Medieval Epic Poetry: The History of Cantar de Gesta

The Nature of the Song of Gesta

The Song of Gesta (Cantar de Gesta) is a long narrative poem of arte mayor (verses greater than eight syllables) that sings the stories and exploits of a belligerent military or historical character, king, or noble. By making him a hero, these poems celebrate the military victories and achievements they accomplished.

Key Features of Cantar de Gesta

• It is a long narrative poem that sings the exploits of a military hero or historical figure.
• Its protagonists are kings, nobles, or military and historical figures.

Derived from Greek epics and Germanic sagas, these deeds transform legendary feats and their protagonists into heroes. They are proposed to make sense of the nation or state in a world in which the serfs (common people) knew only their fiefdom, bringing the kingdom, nation, or state into myth and symbol as the homeland of its subjects.

They are sung, recited, and performed (played, and in some cases created) by minstrels and are the most characteristic poems of the Mester de Juglaría (Mester of Minstrelsy). They are, therefore, part of an anonymous and oral tradition.

Historical Evolution and the Romanesque

These poems are characteristic of the medieval world, appearing in Europe in the late 8th century and becoming prominent in the 9th century. In Spain, they arrived later; by the 9th and 10th centuries, they were characteristic of the medieval and contemporary wing of the Romanesque. In the 13th century, cultured and ecclesiastical copyists collected these writings in Old Castilian. This collection of the Song of Gesta passed into history shortly after the end of the 13th century, succeeded by the ballad. During the first half of the 14th century, the chanson de geste began to disappear.

Thematic Cycles in Castilian Literature

Cycles are classified into thematic groups or sagas. In medieval Castilian literature, these include:

• The Cid Cycle: Its protagonist is Don Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, El Cid. The characteristic poem is The Poem of the Cid.
• Alfonsino Cycle: With respect to Alfonso VI.
• Carolingian Cycle: Centered around Charlemagne.
• Cycle of Don Rodrigo or the Fall of Spain: Regarding the entry of Muslims into the Peninsula and the fall of the Visigoths.
• The Cycle of the Formation of Castile.
• The Cycle of Roncesvalles: About the Battle of Roncesvalles.

Structure and Components of the Epics

The extent of these epics led them to be internally divided into component Songs, which fragmented the theme of a single work. Thus, The Poem of the Cid is divided into three songs: The Song of Exile, The Song of the Wedding, and The Song of the Affront (Shame) of Corpes.