Mester de clerecía is the term traditionally used to designate the first generations of learned poetry in medieval Ibero-Romance dialects (the precursors of modern Castilian and other Romance languages of the Iberian Peninsula). In its time, this poetry was anything but traditional. These long poems of structured verse reappropriate the heroic past through the retelling of legends from Classical Antiquity, saints’ lives, miracle stories, Biblical apocrypha, and other tales. At the same time, the poems recast the place of their authors, and learned characters within their stories, in the shifting dynamics of their thirteenth and fourteenth century present. Contributors are Pablo Ancos, Maria Cristina Balestrini, Fernando Baños Vallejo, Andrew M. Beresford, Olivier Biaggini, Martha M. Daas, Emily C. Francomano, Ryan Giles, Michelle M. Hamilton, Anthony John Lappin, Clara Pascual-Argente, Connie L. Scarborough, Donald W. Wood, and Carina Zubillaga.

The computer revolution is upon us. The future of books and of reading are debated. Will there be books in the next millennium? Will we still be reading? As uncertain as the answers to these questions might be, as clear is the message about the value of the book expressed by medieval writers. The contributors to the volume The Book and the Magic of Reading in the Middle Ages explore the significance of the written document as the key icon of a whole era. Both philosophers and artists, both poets and clerics wholeheartedly subscribed to the notion that reading and writing represented essential epistemological tools for spiritual, political, religious, and philosophical quests. To gain a deeper understanding of the cultural significance of the medieval book, the contributors to this volume examine pertinent statements by medieval philosophers and French, German, English, Spanish, and Italian poets.

A Companion to the Classical Tradition accommodates the pressing need for an up-to-date introduction and overview of the growing field of reception studies. A comprehensive introduction and overview of the classical tradition - the interpretation of classical texts in later centuries Comprises 26 newly commissioned essays from an international team of experts Divided into three sections: a chronological survey, a geographical survey, and a section illustrating the connections between the classical tradition and contemporary theory

The Iberian Peninsula has always been an integral part of the Mediterranean world, from the age of Tartessos and the Phoenicians to our own era and the Union for the Mediterranean. The cutting-edge essays in this volume examine what it means for medieval and early modern Iberia and its people to be considered as part of the Mediterranean.

In Inscribed Power, Ryan D. Giles explores the function of amuletic prayers, divine names, and incantation formulas that were inscribed and printed on parchment, paper and other media, and at the same time inserted into classic literary works in Spain. Giles’ insightful analysis of the intersection between amulets and literary texts offers fresh and original interpretations of well-known texts such as the Poema de mío Cid, the Libro de Alexandre, the Libro de buen amor, Celestina, Lazarillo de Tormes, and the Buscón. Inscribed Power is a fascinating work that highlights specific amuletic texts that were used to heal, protect, or otherwise provide a blessing or curse to discover how their powers could influence fictional lives at different moments in the development of Spanish literature.

This colelction of twelve original essays by European and American scholars, offers some of the latest research in three broad areas of medieval history: marriage, children, and family ties.