Medieval Spanish Literature: Jarchas, Cantigas, and Mesters

Medieval Spanish Literature Foundations

The Jarchas: Early Romance Lyric Poetry

The jarchas are short songs from the 11th and 12th centuries written in Mozarabic. They represent the earliest manifestation of Romance lyric poetry in Spain. They consist of a few verses placed at the end of Arabic and Hebrew poems called moaxajas. In these verses, a woman, often addressing an informant (like her mother or sister), expresses her feelings about love.

Galician-Portuguese Lyric Poetry

Galician-Portuguese lyric poetry was influenced by the learned and courtly poetry cultivated in Provence (France) and developed during the 13th and 14th centuries.

Types of Cantigas

• Cantigas de amigo: Love poems with an intimate tone. Similar to the jarchas, a young woman confesses her love troubles and worries to a confidant.
• Cantigas de amor: Love poems presented from a man's perspective, with antecedents in Provençal troubadour lyrics.
• Cantigas de escárnio e maldizer (Mocking and Cursing Songs): Satirical, festive, and burlesque poems.

The Galician-Portuguese lyric tradition was notably cultivated by King Alfonso X the Wise, particularly in his religious work, the Cantigas de Santa Maria.

Mester of Minstrelsy: Epic Poetry

Epic poetry emerged with Castilian epics, recounting the exploits of great medieval heroes. Its most significant feature is its oral tradition; these poems were transmitted by minstrels (juglares).

Characteristics of Minstrelsy

• Poems are anonymous.
• Composed in long narrative sections (tiradas) with a variable number of verses sharing the same assonant rhyme.
• Verses are typically long (arte mayor), feature assonance, irregular rhyme, and are divided into two parts or hemistichs by a caesura.
• Intended to be recited or sung.
• Generally faithful to the historical reality of the events they narrate.

El Cantar de Mio Cid

El Cantar de Mio Cid is the most important epic poem in Spanish literature and the only one that has survived almost complete, with nearly four thousand lines. It narrates the exploits of the Castilian hero Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar. While based on history, it is primarily a work of literature and art.

Content and Structure

1. Cantar del destierro (Song of Exile): Details the Cid's banishment.
2. Cantar de las bodas (Song of the Weddings): Focuses on the Cid's daughters' marriages.
3. Cantar de la afrenta de Corpes (Song of the Affront of Corpes): Describes the dishonor and subsequent vindication of the Cid's daughters.

Metrics

The poem consists of series or tiradas of varying lengths, each maintaining a single assonant rhyme. The lines are irregular, ranging from ten to twenty syllables, with a predominance of Alexandrines (14 syllables). They are usually divided into two hemistichs by a pause or caesura.

Language Resources

• Use of appositions (explanatory phrases).
• Direct addresses to listeners.
• Variety of verb tenses.
• Pleonasms (redundant phrases for emphasis).
• Absence of introductory conjunctions.

Mester de Clerecía: Learned Poetry

From the 13th century onwards, a new stream of learned, written poetry developed, known as the mester de clerecía (office or work of clerics).

Characteristics of Clerecía

• Conscious artistry and cultured style.
• Religious inspiration and influence in both themes and ideology.
• Didactic purpose (intended to teach).
• Written by educated clergy, primarily trained in classical and religious Latin culture.
• Use of a specific stanza form: the cuaderna vía (four-line stanzas of Alexandrine verses with consonant rhyme - AAAA).
• Intended to be recited or read, rather than sung like minstrelsy.

Key Authors of Mester de Clerecía

Juan Ruiz, Archpriest of Hita

Juan Ruiz is the most important author of the mester de clerecía in the 14th century. His major work is the Libro de buen amor (Book of Good Love).

• It begins with a prose foreword explaining the work's moralizing intention.
• Features a cheerful and carefree narrative, written in autobiographical form, recounting the protagonist's various amorous adventures.
• Includes diverse narrative examples, such as the allegorical battle between Don Carnal (Mr. Flesh) and Doña Cuaresma (Lady Lent).
• Contains satirical pieces, for example, on the power of money.
• Incorporates moral reflections and lyrical poems (both religious and profane).

Don Juan Manuel

Author of El Conde Lucanor (The Count Lucanor), also known as Libro de los ejemplos del conde Lucanor y de Patronio, a collection of fifty-one exemplary stories (exempla).

Story Structure in El Conde Lucanor

1. Introduction: Count Lucanor presents a problem to his advisor, Patronio, and seeks advice.
2. Patronio's Response: After some introductory words, Patronio offers general advice and prepares to tell a story relevant to the problem.
3. Narration: Patronio tells the illustrative story.
4. Advice and Moral: Patronio concludes the story and explicitly states his advice, drawing a lesson (moral) from the tale.
5. Conclusion: The Count accepts the advice and intends to apply it. Don Juan Manuel intervenes as the author, stating that he found the example good, wrote it down, and condensed its teaching into a two-line concluding verse.

Gonzalo de Berceo

A 13th-century cleric considered the first known Castilian poet.

• Wrote hagiographies (lives of saints), such as those of Santo Domingo de Silos, San Millán de la Cogolla, and Santa Oria.
• Authored El martirio de San Lorenzo (The Martyrdom of St. Lawrence).
• Composed Milagros de Nuestra Señora (Miracles of Our Lady), consisting of twenty-five short stories inspired by European Marian legends.

Alfonso X the Wise

King Alfonso X, while also associated with Galician-Portuguese lyric (Cantigas de Santa Maria), sponsored and participated in vast scholarly projects characteristic of the learned tradition.

• Historical Works: Crónica general (considered the first history of Spain).
• Legal Works: Las siete partidas (reflecting various aspects of medieval society).
• Scientific Treatises: Libros del saber de astronomía (Books of Astronomical Knowledge), Lapidario (on the properties of stones).
• Recreational Works: Libros de ajedrez, dados y tablas (Books of Chess, Dice, and Tables).