14th Century Spanish Literature: Authors and Works

Posted on Mar 4, 2025 in English Studies

The Archpriest of Hita

The Archpriest of Hita is the most important author of the clergy of the 14th century. He is known for one of the major works in Medieval Spanish Literature: The Book of Good Love, a poem of gay and jovial character.

The Book of Good Love can be divided into seven parts:

  1. A prologue in prose that explains the moralizing intention of the work.
  2. A cheerful and carefree story that follows the various affairs of the protagonist.
  3. Various stories, including: “The Battle Between Don Carnal and Doña Cuaresma,” “The Love of Don Melon and Doña Endrina,” and “The Example of the Wolf, the Goat, and the Crane.”
  4. A series of skits.
  5. Reflections on moral issues.
  6. Lyrical-religious poems, such as those devoted to the Virgin Mary.
  7. Profane lyrical poems.

Alfonso X the Wise

Alfonso X was the King of Castile during the second half of the 13th century. From his youth, he demonstrated a determination to promote and extend Castilian writing to all fields of knowledge. Under his direction, the Toledo School of Translators flourished. There, scientific thinkers and writers of the three cultures (Christian, Jewish, and Muslim) lived and collaborated. The school promoted the prose edition of all previous legal and historical documents, and the translation of many writings of Eastern tradition.

Works of Alfonso X the Wise

  • Historical Work: Crónica General (First History of Spain).
  • Works of Law: The Seven Items (reflecting aspects of medieval society).
  • Scientific Treatises: Books of the Knowledge of Astronomy, Lapidary.
  • Works of Game: Chess Books, Dice and Tables.

Intention of The Book of Good Love

The Archpriest himself is deliberately ambiguous. Some ideas from the foreword include:

  • The author presents the various deceptive ways of mad love in the world, used by some to sin.
  • The work may contain forms of sin using mad love.

Characteristics of The Book of Good Love

His work has characteristics identified as both troubadour and popular, such as metric irregularities, characters like the harsh mountain people, and the carefree and comical tone. Aspects of his style include lively and popular speech, a variety of expressive resources, and the realism of many moments.

Don Juan Manuel

Don Juan Manuel is best known for The Count Lucanor, his most important book. The work is composed of 51 stories, reasoning and 100 proverbs, 80 more proverbs, and a moral treatise.

The Count Lucanor

The author frames the stories in fiction: Count Lucanor speaks to Patronio, his servant, and asks for advice. This framework allows Don Juan Manuel to attach different narratives.

Structure of the Stories

  1. The narrator introduces Count Lucanor. The Count exposes a problem and asks for advice. After a few words, Patronio prepares to tell a story.
  2. Narrative.
  3. Finishing the story, Patronio gives his advice in line with the teaching of the story itself. The Count accepts the advice and intends to put it into practice. Don Juan Manuel finds the example good, sends him to write it, and condenses his teaching into a two-line stanza.

Sources and Influences

The tales have their source in Arab and Oriental tales and storybooks of European Christian tradition. In all of them, the structure of the examples presented is repeated. Don Juan Manuel was able to know many of them through oral and cultural tradition, a fact that does not obscure his artistic originality. Other Spanish authors will be influenced by this structure to create some of their works.

Style Traits

It is Don Juan Manuel’s intention to have his own style. He takes every expressive possibility of Castilian prose and uses words known to all. There are other features, such as a lack of fluency, in a language that is still archaic, even in its infancy.

Variety of Topics

His teachings were addressed in a singular way to the social stratum to which the author himself belonged: the nobility. It addresses varied and diverse topics. There is no metric unit. The issues are the same that could interest many of the moralists of the time.

Intentionality of the Work

Don Juan Manuel wants to print a didactic and moral encouragement to his work. The tradition of the stories was a common expression in the literature of moralizing character. Don Juan Manuel is also interested in the fun, entertainment, and pleasure of reading that readers can get. He thinks about the pleasure and entertainment that can attract readers to build on his teachings.