“…Mas complido princep de bondat que en mundo ouo …”: Pompey the Great as seen by a medieval chronicler

Abstract

The article examines the interpretation of Pompey the Great's (106–48 BC) image, in the medieval chronicle “Estoria de Espanna”, which was compiled in the vernacular (Castilian) language after 1270 at the court of Alfonso X the Wise, king of Castile and Leon (1252–1284). The authors emphasize the fact that, in contradiction to the modern tradition, when describing the confict between Pompey and Caesar, the medieval chronicler sympathizes with the former. The authors explore the causes of this non-traditional interpretation and show the means used to construct the image (primary sources of the chronicle, the manner in which they are analysed, the style and specifc language of the chronicler). The article includes a translation of some chapters from the chronicle (77–80 and 101–105) that present episodes from Pompey's biography.