El «Libre de la Menescalia» de Manuel Dies: de espejo de caballeros a manual de Albéitares

Abstract

The article sets forth the state of the question concerning a medieval equine veterinary manual and its author: the Libre de la menescalia of Manuel Dies, majordomo of Alfonso V (IV) the Magnanimous, king of Aragon. The authors reassert the value of the work, which has often been denied, highlighting the important role it played in the process of institutionalization of the art of equine medicine, a process in which the author of the work played an active part. This role is evident in the work's developing audience. At the same time, the article highlights the work's importance within the interesting field of medieval scientific writing in Catalan, as well as exploring the work's dissemination both in Catalan, and in French and Spanish translations. Such was the work's importance that, thanks to the invention of printing, it became (in Catalan and above all in Spanish) the principal book of veterinary medicine in the Hispanic world of the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance.