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Portuguese Studies vol. 31 no. 2 (2015), 148–52© Modern Humanities Research Association 2015 Introduction Cláudia Pazos Alonso and Claire Williams University of Oxford This issue, devoted to medieval and early modern studies, is dedicated to our dear colleague and friend Stephen Parkinson, to mark his retirement in September 2015. The cast of contributors gathered here comprises a range of colleagues in the field of Portuguese studies, many closely linked with Oxford and Stephen himself, including some former and current students. Portugal is one of the countries in Europe with the oldest stable frontiers, dating back to the twelfth century. The present issue takes us from just prior to the formation of the Portuguese nation, formalized in 1143 at the Treaty of Zamora, through to the sixteenth century, a century closely associated with the Age of the Discoveries,butwherethemedievallegacyremains visibly present in genres such as historiography.1 The articles are arranged in a broadly chronological order. They showcase a variety of topics, warranting different critical methodologies and approaches: literary and historical analysis, a focus on visual culture, the critical fortunes of medieval manuscripts, and the diachronic development of the Portuguese language across the centuries. Last but not least, they highlight the need for editions of early modern material. The thirteenth century occupies a significant place in the current volume, in a fitting tribute to Stephen Parkinson, who retained a well-documented predilection for this period throughout his career. Indeed, thanks to Stephen’s monumental and ongoing online project on the Cantigas de Santa Maria, greater familiarity with this seminal compilation is only one click away, for the uninitiated and experts alike (). Most recently, he has edited an anthology of Cantigas de Santa Maria: Alfonso X, the Learned (MHRA, 2015) which gathers in one volume over forty poems, in a bilingual edition. When it came to choosing a cover image for this themed volume of Portuguese Studies, therefore, it made perfect sense to choose a suitable illustration from the vast range in the manuscripts of Cantigas de Santa Maria. We hope that the one we settled on,2 pretty much straightaway, mirrors the 1 Given that the medieval period encompasses several centuries, many treasures of Portuguese literature could not be surveyed in the current issue. For further information about such gems as the secular cantigas of various types, the chronicles of Fernão Lopes and, straddling the medieval and Renaissance worlds, the plays of Gil Vicente, we refer our readers to a collaborative volume, spearheaded by Stephen and other colleagues in the sub-faculty of Portuguese at Oxford, the Companion to Portuguese Literature (2009, paperback edition 2013). 2 The illustration belongs to Cantiga 194 in the El Escorial manuscript (Real Biblioteca del Monasterio, Introduction 149 aura that Stephen as a teacher was able to project: that of an experienced tutor, who generated a happy and supportive learning environment and effortlessly captivated the attention of the eager disciples surrounding him, thanks to the magic of the music he produced — seemingly entirely off-the-cuff, for there are no scores in sight! The volume opens with an article by the Oxford-based historian-cumadministrator Stephen Lay, who explores the period immediately preceding the independence of the condado portucalense from the kingdoms of Leon and Castile, through an analysis of the Vita Sancti Geraldi. Bernard’s hagiographic account of the life of his close friend, Gerald, not only provides us with the biography of a holy man but also stands as an important historical source, allowing us to glimpse the cultural changes underway in Portuguese society in the context of the birth of a nation, seen from the perspective of two highranking French clerics. Charged with the task of modernizing the Portuguese church hierarchy, this account of their vicissitudes warrants revisiting, for, as Lay argues, it raises complex questions about power and legitimacy. In the second article, Kirstin Kennedy, a former doctoral student of Stephen Parkinson’s, and now a Curator at the Victoria & Albert Museum, considers the visual aspect of the códice rico. She brings out the significance of the minia­ tures that illustrate the songs in honour of the Virgin Mary, through an exami­ nation of how piety is shaped...

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