Nodicia de kesos facts for kids
The Nodicia de kesos (pronounced: No-DEE-thee-ah day KAY-sos) is a very old document from the 10th century. It was found in the early 1900s by Zacarías García Villada. This special paper was actually on the back of another document about a gift to a monastery. A monastery is a place where monks live and work. This monastery was in a region called Kingdom of León in what is now Spain.
What makes this document so interesting? It's a simple list of cheeses! The monks used these cheeses for food or sometimes as payment. The name Nodicia de kesos means "list of cheeses" in an old form of Spanish. It's like the modern Spanish words noticia or lista de quesos.
This document is important because it shows us how the Spanish language was developing a long time ago. Its spelling is very different from classical Latin. It also helps us understand the early forms of languages like Leonese language and Castilian before they became separate.
A famous expert named Ramón Menéndez Pidal used the Nodicia de kesos in his book Origins of Spanish (1926). He used it to explain how languages were spoken in Spain in the 10th century.
Today, you can find the original Nodicia de kesos at the Cathedral of León in Spain. It is kept there as Manuscript 852v.
What the Document Says
The Nodicia de kesos is a list of cheeses used by Brother Semeno and other monks. It tells us how many cheeses they used for different tasks. For example, some cheeses were used for work in the vineyard. Others were taken to a tower or to the town of Cea.
The list also mentions cheeses used when "the king" visited. This king was likely Ramiro II of León, who ruled the Kingdom of León in the 10th century. This shows us that even important people like kings might have been given cheese!
The document is written in two columns. It lists numbers of cheeses, like "5 cheeses" or "2 cheeses," next to the activities they were used for. It gives us a peek into the daily life and accounting of a monastery over a thousand years ago.
See also
In Spanish: Nodicia de kesos para niños
