Understanding the Cultural Significance of the Middle Ages
Historical Epoch: Middle Ages is considered the period between the fall of the Roman Empire (AD 476) and the year 1492, the date of the discovery of America and the conquest of Granada, which determined the end of the Reconquista. It is a period of cultural coexistence between Jews, Christians, and Arabs, which is an enrichment exemplified by the Toledo School of Translators, founded by Archbishop Raymond during the reign of Alfonso X the Wise. The medieval literature ranges from the first literary works in Castilian to those that occur during the beginning of the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella. There are three stages in medieval literature: 1st. Includes works until the thirteenth century and is characterized by a tendency to remain anonymous. 2nd. The fourteenth century, when the first literary personalities appeared. 3rd. The fifteenth century, a pre-Renaissance period, is a transition century that occurs with the first attempts to adapt the Italian forms of poetry. 1.1 Medieval Society was based on feudalism, a system founded on dependency relations between lords and vassals. The social groups included the nobility, clergy, and ordinary people on the cusp of monarchy. In the thirteenth century, the bourgeoisie emerged. Thought and Culture during the medieval period was governed by theocentrism: religion dominated every sphere of life. Culture was centered in the monasteries, which served as important libraries. The clerics acted as copyists. The Road to Santiago was an important cultural source. Romanesque art was extremely significant in Spain due to these pilgrimages. In the thirteenth century, the economic boost that accompanied the birth of cities also brought a revival of culture. The first universities were created (Alfonso VIII, 1212, Palencia). The Gothic style replaced Romanesque in the latter period of the Middle Ages.
Medieval Epic Poetry: Mester of Minstrelsy The first appearance of the epic in Castilian literature is attributed to the epics, poems that recount the deeds of heroes. They are anonymous, and their purpose was to publicize the events taking place in a society that was almost totally illiterate and lacking in other media. The exploits narrated served as an example and encouragement to the people. All this is linked to the intention of entertaining the masses with these stories. The spread of songs was oral, performed by bards. In exchange, they received some money. The office of the minstrels is known as the mester of minstrelsy. The minstrel based their stories on oral sources and built their narratives from what they heard in their wanderings. They used versos de arte mayor, rhyme, assonance, in addition to fixed formulas that facilitated memorization. Frequent references to the auditorium were common. The Castilian epic is distinguished by its realism. It has a peculiar use of the named epic epithet in appointing the heroes. The epics seem to be the origin of ballads. The romances, which were initially distributed orally, were written down from the fifteenth century in the ballads. Shortage of Texts Preserved Current studies indicate that many more epics were spread than those that retain today. The poems that we hold in the Castilian epic are the Cantar de Mio Cid and Mocedades de Rodrigo, as well as Cantar de Roncesvalles. None of them has kept a complete track.