Leonor de Cortinas and the crusades council: New data from old documents

Abstract

This work analyses the “historical distorsion” resulting from the study of documents on Cervantes. There have been several works which have been transcripted without taking into consideration neither their administrative features nor the continuous controls performed on the records concerning Spanish Monarchy. For this purpose, documents conserved on the petition by Leonor de Cortina in 1576 in front of the Crusades Council, to whom she asked to release her children, have been analyzed. As a result, it can be stated that some documents are being classified as “originals” when, in reality, they constitute administrative copies or controls related to the processing of a certain administrative action. This implies that the opportunity of obtaining more information on Cervantes and his personal context is being wasted.