Medieval Spanish Literature: Romances and Mester de Clerecía

Classification of Medieval Poetry

• Epic: Compositions derived from Castilian or Carolingian epics, featuring characters from the Court of Charlemagne.
• Lyric: Themes centered on romance and love in all its manifestations.

The Romancero

The romance began to be gathered in printed collections known as romanceros.

• Old Romances: Texts from oral tradition, therefore anonymous.
• New Romances: Ballads written by known authors with an artistic purpose.

Mester de Clerecía

In the thirteenth century, a new wave of cultured poetry emerged. These works were didactic and moral in intent, dedicated to extending knowledge acquired from Latin texts.

Key Characteristics

• Form: Use of the cuaderna vía (stanzas of four lines of fourteen syllables, with a caesura dividing the verse into two hemistichs of seven syllables and consonant rhyme).
• Purpose: Composed to be recited, not sung.
• Language: While the language of the clergy was Latin, these works were written in the vernacular.

Notable Works

• Anonymous Cuaderna Vía: Libro de Alexandre, Libro de Apolonio, and Poema de Fernán González.
• Anonymous Couplets: Vida de Santa María Egipciaca and Disputa del alma y el cuerpo.

Gonzalo de Berceo

The most important writer of the Mester de Clerecía in the thirteenth century and the first known poet by name. As a zealous priest and catechist, his works focus on devotion to the Virgin and the Saints.

Major Works

• Hagiographies: Vida de Santo Domingo de Silos (his first known work) and Vida de San Millán de la Cogolla.
• Doctrinal Works: El sacrificio de la misa.
• Marian Works: Loores de Nuestra Señora, Duelo de la Virgen (focusing on the passion of Christ), and Milagros de Nuestra Señora.

Style

Berceo's style is simple and popular, characterized by:

• Submission to the source material
• Tendency to romanticize
• Use of minstrel resources
• Use of Riojan dialects
• Rhetorical devices
• Syntactically complete cuaderna vía units

Milagros de Nuestra Señora

This is his most extensive and important work, representing the oldest collection of miracles of the Virgin. It exalts the role of the Virgin as a mediator in the salvation of humanity.

Structure

• Introduction: Refers to the fall of man through sin while ensuring salvation through the cult of the Virgin.
• 25 Miracles: Each follows a similar structure: introduction, setting of characters and events in time and place, the miracle, and an exhortation to the cult of the Virgin Mary.