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Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2010 EMC

Cesar Domnguez Prieto, Gran conquista de Ultramar,

Encyclopedia of the Medieval Chronicle,

R.G. Dunphy ed.

(Brill, Leiden and Boston 2010), 726727

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Gran conquista de Ultramar[Great conquest of Outremer]

ca 128995. Castile (Iberia). Castilian crusadechronicle compiled of translations of several

French and Provenal works. It covers events inthe Holy Land from 1095 to 1271/75 with a pre-amble devoted to the Byzantine emperor Hera-clius I as proto-crusader. Although the title Granconquista de Ultramaris well-known, other titlesfound in the manuscripts themselvesGrantestoria de Ultramar or Estoria mayor de Vltra-mar(Great history of Outremer)better suit thechronicles strategy and difference from othermore restricted histories, such as the Estoria deGerusalem abreviada(Abridged history of Jerusa-lem). In fact, the main aim of the Gran Conquistais to give a complete account of all facts aboutOutremer.

With this motivation, several works were trans-lated from French or Provenal and combinedin one single narrative. Te Estoire de Eraclesempereur et la conqueste de la terre dOutremer(History of the emperor Heraclius and the con-quest of Outremer), a translation of Williamof yres Historia rerum in partibus transmarinis

gestarum, provided the compilers with a coherentframework to include prosications of the rstFrench crusade cycle (Naissance du Chevalierau Cygne, Chevalier au Cygne, Enfances Gode-

froi, Chanson dAntioche,Chtifs,Chanson deJrusalem), the Provenal Canso dAntiocaandother sources not yet known.

Although the Gran Conquista is tradition-ally attributed to Alfonso X, contemporaryresearch has shown that his successor Sancho IV

(128495) was responsible for the gathering ofmaterials, control of translation, and assessmentof the compilatory process. Te colophon of theoldest surviving manuscript (Madrid, BNE, ms.1187) attributes authorship to this king. In fact,this manuscript is the third and last volume of theroyal codex, with only two miniatures, probablydue to Sancho IVs death in April 25, 1295. TeGran Conquista recounts the deeds of a heroiclineage, from the Knight of the Swan and the

conquest of the Holy Land by his grandson God-frey of Boulogne to the nal territorial and moraldefeat. Te chronicle was thus an instrument toexplore the limits of legitimate authority, a mostimportant issue in Sancho IVs court.

Tree other manuscripts (Madrid, BNE, ms.1920, BNE, ms. 2454 and Salamanca, BU, ms.1698) contain fragmentary versions of the GranConquista. Te editio princeps was by HansGiesser (Salamanca, 1503). Tis edition, with for-mal features of the so-called chivalry genre, hasbeen most inuential on literary historians inter-pretations of the work. Te mixture of historicalwriting (William of yre) and ction (epic cycle)has generally been misunderstood in favour of thelatter.

Bibliographyext: L. C, La Gran Conquista de Ultra-mar, 1979. L. C & F.M. W, LaGran Conquista de Ultramar: Biblioteca Nacional

MS 1187, 1989. M.. E, La leyenda delCaballero del Cisne, 1989. P. G, LaGran Conquista de Ultramar, 1858, reprint 1950.R. H-N, Text and Concordances ofthe Gran Conquista de Ultramar (BNM R-518,

R-519), 1994.Literature: C. D, El maestre HansGiesser y el trabajo editorial: de la Grant estoriade Ultramar a la Gran conquista de Ultramar,in A. Deyermond, Proceedings of the Tenth Col-loquium, 2000, 115130. C. D, LaGrant estoria de Ultramar (conocida como Granconquista de Ultramar) de Sancho IV y la Estoirede Eracles empereur et la conqueste de la terredOutremer, Incipit, 256 (20056), 189212. C.G, La tercera crnica de Alfonso X: LaGran Conquista de Ultramar, 1992. G. P,La Chanson dAntioche provenale et La GranConquista de Ultramar, Romania, 17 (1888),51341; 19 (1890), 56291; 22 (1893), 34563.G.. N, La Gran Conquista de Ultramarand Its Problems, Hispanic Review, 2 (1934),287302. RepFont3, 607.

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