Alba Guibert
Alba Guibert, also known as Alba de Vic (11th century) was a Catalan scribe based in Vic, Kingdom of Aragon, whose deed of sale dating from 1044 is reported to be the first legal document written by a woman in Catalonia, containing earliest examples of a proto-Catalan language.
Career
[edit]She is thought to have been born around the year 1010 into a large, educated family, and as the daughter of Guibert, a grammarian from Liège, in what is now Belgium, and Guilla.[1] His father educated his six children in the humanities, and he went on to become headmaster of the grammar school at Vic Cathedral.[1]
Based in Vic, Alba Guibert wrote and signed, in her own right, a document relating to a purchase she made with her husband, dated 16 April 1044.[1] This document, written in Latin in Carolingian script, is signed with splendid capital letters of the librarian type.[1] It is considered the first legal document written by a woman in Catalonia and features some of the earliest known uses of words in the Catalan language.[1]
She lived in the village of Santa Eulàlia de Riuprimer.[1] Her brother Berill drew up the will of Alba's husband, Jobert, as she was ill when he died in February 1063.[2]
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Camps, Magí (8 March 2023). "Alba de Vic, la primera dona que va escriure en català" [Alba de Vic, the first woman to write in Catalan]. La Vanguardia (in Catalan). Retrieved 21 September 2026.
- ↑ Alturo, Jesús; Alaix, Tània. Lletres que parlen: Viatge als orígens del català [Lletres que parlen: Viatge als orígens del català]. Penguin Random House. ISBN 978-84-19334-25-1. Retrieved 21 September 2026.