Libraries and Books Used by Cathedral Clergy in Castile During the Thirteenth Century

Abstract

This article seeks to delineate the cultural interests of the cathedral chapters in Castile during the thirteenth century by examining three extant library inventories (from Burgo de Osma, Zamora, and Salamanca) and 138 references to books owned by clergymen which appear in the documents of five cathedrals (Burgos, León, Zamora, Salamanca, and Burgo de Osma). In comparison with other Western European cathedrals, the average number of books owned by the clergy is somewhat small. However, the kind of books that circulated in the Castilian cathedral chapters was similar to those owned by their European counterparts. With regard to the books used by the Castilian clergymen, their interests seem more limited. They possessed primarily the basic collections of canon and civil law, secondly the standard liturgical manuals, and thirdly the commentaries on the Bible written by Church Fathers and Early Christian authors. By contrast, the contents of the extant library inventories reveal wider cultural interests. The legal books and the theology of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, as well as the genres of summas and sermons, are represented by significant authors, although some important theologians of the second half of the thirteenth century are conspicuous by their absence. On the other hand, the small number of volumes devoted to the Liberal Arts and the emphasis on Biblical commentaries reflect the scholarly character of these libraries. Unlike some of their European counterparts, the Castilian cathedral chapters continued to stress the study of the Bible and of canon law. Both of these disciplines enabled the cathedral clergy to hold the royal and ecclesiastical positions that they enjoyed in Castile during the thirteenth century.