From Herodotus to the bell of Huesca. Considerations and new proposal about its classic tradition

Abstract

This article has a double purpose. On the one hand, it aims to deepen into the tradition of the classic precedents of the legend of the bell of Huesca by comparing three traditions about the topic: Greek, Roman and medieval, all of them between the 5^th century b.C. until the 14^th century AD. (the Crónica Pinatense will be the terminus ad quem in the medieval tradition), and the evidences existing about them. Four points in these traditions have been compared: the request of advice, the circumstances in which the advice is given, the explanations that the messenger offers to the claimant of the advice and, finally, the interpretation of the advice. On the other hand, the paper aims to offer a new source for the medieval tradition. This new source is related to chivalry guidebooks, in the tradition of the stratagy books.