“Legendary” bishops in medieval Castile: preserving and forging episcopal memory at the monastery of Santa María de Valpuesta

This article examines the charters of the monastery of Santa María de Valpuesta, which preserve the memory of the first bishops of the eponymous diocese. Their deeds in the ninth century have sometimes been described as legendary because they are preserved in documents that are widely considered to be forgeries. By examining the various contexts in which these documents were produced and preserved, as well as their intertextual relationships within the different stages of compilation of the cartulary that contains them, the article aims to assess the significance of the memory of these early bishops in the uncertain context of the diocese and monastery of Valpuesta in the late eleventh and early twelfth centuries, as well as to challenge the generalised assumption that these diplomas were forgeries.