About
My main field of research is related to the primary sources for the study of Medieval and Renaissance Iberian literatures and cultures, especially what we called ‘Poesía de cancionero’ (Songbook Poetry) written in Spanish. Other research lines I am involved with are Spanish vernacular Humanism, nobility’s patronage of Spanish culture, and the Islamic, Hebrew, and Christian background of medieval Iberia. I seek to show how medieval literature, especially poetry, must be studied within the context of the political and social culture from which it emerges. My research is also focused on the role of gender and racial issues in the construction of authorship, in particular the role of both women and Jewish and converso writers, in the midst of the turmoil of the 15th-16th centuries.
I have been involved in Digital Humanities since 1999, when I joined
ADMYTE. Later on, in 2002, I joined the
PhiloBiblon Project as a Junior Assistant; I currently serve there as Co-Director of
BETA (
Bibliografía Española de Textos Antiguos) and collaborator of both
BITECA (
Bibliografia de textos antics catalans, valencians i balears) and
BIPA (
Bibliografía de la Poesía Áurea). I have also the pleasure of being the Director of the
PhiloBiblon Seminar, a workshop in which we train students in our database and methods. The first
two editions of this Seminar were held at San Millán de la Cogolla, La Rioja under the patronage of Cilengua; the
third edition was celebrated in June 2017 at the
Biblioteca Nacional de España, Madrid. From the fourth edition on forward, June 2018 and
June 2019, the Seminar had one more session at
Biblioteca Marqués de Valdecilla (UCM), aside from the one at BNE. Because of the well-known circumstances related to the spread of the coronavirus, the sixth edition was held
online, June 24-26th, 2020, as it was the seventh edition, also held
online on June 29-30th, 2021. We aim to return to the usual structure of the Seminar as soon as the global health restrictions allow us to do so.
A few years ago I began to write a
blog in which I am trying to spread both my findings and my teaching to the general public, for I consider the popularization of my research and my instruction methods as an essential counterweight to their scientific essence.