Medieval Spanish Literature: Epics, Lyrics, and Mestres

Epic Poems and the Mester de Juglaría

Epic poems are medieval narrative works that recount the heroic deeds of a figure representative of a people. They were recited by minstrels (juglares), who were itinerant artists performing poems and songs. These epics belong to the tradition known as the Mester de Juglaría (Minstrelsy).

Key Features of the Mester de Juglaría

• Popular Origin: Created for and by the common people.
• Irregular Meter: Verses do not have a fixed number of syllables.
• Assonance Rhyme: Relies on the repetition of vowel sounds rather than consonant sounds.
• Variable Stanza Length: Composed of an undetermined number of verses.
• Heroic Deeds: Focuses on the great feats of heroes.
• Oral Transmission: Passed down verbally from one minstrel to another.
• Informative Intent: Aims to inform the public about the lives and actions of well-known heroes.

El Poema de Mío Cid (The Poem of the Cid)

El Poema de Mío Cid is an anonymous epic poem (cantar de gesta) that narrates the adventures of the hero El Cid. While it was signed by a copyist named Per Abbat, he is not believed to be the original author.

Structure of El Cid

1. Cantar del destierro (Song of Exile): El Cid is unjustly exiled from his homeland.
2. Cantar de las bodas (Song of the Weddings): El Cid conquers Valencia, is forgiven by the king, and his daughters are married.
3. Cantar de la afrenta de Corpes (Song of the Affront of Corpes): The Infantes de Carrión, his sons-in-law, humiliate and mistreat his daughters, leading El Cid to seek justice.

Metrics and Style

The poem consists of over 3,000 verses grouped into irregular, monorhyming stanzas (tiradas). Its style is characterized by realism and verisimilitude, and it employs phrases and formulas typical of minstrel performance.

Traditional Lyric Poetry

Traditional lyric poetry consists of short, anonymous poems that were sung by the people and transmitted orally. Key forms include:

• Jarchas: Short Mozarabic songs from the 10th and 11th centuries, often written in an Arabo-Andalusian context.
• Villancicos (Carols): Short songs sung in chorus by the people, typically during festivities. Their structure often includes a refrain and a gloss (glosa).
• Cantigas de Amigo: Galician-Portuguese poems where a woman expresses feelings of love, often to nature.

Common Narrative Elements

Structural Components

• Structure: Typically includes a presentation, middle, and end.
• Setting and Characterization: Establishes the time, place, and details of the characters.
• Narrator's Point of View: The perspective from which the story is told.
• Treatment of Time: How time is managed within the narrative.

The Narrator and Characters

The narrator's voice, which recounts the events, can be in the first or third person. In addition to the narrator, characters' speech and thoughts are presented in several ways:

• Direct Style: Accurately reproduces the character's exact words.
• Indirect Style: The narrator reports what the character said, often using verbs of saying (verba dicendi).
• Free Indirect Style: The narrator incorporates a character's words and feelings into their own account without direct attribution.

Plot, Theme, and Main Idea

• Plot (Argument): A summary of the most important events.
• Theme: A concise phrase that summarizes the central topic of the text.
• Main Idea: The core message or concept the author aims to convey.

The Mester de Clerecía

The Mester de Clerecía (Clergy) was a poetic movement of the 13th century created by educated clergymen. Their works often dealt with the lives of saints and had a clear didactic purpose: to entertain and teach. They wrote their poems in a specific stanza form called cuaderna vía, which consists of four 14-syllable Alexandrine verses.

Comparison: Clerecía vs. Juglaría

Mester de Clerecía (Clergy - 13th Century)

• Theme: Religious and moral issues.
• Purpose: Moralizing and educational.
• Versification: Regular meter (Alexandrine verses in cuaderna vía) with consonant rhyme.
• Authorship: Known, signed works by cultured authors.

Mester de Juglaría (Minstrelsy - 11th & 12th Centuries)

• Theme: Warrior and heroic deeds.
• Purpose: Entertainment and fostering a warrior spirit.
• Versification: Irregular meter with assonance rhyme.
• Authorship: Anonymous, popular works that were never signed.