‘Arab Stones’. Rodrigo Caro 's translations of arabic inscriptions in Seville (1634), revisited

Abstract

This article seeks to illuminate the problem of baroque translations of medieval Arabic inscriptions, in particular those provided by Rodrigo Caro in 1634 of inscriptions from Seville. The Sevillian inscriptions have been ignored by scholars since the nineteenth century when they were recognized as fraudulent. This paper argues that the content of these false translations was subservient to the context of their production -namely that of the translations of the Grenadine lead books, the baroque perceived ideal of a 'sacred antiquity', and the counter-reformation promotion and elevation of false martyrs and their relics. These were all elements of a conscious programme of invention of a ficticious but significant Christian past in Andalucía. The main protagonists in the Seville transtations—Rodrigo Caro, Pedro de Castro and Adán Centurión—were implicated in all of these processes as well as belonging to a Peninsula-wide network of antiquarian enthusiasts and forgers. Their critical judgement, when faced with evident frauds, was consumed by their will to promote specific religious and political agendas. Consequently, their shared translators, with their own agendas, obliged their patrons with capricious ammunition.