Spanish Literature in the Middle Ages: A Concise Overview
The Middle Ages: School of Alfonso X
King Alfonso X the Wise gathered at his court learned Hebrew, Arabic, and Latin Christians to help translate into Castilian and systematize all knowledge known at the time. The Method of Work: King Alfonso X did not personally compose his works, but he directed the expert team and supervised the outcome of their work. The School of Alfonso X began by collecting Latin, Arabic, and Jewish sources. The Works of Alfonso X: The Seven Parts is a complete compilation of the laws of the time. His works also covered history and science. The book of astronomy collected knowledge about the stars, and the Book of Games covered chess and other table games.
Don Juan Manuel
A noble, ambitious, and proud writer, Don Juan Manuel, nephew of Alfonso X, was the first gentleman who embodied the ideal of cultivating both arms and letters. His work, tinged with moral and didactic intent, often chose topics of interest to the nobles of his time and provided autobiographical information. His works were influenced by Eastern sources. Like other medieval authors, Don Juan Manuel did not feel the need to be original but managed his sources with some freedom.
Narrative Poetry: The Mester de Clerecía
Spanish literature saw the emergence of a new school of poetry, the Mester de Clerecía, whose works appeared from 1240. “Mester de Clerecía” means the “office of the clergy.” These new works were born with a didactic intent, focusing on religious topics and ancient history. The authors wrote about saints, miracles of the Virgin Mary, etc. Unlike the oral literature of the minstrels, clerics continuously showed respect for the written word. The authors of this new stream used a specific poetic stanza: the cuaderna vía, also called tetrástrofo monorrimo, consisting of four lines of fourteen syllables with the same rhyme. Each verse is divided into two halves or hemistiches. The 13th-century poems of the Mester de Clerecía are narratives with religious or scholarly, educational, and doctrinal purposes. In addition to the works of Gonzalo de Berceo, three anonymous poems are preserved: the Book of Apollonius, the Poem of Fernán González, and the Book of Alexandre.
Gonzalo de Berceo
Gonzalo de Berceo is the first Castilian poet whose name is known, breaking the anonymity of the authors of the Mester de Clerecía. There is evidence suggesting that the idea of a humble cleric does not conform to reality. Despite the simplicity of his manner and cordial tone, careful observation reveals a deep understanding of rhetoric, the Latin alphabet, and even medieval romance literature from other countries.
Miracles of Our Lady
This is a collection of twenty short stories in cuaderna vía, inspired by the devotion to the Virgin Mary promoted by the preaching of St. Bernard. The author from La Rioja infused liveliness into the Latin narrative, adding dialogue, mundane details, nicknames, and personal comments. The popular style of Gonzalo de Berceo, while allowing numerous Latinisms to appear in his books, is also evident in the way he addresses the public, imitating the troubadours.
The Mester de Clerecía in the 14th Century
The Book of Good Love by Juan Ruiz, Archpriest of Hita, and the works of Chancellor Ayala represent the most important production of the Mester de Clerecía in the 14th century. On the one hand, it breaks the uniformity of the cuaderna vía, and on the other hand, scholarly and religious content gives way to strong realism, whether in the form of Juan Ruiz’s satire or the somber critique of López de Ayala.
The Intention of Juan Ruiz, Archpriest of Hita
We only have vague indications of the actual existence of Juan Ruiz, Archpriest of Hita. Given the nature of his work, it would be strange if the author had concealed his identity and the Archpriest was simply the fictional protagonist of the book. Consequently, it is possible to understand the Book of Good Love more as an invitation to enjoy the pleasures of love than as a didactic treatise. The Archpriest takes the literary forms of the Mester de Clerecía to build a parody intended to entertain and amuse his audience. Bourgeois ideology opens the door to an anti-heroic literature, disrespectful of the values of knights and medieval clerics.
Structure and Style of the Book of Good Love
Other salient features of the work are originality and variety. The storyline, sometimes hard to follow, is a fictional autobiography, peppered with other materials that the Archpriest transforms and parodies. The most important are:
- The amorous adventures of the protagonist, who, after his first failure, receives advice from Doña Venus (Love). Love advises him to choose the woman he loves and seek the help of an intermediary.
- An imitation of an anonymous 12th-century comedy, Pamphilus, where the protagonist falls in love with a young widow and wins her love with trickery.
- The allegorical battle between Don Carnal and Doña Cuaresma, a parody of epic battles. Don Carnal, along with partridges, piglets, and other delicacies, fights bravely with Doña Cuaresma, who is surrounded by fish of all kinds.
- Numerous animal fables and stories of various origins, many from the East, that were circulating in Europe in translated collections.
- Lyrical compositions.
- Moralizing digressions.
Ramon Llull
Ramon Llull was a man of boundless energy who, besides traveling, wrote about 250 books in Catalan, Arabic, and Latin. With Ramon Llull, Catalan became a literary language.
The Bourgeois Narrators: Boccaccio and Chaucer
Boccaccio, with profound knowledge of Latin literature, wrote poems and novels like Fiammetta, but it is the Decameron that interests us. This is a collection of 100 tales, narrated over ten days by ten young people who have left Florence for fear of the plague in 1348. The book contains passionate love stories and even scabrous narratives, often featuring nuns and friars. His intention is more to make people laugh than to teach. Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales have a similar approach: pilgrims travel to Canterbury to visit the tomb of Saint Thomas Becket and tell stories to entertain themselves. These stories, written in verse, depict all social groups of the 14th century with realism and irony.