in facing medieval Castilian/English translation. The Spanish version has an introduction and notes in Spanish, with the primary text in facing medieval Castilian and modern Spanish. This is the .docx formatted Spansh version, with intro, notes, and bibliography in Spanish, and the primary text in facing medieval Castilian/modern Spanish translation. This unit is part of Open Iberia/América, an open access, online teaching anthology of texts from the premodern Hispanic world. https://openiberiaamerica.hcommons.org/
Open Access
Ferrán Martínez’s speech at the Tribunal del Alcázar in Seville, 19 February, 1388
(University of Oregon Libraries, 2020) Irish, Maya Soifer; Wacks, David A.; Miguel-Prendes, Sol
This unit contains a brief introduction (English), edition of the original Castilian text with facing English translation and notes, and a short bibliography. The text is the first English translation from the medieval Castilian of Ferrán Martínez's speech at the royal court in Seville in 1388. Martínez was a canon at the Cathedral Chapter and the archdeacon of Écija, who was later held responsible for the attack on the Jews of Seville in June 1391. The Jewish community initiated a lawsuit against the archdeacon in an attempt to stop Martínez's virulently anti-Jewish preaching. The proceedings took place over the course of two days, 11 and 19 February, before the gates of the royal Alcázar. The text picks up the narrative at the end of the first day and continues with the events of the second day, when the archdeacon delivered a speech in his own defense. Since none of his sermons have survived, the speech provides a rare glimpse into Martínez's inflammatory rhetoric. Its consequences were tragic: in the summer of 1391, anti-Jewish violence spread from Seville to other parts of Spain, leading to thousands of forced conversions and deaths. Types of courses where the text might be useful: History (medieval, Jewish, Iberian, anti-Semitism), Religious Studies, Jewish Studies, Sephardic Studies, Hispanic Languages and Literatures. It might also be useful to scholars in affiliated fields who do not necessarily focus on medieval Iberia.
Open Access
Francisco Núñez Muley, Petition (Granada, 1566)
(University of Oregon Libraries, 2023) Fataccioli, Lisette Balabarca; Wacks, David A.; Miguel-Prendes, Sol
The Edict of 1567, or Anti-Morisco Edict, was promulgated by Spanish King Philip II on January 1, after being approved in Madrid on November 17, 1566. Its purpose was to eliminate specific Morisco customs, such as their language, dress, and dances. Núñez Muley’s Petition is an attempt to persuade Christian authorities to delay enforcing the 1567 Edict. The author lists each of the prohibitions and refutes their effectiveness. He compares Morisco customs to those of other Christian and Muslim communities in the Mediterranean and argues that the prohibitions will not eradicate any putative Islamic practices but instead erase Morisco cultural identity. Moriscos, he claims, are sincere Christians and loyal subjects who support the king’s decisions. This unit, edited by Lisette Balabarca Fataccioli, has two versions, one with the introduction, notes, and original text in Spanish (for use in contexts where the language of instruction is Spanish), another with the introduction and notes in English, and the original Spanish text with facing English translation.
Open Access
Introduction to Poem of the Cid / Cantar de mio Cid
(University of Oregon Libraries, 2019) Bailey, Matthew; Wacks, David A.; Prendes, Sol Miguel
This is a pedagogical edition of a selection of el Cantar de Mio Cid (ca. 1200) with a short general introduction, notes, and brief bibliography. The edition and translation are by Matthew Bailey (2019). The Cantar de Mio Cid is the only complete surviving epic poem in Castilian. It relates the quasi-historical exploits of Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar (d. 1099), a low-ranking Christian noble from outside Burgos who went on to become a powerful warlord and (temporary) ruler of Valencia. The poem traces the trajectory of Díaz’s disgrace at court, exile, and eventual triumph and restoration to the good graces of his king, Alfonso VI of Castile.
Open Access
Introduction to The Youthful Deeds of Rodrigo (Las mocedades de Rodrigo)
(University of Oregon Libraries, 2021) Bailey, Matthew; Miguel-Prendes, Sol; Wacks, David A.
The Mocedades de Rodrigo is an epic poem in Castilian that narrates the fictional deeds of Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, the young Cid. The prose narrative of his youth first appears in 1295. The unique version in verse is preserved in a much later manuscript (ca. 1400). The poem includes the early history of the families of the poem’s two main protagonists, Rodrigo and the king of Castile, Fernando I, before focusing more exclusively on their relationship. These protagonists and their ancestors are linked by their struggles to preserve their individual independence as well as that of their clan, nation, and ultimately all the kingdoms of Spain. Rodrigo first emerges as a fierce yet reluctant vassal of the king, but by the poem’s final episode he has earned the king’s respect and become his most trusted counselor and valuable warrior. This is a pedagogical edition of a selection of the Mocedades de Rodrigo (ca. 1300) with a short general introduction, notes, and brief bibliography. The edition and translation are by Matthew Bailey (2020). The Spanish introduction and notes were translated by Sol Miguel-Prendes.
