Juan Udaondo Alegre

My research explores the intersection of medieval and early modern Spanish literature, philosophy, science, and culture. Specifically, I examine how the blending of Mediterranean intellectual traditions in Spain influenced the creation of historical narratives that interpreted the legacies of Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Additionally, I investigate how theatrical productions were used to both celebrate the past and address intellectual, religious, and military conflicts in early modern Europe. Currently, I am focusing on the translation and reception of external intellectual achievements in the Iberian Peninsula and the Spanish Empire. This includes the reception of Muslim, Jewish, and Classical traditions in the Castilian court of Alfonso the Wise, as well as the introduction of Neo-Aristotelian, Neo-Scholastic, and Neoplatonic thought in early modern Spanish and Latin American universities and intellectual circles.

The first part of this project is nearly completed, with the recent publication of my first monograph and several articles. My book The Spanish Hermes and Wisdom traditions in Medieval Iberia: Alfonso X’s General Estoria (Durham University IMEMS Press / Boydell and Brewer) explores the Castilian rendering of Hermes Trismegistus, a Hellenistic conflation of the Greek Hermes (god of interpretative wisdom) and the Egyptian Thoth (god of wisdom), who was considered by many in the medieval world as the father of culture. This book follows the ways in which Hermetic knowledge was brought to the Iberian Peninsula, showing how Hermes became the philosophical and spiritual inspiration for Christian, Arabic, and Jewish scholars there. I also unveil the pivotal role of King Alfonso X (“the Learned”) of Castile (1252-84) in creating this Spanish Hermes. Papers which complement the research of this book have been published in the Journal of Iberian Medieval Studies, the Hispanic Journal, Cincinnati Romance Review, and there is another one forthcoming this year in La Coronica.

The second book project I am working on is a logical progression from the first one. It is tentatively titled: The Twilight Humanist and the Old Sage: Hermes Trismegistus in Renaissance and Baroque Spain. In this book, I aim to reevaluate the perception of Hermes Trismegistus by Christian humanist scholars and the general public during the Renaissance and Baroque in Spain and Europe. Considering the blend of Platonism, Aristotelianism, and Stoicism that formed the underlying philosophy of Hermetic thinking in Antiquity, I will reexamine the eclectic reception and relationship these three philosophical movements had with Hermes in the early modern era, and also will look at the controversies of Christian dogma associated with them, both in Europe and the New World.

I also author publications on Spanish Golden Age theatre and playwrights such as Lope de Vega, Andrés de Claramonte, Vélez de Guevara, and particularly Calderón de la Barca as a member of the research group Calderón. I am particularly interested in how these authors depicted and interpreted medieval and early modern history for their audiences, as well as the portrayal of foreign religions in both historical dramas and hagiographies. In this regard, with a Mediterranean Studies perspective, I published a scholarly edition of Lope de Vega’s La Santa Liga, which focuses on the Ottoman-Spanish wars, and several papers. I have also joined the international digital humanities research group ISTAE, which is integrated into the federated configuration management database ASODAT. In ISTAE, I work on digital and bibliographical cataloging for a group of “comedias sueltas” (seventeenth and eighteenth century single-printed plays), conducting bibliographical research to re-map the reception history of these plays over time. I am currently working on future publications that align with my shared interests in Mediterranean history on stage, early modern plays, and the material history of their production and reception.

Teaching

While at Penn State, I have taught various undergraduate and graduate classes in which I share the main topics of my research with students. I also introduce them to the diverse sources of ancient, medieval, and early modern Spanish, European, and American literature and culture. To broaden the range of my teaching, I have also taught classes on more recent Spanish literature and cinema. In all of these courses, I bring the students’ interests as well as current social debates to class discussions. I am also particularly committed to improving their spoken and written Spanish skills through a variety of assignments, games, and exercises that I have developed using my background in theater and education. Prior to joining Penn State, I taught classes on theatre history, theory, and practice at the University of La Coruña, and later taught courses on Spanish language and literature, as well as Classical Hebrew, at the University of Michigan.

Graduate Seminars:

• The Myth of Don Juan
• Golden Age Theatre and the Spanish Game of Thrones during the Middle Ages
• The Theatre of Calderón de la Barca
• Framing Don Quixote
• Interreligious Cultural Exchange and Hermetic Sciences in Medieval Spain

Undergraduate Courses:

• La Celestina and her Diabolic Fellows
• Introduction to Hispanic Literature
• Border Conflicts and Medieval History of Spain on Stage
• Ballads of Passion and Bravery: Spanish Romances from Medieval Times to García Lorca
• Spanish Horror and Fantasy Movies
• Don Quijote
• The Theatre of Calderón de la Barca
• Medieval Spanish Poetry
• Forbidden Passions in an Evolving Society: The Novelistic Universe of Benito Pérez Galdós

Publications

Books:

• The Spanish Hermes and Wisdom Traditions in Medieval Iberia: Alfonso X’s General Estoria. Durham University IMEMS Press / Boydell and Brewer, 2024 (https://boydellandbrewer.com/9781805434535/the-spanish-hermes-and-wisdom-traditions-in-medieval-iberia/)

Scholarly Editions:

• “Critical edition, introduction and notes” of La Santa Liga by Lope de Vega, in Comedias de Lope de Vega. Parte XV. Vol. 1, edited by Luis Sánchez Lailla, Editorial Gredos, 2016, pp. 689-884.

