Spanish Literature: From Medieval Times to Pre-Renaissance
Ages
From the demise of Lir until the discovery of America.
- In the Peninsula, it is marked by the presence of Arabic, and religion inspires art and literature.
- It is divided into medieval literature and pre-Renaissance literature.
Traditional Lyric
Jarchas (10th and 11th Centuries)
Short lyrical compositions whose theme is the lament of a woman who lost her beloved.
Cantigas de Amigo (13th, 14th Centuries)
Item, the same as that of jarchas. Parallelism of verses.
Mester de Juglaría (12th Century)
- They tell warlike exploits of a hero.
- The main concern is the Poem of the Cid.
- It is characterized by realism and metric irregularity.
Mester de Clerecía (13th Century = Gonzalo de Berceo), (14th Century = Juan Ruiz)
- From a religious character.
- Cuaderna Vía (4 lines of 14 syllables), consonant rhyme.
Medieval Prose
It is written in Castilian.
1st prose – Juan Manuel – El Conde Lucanor.
Poema del Mio Cid (Per Abbat)
- It’s an epic poem that tells the story of Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar (Cid).
- Tells the loss and recovery of the Cid.
It is divided into:
- Song of Exile (from the land)
- Song of the Wedding (conquest of Valencia. Daughters marry)
- Song of the Shame of Corpes (Cid’s daughters are the brides of the princes of Navarre and Aragon)
Gonzalo de Berceo, Miracles of Our Lady
- It is one of the highlights of works of the Mester de Clerecía.
- It is composed of 25 stories featuring the Virgin.
Party (the clergyman and the flower):
- A bad priest: priest with bad behavior.
- The intervention of the Virgin Mary: the Virgin gets angry and asks to be buried properly.
- The miracle of the flower: a flower grew out of the clergyman when he died.
- It is a rib-way with rhyme (AAAA).
Juan Ruiz: Libro del Buen Amor (14th Century)
- It tells a series of affairs in autobiographical form.
- Innovative work.
- Parody and irony.
Examples:
- The Dean’s remark about love: archpriest made responsible to the love of his disappointment in love.
- Love advises the Dean: advises him, that it has elected women.
- Trotaconventos does the love of Doña Endrina: Ms. Endrina, the procuress, convinces Don Melón of love. Cuaderna Vía rhyme.
Juan Manuel: El Conde Lucanor (13th Century)
- Didactic character.
- Collection of 150 stories.
- Schematic: Lucanor asks Patronio a problem and asks for advice. He tells an anecdote of a behavior pattern, with a moral in verse at the end.
- What happened to a woman called Doña Truhana.
15th Century: A Time of Change
- Europe is divided by the schism of the west and the war of 100 years between France and England.
- The kingdoms of Castile and Aragon lived through a crisis.
- The marriage of Elizabeth I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon improved the political situation.
- Discovery of America.
- Humanism is disseminated through this new environment.
The Pre-Renaissance Literature
- Presence of Greco-Latin and Italian literature.
- Themes used: fortune, death, and fame.
- Writers that include: Boccaccio (with Decameron), Petrarch (with Songbook), and Dante Alighieri (with Divine Comedy).
Learned Poetry (15th Century)
Cancionero Poetry
The poet takes the role of the lady’s server.
Allegorical Poetry
Philosophical issues such as wealth, fame, death, etc.
Jorge Manrique – Coplas
Jorge Manrique: Coplas
- It is an elegy in which he reflects on life, death, etc.
- It consists of 40 stanzas (broken foot).