Medieval Catalan Literature: Religious & Moral Prose
Medieval Catalan Literature
Religious and Moral Prose
Medieval prose aimed to influence public opinion and behavior. This era’s literature reflects a theocentric society where cultural and literary activity revolved around religious centers. Religious education was paramount, resulting in a predominance of religious literature.
Dominant literary themes included God, religion, the king, and the nation. The literature’s intent was to establish civic and religious patterns of moral behavior.
Popular genres included:
- Fable: A narrative starring personified animals.
- Sermon: An oral presentation on moral and doctrinal precepts.
- Example: A story with a moral lesson.
- Didactic Poem: A poem intended for memorizing rules.
Key authors include Arnau de Vilanova, Ramon Llull, Francesc Eiximenis, Saint Vincent Ferrer, Anselm Turmeda, and Isabel de Villena.
Ramon Llull
Ramon Llull, from a noble family of knights in Mallorca, was raised amidst Provençal troubadour poetry. He traveled across Europe and Africa to spread his ideas and convert people to Christianity. A creator of historical prose, he was the first to use a Romance language to address scientific topics, developing suitable syntax and vocabulary. He is considered a founder of literary prose, shaping it for diverse uses.
Among Llull’s narrative works, The Book of the Lover and the Beloved and Blanquerna stand out. Despite its doctrinal intent, Blanquerna is considered an early attempt at an autobiographical novel. It tells the life of Blanquerna, driven by religious ideals, mirroring Llull’s own life devoted to religion. The book also presents the eremitic life as the most desirable from a Christian perspective.
The Book of Beasts is a collection of fables using animals as an allegory to criticize his contemporaries. It satirizes the power struggle and human flaws, contrasting with the ideal of divine love.
The Book of the Friend and the Beloved comprises 365 moral metaphors, offering daily reflections. Llull’s didactic approach is characterized by the presence of marginal characters (fools, hermits, philosophers, or ignorant clergy) who represent truth and reason. He uses a concentric structure, with examples reinforcing each other to bolster his arguments. Llull shifts perspectives by using human characters in his examples and stories, drawing on troubadour imagery and sensitivity.
Francesc Eiximenis
Francesc Eiximenis, a Franciscan friar with extensive intellectual training, lived in Valencia. Like Llull and Saint Vincent Ferrer, his purpose was didactic rather than literary. His extensive work focused on providing practical advice to his contemporaries, incorporating elements of daily life. Eiximenis primarily addressed the emerging bourgeois class.
His most notable work, Lo Crestià, is an encyclopedia of Christian ideology with moral and informative intentions. He used alternative explanations, lengthy arguments, examples, and fables to aid memorization.
The Book of Women discusses virtues and, notably, female vices, connecting to the medieval misogynistic tradition. It also addresses the benefits of religious life for women. Eiximenis’s moralism reflects the misogyny of his time.
Saint Vincent Ferrer
Saint Vincent Ferrer, a Dominican friar, was renowned as a preacher and miracle worker. Around 300 of his sermons, recorded by scribes, are preserved. His aim was to reach a wide audience with his teachings.
His colloquial language, rich in idioms and expressions, characterized his style. He used gestures, dialogues, and tears to connect with diverse audiences. He employed rhetorical devices like parallel structures, rhymes, and anaphora to facilitate memorization. Examples, comparisons, and onomatopoeia were also common. He achieved dramatic effect through hyperbole, particularly when describing martyrdoms. His sermons, lasting 3 to 6 hours, were treated as major events.
Anselm Turmeda
Anselm Turmeda (c. 1355-after 1423), initially a Franciscan friar, became disillusioned with Western society and Christianity. He converted to Islam and lived in Tunis, writing critically about Christian society. He is one of the few writers to have written in both Catalan and Arabic, achieving classic status in both languages. His works, including The Book of Good Admonishments, circulated widely in Catalan-speaking regions.
Chivalric Novels
and wanted to act as heroes daquestes works. Not to be confused with the novel of chivalry. Two examples are known Tirant lo Blanc and Don Quixote (posterior force and mocks the heroic characteristics that are a knight, typical of novels of chivalry).
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