Articles and Essays:

• “Saving Hermetic Pagans: The Spanish Translation of Thomas More’s Utopia and Its Censorship.” Moreana. Thomas More and Renaissance Studies (Accepted and Forthcoming, 2026).
• “An Attempt at a Medieval Christian Hermetism: Jesus, Mercury, and Hermes Trismegistus in Alfonso X’s Setenario.” Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Sources (Accepted and Forthcoming, 2026).
• “Enchanted Origins: The Classification of Magic in Alfonso the Learned’s General Estoria.” La Coronica, 2025 (Accepted and Forthcoming, 2025).
• “Translatio Magiae: Unraveling Authorities on Magic in Alfonso the Learned’s General Estoria.” Hispanic Journal vol. 45, no. 2, 2024, pp. 209-229.
• “The Three Magi Ladies and the Wise King: Diana, Circe, and Medea in Alfonso X’s General Estoria.” Cincinnati Romance Review, vol. 56, 2024, pp. 39-60. (https://www.artsci.uc.edu/content/dam/refresh/artsandsciences-62/departments/rll/crr/current-issue/crr-vol–56/Art.%203%20-Udaondo%20(39-60).pdf)
• “‘If You Want to Pray to Mercury, Wear the Garments of a Scribe:” Kuttāb, Udabāʾ, and Readers of the Ghāyat al-Ḥakīm in the Court of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān III.” Journal of Medieval Iberian Studies, vol. 14, no. 2, 2022, pp. 201-233. (https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/17546559.2022.2075557?needAccess=true)
• “Comedia palatina y límites genéricos: El perro del hortelano en su contexto mediterráneo.” Hispanic Review, vol. 89, no. 1, 2021, pp. 45-68. (https://muse.jhu.edu/article/782315/pdf)
• “‘Et esto dixo el grant Hermes en uno de sos castigos’: desvelando al Hermes árabe en la literatura sapiencial castellana.” eHumanista, Special Issue, Places of Encounter: Language, Culture, and Religious Identity in Medieval Iberia, edited by Jason Busic and Antonio Yasmine Beale-Rivaya. vol. 41, 2019, pp. 105-141. (https://www.ehumanista.ucsb.edu/sites/default/files/sitefiles/ehumanista/volume41/ehum41.jua.Udaondo Alegre.pdf)
• “La representación del martirio en el Barroco. San Bartolomé en las obras de Pedro Calderón y José Ribera.” Plumas y pinceles son iguales. Teatro y Pintura en el Siglo de Oro, edited by Lola González, Universitat de Lleida, 2015, pp. 131-150.
• “Violencia religiosa y guerra contra el mal en Las cadenas del demonio de Calderón de la Barca.” La violencia en Calderón, edited by Manfred Tietz and Gero Arnscheidt, Academia del Hispanismo, 2014, pp. 511-553.
• “De la conversión del santo a la de todo un imperio: El divino africano de Lope de Vega.” eHumanista, Special Issue, Lope de Vega y la renovación literaria, edited by Antonio Sánchez Jiménez and Antonio Cortijo Ocaña. vol. 24, 2014, pp. 214-239. (http://www.ehumanista.ucsb.edu/sites/secure.lsit.ucsb.edu.span.d7_eh/files/sitefiles/ehumanista/volume2 4/ehum.lope.Udaondo.pdf )
• “Venus y Marte en Lepanto. Amor vulgar frente a virtud cristiana en La Santa Liga de Lope de Vega.” Pictavia aurea. Actas del IX Congreso de la Asociación Internacional Siglo de Oro. (Anejos de Criticón, 19), edited by Alain Bègue and Emma Herrán Alonso, Presses Universitaires du Mirail, 2013, pp. 1157- 1166.
• “San Francisco de Asís como personaje dramático del Barroco: El serafín humano de Lope de Vega.” Actas del III congreso Internacional sobre “El Franciscanismo en la península ibérica,” edited by Manuel Peláez, Universidad de Salamanca/Publicaciones Orden Franciscana, 2013, pp. 438-456.
• “Don Juan de Austria, héroe del Siglo de Oro en El águila del agua de Vélez de Guevara.” Héroes y Villanos en la Historia, Asociación Cultural Ubi Sunt?, 2011, pp. 223-239.
• “La lindona de Galicia. Claves de la dramaturgia barroca en el personaje del rey don García: entre Hamlet y Segismundo.” De Gallaecia a Galicia. Historia, Lengua y Cultura, Andavira, 2011, pp. 139-154.
• “Entre la evocación épica y la crónica de guerra. El sitio de Bredá de Calderón de la Barca.” Europa (historia y mito) en la comedia española. XXXII Jornadas de teatro clásico. Almagro, 7, 8 y 9 de julio de 2010, edited by Felipe B. Pedraza Jiménez, Rafael González Cañal and Elena E. Marcello, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, 2011, pp. 175-188.
• “La dama de las camelias reinterpretada por Jardiel Poncela: Margarita, Armando y su padre.” Anagnórisis. Revista de investigación teatral, vol. 3, 2011, pp. 93-119.(http://www.anagnorisis.es/pdfs/udaondo_alegre.pdf)
• “Una aproximación literaria a la guerra europea de los 30 años: El sol de Breda de Arturo Pérez Reverte.” Actas del XI Congreso internacional de Literatura Española Contemporánea, edited by Fidel López Criado, Editorial Andavira, 2011, pp. 683-694.
• “Historia y épica en la comedia de Lope: El bastardo Mudarra.” Cuatrocientos años del Arte nuevo de hacer comedias de Lope de Vega. Actas selectas del XIV congreso de la Asociación Internacional de Teatro Español y Novohispano de los Siglo de Oro, edited by Germán Vega García-Luengos and Héctor Urzáiz Tortajada, Universidad de Valladolid-Secretariado de Publicaciones e Intercambio Editorial, 2010, pp. 1035-1046.