Spanish Medieval Literature: A Journey Through Jarchas, Cantigas, Chanson de Geste, and Romancero
1. Lyric Poetry
The Jarchas
Discovered in 1948 in a synagogue in Cairo, the jarchas represent the oldest literary manifestations in Spanish. These poems, written in Arabic with a Spanish refrain (estribillo), date back to around 1040. They typically express the lament of a woman (the mistress) who mourns the absence of her beloved, either because he has departed by sea or due to fears of infidelity.
The Cantigas
Cantigas are poetic compositions in Galician-Portuguese, written from the late 12th to the late 14th centuries. They often had a popular character, evolving from simpler Mozarabic forms to more complex structures. Cantigas typically consist of stanzas with three verses: the first two rhyme in assonance, and the third serves as the refrain (estribillo). They employ repetition of verses or parts of verses, creating parallelism. The verses can vary in length, but the estribillo remains consistent.
Types of Cantigas:
- Cantigas de amigo: These depict a woman’s lament for a lost love, often seeking advice from her sisters or mother. They are considered the most traditional type of Galician cantigas.
- Cantigas de amor: This more cultured and refined variant shows the influence of Provençal troubadour poetry. It explores the concept of courtly love, where a gentleman serves a lady of higher social standing, often married. This represents a bold act, as the lady is both socially superior and unavailable.
- Cantigas of scorn and satire: These are comical satires that criticize social issues and individuals.
- Other types:
- Pastorela: A gentleman courts a beautiful shepherdess, who elegantly rejects him.
- Alba: The arrival of dawn is met with sadness, as it signifies the separation of lovers.
- Alborada: This celebrates the morning meeting with the beloved.
- Planctus or elegy: A lament for the death of a famous person.
- Cantiga de romería: Religious festivals provide an opportunity to meet with the beloved.
- Barcarola: A sailor expresses longing for his distant beloved.
- Serrana or cantiga de serrana: A mountain woman encounters a knight.
- Cantiga de vigilia: A watchman sings to pass the night.
- Maia or May song: Celebrates the arrival of spring.
- Cantiga de trabajo or pebble song: Songs to ease the burden of fieldwork.
- Endechas or poem: The beloved sings under the balcony of his lover.
The Villancicos
Medieval villancicos are preserved in manuscripts and printed works from the 15th and 16th centuries, but their origins likely predate these sources. They are written in an archaic form of Castilian Spanish and outnumber both the jarchas and cantigas. The main theme is love and longing for a distant beloved.
2. Chanson de Geste
Stages:
- Primitive stage (origins to mid-12th century): This stage features short songs recounting brief stories and legends about Visigothic Spain and the early Reconquista.
- Stage of glory (until the second half of the 13th century): The songs become more extensive and elaborate, following French epic traditions. This period includes stories about El Cid and Bernardo del Carpio.
- Stage of prosificiation (to mid-14th century): No new themes or motifs emerge. Existing songs are restructured into prose.
- Stage of decline (until the end of the 15th century): Interest in this genre gradually wanes, due to the rise of the romance (fragments of songs) and a less popular, more grandiloquent style.
Cycles:
- Carolingian cycle: Stories about Emperor Charlemagne’s battles with the Christian kingdoms of Spain.
- Cycle of King Rodrigo: The loss of Spain to the Moors.
- Cycle of the Infantes de Lara: Family feuds that lead to the death of seven children.
- Cycle of Count Fernán González: The first Count of Castile.
- Cycle of the death of King Sancho II of Castile: Allegedly murdered by his brother, Alfonso VI, with the help of the traitor Vellido Dolfos.
- El Cid: Both his youth and his later heroic deeds.
Characteristics of the Chanson de Geste:
- Irregular verses (14-16 syllables) divided into two hemistichs with assonant rhyme.
- Predominance of realism and verisimilitude.
- Use of oral style.
- Emphasis on action.
- Limited descriptions.
- Abundance of dialogue.
- Use of fixed epithets for characters.
3. The Romancero
Concepts:
The Romancero is a collection of poems of diverse nature and subject matter, composed in stanzas called romances. They were primarily transmitted orally, their authorship is generally anonymous, and they have significantly influenced other literary genres.
Origins and Sources:
- Epic source:
- Fragments of chansons de geste, as people preferred shorter narratives.
- Lyric source:
- Evolution of non-popular lyric poems.
- Two classes of romances:
- Traditional romances: Anonymous, orally transmitted, and thematically focused on the Middle Ages and the Reconquista.
- New romances: Authorship is known, and they explore a wider range of themes.
Cycles:
- National heroic
- French epic
- King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table
- Border conflicts
- Novelesque and legendary
- Lyric
Themes:
- The death of the hero
- Betrayal
- Revenge
- Siege of a city or castle
- The hero’s misfortune
- Unhappy waiting
- Impossible love
- The search for a missing loved one
Characteristics:
- Use of archaic language with remnants of the chanson de geste
- Confusion of verb tenses and forced correlations
- Use of expressions and forms characteristic of oral language
- Abundance of repetitions, both direct and through paronomasia
- Profusion of parallelisms, anaphoras, and concatenations
- Omission of the definite article
- Frequent and often abrupt hyperbaton
- Appearance of constant dialogue, often without introductory verbs
- Intimate relationship between characters and nature
- Secular nature of the plots, with few references to God
- Tendency to use essential language, avoiding unnecessary adjectives
- Tendency to begin in medias res, starting in the middle of the action
- Abrupt endings, sometimes leaving the story suspended or allowing the audience’s imagination to complete it