The supernatural in early Spanish literature, studied in the works of the court of Alfonso X, el Sabio

STUDIED IN THE WORKS OF THE COURT OF ALFONSO X, EL SABIO By FRANK CALLCOTT, Ph. D. Department of Romance Languages Columbia University
NEW YORK 1923 Es propiedad. Derechos reservados para todos los países. Copyright, 1923, by the Instituto de las Españas.

To MY PARENTS
It has been the aim of the author in the following study to collect, classify, and analyze the various references made in the works of Alfonso X, el Sabio, to the beliefs and superstitions, of the Spaniard of that day, with reference to the supernatural. It is hoped that it will be possible in this way to reach a better understanding of the attitude of the Spanish people toward the supernatural in general and thus to acquire a more complete appreciation of that early period of the nation’s life.
No attempt has been made here to trace the origins of these early Spanish traditions (many of which were common thruout Europe during the Middle Ages), and the comparison of what has been found with the supernatural in the early literature of other European countries has been left for a later study.
The works of Alfonso el Sabio have been chosen because, to a large extent, they represent not only their own period but all that had gone before them, as recorded not only in Castillian but in Latin and to a greater or less degree in Arabic and Hebrew also. Alfonso gathered to his court a select group of scholars versed in these languages; and under his direction they produced or collected a representative library of works dealing with their respective subjects. It is the accessible books of this collection that have furnished the material for the present study.
The author wishes to express sincere thanks to Professor Federico de Onís of Columbia University for sympathetic encouragement and valuable suggestions thruout the entire period of study; to Professor Antonio G. Solalinde, of the Centro de Estudios Históricos , Madrid, for helpful suggestions and criticism of the manuscript as well as for the privilege of consulting the proof-sheets of the Antología de Alfonso X, el Sabio , which has recently issued from the press; to Professor Raymond Weeks, of Columbia University, for his sympathetic interpretation of the Middle Ages and for actually introducing the writer to the true spirit of that period; to his wife, thru whose timely assistance solely it has been possible to complete the study without undue delay; and especially to Professor Henry Alfred Todd, of Columbia, for his painstaking aid and expert criticism while this work was taking form and being put thru the press.