History of Spain of Alfonso X the Sage and the beginnings of Spanish prose (setting the issue)

Abstract

The article treats the history of Spain (XIII century A.D) as the text that played a crucial role in the process of the emergence and the development of Spanish prose fiction. In this respect, it focuses upon the elaboration of the language of prose that is analyzed from various points of view: as a particular set of narrative devices, a specific way of plot organization, and as a peculiar technique of adapting Latin sources in order to make the story complete and entertaining. This general picture is achieved by the interpretation of a number of particular cases,namely the history of Hercules and the story of Numancia seizure. In the chronicle these stories are consistently built into traditional epic framework and are elaborated into self-sufficient pieces of heroic narrative.