Medieval Castilian Language and Literature: Alfonso X, Cid, Romanticism

The Language in the Thirteenth Century — Alfonso X

In the thirteenth century, Castilian became a language of culture, a language capable of conveying all of the knowledge of the time. This crucial development was the work of King Alfonso X the Wise: he adapted Castilian to translate and incorporate Latin and Arabic texts. As Arabic and Roman culture experienced great literary and scientific development, Castilian had to adapt to become a language able to express all kinds of knowledge: legal, scientific, historical, etc. Spelling was standardized, syntactic links were expanded, and a new cultivated lexicon was created, derived mostly from Latin and Arabic.

The Book of Good Love

The Book of Good Love is a work written in verse, with a predominance of framed lines; it is therefore included in the Mester de Clerecía. It is autobiographical and recounts several love episodes. The author tries to win the love of a woman and therefore sometimes resorts to intermediaries or go-betweens. Alongside these love-themed episodes are very different texts: stories or exempla, lyrical compositions, and burlesque passages. Overall, what is striking is that, for the first time, an ironic attitude and vitality appear in an erudite work. It shows a rich and varied language: both the cultivated (culto) and the conversational registers are used.

The Song of the Cid

The Song of the Cid tells a story that begins with enormous difficulties and ends just as gloriously. The central theme is the restoration of honor in two aspects: social honor as a vassal and personal honor as an injured father. The protagonist faces various trials. He is the perfect model of a vassal and a family man, always striving to restore justice; ultimately he represents the archetypal epic knight of the Middle Ages. The historicity of the poem is remarkable. In terms of style, it features verses of varying length with assonant rhyme. In the middle of the verse there is a caesura that divides it into two hemistiches.

Romanticism

• Individualism. The artist rebels against anything that opposes the personal self. Works express the intimacy of the artist and give a subjective view of reality.
• Rejection of reality. Escapism allows the imagination to take refuge in fantasy worlds, exotic countries, or the past.
• Defense of freedom. Freedom is central to Romantic thought and is considered fundamental. In art, creators seek to express feeling, passion, and the irrational without shackles or conventions.
• Nature. The natural world becomes important, and landscape reflects the author's mood. Elements such as castle ruins and cemeteries intensify feelings of melancholy, sadness, loneliness, excitement, and anxiety about death.