Indeksowane metadane
Knightly Code of Conduct in Alonso the Wise’s Siete Partidas: Text and Context
Alfonso X of Castile, also known as Alfonso the Wise was one of the most eminent Medieval rulers of the Kingdom of Castile and León. This paper presents selected facts from his life, especially highlighting his achievements as a patron of science and literature, as well as propagator of the vernacular language, i.e. Castilian. A special focus herein will be on the code Siete Partidas. Written under Alfonso’s auspices, this text describes knightly customs and combines the features of fiction and legal documents. The paper consists of two parts: a commentary and a translation of Title XXI of Partida II. The commentary presents the essential information on Alfonso X, including his legislative activities connected to Siete Partidas, and also the significance of the code for Spanish legislation, the contents of the seven books (partidas), as well as its authorship. In order to provide some background of the knightly culture on the Iberian Peninsula in the 13th century, knighthood rights are also presented on the basis of other contemporary texts on related subjects, such as Ramon Llull’s The Book of the Order of Chivalry or the French anonymous treatise L’ordene de chevalerie. The translation presented in the second part of the article is the first and the only Polish version of a fragment of Siete Partidas dealing with duties, privileges and also customs. Prepared on the basis of the critical edition by Jerry R. Craddock and Jesús Rodríguez Velasco, the translation attempts to grasp the nature of the original language and content, providing notes, which facilitate comprehension of particularly challenging problems.