Medieval Society, Culture, and Lyric Poetry

The activity of monks, focused on God and the destiny of man, significantly influenced the medieval theocentric worldview.

Feudalism: Social Hierarchy of the Middle Ages

The typical social organization of the Middle Ages was feudalism, a system based on the obligation of vassals to remain loyal to their lords in exchange for land.

• Nobility: Based its influence on economic, military, and political strength. It was divided into high and low nobility, and included knights and warriors.
• Clergy: Divided into high and low clergy. The former was composed of the Church hierarchy, and the latter by common clergy or popular groups.
• Commoners (Village Level): Characterized by the absence of privileges. They constituted the largest group in society, with most of the population involved in agricultural labor.

Cultural Flourishing in the Middle Ages

• The Camino de Santiago: A road network linking Europe to Santiago de Compostela, established for pilgrims to visit the relics of the Apostle James.
• School of Translators of Toledo: Founded in the twelfth century, it became a major cultural center. In the thirteenth century, Muslims, Jews, and Christians collaborated to translate texts from Greek into Latin and Castilian.
• Medieval Universities: Institutions granted privileges issued and signed by the Pope, whose titles were valid across Europe.
• Birth of Romance Languages: While Latin was preserved as the language of culture, it evolved into the various Romance languages.

Medieval Lyric Poetry: Mozarabic & Castilian

Mozarabic was the language of Christians living in Muslim territory. Written in this language, jarchas are preserved, considered the oldest form of European literature in a Romance language.

These short compositions are found at the end of some Arabic or Hebrew cult poems called moaxajas. These compositions represent a sample of the coexistence and mutual influence between Christians and Muslims.

The theme is generally about love, often from a woman lamenting the absence of her beloved. Interrogative and exclamatory sentences are abundant, used to express the mood.

Castilian Lyric Poetry: Villancicos & Serranillas

The texts considered primitive Castilian lyric poetry were transmitted through songbooks (cancioneros). The most representative forms are:

• Villancicos: Strophic poems composed of a chorus and a verse that develops the content of the chorus. The theme is typically love.
• Serranillas: Derived from Provençal pastorelas, though most have older, more realistic descriptive features. These compositions often depict an encounter between a gentleman and a shepherdess in the mountains of Castile, where the gentleman seeks the love of the shepherdess.

Galician-Portuguese Lyric Poetry

Emerging in the late 12th century, Galician-Portuguese lyric poetry has a parallel structure that often repeats a similar verse throughout the poem.

These include various types of cantigas: love songs (cantigas de amor), songs of friendship (cantigas de amigo), and songs of derision (cantigas de escárnio e maldizer).