Philanthropy

Letters from the Catholic Monarchs

Earlier this year, the Lilly Library received a major donation from Charles Lanham, Chairman of Oberoi Partners, who graduated from IU with a BS in Marketing from the Kelley School of Business and has served as Treasurer of the IU Foundation Board of Directors. This acquisition will bolster the Lilly's holdings in the area of early Spanish manuscripts, and benefit future students, faculty members, and other researchers.

The donation consists of two handwritten letters from the early sixteenth century, signed by Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon, the Catholic Monarchs who conquered Granada and sponsored the voyages of Columbus. These manuscripts build on existing holdings at the Lilly, as the library had previously acquired another letter from the Queen relating to material culture in the court.

Professor Steven Wagschal was consulted on the donation, and transcriptions of the letters were made by Professor Ryan Giles together with Professor David Arbesú (University of South Florida). In the first manuscript, Queen Isabel arranges for Beatriz Galindo to receive a silk brocade that had been in the custody of another member of the court for some years. Included is Beatriz Galindo's signed acknowledgement of having received the brocade. The document provides valuable information on the exchange of gifts in the court, as well as the Queen's relationship with Beatriz Galindo "La Latina," who was a personal advisor to Isabel and the tutor of her children, including Catarina, the future wife of Henry VIII; and Juana "la Loca", the mother of the Emperor Carlos V.

Trained at the Universities of Salamanca and Salerno, the humanist Beatriz Galindo was the author of poetry and philosophical commentaries in Latin, and considered the most erudite woman in Spain during the Renaissance period. The donated letter from Fernando is addressed to a duke concerning an undisclosed message that has been received by a Navarrese nobleman, and is to be re-conveyed on behalf of the king. In 1512, ten years after the document is dated, Navarra would be invaded by troops loyal to Fernando, inaugurating a final phase of the king's political and military career, famously praised in Machiavelli's The Prince.

Graduate Travel Fellowship Established

IU alum Dr. Hadassah R. Weiner (MA '70; PhD '73) has created a fund to support travel and study abroad fellowships for graduate students in the department, with preference given to students traveling to Spain.

The fund is entitled "Hadassah R. Weiner Friendship Fund for Graduate Student Travel" in honor of the enduring friendship she developed with fellow students Teresa Eileen Lynch and Mirtha Toledo during the time they spent together as participants in the inaugural year of the department's graduate study abroad program in Madrid, Spain.