Gualberto Fabricio de Vagad facts for kids
Gualberto Fabricio de Vagad was a Cistercian Benedictine monk from Aragon, a region in Spain. He became the very first historian of the Kingdom of Aragon. He was born in Zaragoza around the early 1400s. His life was during a time when the Late Middle Ages were ending and the Renaissance was beginning.
He spent most of his life at the monastery of Santa María de Santa Fe. He also lived for a short time at another place called San Juan de la Peña. Besides writing history, he also wrote about poetry.
Contents
Gualberto Fabricio de Vagad: Aragon's First Historian
His Big Book: The Crónica de Aragón
Vagad's most important work was a book called the Crónica de Aragón. This book was a history of Aragon written in the local Aragonese language. It covered events from the old, legendary Kingdom of Sobrarbe (which supposedly started in 724) all the way up to the death of King Alfonso V of Aragon in 1458.
The Crónica de Aragón was published in Zaragoza in 1499. Some of the very first printed copies, known as incunabula, still exist today. King Ferdinand II of Aragon asked Vagad to write this book. The king's representatives even named Vagad the cronista mayor, which means "senior chronicler" or "chief historian." However, the official job of "chronicler" wasn't formally created until 1547.
How He Wrote His History
To write his book, Vagad looked through many old records and documents. He visited archives at places like San Juan de la Peña, San Victorián, Poblet, Montearagón, and Barcelona. These places were all part of the Crown of Aragon.
Vagad had a strong opinion about Spain's role in the world. He believed Spain was very important. This opinion showed up in his history book. For example, he thought the Emperor Maximilian I was Spanish, even though he wasn't. He also made the legendary Count Julian an Italian.
When it came to Aragon itself, Vagad clearly favored his home region. For instance, he made the conquest of Valencia by the Castilian hero El Cid seem less important. Instead, he highlighted the conquest of the same city by James I of Aragon as more significant.
What Was Inside the Crónica?
The Crónica de Aragón starts with three introductions, called prologues. In the first prologue, Vagad praised Spain, following a tradition set by Isidore of Seville in his work Laus Spaniae. In the second, he used history to argue that Aragon was the most important kingdom on the Iberian Peninsula. In the third, he defended Zaragoza as the main city of Spain.
Vagad cared a lot about how his writing sounded. Sometimes, his story would be interrupted by long discussions that weren't always very interesting. A historian named Eduard Fueter said that Vagad's Crónica contained "timid critical germs of the medieval tradition." This means it showed early, small signs of historians starting to think more critically about old stories.
Sources
- Gualberto Fabricio de Vagad at the Gran Enciclopedia Aragonesa
ca:Crónica de Aragón
See also
