New readings of three inscriptions of San Salvador de Valdediós

Abstract

This paper studies, mainly from a philological point of view, the Latin texts that were engraved on the lintels of three doors and the windows of the apses of San Salvador de Valdediós, a pre-Romanesque church built in Villaviciosa (Asturias, Spain) before 893.

The article offers the critical edition, some epigraphic and paleographic notes, a list of textual parallels, a linguistic and stylistic study, plus some conclusions.

Through comparison with diplomatic formulas and photographic retouching, alternative readings have been found for the deteriorated fragments of the three door inscriptions. In addition, a lost part of the text on the southern lintel has been reconstructed. The new versions link them more closely with Alfonso III, King of Asturias (866-910), to whom either the construction or the reform of the temple has usually been attributed. This corroborates the observation of previous scholars about the resemblance of the letters on the lintels with respect to those of another inscription preserved in the cathedral of Oviedo, which commemorates a building erected by the same king.

The Latin of the inscriptions is quite correct in terms of spelling and morphology, although syntactically precarious. But it is not without value: the author, possibly a writer of notarial documents, was able to compose a poetic text for the main access to the church, combining syllabic quantity and rhythm.