One of the world’s most unique and important medieval texts—the General e grand estoria—will soon be translated, analyzed, and made widely available thanks to an ambitious international collaboration led by Dr. Francisco Peña of the University of British Columbia.
The General estoria (GE), commissioned by Alfonso X of Castile in the 13th century, was a monumental attempt to record the entire history of the world—from Biblical creation to Alfonso’s own time. Written in Castilian rather than Latin, and authored by Christian, Muslim, and Jewish scholars, it stands out as the largest universal history produced in medieval Europe, spanning more than 6,000 pages.
“While this is one of the world’s most unique and important texts, it is unfortunately not widely known,” says Dr. Peña. “Many relevant texts written in medieval Spain have disappeared. Through our efforts we hope to change that and preserve this valuable piece of literature forever.”
Dr. Peña, a professor in UBC Okanagan’s Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies, will co-direct the project alongside Dr. Katie Brown of the University of Exeter in England and Dr. Francisco Gago-Jover of the College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts. Their team includes 55 scholars and practitioners from 18 institutions across Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Spain, Portugal, Egypt, Colombia, and Tunisia.
The scale and complexity of the General estoria has long made it inaccessible to scholars and general readers alike. “The text hasn’t been well understood to date because it’s impossible for a single scholar to tackle a project of this size and complexity,” says Dr. Peña, explaining it will be translated to suit a lay audience. “So, we’ve assembled this team from across the globe to tackle it together.”
The project will use Colabora, a digital platform developed by Peña and his colleagues in 2018, to transcribe, digitize, translate, and annotate the original manuscript. “For this project,” he adds, “he hopes to train Colabora’s AI components to read the 13th century handwriting to speed up the document’s transcription.”
The original manuscript is housed at the Biblioteca Nacional de España in Madrid. With the SSHRC support, graduate students will gain hands-on experience working with the manuscript on site. “In the spirit of how the original text was written, we want to create a network of students from many countries and cultures and give them opportunities to work and study together at the same time. This is an invaluable opportunity for us to provide training and experience they can’t receive any other way,” says Dr. Peña.
The team will also develop educational resources to help general readers engage with the work. They plan to collaborate with libraries and school districts in North America, Europe, and North Africa to broaden access to the text.
“Connecting with a general audience is a huge component of the project,” Peña emphasizes. “In the last few years, there’s been a mistrust of academic institutions—a perceived distancing of universities from non-university communities. We want to bridge that gap,” he says. “This document was written in the language of the people—there was an aim to reach as many of them as possible. We’re going to do exactly the same thing.”
The work has received more than $2.1 million CAD through a Partnership Grant from Canada’s Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), as part of a broader federal funding announcement that included $9 million for UBC Okanagan. The grant was announced by the Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions.
Peña also reflects on the significance of this support from a Canadian perspective. “I love that Canada has stepped up to do this for something that’s not Canadian. To help preserve history, reach people, and spread knowledge,” he says. “This may be a Spanish text, but the values—that’s what’s Canadian.”
One of the world’s most unique and important medieval texts—the General e grand estoria—will soon be translated, analyzed, and made widely available thanks to an ambitious international collaboration led by Dr. Francisco Peña of the University of British Columbia.
The General estoria (GE), commissioned by Alfonso X of Castile in the 13th century, was a monumental attempt to record the entire history of the world—from Biblical creation to Alfonso’s own time. Written in Castilian rather than Latin, and authored by Christian, Muslim, and Jewish scholars, it stands out as the largest universal history produced in medieval Europe, spanning more than 6,000 pages.
“While this is one of the world’s most unique and important texts, it is unfortunately not widely known,” says Dr. Peña. “Many relevant texts written in medieval Spain have disappeared. Through our efforts we hope to change that and preserve this valuable piece of literature forever.”
Dr. Peña, a professor in UBC Okanagan’s Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies, will co-direct the project alongside Dr. Katie Brown of the University of Exeter in England and Dr. Francisco Gago-Jover of the College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts. Their team includes 55 scholars and practitioners from 18 institutions across Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Spain, Portugal, Egypt, Colombia, and Tunisia.
The scale and complexity of the General estoria has long made it inaccessible to scholars and general readers alike. “The text hasn’t been well understood to date because it’s impossible for a single scholar to tackle a project of this size and complexity,” says Dr. Peña, explaining it will be translated to suit a lay audience. “So, we’ve assembled this team from across the globe to tackle it together.”
The project will use Colabora, a digital platform developed by Peña and his colleagues in 2018, to transcribe, digitize, translate, and annotate the original manuscript. “For this project,” he adds, “he hopes to train Colabora’s AI components to read the 13th century handwriting to speed up the document’s transcription.”
The original manuscript is housed at the Biblioteca Nacional de España in Madrid. With the SSHRC support, graduate students will gain hands-on experience working with the manuscript on site. “In the spirit of how the original text was written, we want to create a network of students from many countries and cultures and give them opportunities to work and study together at the same time. This is an invaluable opportunity for us to provide training and experience they can’t receive any other way,” says Dr. Peña.
The team will also develop educational resources to help general readers engage with the work. They plan to collaborate with libraries and school districts in North America, Europe, and North Africa to broaden access to the text.
“Connecting with a general audience is a huge component of the project,” Peña emphasizes. “In the last few years, there’s been a mistrust of academic institutions—a perceived distancing of universities from non-university communities. We want to bridge that gap,” he says. “This document was written in the language of the people—there was an aim to reach as many of them as possible. We’re going to do exactly the same thing.”
The work has received more than $2.1 million CAD through a Partnership Grant from Canada’s Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), as part of a broader federal funding announcement that included $9 million for UBC Okanagan. The grant was announced by the Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions.
Peña also reflects on the significance of this support from a Canadian perspective. “I love that Canada has stepped up to do this for something that’s not Canadian. To help preserve history, reach people, and spread knowledge,” he says. “This may be a Spanish text, but the values—that’s what’s Canadian.”
Click here to learn more about the project ‘The Confluence of Religious Cultures in Medieval Historiography’
Top Image: Photo courtesy UBC Okanagan
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