About the medieval foundation of the monastery of Valdediós: variations on a frustrated cartulary , Oviedo, IFESXVIII / Ediciones Trea (ACESXVIII, 16), 2025.

Abstract

Although historiography confirms that the Asturian monastery of Santa María de Valdediós was founded in 1200 by Kings Alfonso IX and Berenguela de León in their possessions in Boiges, the existence of a pre-Romanesque church from the 9th century, which is still visible today, raised doubts in the past. Perhaps in order to give prestige to the origins of the monastery or to give it a venerable antiquity, some modern scholars have ended up considering it to be a foundation of the Asturian monarchy, which was eventually transformed into a Cistercian monastery, trying to fit these alleged episodes into history.

The manuscript L.9362 of the Spanish National Historical Archive, an unfinished project of a cartulary for the monastery, is a clear example of this discussion within the community itself and how a historical consciousness would emerge in the community concerned with reconstructing its medieval past, giving rise to the first "medievalist attempts". During the last third of the 17th century and the 18th century, a series of texts were written that reflect this process of reconstructing the medieval past of the monastery and the discussions that arose (both within the community and with contributions from outside it) about the founding moments of Valdediós. The aim of this work is to present this manuscript and to study this process of debate and commemoration over time, offering a critical edition of this corpus of texts.