Note 43 — Chapter III

The works attributed to Alfonso are:—In Prose: 1. Crónica General de España, to be noticed hereafter. 2. A Universal History, containing an abstract of the history of the Jews. 3. A Translation of the Bible. 4. El Libro del Tesoro, a work on general philosophy; but Sarmiento, in a MS. which I possess, says that this is a translation of the Tesoro of Brunetto Latini, Dante’s master, and that it was not made by order of Alfonso; adding, however, that he has seen a book entitled “Flores de Filosofía,” which professes to have been compiled by this king’s command, and may be the work here intended. 5. The Tábulas Alfonsinas, or Astronomical Tables. 6. Historia de todo el Suceso de Ultramar, to be noticed presently. 7. El Espéculo ó Espejo de todos los Derechos; El Fuero Real, and other laws published in the Opúsculos Legales del Rey Alfonso el Sabio (ed. de la Real Academia de Historia, Madrid, 1836, 2 tom., fol.). 8. Las Siete Partidas.—In Verse: 1. Another Tesoro. 2. Las Cántigas. 3. Two stanzas of the Querellas. Several of these works, like the Universal History and the Ultramar, were, as we know, only compiled by his order, and in others he must have been much assisted. But the whole mass shows how wide were his views, and how great must have been his influence on the language, the literature, and the intellectual progress of his country.