The Woman and the Snake: Around the Pledge Letter of Countess Urraca Fernández (SP)

Abstract

Written and illustrated by a monk named Radulph, the pledge letter issued by Count Rodrigo Martínez to his wife Countess Urraca Fernández is, in its form and content, a precious testimony of the social history of the twelfth century. This work analyses the letter from the dual perspective of gender relations and kinship ties. At these two levels, the letter reveals the tension between social practices of the aristocracy and the attempts to control the collective mindset promoted by reformist clerics, represented by the monk who writes and illustrates the letter.