Galician-Portuguese Medieval Poetry: Forms, Themes, and Authors
Friend Songs (Cantigas de Amigo): These are compositions in which the poet puts words into the mouth of a woman who pines for her lover. The fundamental argument revolves around unrequited love. This genre originates from primitive oral poetry that existed in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, often associated with dance, seafaring, and pilgrimages. The word “friend” appears in the first verses of these songs. The older examples have a fully indigenous character, are monologues, and develop rural and domestic themes. From a formal perspective, they are usually structured in stanzas of 2, 3, or 4 verses with refrains. Characteristic traits include parallelism, leixaprén (a form of repetition), and refrains. The protagonist is almost always a lady, and characters often include a friend or confidante, and the mother. Some notable authors include Mendinho, Martin Codax, João de Cangas, and Pero Meogo.
Love Songs (Cantigas de Amor): These are poems in which a man addresses a woman, expressing his love for her, in contrast to the female perspective in the cantigas de amigo. These poems often feature themes of longing and unrequited love. Classification includes mestria (mastery) and chorus structures. A key characteristic is the identification of love songs by the appearance of the first word in the verses. Formally, these songs are structured in stanzas of 7, 8, or 10 verses with 3 or 4 syllables. Characters include the male lover and often “miseradores” (those who pity the lover). Authors include Airas Nunes, João Airas, and King Dinis.
Mockery and Slander Songs (Cantigas de Escárnio e Maldizer): These songs employ mockery, using words with double meanings (escárnio), or direct, explicit language (maldizer). Classifications include: sexual satire, social satire (targeting scams, habits, customs, and people), xograresca (scorn directed at traveling troubadours and other xograres for their lack of talent), political satire (criticizing historical events or the cowardice of vassals of Afonso X), moral satire (addressing corruption and the loss of old virtues), and literary satire (parodies of other courtly love poems). Authors include Afonso Eanes do Coton and Pero da Ponte.
Historiography: Galician historiography consists of texts with a propaganda purpose. Some are translations of Spanish works, such as the Crónica General Portuguesa (late 13th century Galician translation of the General Chronicle and Chronicle of Castile), the Crónica Portuguesa de 1404 (originally written in Galician), and the Crónica de Santa Maria de Iria (15th century Galician translation of two Latin texts: the Chronicle of Iriense and the history of Compostela, which recounts the transfer of the body of Saint James from the port of Iria, the various bishops of the diocese, and various Germanic tribes). The General Story (14th century Portuguese version of the work of Alfonso X of Castile) recounts history from the appearance of man until the reign of that monarch. The Books of Lineage contain references to the genealogy of the main noble families of Portugal. These four books contain references to minstrels and others from the Galician period of the 12th-14th centuries, as well as legends of great literary value.
Hagiography: The most prominent Galician text is a version of the Codex Calixtinus (a 12th-century Latin manuscript), known as the Miragre de Santiago (15th century). This includes several miracles, accounts of Charlemagne’s expedition to Hispania, the death of Roland at Roncevaux, the destruction of Jerusalem, the life and death of Pilate, and a description of the Cathedral of Santiago. The work has an eminently propagandistic purpose.