Jordi de Sant Jordi & Ausiàs March: Pillars of Valencian Poetry
Jordi de Sant Jordi
Life and Court Connections
Born in the late fourteenth century, Jordi de Sant Jordi died in 1424. He participated actively in court life and in Mediterranean military campaigns accompanying the king. He held significant positions, such as chamberlain to the monarch, and was rewarded with generous incomes and the lordship of Penàguila or the Castle of Vall d’Uixó, which he held until his death. Jordi de Sant Jordi was notably well-connected with other writers. His acquaintances included:
- Ausiàs March
- Andreu Febrer
- Lluís de Vila-rasa
- The Marquis of Santillana
Poetic Works
His poems, mostly youthful works, show a connection to the troubadour tradition. However, his poem ‘Presoner’ (‘Prisoner’), written during captivity, exudes sincerity in its theme of love. His ‘Estramps’ are compositions of beautiful verses without rhyme. The language used by Jordi de Sant Jordi is Valencian, incorporating superficial Occitan elements in some endings, morphemes, or common troubadour words.
Ausiàs March: A Defining Valencian Poet
Biographical Notes
Born in 1400 into a family of the lower nobility, Ausiàs March was the eldest son of Pere March, administrator of lands for the Duke of Gandia and lord of the farmhouses of Beniarjó, Pardines, and Vernissa. As a young man, he participated in military campaigns organized by the king between 1419 and 1424, serving in Corsica and Sardinia and in expeditions against the Kerkennah Islands and Djerba. Ausiàs March married Isabel Martorell in 1437; she died two years later. In 1443, he remarried Joana Escorna, who died in 1454. It is known that he had five illegitimate children who lived near him. He died in the city of Valencia in 1459. The dissemination and publication of his work multiplied with the advent of printing, contributing to his imitation and admiration beyond his time.
Themes and Poetic Production
The theme of love (amor) dominates March’s works. Transcending troubadour poetry, his verses analyze an intimate world full of contradictions: love appears as a mixture of body and spirit (cos i d’esperit), desire and renunciation, good and evil. He even proclaims, “I am the greatest of lovers.” This leads to a permanent anxiety, often manifested through disappointment, the idea of death, or doubts about God and faith. While love is central, his poetry also includes other major themes:
- Songs of Love (Cants d’amor): Often express the poet’s struggle between carnal and spiritual love.
- Moral Songs (Cants morals): Discuss the need to live a Christian life to save the soul.
- Songs of Death (Cants de mort): March laments the death of his wife Joana Escorna, resolving his internal struggle between carnal desire and the idealization of loving memory.
- Spiritual Song (Cant espiritual): A long poem of 224 estramps (unrhymed verses) calling for divine mercy and help.
- Circumstantial Poetry (Poesia circumstancial): A collection of poems on various subjects.
Transcending Provençal Lyric
Ausiàs March was the first to largely abandon the conventions of troubadour poetry: the use of Occitan, formal hermeticism, and the commonplaces of courtly love (l’amor cortès). March’s most notable thematic innovation is the deep exploration of the human dimension: himself as a poetic subject and women with their material realities and perceived defects.
An Unrepeatable Style
He recognized his poetry was deeply personal and could not be expressed using the words of predecessors or an artificial language. The use of Valencian became indispensable, moving away from the artificiality of Occitan. March consciously abandoned the refined technical virtuosity of the troubadours to describe his own tumultuous inner world, populated by marginal figures, the condemned, the tortured, or the ill, set against a disturbing natural backdrop. His poetry is often considered a literary self-confession or a form of therapy to overcome contradictions and inner torment.