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A unique and expansive 13th-century text that attempted to chronicle the history of humankind is being translated and analyzed for the first time, with a University of British Columbia Okanagan (UBCO) professor spearheading the international effort.

The General e grand estoria (GE), commissioned by Alfonso X of Castile during his reign from 1252 to 1284, is considered the first universal history written in a language other than Latin—Old Spanish—and is said to include the social and cultural history of the world to that point.

In a news release, UBCO described the text as the “largest universal history written in Medieval Europe,” spanning more than 6,000 pages. It’s currently housed at the Biblioteca Nacional de España in Madrid.

With more than $2.1 million in federal funding through a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council grant, a global team of 55 researchers across 18 institutions, led by UBCO Professor Francisco Peña, is now translating and digitally preserving the work.

Peña said the historical text has been little known to people outside some academic circles. “Most of Spain has never heard about it, and I believe across Europe it’s not that well known,” he said. “Many relevant texts written in medieval Spain have disappeared. Through our efforts, we hope to change that and preserve this valuable piece of literature forever.”

What makes it “very interesting,” said Peña, is that, unlike most texts of its time, which were typically authored solely by Christians, the GE’s authors included Christians, Muslims, and Jews. Peña said the nearly 800-year-old manuscript offers a reminder of what’s possible when people set aside their differences to pursue shared knowledge.

For Peña, the text offers a lesson in shared human curiosity. “It gives a very interesting example of collaboration and how curiosity could be a perfect way to stop our differences in the search for knowledge.”

CBC (7/14/25) By Shaurya Kshatri