The Medieval Lyric and the Poetry of the 15th Century in Castile

Posted on Oct 5, 2024 in Latin

Theme 1: The Medieval Lyric

1.2 The Educated Lyric

These are more extensive and complex texts than the traditional lyric. Besides the theme of love, they address moral, philosophical, and critical issues of characters or social groups.

1.2.1 Moaxajas

Written in classical Arabic or Hebrew and created in the 10th century, these educated compositions range in length from 5 to 7 stanzas, at the end of which the jarcha (see above) is inserted. The subject matter is not frivolous but is always related to the jarcha.

1.2.2 Catalan Troubadour Poetry

Born in Provence in the 12th century, Catalan poets inherited the tradition of the Provençal troubadours in the 13th century. Typical compositions are:

  • Canso: It develops the code of courtly love. The minstrel loves the lady he is engaged in serving. He presents himself as a vassal, and the lady appears as a feudal lord.
  • Sirventes: Its subject is moral or political satire. The attack is intended to criticize certain characters or political issues.

1.2.3 Songs of Love

Written in Galician-Portuguese, these appeared in the 13th and 14th centuries. Their theme is love, but in this case, it is the gentleman who complains about the scorn of his lady.

1.2.4 Mocking Songs and Curses

These criticize the political actions or lifestyle of a social group, although personal attacks against individuals predominate.

1.3 The Poetry of the 15th Century

Cultured lyric in Castile was not developed until the 15th century. This kind of poetry was compiled in songbooks such as the Baena Songbook and the Songs of Stúñiga. Castilian poetry, based on the literature of Provence, addressed the theme of love by following the tenets of courtly love. In the 15th century, individual figures emphasized:

  • In the first half of the 15th century: The Marquis of Santillana and Juan de Mena, as well as the Dances of Death.
  • In the second half of the 15th century: Jorge Manrique.

Palace courtier and nature are lyrical influences. It receives the following influences:

  • Provençal troubadour poetry: Verses are short and the subject is basically love.
  • Italian allegorical poetry (Dante): Leads to the development of long poems that are written in a higher and more solemn style and sometimes more art songs.

1.3.1 Santillana: Iñigo López de Mendoza

He presents the evolution of the nobility in the Middle Ages, concerned about culture, knowledge of classical literature, and Romance languages. His production includes:

  • The Serranillas: Poems about the encounter between a knight and a shepherdess. With influences of Provençal poetry, the poems are short verses with a light rhythm.
  • Hell of Lovers: Italian influence.
  • Proverbs: Didactic poetry inspired by the moral judgments of the classics.

1.3.2 Juan de Mena

He was secretary to King John II. His most famous work is The Labyrinth of Fortune, also called The Three Hundred, composed in dodecasyllabic (12) verse and elaborate syntax. It is dedicated to the king, and the play looks at the past and present of Castile, the influence of fortune in the lives of men, and prophesies a splendid future.

1.3.3 Dances of Death

A unique, anonymous Spanish Dance of Death. In the Dances of Death, a skeleton summons, without distinction of rank or social class, to remind mortals of their status and invites them to dance a macabre dance.

1.3.4 Jorge Manrique

He symbolizes the ideal of nobility and military men involved in the political struggles of his age. The man of letters composed cancionero poems, troubadour of love themes, less stilted and artificial, influenced by Petrarch. His place in the history of literature is due to the famous Verses on the Death of His Father, which constitute the great elegy in honor of his father, Don Rodrigo Manrique. The work consists of 40 couplets, each consisting of two stanzas (sextuplet) with a broken foot and combining octosyllabic tetrasílabos, according to the scheme: 8a 8b 4c 8a 8b 4c 8d 8e 4f 8d 8e 4f. There are several topics addressed in the verses:

  1. Transience of Life (topical tempus fugit): Passage to eternal life.
  2. Contempt of Earthly Goods: Wealth, beauty, and pleasure have no value because they do not assure us of eternal life.
  3. Homo Viator topic (man walking): Life is a journey into the eternal.
  4. Life as a River.
  5. The Topic of Ubi Sunt? (Where are they?).
  6. Death: Death reaches all like love: rich, poor, young, old.
  7. Life of Fame and Honor: Death can be overcome with fame, achieved through honor and heroic acts like his father’s.

Some of the ballads have a propaganda function as they celebrate the life of Don Rodrigo Manrique.

2. Poem of the Cid

2.1 Manuscript, Chronology, and Authorship

It is the only Castilian epic poem preserved virtually complete. It chronicles the exploits of Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, known as El Cid. It is an anonymous work preserved in a manuscript copy from the 14th century, although the composition is earlier.

