Spanish Literature: 15th & 16th Century Authors & Culture
15th Century Literature
Authors
Authors: Juan Mena, Marqués de Santillana, Jorge Manrique. The poems are collected in cancioneros. Romances develop.
15th Century Culture
The printing press was invented, an important fact for the laity’s access to literature.
Humanism
Resurgence of studies of the history of grammar and literature of Greek and Latin classics.
Jorge Manrique (1440-1479)
Knight who took active part in the civil wars of his time. He wrote love poetry, following the trend of the songbooks, and ‘Verses on the death of his father’ (Don Rodrigo). It consists of 40 couplets or stanzas manriqueñas.
Structure of ‘Verses on the Death of His Father’
- Part 1 (I-XV): makes a series of general reflections about the world, time, death, and fortune.
- Part 2 (XVI-XXIV): exemplified by cases such as the recent past. Keeps the topic Ubi sunt?
- Part 3 (XXV-XL): focuses on the portrait of his father.
Expresses feelings sincerely, with a straightforward style.
Romances
Short epic or lyric compositions in octosyllabic assonance rhyme in pairs and without rhyme in the odd, anonymous authors and oral transmission.
Petrarch
Author of the songbook, a collection of love poems written in Italian and dedicated to Laura. They are divided into 2 groups, before and after the death of his beloved.
16th Century Literature
In the Renaissance, poets include: Garcilaso de la Vega, Fray Luis de Leon, San Juan de la Cruz. Miguel de Cervantes also appears in the sixteenth century.
Garcilaso de la Vega (1501-1536)
Of noble family, was a poet and soldier, a member of the Spanish court of Charles I. He used Italian metrics and the theme of love. Among his works stand out 3 eclogues and 8 sonnets. He uses:
- The great poets Virgil, Ovid, Horace, and Sannazaro.
- Myths of antiquity are brought to dignify contacts and personal experience to show what happens to the poet like Apollo, Venus, or Mars.
Fray Luis de Leon (1527-1591)
Of Jewish families made to Christianity. He wrote prose books like ‘The Perfect Wife’ and ‘In the name of Christ.’ Its themes are: self-knowledge, friendship, protection of society as a source of wisdom for the longing for eternity.
San Juan de la Cruz (1542-1591)
Staff representative of mystical poetry. It has three channels: purgative, illuminative, and unitive. Works: ‘Dark Night of the Soul’, ‘Spiritual Canticle’. Poetry simple, with little resources. Use the lira.
Sixteenth-Century Novels
The Cavalry Novel
Narratives full of extraordinary events and unlikely. They exalt the value, adventure, and love. Example: ‘Amadis of Gaul’.
Pastoral Novel
Very little action, protagonist idealized shepherds, who talk about their feelings. Example: ‘The seven books of Diana’.
Picaresque Novel
Spanish genre, featuring a rogue who makes a living by deception in an environment of poverty. Example: ‘El Lazarillo de Tormes’.
Lazarillo de Tormes
False autobiographical. It is divided into 7 treaties, the most important are the top three. It tells the company of their masters, the blind cleric, the gentleman…