Spanish Medieval Literature: An Overview
The Poetry of Oral Tradition
Oral poetry, characterized by its anonymity, was and continues to be a traditional art form. Juglares (minstrels) served as the primary transmitters of this poetry. Some of it has been preserved through oral tradition, while other parts were recorded in writing by individuals who recognized their value.
Lyric Poetry
Known for its concise and simple style, lyric poetry took various forms:
- Jarchas: Lyrical romances from Al-Andalus.
- Cantigas de amigo: Songs of a friend from Galicia during the Middle Ages.
- Villancicos: Popular lyrical poems, primarily found in Castile.
Epic Poetry
During the 12th-15th centuries, minstrels recited epic poems extolling the exploits of heroes who embodied the virtues of their people. These poems, known as epics, were highly popular.
Romances
Romances are popular narrative poems of variable length, originally fragments of longer epic poems.
Style of Romances
Romances are characterized by their essential style, often presenting a single scene from a larger story. Key features include:
- Frequent dialogues
- Simple syntax
- Use of punctuation marks
Developments in Romance: The Ballads
A ballad is a collection of romances. Those originating from oral tradition are called romances viejos (old ballads), while those created by known historical authors are called romancero nuevo (new ballads).
Classifications of Romances:
- Castilian Romances: Based on Castilian themes.
- Carolingian Epic Romances: Based on epic tales from France and Brittany.
- Moorish Romances: Narrated events in the border kingdoms of Castile and Muslim territories.
- Lyrical/Romantic Romances: Depicted daily events.
13th-14th Century Learned Poetry: Mester de Clerecía
Mester de Clerecía refers to a set of narrative poems with didactic and religious themes.
Gonzalo de Berceo
Gonzalo de Berceo, the first known Castilian author, served at the monastery of San Millán de la Cogolla. His religious works often featured short stories about characters devoted to the Virgin Mary, who were saved from hell through supernatural intervention. His style was characterized by plain language with many Latin-derived words.
The Book of Good Love
The Book of Good Love, a masterpiece of the Mester de Clerecía, was written by Juan Ruiz. The narrative, told in the first person, incorporates autobiographical, lyrical, and narrative episodes, forming a long poem of about 2,000 verses. Key elements include the theme of love and allegorical battles, fables, moral digressions, and burlesque passages. The central theme is love and its illusions, blending religious and secular elements. The language is rich and picturesque, ranging from colloquial to the elevated style of the time.
15th Century Learned Poetry
This period saw the emergence of songbooks, collections of poems with didactic, moral, and courtly love themes. This abstract poetry reached a high degree of verbal sophistication.
El Cantar de Mio Cid
El Cantar de Mio Cid recounts the exploits of Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar (El Cid). The existing copy is incomplete, and its exact date is unknown. It consists of 3,700 verses grouped into sets of monorhymed verses (tiradas) with irregular assonance.
Matter and Structure
The poem is divided into three parts:
- The Song of Exile: El Cid is banished by King Alfonso VI of Castile.
- The Song of the Wedding: El Cid conquers Valencia and earns the king’s pardon. The king arranges the marriage of El Cid’s daughters to the Infantes of Carrión.
- The Song of the Affront of Corpes: The Infantes of Carrión show cowardice and abandon El Cid’s daughters. El Cid seeks justice, and the Infantes are punished. The poem concludes with the announcement of the marriage of El Cid’s daughters to the sons of the kings of Navarre and Aragon.
The central theme is the restoration of El Cid’s honor.
Literary Style and Language
The poem is characterized by verisimilitude and numerous fixed formulas typical of epic songs. Epithets are used to name and identify characters through their qualities.
Jorge Manrique
Coplas a la Muerte de su Padre
Jorge Manrique, a Castilian knight, wrote various compositions on love and military life. His most famous work, Coplas a la Muerte de su Padre (Stanzas on the Death of his Father), was written upon the death of his father, the Master of Santiago.
Themes and Structure of Coplas
This elegy is divided into three parts:
- The first part discusses death in abstract terms.
- The second part evokes historical figures.
- The third part focuses on the death of Manrique’s father.
The poem expresses the transience of life and the undeniable power of death. It employs the Ubi sunt? (Where are they?) motif to reflect on the passage of time and the loss of past figures. This mentality represents a shift from the medieval mindset.
The elegy consists of 40 stanzas known as coplas manriqueñas, each composed of two six-line verses with a specific rhyme scheme.