Open Access
Isaac Cardoso, Las excelencias de los hebreos (Amsterdam, 1679)
(University of Oregon Libraries, 2019) Wacks, David A.; Miguel-Prendes, Sol
This is a pedagogical edition of a selection of Las excelencias de los hebreos (Amsterdam 1679), in .doc format with an English-language introduction and notes, with the original text in both the original Castilian and English translation. Las excelencias de los hebreos (Amsterdam 1679) is a treatise describing the positive characteristics (excelencias) of the Jewish people and a containing a refutation of common anti-Jewish calumnies (calunias) written by Isaac Cardoso (b. Fernando Cardoso, Trancoso, Portugal 1603 - d. Verona, Italy 1683). Excelencias is an apology or pro-Jewish treatise meant to educate its readers on Jewish history and practice, and to combat typical anti-Jewish ideas that were very widespread in Europe since the Middle Ages, and that persist to this day. In this excerpt, the tenth and last of the calumnies leveled at leveled at Jews that he addresses in the work, Cardoso refutes the blood libel often aimed at aimed at Jewish communities living in majority Christian societies from the Middle ages to the present day. This is the accusation that Jews murder Christian children and use their blood to make the unleavened bread that is eaten ritually on the holiday of Pesach, or Passover. As Cardoso explains in this text, these accusations are in contradiction to Jewish law, which forbids the consumption of blood of any sort, and condemns murder and human sacrifice in no uncertain terms. It is also worth pointing out that the accusation of drinking the blood and eating the flesh of a human sacrifice is structurally similar to the sacrament of communion, in which believing Catholics drink wine that according to the doctrine of transubstantiation has become the blood of Christ, and eat a wafer that according to the same doctrine has become his flesh. No such parallel is to be found, however, in Jewish ritual.
Open Access
Juan Latino, “On the Birth of Untroubled Times” (De natali serenissimi)
(University of Oregon Libraries, 2019) Wright, Elizabeth R.; Wacks, David A.; Miguel-Prendes, Sol; Beattie, Pamela
This unit draws attention to the remarkable publication debut of Juan Latino, Europe’s first known Black poet. In 1572 he published an epic poem in Latin hexameters to commemorate Spain’s victory in the Battle of Lepanto (1571). While this poem celebrates the naval victory and praises the Spanish king, Philip II, its presents Juan Latino’s own claim to lasting fame as a poet. Here too, Latino asserts that his unique stature as a Black poet makes him the ideal poet to celebrate an internationally important naval victory. He also denounces color prejudice directed at Blacks in the Spanish court as counterproductive to the king’s goals of extending his rule to overseas territories. The bilingual unit offered here includes the original Latin verse, accompanied by an English translation, with an English introduction, explanatory notes, and short bibliography by Elizabeth Wright. It will be useful for classes on Spanish literature, early modern Spanish history, literature of the African diaspora, and courses that examine the contributions of Blacks in Renaissance literature.
Open Access
Juan Ruiz, Book of Good Love (Libro de buen amor) (1330/1343)
(University of Oregon Libraries, 2019) Vetterling, Mary-Anne; Miguel-Prendes, Sol; Wacks, David A.
Juan Ruiz may or may not be the author of the Libro de buen amor ('Book of Good Love') (ca. 1335), a confusing miscellany of songs, fables, and first-person misadventures of a priest very much unlucky in love. The English version has an introduction and notes in English, with the primary text in facing medieval Castilian/English translation. The Spanish version has an introduction and notes in Spanish, with the primary text in facing medieval Castilian and modern Spanish. Mary-Anne Vetterling provides us with a selection of passages from the work in two parts: Part 1: The Debate Between the Greeks and the Romans, The Story of Pitas Payas, Painter from Brittany, Fable of the Country Mouse and the City Mouse Part 2: The Prophecies for the Son of King Alcaraz, Greed and the Fable of the Dog and his Reflection, The Properties of Money, The Encounter with the Mountain Woman (serrana), Characteristics of Small Women This is the .docx formatted English version, with intro, notes, and bibliography in English, and the primary text in facing medieval Castilian/English translation. This unit is part of Open Iberia/América, an open access, online teaching anthology of texts from the premodern Hispanic world. https://openiberiaamerica.hcommons.org/
Open Access
Legend of the Damsel Carcayçiyona (Aragón, ca. 1587)
(University of Oregon Libraries, 2021) Wood, Donald W.; Rosen-Kaplan, Jordan; Wacks, David A.; Miguel-Prendes, Sol
Pedagogical edition, transcription, and translation of the Aljamiado-Morisco Legend of the Damsel Carcayçiyona (Aragón, ca. 1587) found in MS J57 of the Biblioteca Tomás Navarro Tomás, CSIC, Madrid. A variant of the folktale of the “handless maiden,” this narrative details the conversion of the pagan princess Carcayçiyona to Islam and the trials that befall her. The English version contains a short introduction in English, a transliteration of the Aljamiado into Latin characters, and English translation translation, accompanying notes, and a short bibliography. The Spanish version contains a short introduction in Spanish, a transliteration of the Aljamiado into Latin characters, a modern Spanish translation, accompanying notes, and a short bibliography.
