Galician-Asturian - The Chartulary of The Oscos Abbey

The Chartulary of The Oscos Abbey

One of the most relevant aspects of this tongue is the study of its evolution for Middle Ages through the parchments which are kept in the Villanueva de Oscos Chartulary. This Chartulary is the fourth most important in Asturias after San Pelayo, San Vicente and the Oviedo's Chatedral, being very interesting its conservation, if we take into account the huge information provided with regard to a community so small like was the Villanueva de Oscos Abbey. These documents show us the vitality of this language in the Middle Ages and give us very important information about the origin of the romance languages in the northwest of Iberian Peninsula. The Chartulary preserves 616 parchments about the Middle Ages: 32 on the 12th century, 261 on the 13th century, 224 on the 14th century and 99 on the 15th century.

The first scholar who dealt with its study, was Aureliano Fernández-Guerra in 1865 in the very important article «Speech about the Carther of Aviles», in this study, he used extracts of 19 documents, dating since 1256 until 1316. In the following year, Martín Sangrador y Vitores includes in his work about Asturias Administration a copy in Galician language of the Royal Prerrogative which was given away by Fernando II to the Abbey. The next edition of the documents about monastery had to wait until middle of 20th century when Royal Institute of Asturian Studies, RIDEA, edits the article «El convento benedictino de Villanueva de Ozcos» by Marcos G. Martínez, edition rather poor, and we should wait until 1981 when Pedro Floriano Llorente publishes in RIDEA «Colección dipolomática de Villanueva de Ozcos», that implies an important improvement concerning the previous, both by perfection technical, as by the personal and toponymic references.

Nonetheless, this edition just deals with this issue as far as the 1200 year. In 1994, the Britonia journal takes back again the interest about this issue and publishes the second serial of the monastery's parchments, edited by Floriano Llorente and which cover until the first half of the 13th century. This edition, however, failed to meet the editors' expectations, because doesn't produce any document in romance language. For that reason, Britonia publishes a second version less known which covers until the 1300 year, which is more interesting for the study of this question.

These works will serve as a basis, for publishing another set of documents by the professor Alvárez Castrillón, in his book Los Ozcos en los siglos X-XIII, un modelo de organización social del espacio en la Asturias medieval, (2001), this work, however, only addresses the historic aspects, and nor the linguistics. In the following years, the professor Sanz Fuentes has published also four documents more with regard to Buron Hospital. Finally Alvárez Castrillón, has edited in 2008 others 605 parchments as attachment at the book «La Comarca de los Oscos en la Edad Media, poblamiento, economía y poder», and in 2011, he edited other 293 documents more concerning stage 1139–1300, Colección Diplomática del Monasterio de Santa María de Villanueva de Oscos, (1139-1300).

The documents of the chartulary give us an important information for the knowledge of the language which was spoken in the western Asturias during the Middle Ages. These documents shown us the origin and the evolution of this language, however this serial of parchments finishes with the arrival the Congregation of Castile in 1511 at Monastery, which moment will be an end of a cycle and will be the beginning of a new one, the big economic growth around the iron industry. However fwith the installation of the reformed Order, it closes the documental history of this language until to resurges at late 19th century.