Medieval Spanish Literature: From Alfonso X to Juan Ruiz

Medieval Spanish Literature

Castilian Prose

Alfonso X the Wise played a crucial role in the development of Castilian prose, elevating it to the status of a language of culture. His contributions included standardizing spelling, enhancing syntactic flexibility, and enriching vocabulary. Various writers contributed historical, legal, and scientific treatises.

Medieval Poetry

Two main types of poetry existed:

• Traditional Folk Poetry:

  Characterized by its traditional, collective, and evolving nature, it could be oral or written.

• Learned Poetry:

  Attributed to individual, known authors, and primarily written.

Lyrical Folk-Traditional Poetry

This oral tradition includes:

• Jarchas (mid-11th to first half of the 14th century, written in Mozarabic)
• Cantigas de amigo (late 12th to end of the 14th century, written in Galician-Portuguese)
• Carols (mid to late 15th century, written in 15th-century Castilian)

Specific themes within lyrical folk-traditional poetry include:

• Love: Albas (songs of lovers' farewells or meetings) and Mayas (celebrating the arrival of the beloved)
• Villancicos: Songs related to various activities like sailing, work, and travel.

Metrics and Structure:

• Jarchas and carols have erratic and imprecise metrics.
• Cantigas de amigo have regular metrics with consistent rhyme and meter.
• Cantigas de amigo often feature parallelistic structures.
• Jarchas and carols typically consist of two to four lines and are sometimes integrated into longer poems (e.g., muwashshahs or glosses).

Medieval Narrative

The Novel

Two types of novels emerged:

• Adventure Novels: Combining elements of love and action, often drawing inspiration from classical legends.
• Chivalric Novels: Featuring heroic elements, fantastical creatures, and often drawing on the legendary history of Britain.

Theater

Medieval theater was closely tied to religious celebrations. The Play of the Magi (second half of the 12th century) is considered the oldest surviving example of Spanish medieval drama. It is dramatically simple, prioritizing monologue over dialogue.

Mester de Juglaría

This popular epic poetry tradition, known as chansons de geste, was spread by minstrels. These poems served to inform and entertain, recounting heroic deeds that resonated with the community. They were characterized by long verses with irregular rhyme schemes.

Evolution of the Mester de Juglaría

• Primitive/Formative Period: Early songs, now lost.
• Flourishing Period: Marked by the composition of El Cantar de Mio Cid, extensive songs, and French epic influence.
• Prosification Period: Songs became sources of information.
• Period of Decline: Some poems evolved into prose romances.

Poema del Mio Cid

This epic poem, centered on the Castilian hero Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar (El Cid), is the oldest surviving Spanish epic.

Mester de Clerecía

This tradition involved didactic and moral treatises written by learned authors. It was characterized by regular metrics, strophic organization, consistent verse length, and consonant rhyme. The language used ranged from popular to elevated, often influenced by Latin.

First Period (Gonzalo de Berceo)

Themes: Classical, romantic, national, and religious epics. Writings included hagiographies, liturgical texts, and Marian works.

Second Period (Juan Ruiz, Archpriest of Hita)

Characterized by a more realistic and satirical tone. His most important work is the Libro de Buen Amor (Book of Good Love).

Libro de Buen Amor

Theme: Explores love in both its human and divine dimensions.

Plot and Structure: A series of fictional adventures presented as an autobiographical account, incorporating allegorical episodes, a paraphrase of Pamphilus, tales, fables, didactic and moral disquisitions, and lyrical compositions.

Metrics: Juan Ruiz primarily used the cuaderna vía (four-line stanzas with consonant rhyme), but replaced the Alexandrine (14 syllables) with 16-syllable lines (8+8). He also employed various verse forms in his lyrical compositions, including the zejel.

Purpose: While ostensibly about human love, the book also explores divine love and has a strong moralizing intent.

Sources: Draws on the Bible, classical literature, and medieval Latin texts.