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Communication and Translation in Early Modern Basque Society. The Role Played by the Public Notaries

  • Nere Jone Intxaustegi Jauregi

Abstract

The public notaries have been very important worldwide since the thirteenth century; not only in the apparatus of the state, but also in the daily organization of people’s lives. They were, among other things, in charge of writing testaments, codicils, labor contracts, dowries, or loans. Therefore, communication was a key element of their job since they had to write down names, dates, and personal information that the clients provided them with. However, a communication problem could arise when the clients did not speak the administrative language. In our case, the Basque territories belonged to the Castilian Crown, but Basque and Castilian are completely different languages. Basque monolingual speakers made up around 90% in early modern society. For that reason, the public notaries in the Basque territories had more responsibilities, since they also had to perform translator-tasks. This paper will address these translator-tasks carried out by the public notaries and will analyze the training of the public notaries, and the demand of those linguistic skills among men and women, and also in urban and rural spaces. In order to achieve that, archival records will be used.

Abstract

The public notaries have been very important worldwide since the thirteenth century; not only in the apparatus of the state, but also in the daily organization of people’s lives. They were, among other things, in charge of writing testaments, codicils, labor contracts, dowries, or loans. Therefore, communication was a key element of their job since they had to write down names, dates, and personal information that the clients provided them with. However, a communication problem could arise when the clients did not speak the administrative language. In our case, the Basque territories belonged to the Castilian Crown, but Basque and Castilian are completely different languages. Basque monolingual speakers made up around 90% in early modern society. For that reason, the public notaries in the Basque territories had more responsibilities, since they also had to perform translator-tasks. This paper will address these translator-tasks carried out by the public notaries and will analyze the training of the public notaries, and the demand of those linguistic skills among men and women, and also in urban and rural spaces. In order to achieve that, archival records will be used.

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Table of Contents V
  3. List of Illustrations IX
  4. Introduction: An Essay on Language, Culture, and Identity: Medieval and Early Modern Perspectives on and Approaches to Communication, Translation, and Community 1
  5. Ways of Communication and Mis/communication in Abū Tammām’s “Ode on the Conquest of Amorium” (838 C.E.) 95
  6. Proscribed Communication: The Obscene Language of the Troubadour William IX, Duke of Aquitaine and VII Count of Poitiers 109
  7. (Non)-Imaginary Ideal Communities in the Pre-Modern World: A Reading in the Utopian Works of al-Fārābi’, Ibn Khaldūn, Christine de Pizan, and Thomas More 159
  8. A Jewish Moneylender, Miscommunication, and a Lie: Gonzalo de Berceo’s Milagro no. 23 191
  9. Words, Signs, Meanings: William Langland’s Piers Plowman as a Window on Linguistic Chaos 209
  10. The Chaucerian Translator 233
  11. Entertainment, Laughter, and Reflections as a Training Ground for Communication in Public and Private: The Case of Heinrich Kaufringer, ca. 1400 255
  12. …written in my own Jewish hand 291
  13. Demonic Operators: Forbidden Relations in Medieval Communication 327
  14. Paroemiac Expressions: A Touch of Color in the Ambassadors’ Diplomatic Correspondence in the Fifteenth Century 351
  15. Communication and Translation in Early Modern Basque Society. The Role Played by the Public Notaries 379
  16. Preventing Miscommunication: Early Modern German Surgeons as Specialized Translators 393
  17. Reputation and Authority in the Physicians’ Communication with Patients as Reflected in the Czech-Language Sources of the Early Modern Period 415
  18. The Physicians’ Community in Pre-Thirty Years’ War Bohemia 439
  19. A Bond of True Love: Performing Courtship and Betrothal in Gower’s Cinkante balades and Spenser’s Amoretti, in Light of Christine de Pizan’s Cent balades 461
  20. Noble Friendship in Relation to the Community: Hamlet and The Merchant of Venice 491
  21. Deconstructing the (Mis)Interpretation of Paratextual Elements in Ross’s English Translation of the Qur’ān, The Alcoran of Mahomet (1649) 519
  22. Community and the Others: Unveiling Boundaries in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice 551
  23. Biographies of the Contributors 617
  24. Index 627
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