Building the authority of the bishop through monastic writing: episcopal memory in the cartularies of Cardena and Valpuesta

Until their assimilation into the diocese of Burgos at the end of the eleventh century, the episcopal sees of Oca and Valpuesta were located in the monasteries of Cardena and Valpuesta respectively. In consequence, bishops were frequently present there. The three medieval cartularies surviving from these monasteries, the Becerro Gotico of Cardena and the Becerros Gotico and Galicano of Valpuesta, bear witness to the progressive strengthening of episcopal power between the ninth and eleventh centuries. This paper analyses the episcopal memory preserved in these cartularies, evaluating the names and deeds attributed to the bishops in their defense of the privileges of both institutions and their remembrance as monastic benefactors.