14th-Century Spanish Prose and Poetry: A Comprehensive Guide

Spanish Verbs: Tenses and Moods

Indicative Mood

• Preterite Imperfect: singing
• Preterite Perfect Simple: I sang
• Future Imperfect/Conditional Simple: sing
• Preterite Perfect Compound: I sang
• Preterite Pluperfect: had sung
• Preterite Anterior: I had sung
• Future Perfect: I will have sung
• Conditional Perfect: could sing

Subjunctive Mood

• Present: singing
• Preterite Perfect: has sung
• Preterite Imperfect/Preterite Pluperfect: had sung
• Future Imperfect: sing
• Future Perfect: he has sung

Non-Personal Forms

• Gerund: singing
• Participle: sung

Verbal Expressions

• Obligation: haber de, tener que, deber
• Probability: deber de, poder, venir a

Verbal Aspects

• Inchoative: burst out, get to, begin to
• Repetitive: go back to
• Terminative: finish, stop
• Durative: being, walking, followed
• Resultative: led, had

Aspects of the Action

• Perfect: The action is completed.
• Imperfect: The action is unfinished.

Voice

• Active Voice: My grandparents have bought many gifts.
• Passive Voice: Many gifts have been bought by my grandparents.
• Reflexive Passive: Have bought many gifts.

14th-Century Prose

Juan Manuel and Count Lucanor

Juan Manuel, nephew of Alfonso X the Wise, contributed to the development of Castilian prose. His book, Count Lucanor, offers stories that instruct nobles on maintaining power and achieving salvation.

15th-Century Literature

Traditional Literature: Songs and Romances

Popular forms of traditional literature in the 15th century included songs and romances, which were orally transmitted and later collected and imitated by cultured authors.

Romances

These brief compositions consist of an indeterminate number of octosyllabic verses with assonance rhyme in pairs. There are three types:

• Epic: Inspired by epic heroes.
• Historical and Border: Episodes from medieval Spanish history.
• Romantic-Lyrical: Themes of love, death, and liberty.

15th-Century Learned Poets

• Juan de Mena: Labyrinth of Fortune
• Íñigo López de Mendoza, Marqués de Santillana
• Jorge Manrique: Coplas a la Muerte de su Padre (This elegy of 480 octosyllabic and tetrasyllabic verses, arranged in 40 stanzas, portrays the death of Manrique's father as a peaceful transition to heaven for a man who led an exemplary life.)

La Celestina

Published in 1499, La Celestina is a work written entirely in dialogue. Its most prominent stylistic feature is the use of both refined and profane language. Fernando de Rojas, a learned man of Jewish origin, reflects the collapse of the medieval social and moral order in this work.