page_title: Libro de Alexandre
hierarchical_section_title: Libro de Alexandre
caption_attribution_description: Español: Hoja 45v del manuscrito O de la BNE del Libro de Alexandre (1ª mitad del siglo XIII), códice del S. XIV. 154 hojas de pergamino 26 x 17 cm. Tres dibujos a pluma. El primero, un rey entre soldados vestidos con cotas de malla (h. 45v.), que corresponde a esta imagen.
context_page_description: The Libro de Alexandre is a medieval Spanish epic poem about Alexander the Great written between 1178 and c. 1250 in the mester de clerecía. It is largely based on the Alexandreis of Walter of Châtillon, but also contains many fantastical elements common to the Alexander romance. It consists of 2,675 stanzas of cuaderna vía and 10,700 lines.
  The Libro is preserved in two manuscripts, called P and O, neither of which appears to be an original. There are as well three fragments preserved in separate manuscripts. Manuscript O is the earlier, copied around 1300, and includes 2,510 stanzas of cuaderna vía and two epistles. It was once owned by the Duke of Osuna and was known to Íñigo López de Mendoza, 1st Marquess of Santillana. P, from Paris, was copied in the fifteenth century and contains 2,639 stanzas. It is generally more reliable and together the two manuscripts make a coherent whole. R. S. Willis, Jr., produced an edition of both manuscripts where a page from O faces the corresponding page from P, with fragments noted at the bottom, so that one reading can readily be corrected by the other text.
context_section_description: The Libro de Alexandre is a medieval Spanish epic poem about Alexander the Great written between 1178 and c. 1250 in the mester de clerecía. It is largely based on the Alexandreis of Walter of Châtillon, but also contains many fantastical elements common to the Alexander romance. It consists of 2,675 stanzas of cuaderna vía and 10,700 lines. 
  The Libro is preserved in two manuscripts, called P and O, neither of which appears to be an original. There are as well three fragments preserved in separate manuscripts. Manuscript O is the earlier, copied around 1300, and includes 2,510 stanzas of cuaderna vía and two epistles. It was once owned by the Duke of Osuna (whence O) and was known to Íñigo López de Mendoza, 1st Marquess of Santillana. P, from Paris, was copied in the fifteenth century and contains 2,639 stanzas. It is generally more reliable and together the two manuscripts make a coherent whole. R. S. Willis, Jr., produced an edition of both manuscripts where a page from O faces the corresponding page from P, with fragments noted at the bottom, so that one reading can readily be corrected by the other text. O is generally considered to be from eastern Castile, while P was copied in western Castile. The fragment G′ is named after Gutierre Díez de Gamés, who included stanzas from the first part of the Libro in his early fifteenth-century Victorial. 
  The date of composition is uncertain. However, it must postdate 1178, the earliest year when Walter completed the Alexandreis, and predate 1250, the approximate date of the Poema de Fernán González, which it influences. Some scholars have fixed the date as between 1202 and 1207. Besides the Alexandreis, the author of the Libro claimed many sources. In his own words: el uno que leyemos, el otro que oyemos / de las mayores cosas Recabdo vos daremos ("the one that we read, the other that we hear / of the greatest things collected we give you"). These sources include the Historia de proeliis of Leo of Naples and several ancient authorities, including Leo's source, Quintus Curtius, Flavius Josephus, and the Pindarus Thebanus. The work of Isidore of Seville and the Old French Roman d'Alexandre were also consulted. 
  Structurally the Libro is a chronological story of Alexander's life set between an introduction in six stanzas and a conclusion in seven. There are digressions and authorial displays of erudition, but the narrative, from birth to death, is logical and smooth. The problem of authorship is unresolved. It has been variously attributed to Juan Lorenzo de Astorga (sometimes thought to be merely a scribe), Alfonso X of Castile, and Gonzalo de Berceo.
  Following is a sample text from the Libro, with translations in Modern Spanish and English. This fragment sums up the fall of Alexander because of his pride.
  La Natura que cria toda-las creaturas
  las que son paladinas e las que son escuras
  tuuo que Alexandre dixo paraulas duras
  que querie conquerir las secretas naturas
  Tuuo la rrica donna que era subiugada
  que queria el toller la rryna condonada
  de su poder non fura nunca tan desarrada
  se non que Alexandre l·auia aontada
  Enas cosas secretas quiso el saber
  que nunca omne uiuo las pudo entender
  quiso-las Alexandre por forçia connoçer
  nunca mayor soberuia comedio Luçifer
  Auia-le Dios dado los regnos en so poder
  non se le podia forçias nenguna defender
  querie saber los mares los enfiernos ueer
  lo que nunca pudo omne nenguno acabeçer
  Peso al Criador que crio la Natura
  ouo de Alexandre sanna e grant rancura
  dixo este lunatico que non cata mesura
  yo·l tornare el gozo todo en amargura.
  La Natura que cría todas las criaturas
  las que son claras y las que son oscuras
  pensó que Alejandro dijo palabras duras
  que quería conquistar las secretas naturas
  Creyó la rica dueña que era subyugada
  que quería quitarle la ley condonada
  [mas] de su poder no fuera nunca desheredada
  ni aun por Alejandro sería afrentada
  En las cosas secretas quiso él saber
  aquello que ningún hombre vivo pudo entender
  quísolas Alejandro por fuerza conocer
  ¡Nunca mayor soberbia cometió Lucifer!
  Habíale Dios dado los reinos en s
caption: Alexander as portrayed in MS O
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