Description
Facsimile edition made in 1999 of two handwritten letters in folio mayor, one of the few documents that are conserved of the mythical figure of the Cid Campeador, published on the occasion of the ninth centenary of his death.
Eleventh century. Original in parchment guarded in the Archive of the Cathedral of Burgos. Written in Latin in round Visigothic script. Size 57 x 420 X 570 mm.
Edition awarded with the Fray Luis de León Award in 2000 for the best editorial work in Special Editions and Facsimiles.
Limited edition to 1.099 (year of the death of the Cid) copies numbered with notarial deed and presented in a superb box and accompanied by volume of studies.
In the Corpus Christi chapel of the Cathedral of Burgos a medieval chest is exhibited that for centuries has been part of the legend of the city, as if it were one of those two arks “covered with guadalmeçí e well enclaveadas, the guadameçís vermejos e los navos bien golds, “which seemed to keep the treasures of the Cid, but only contained sand and, according to the Poem of Mío Cid, served as a decoy for lenders Raquel and Vidas to aid Don Rodrigo with six hundred marks of silver, in time that he would embark on the path of exile.
It can be taken for granted that in that chest, arranged inside to keep documents, the parchment of the “kartula donacionis vel profiliacionis” was kept, which, on July 19, 1074, the spouses Rodrigo Díaz gave each other Vivar and Dª Jimena Díaz. That explains why, in the course of time, Cofre del Cid would be called to said chest.
It is not possible to determine how, when and why the Letter of Arras came to the Cathedral Archives, which, by the way, does not mention any ecclesiastic among its confirmers. It is reasonable to assume that this took place when Dª Jimena died, who survived her husband for at least fourteen years. According to the same Letter of Arras, the goods mentioned in it should be passed on to their daughters. But the youngest, María, married to Ramón de Berenguer III, had died and two granddaughters left her in Barcelona: María and Jimena; As for Cristina, married to Infante Ramiro Sánchez, she lived in Navarra. All were and would be far from Castile. It is natural for the goods to be sold. If, as it seems, the buyer of some of them was the Cabildo, the Letter of Arras was equivalent to a property title, which the canons jealously guarded.
Despite this notoriety of the document in the scientific field, many will appreciate that, on the occasion of the 9th centenary of the death of El Cid, it will be published once more, not as a simple reiteration and more abundance, but in a careful facsimile edition, which is accompanied of pertinent studies, in charge of true authorities in the matter, as they are the professors Dr. Gonzalo Martínez and Dr. Manuel Zabalza.
Exemplary complete and in perfect condition. We accompany as a gift a complete edition of “La Carta de Arras del Cid y Dª. Ximena “, made and printed privately.
Shipping by the buyer, upon request and destination. Ask us without obligation (indicating the reference of the article) any doubt.
