Evolution of Poetry and Prose: From Troubadours to Humanism
Survival of Troubadour Poetry
From the fourteenth century onward, European society shifted away from the strict feudal system. The growth of large cities gave way to an urban culture characterized by the emergence of a new social class: the bourgeoisie. Although Catalan-speaking society was deeply involved in this change, poetry based on the troubadour model continued to thrive into the 15th century.
Floral Games
In 1323, the Consistory of the Gaia Science was created to organize an annual poetry contest. These competitions, while attempting to revive the art form, ultimately undermined the troubadour spirit. The poems became monotonous and lacked originality.
Lyric Poetry: The Dolce Stil Novo
Dante Alighieri gave a name to a style developed by a series of poets from the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries: the Dolce Stil Novo. This style is characterized by its innovative spirit and its departure from the troubadour tradition. The Dolce Stil Novo transformed the concept of feudal nobility and created a new ideal of woman—the Donna Angelicata—a source of virtue and perfection. The poetry became more personal, with poets using Italian or Latin. Dante’s most significant work in this style is La Vita Nuova, his love poetry dedicated to Beatrice, his ideal woman. His most fundamental work, The Divine Comedy, is arguably the most important work of Italian literature.
Another great Italian poet is Petrarch. His Canzoniere contains poems dedicated to Laura. This work is characterized by its focus on impossible love, its use of the Italian sonnet (composed of unrhymed decasyllabic verses), its elegiac tone (expressing pain and the death of the beloved), and its simple, yet profound language. It became a major poetic model for Renaissance Europe.
Humanism
Humanism was an intellectual movement that reconnected with the Greco-Roman tradition and placed man as the measure of all things. It represented a new way of living and understanding life.
Chivalric Novels
In the fifteenth century, the superhuman knight of earlier romances gave way to a more human figure. Fabulous and exotic settings were replaced with plausible and realistic environments. This shift resulted in a new genre: chivalric novels, which would later give rise to the modern novel. Three major examples are: Tirant lo Blanc, Guiron le Courtois, and Amadis de Gaula.
Books of Chivalry
These books present a knight in a magnificent fortress, a world filled with mysterious beings. The action always takes place in an indefinite past and in exotic, remote locations far from reality. They often feature a “passage of arms,” where a knight, stationed in a strategic location like a road or bridge, challenges all passing knights.
Ausias March: A Break with Tradition
Ausias March (1397-1459) was a poet who broke with the troubadour tradition. In his poems, he speaks of himself, his thoughts, his inner world, his experiences, and his contradictions. His poetry is personal and heartfelt. The son of the poet Pere March, Ausias inherited a large estate in Gandia at the age of 16. He was knighted and participated in military expeditions to Sardinia and Corsica. From 1425 onward, he dedicated himself to managing his estates and to literary creation. He married twice, first to Isabel Martorell and later to Joana Escorna. His life reflected that of a typical fifteenth-century knight.
Key features of March’s poetry:
- He created a new, personal style of lyric poetry.
- He rejected the concept of courtly love as a mere game.
- He rejected the subject matter of troubadour poetry, focusing instead on his own inner world.
- He rejected the Dolce Stil Novo, viewing women as companions with both virtues and flaws.
March felt a strong need to use the Catalan language in his poetry. He believed that humans have two natures: the body, which is driven by sensuality and passion, and the spirit, which encompasses reason and intellect. His poetry explores the conflict between these two natures, the search for both sensual and intellectual love.
His poetry is subjective and uses decasyllabic verse and rhyme.
Novels of Reality
Jaime Roig (15th century) is the author of the book Espill (Mirror), a misogynistic work written in tetrasyllabic verse.