Poem of Almería facts for kids

The Poem of Almería (Spanish: Poema de Almería) is a medieval Latin epic poem in 3851⁄2 leonine hexameters. It was appended to the end of the Chronica Adefonsi imperatoris, an account of the reign of Alfonso VII of León and Castile, and narrates the victorious military campaign of 1147 that culminated in the conquest of the port of Almería. The poem, as it survives, is unfinished, abruptly ending mid-line before recounting the actual siege of Almería itself. Of its surviving lines, 293 consist of "dénombrement épique, a stirring roll-call of the chief members and contingents of the army".

The Poem has aroused interest among scholars and critics for the light it may shed on the origins and development of vernacular epic (the cantares de gesta) and on the nature of Iberian aristocratic and military customs. It has been described as "a relict of incomparable interest for the cultural archaeology of the twelfth century" and "a splendid reflection of its time and, in this regard, full of gold also as literature". Stylistically, the Poem is indebted to the parallelism of the poetry of the Hebrew Bible and to the classical models of Virgil and Ovid.

Editions

• L. T. Belgrano, ed. "Frammento di Poemetto sincrono su la conquista di Almeria nel MCXLVII". Atti della Società Ligure di storia patria 19 (1887).
• F. Castro Guisasola, ed. El cantar de la conquista de Almería por Alfonso VII: un poema hispano-latín del siglo XII. Granada: 1992.
• E. Flórez, ed. "Chronica Adefonsi Imperatoris." España Sagrada 21 (1766): 320–409.
• J. Gil, ed. "Carmen de expugnatione Almariae urbis." Habís V (1974): 45–64. online
• J. Gil, ed. "Prefatio de Almaria." Chronica Hispana saeculi XII, Pars Prima, ed. E. Falque, J. Gil and A. Maya (Turnhout: 1990): 249–67.
• G. E. Lipskey, ed. and trans. The Chronicle of Alfonso the Emperor. PhD Dissertation, Northwestern University, 1972. online
• C. Rodríguez Aniceto, ed. "El poema latino Prefacio de Almería." Boletín de la Biblioteca Menédez y Pelayo 13 (1931): 140–75. online
• H. Salvador Martínez, ed. and trans. El “Poema de Almería” y la épica románica. Madrid: 1975.
• L. Sánchez Belda, ed. Chronica Adefonsi imperatoris. Madrid: 1950.

See also

In Spanish: Poema de Almería para niños