One of the world’s most overlooked historical texts is finally getting the attention it deserves, thanks to a major international project led by a professor at UBC Okanagan (UBCO).
Dr. Francisco Peña, a professor in the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies, is leading a team of scholars to translate and digitize the . It is a 6,000-page universal history commissioned by King Alfonso X of Castile in the 13th century. Written in Spanish instead of Latin, the text aimed to tell the entire story of humanity from the biblical creation of the world up to the time it was written.
“While this is one of the world’s most unique and important texts, it is unfortunately not widely known,” Dr. Peña said in a UBCO media release. “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.”
He pointed out that not only is the General estoria written in the everyday language of its time, but it also includes stories from diverse cultures and perspectives. Its authors included Christians, Muslims and Jews, an unusual collaboration for the era.
Dr. Peña will co-lead the project with Dr. Katie Brown from the University of Exeter in the UK and Dr. Francisco Gago-Jover from the College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts. Their team includes 55 researchers from 18 organizations across Canada, the U.S., the UK, Spain, Portugal, Egypt, Colombia and Tunisia.
“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,” Dr. Peña explained. “So, we’ve assembled this team from across the globe to tackle it together.”
The group will work with Colabora, a digital platform Dr. Peña and colleagues created in 2018 to help transcribe, digitize, translate and annotate historical texts. They plan to train Colabora’s AI tools to read 13th-century handwriting.
The original document is housed at the . As part of the project, graduate students will travel to Spain for a hands-on experience working with the text.
“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,” Dr. Peña said.
The team will also produce educational materials to make the text more accessible to non-academic audiences. They’re partnering with libraries and school districts across North America, Europe and North Africa to share what they learn.
“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,” Dr. Peña noted. “This document was written in the language of the people, and there was an aim to reach as many of them as possible. We’re going to do exactly the same thing.”
He also praised Canada’s support of a project focused on a non-Canadian document.
“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. This may be a Spanish text, but the values—that’s what’s Canadian.”
The project has just received $2.1 million in funding through a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Partnership Grant. It’s part of a larger federal investment in Canadian university research, including nearly $9 million for UBCO.
