Fazienda de Ultramar

A page of the manuscript of Fazienda de Ultramar, stored in the University of Salamanca.

The Fazienda de Ultramar ("The Deed of Outremer") is an Old Spanish book from the early 13th century, ^[1] that is composed of a geographical and historical journey in the form of a guide for pilgrims to the Holy Land. It has similarities to travel guides and Biblical texts in Romance languages.

Contents

For the most part, the book is a geographical itinerarium , similar in style to a pilgrims' guide to Jerusalem and Bethlehem. It is not based on a real journey, but on previous journeys. Included in the book is also one of the earliest translations of the Bible in an Iberian Romance language ^[2] along with some New Testament stories, fragments of hagiography, legends and some classical-era material. The biblical translations are based on the Hebrew Bible and the Latin Vulgate. ^[3]

Structure, authorship and dating

The book opens with two letters: In one, a certain don Remont, archbishop of Toledo, writes to a friend, Almeric, to ask him to write back with information about the Holy Land. The exchange is regarded as genuine and it was surmised that it took place during Raymond de Sauvetât's archbishopric (1124-1152). However, Almeric was French and as such the letters would have been written in Latin or, less likely, in French.

Manuscripts

There is one surviving manuscript, which is housed in the library of the University of Salamanca. In 1965, it was edited by Moshé Lazar, attributing it to the archdean of Antakya, Almeric and dating it at between 1126 and 1142. ^[4]

Notes

1. According to Lapesa and Bustos Tovar, around 1220. Cfr. María Jesús Lacarra and Francisco López Estrada, Orígenes de la prosa, Madrid, Júcar, 1993. Deyermond claims the sintaxis is similar to other writings from the mid-13th century, but different from the annals and chronicles of the late 12th century. Cfr. Alan D. Deyermond, Historia de la literatura española, vol. 1: La Edad Media, Barcelona, Ariel, 2001 (1st edition 1973), pp. 148-149. ISBN 84-344-8305-X
2. Alan D. Deyermond, op. cit., p. 149.
3. McDougall, Dave (5 September 2023). "La Fazienda de Ultramar y las contribuciones de la Vulgata" (PDF). Anuario de Estudios Medievales. 53 (1): 49–65. doi: 10.3989/aem.2023.53.1.03 . Retrieved 8 September 2025.
4. • Almerich, Arcediano de Antiochía, La Fazienda de Ultra Mar. Biblia Romanceada et Itinéraire Biblique en prose castillane du XII-ème siècle, Introduction, edition, notes et glossaire par Moshé Lazar, Salamanca, 1965

References

• DEYERMOND, Alan D., Historia de la literatura española, vol. 1: La Edad Media, Barcelona, Ariel, 2001 (1ª ed. 1973), págs. 147-149. ISBN 84-344-8305-X
• LACARRA, María Jesús y LÓPEZ ESTRADA, Francisco, Orígenes de la prosa, Madrid, Júcar, 1993.

External links

• La fazienda de Ultramar, online paleographic edition, David Arbisú, 2011.
• Anca Crivăț, «Los libros medievales de viajes en el ámbito hispánico», Los libros de viajes de la Edad Media española, Bucarest, Universitatea din Bucuresti, Bucarest, 2003. ISBN 973-575-761-3 (sobre la Fazienda de Ultramar, aquí)
• Martínez Álvarez, Josefina, «Notas sobre el léxico de la "Fazienda de Ultra Mar"», edición digital a partir de Actas del II Congreso Internacional de Historia de la Lengua Española. Tomo I, Madrid, Pabellón de España, 1992, pp. 1195-1203. Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, 2007.