2.2 Protagonist: Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar

Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar is a historical figure who really existed. It makes a fictional reconstruction of the life of this Castilian nobleman, which includes aspects of his personality: great warrior, beloved, very religious, friend, exemplary father and husband, and faithful subject of the king, moderate and temperate.

2.3 Structure and Theme of the Poem

The poem is composed of 3730 verses of irregular assonance rhyme, which are grouped into sets or stanzas. The verses or songs are structured in three parts:

  1. Song of Exile
  2. Song of the Wedding
  3. Song of the Shame of Corpes

The theme of the Poem of the Cid is the recovery of lost honor.

2.4 Metric

The poem is composed of a series of stanzas of very different numbers of lines that have the same assonance rhyme. The lines are irregular, varying between 10 and 20 syllables, predominantly Alexandrine (14 syllables). They are usually divided into two hemistiches by a pause or caesura.

2.5 Language of the Poem of the Cid

The language is sober and austere, endowed with great force and vividness of expression, both in the descriptions of people and places and in the narration of events. It uses a variety of linguistic features typical of epic poems.

Exercises

Exercise 1

Original Topic (Delem): A journalist in the country tells the impact of climate change in the behavior of different species of birds.

Revised Topic (Jorge): The text discusses the different causes of changes in the behavior of different birds due to global change, supported by scientists in the field.

Original Summary (Delem): The text displayed by the country. Com objectively informed about the consequences of global change due to man’s influence on the ecosystem. This contrasted with different professional scientific studies regarding changes in birds.

Revised Summary (Jorge): A journalist in the country. Com presents various arguments in an article by scientists and scientific institutions about why birds behave abnormally on the date and route of migration, in addition to changes in the breeding season of their chicks, and wanted to change the global life.

Original Arguments (Delem): The text states that human behavior is affecting wildlife and nature in general. We are changing the normality of certain animal species.

Revised Arguments (Jorge): The text of the country. Com aims to express the need to change the organic matter, informing us and giving us reliable data, i.e., the course of animal life is being altered by our negative influence on the Earth’s ecosystem.

Exercise 2

  • In: Preposition
  • Newton: Noun, concrete, proper, anthroponym
  • This: Adjective, determiner, demonstrative, masculine, singular
  • Decoupling: Noun, abstract, common, uncountable
  • Between: Preposition
  • la: Article, definite, feminine, singular
  • Time: Noun, abstract, common, uncountable
  • From: Preposition
  • Playback: Noun, abstract, common, countable
  • Y: Conjunction, copulative
  • la: Pronoun, personal, unstressed
  • From: Preposition
  • More: Adjective, specifying, superlative
  • Quantity: Noun, abstract, common, uncountable
  • Available: Adjective, specifying, positive
  • From: Preposition
  • Supply: Noun, abstract, common, uncountable
  • Explains: Verb, explain, 1st conjugation, 3rd person, singular, present indicative, active voice
  • la: Article, definite, feminine, singular
  • reduction: Noun, abstract, common, uncountable
  • Del: Contraction (de + el)
  • number: Noun, abstract, common, collective
  • From: Preposition
  • Chickens: Noun, concrete, common, singular, countable
  • Observed: Verb, observe, 1st conjugation, non-personal, simple, participle
  • In: Preposition
  • Some: Adjective, determiner, indefinite, feminine, plural
  • Species: Noun, concrete, common, countable, collective
  • For: Preposition
  • the: Article, definite, masculine, plural
  • Last: Adjective, specifying, positive
  • Year: Noun, abstract, common, countable

Exercise 3

Impersonal: Appears in impersonal structures with schemes such as: SE + Verb (conjugated) + Prepositional or adverbial phrase.

Exercise 4

  • … are reducing …: 1st line, durative aspectual gerund (the action is ongoing)
  • … is celebrating …: 4th line, durative aspectual gerund (the action is ongoing)
  • … is threatening …: 9th line, durative aspectual gerund (the action is ongoing)

Exercise 5

  • AVAILABLE: (dis-): derivational prefix, (-pon-): lexical root, (-ible): derivational suffix
  • LARGE: (numer-): lexical root, (-os-): derivational suffix, (-a-): gender inflection, (-s): number inflection
  • POSTED: (des-): derivational prefix, (-plaz-): lexical root, (-ad-): derivational suffix, (-o): gender inflection
  • REDUCED: (reduc-): lexical root, (-i-): vowel, (-endo): inflectional suffix
  • Migration: (migra-): lexical root, (-ción): derivational suffix, (-es): number inflection