Siervo libre de amor de Juan Rodríguez del Padrónestudio y edición

Abstract

This Doctoral Thesis is centred upon the edition, both critical and diplomatic, of Siervo libre de amor, the romance written by Juan Rodríguez del Padrón around 1440. The pertinence of such a task will be clear for anybody familiarised with the present state of studies and editions on this work. The unsolved problems of interpretation made it compulsory to try to define the text lexically and to gather as much information as possible in order to establish the text sintactically. The punctuation decisions to be made are far from simple, as the least variation induces grossly different meanings. The diplomatic edition was undertaken with a view to put these problems in the right direction, allowing the reader to decide which course would be best to take at every step. The same can be said of the glossary that accompanies the critical edition and the editorial apparatus through which the reader will be able to ascertain the different ways which editors have chosen when confronted with problems of readership. In that respect I must recognise that my edition goes on the conservative side. The editions are accompanied by a series of different papers, some more closely knit than others, on problems that stem from the very complexities of the text, beginning with the biography of the author, of which not much is really known. Among other aspects not usually dealt with by the critics, these papers deal with the symbolic world of representation, the links between history and romance, the use of geography, heraldry, medicine, etc. Probably more important is the chapter in which philosophy and theology are investigated to reveal a profoundly Franciscan penchant that pervades the whole novel and the dialectic relation that both parts of the novel, the biographical part and the romance proper, keep, enhancing the richness of reading and the complexities of interpretation.