Medieval Iberian Lyric and Epic: Mozarabic to El Cid

The Lyrical Primitive Origins

The lyrical primitive origins: the lyric is a short verse written in Mozarabic. Jarchas were recorded in the eleventh century.

Mozarabic Lyric

Mozarabic lyric: Popular lyric appears in al-Andalus in the form of brief poems of two to six lines written in Mozarabic. These are often short songs of love in which the speaker laments a slight or the absence of his beloved.

Songs, Addresses and Mockery

There are songs of lament addressed to a beloved friend, where a young lover laments the absence of his beloved, a mother, a friend, or other beloved figure. There are also mocking songs of nature or curse songs: through this lyrical satire a person makes fun of or criticizes another.

Castilian Lyric

Castilian lyric: These are often relatively simple poems, full of symbols and images, although they name beings and elements of nature such as the sea, flowers, birds, and so on.

Medieval Drama and the Trope

Medieval drama: After the classical Greco‑Roman theater had known great splendor, in later centuries it fell into oblivion until the Middle Ages, when something new arose with the liturgical representations known as the trope. The oldest known trope so far dates to the tenth century and is entitled Quem or Quaeritis.

Mester of Juglaría

Mester of minstrelsy: During the twelfth and thirteenth centuries a series of epic poems called chansons de geste were composed to be sung by minstrels. These works belonged to the tradition of mester de juglaría.

Mester de Clerecía and Learned Poetry

Mester of clergy (mester de clerecía): In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries the learned forms of poetry developed. Their authors, more educated, intended to entertain and to teach. At that time these literary forms were cultivated by educated people and by the clergy.

Cantar de Mio Cid

Cantar de Mio Cid: One of the few surviving epic songs. This poem revolves around the protagonist and the concept of honor embodied by El Cid. He functions not only as a literary figure but as a symbol of societal ideals.

Medieval Hero

Medieval hero: The protagonist embodies the highest values of society: brave, just, faithful to conventions, and a fighter who must overcome all sorts of obstacles.

Public Honor

Public honor: Shame and reputation drive much of the action. For example, the story includes enemies of the Cid who attempt to defame him and to undermine the standing of King Alfonso VI by alleging improper dealings, such as participation in payments or exchanges with the Moorish king of Seville and other exiled rulers.

Family Honor

Family honor: As the Cid accumulates wealth and fame, this awakens the selfish interest of the Infantes of Carrión, who seek to obtain benefits and advantage through marriage and reputation.

Stylistic Features of the Cantar de Mio Cid

Cantar de Mio Cid, stylistic features:

• Genre: Epic narrative poem in verse.
• Meter and rhyme: Composed in metrical verses with irregular measures, often divided by caesura, and using assonant rhyme; mixed forms are found.
• Language: Clarity, simplicity, and sobriety; presence of humor; frequent appeals to the audience with exclamatory or interrogative phrases; idioms and formulaic expressions.
• Social context: Formulas and idioms often belong to the feudal social order and to the oral tradition.

Feudalism and Oral Tradition

Feudalism and oral tradition: The political, economic, and social structures that dominate the Middle Ages form the background for much medieval literature. These include the system of lordship and vassalage and the customs of honor and reputation.

Manor

Manor: The whole landholding that a noble, king, or a secular or ecclesiastical lord controls; it is the basic unit of rural, political, and economic organization in the feudal age.

Medieval Literature in the Iberian Peninsula

Medieval literature: The first literary works in the Romance languages were written in the late centuries of the Peninsula. They reflect a mix of oral tradition, clerical learning, and popular themes.