Famous Spanish Romances: El Cid, Abenamar, Prisoner, Arnaldos
Romance of El Cid: Diego Lainez
This romance belongs to the Cid cycle. Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, El Cid, is the most famous figure of the medieval epic. R. Díaz de Vivar, a historical character of the 11th century, was an intelligent member of the pequeña nobleza (lesser nobility) who would later face the high nobility in the struggle for power and social advancement.
The epic poem of the Cid, which led to the romances, focused on transmitting the values of the good vassal, featuring a gentleman respectful of his king. Very different is the rebellious, aggressive Castilian romance, reflecting social changes of a later period. Within this cycle is the romance Rides Lainez Diego. A key event described in the poem is the confrontation between the family of Count Gormaz (known as Count Lozano in the romances) and the family of Vivar. According to legend, El Cid, at age 12, killed the Count who had wronged his father, Diego Lainez. Jimena, the count’s daughter, appealed for justice to King Ferdinand. The king, facing a critical situation that threatened Castilian unity and risked escalating the family feud, arranged the marriage of Jimena and Rodrigo to repair her orphaned status.
The Romance of Abenamar
Abenamar is one of the most beautiful ballads, published in the Cancionero de Romances in 1550. It has Moorish inspiration. Arab poets metaphorically called the lord of a region its ‘spouse’. Thus, the city took on the image of a bride. This image of a city desired for conquest by Spanish soldiers spread through America and the Netherlands.
In the year 1431, King John II of Castile reached Moorish Granada accompanied by the Infante Abenamar, who had promised support to place him on the Nasrid throne (the dynasty, named after Yusuf ben Nasar, ruled from the 13th to the 15th century).
The Romance of the Prisoner
A large number of romances result from the poet’s invention, not inspired by a specific event or linked to a specific literary cycle. Many lyrical and romantic ballads have minimal historical basis, while the anecdote and the expression of feelings are intensified. In these poems, one can observe the manifestation of the collective unconscious as folklore and legends develop universal themes adapted to each nation’s peculiar sensibility:
- Impossible love
- Mysterious encounters
- Love and death
Within the group of lyrical romances, El Prisionero (The Prisoner) is noteworthy. The prisoner’s only consolation is a bird, which is killed by an archer. The romance captures a profound sense of anguish and despair. These lyrical and romantic ballads live on in the traditional culture of many places, preserved primarily because they speak of the universal human condition.
The Romance of Count Arnaldos
Conde Arnaldos is a lyric-narrative romance, published in the Cancionero de Romances. Jewish tradition retains a longer, less poetic version. It is an adventure romance that tells how Count Arnaldos embarks on an unknown ship, leaving behind his family and servants who were searching for him. This is the great adventure announced in the first verse. The fragmented version was reported in songbooks and chapbooks in the 16th century and has been regarded as a masterpiece of the ballads ever since.