Narrating and accounting the costs of reform in a “Chronicle of the Reform of San Salvador de Oña (1450–1465)”

Abstract

The monastery of San Salvador de Oña was reformed by the priors of the monastery of San Benito de Valladolid between 1450 and 1456. The majority of the monks of Oña opposed this reform, which led to their being replaced by monks from Valladolid. In addition, the payment of papal taxes, lawsuits and building projects generated a substantial debt, which was repaid through the sale of the church’s silver ornaments and altarpieces, and as a result the monks who were expelled from Oña accused the reformers of theft. The priors of San Benito and its monks defended their actions in two texts: a document acknowledging the debt and explaining its origin, and a chronicle of the reform undertaken by the priors of San Benito which minimised their responsibility for the monastery’s mismanagement. Thus, the financial accountancy of the reform was combined with a literary commemoration of this undertaking.