Open Access
María de Zayas y Sotomayor, “The Power of Love,” Amorous and Exemplary Novels (Zaragoza, 1637)
(University of Oregon Libraries, 2019) Batllosera, Pau Cañigueral; Wacks, David A.; Miguel-Prendes, Sol
Pedagogical edition/translation of María de Zayas y Sotomayor’s story “The Power of Love” from her collection ‘Amorous and Exemplary Novels’ (Zaragoza, 1637). Contains short introduction in English, English translation of Zayas’ text, notes, and short bibliography.
Open Access
Omar Patón, Memoir of the journey to and from Mecca (Memorial de ida y venida hasta Meka) (Castile, 15th c.)
(University of Oregon Libraries, 2021) Candás, Pablo Roza; Wacks, David A.; Miguel-Prendes, Sol
Omar Paton was one of the last Castilian Muslims to complete the hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca. He undertook the journey from his home city of Ávila (Castile), departing in 1491. Upon his return from the East, Paton depicted the experiences and emotions he lived during his long and dangerous pious expedition in his Memoir of the Journey to and from Mecca. Omar Paton was one of the last Castilian Muslims to complete the hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca. He undertook the journey from his home city of Ávila (Castile), departing in 1491. Upon his return from the East, Paton depicted the experiences and emotions he lived during his long and dangerous pious expedition in his Memoir of the Journey to and from Mecca. This bilingual unit contains a brief introduction to the Memoria with notes and a short bibliography in English, along with a pedagogical edition and translation into English of the original aljamiado text relating Patón's experiences in Alexandria, Damascus, and Jerusalem.
Open Access
Pablo Tac, Conversion of the Saluiseños of Alta California (Conversión de los Saluiseños de la Alta California) (Rome, c. 1840)
(University of Oregon Libraries, 2020) Bacich, Damian; Miguel-Prendes, Sol; Wacks, David A.
Conversión de los Saluiseños de la Alta California (Conversion of the Saluiseños of Alta California) (c. 1840) by Pablo Tac is the only published document written by an indigenous Californian during the Spanish-Mexican period. Born at Mission San Luis Rey de Francia, north of San Diego, California in 1820, Tac wrote the manuscript while studying to be a Catholic priest at a seminary in Rome. Conversión de los Saluiseños is Tac’s attempt to present the history and customs of his people, the Quechnajuichom, (Luiseños) to a readership unfamiliar with Native American life. While part of the work deals with the encounter of the Tac's ancestors with Spanish missionaries and soldiers that ultimately led to the founding of Mission San Luis Rey, the bulk of Conversión de los Saluiseños paints a portrait of life at the mission through the eyes of a native person. Tac portrays the mission as a native community under Spanish dominion, which strives to preserve its traditional ways while adapting to a new political and cultural order. As an indigenous ethnographer addressing a European audience, Tac is perhaps the final representative of a group that includes personalities such as Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, Huaman Poma de Ayala and Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxochitl. This is a pedagogical edition of a selection of the "Conversion of the Saluiseños of Alta California" with a short general introduction, notes, and brief bibliography. The edition and translation are by Damian Bacich (2020).
Open Access
Ramon Muntaner, Crònica (Valencia, ca. 1325-1328)
(University of Oregon Libraries, 2019) Lledó-Guillem, Vicente; Wacks, David A.; Lloret, Albert
This is a pedagogical edition of a section of Ramon Muntaner’s Crònica (Valencia, ca. 1330) relating the events leading up to the so-called ‘Catalan vengeance,’ in which the Catalan company who had been invited by the Byzantine Emperor to defend Constantinople were deceived, massacred, and then launched a bloody counterattack that earned them control of a large territory in the Eastern Mediterranean. Edition of Catalan text, introduction, and translations into English and Spanish by Vicente Lledó-Guillem (2019)
Restricted
Sendebar: The Book of the Wiles of Women (1253)
(University of Oregon Libraries, 2020) Arbesú, David; Wacks, David A.
This unit contains a selection of texts from the Sendebar (1253), one of the most famous and widespread collections of exemplary literature in the Middle Ages, with versions in Arabic, Syriac, Farsi, Greek, Hebrew, and Spanish. The importance of this work lies in the fact that, together with the Calila and Dimna, it was the first collection of Eastern tales to make it into the Iberian Peninsula, bringing with it a new way of organizing the plot around a narrative frame which gave meaning to each separate tale. The selection includes the three tales from the second day of the trial: the first is narrated by the woman, who claims that the Prince tried to rape her; the other two are narrated by one of the king’s counselors, who tries to convince the king to keep calm (first tale) and that all women are deceitful (second tale). Types of courses where the text might be useful: History, literature, and culture of medieval Spain, al-Andalus, Maghreb, Translation, Tales.

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