| Abstract | Paper -a:
The proposed paper aims state the role of one of the major libraries - yet highly neglected - of the early Hispanic Middle Ages, that of the cathedral of Roda d'Isàvena, assembled at a time when several bishops and kings launched bonds with Rome, intending to institute a 'Hispanic Christian Empire' to confront the Muslim establishment. This fact will determine the capital position played by the Ribagorça diocese in the introduction of the Roman-Frankish liturgy throughout the Hispanic territories during the late 11th and the 12th century, mainly done by the copy and distribution of liturgical books elaborated in the cathedral's scriptorium. This circumstance will prompt the emergence and use by power of new artistic repertories related to the ideological and liturgical situation, initially developed in the manuscript production, playing the library a major role in the cultural and political life of the diocese.
Paper -b:
The research conducted for the PhD thesis, 'The Medieval Funerary Art in Portugal: A Relation with the Liturgy of the Dead?', has encountered representations of the elevatio animae (ascension of the soul) in the iconographic programmes of some funerary monuments. This proposal aims to analyse three key examples of this iconography on the tombs belonging to Bishop Rodrigo Álvarez (an early formula of elevatio animae belonging to the Romanesque), Queen Elizabeth of Aragon (a more common formula, on the canopy above the head), and Egas Moniz, a loyal servant of the first king of Portugal (a variant showing the soul exiting through the mouth). These examples allow reconstructing the evolution, changes, and shifts of this iconographic theme throughout the Middle Ages, in particular the Low Middle Ages.
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