Renaissance Spanish Literature: Mystics, Humanism and Golden Age Poets

Spanish Renaissance Literature: Mystics, Humanists and Poets

Santa Teresa de Jesús was born in Ávila in 1515. She was a mystic. At the age of 7 she ran away from home because she wanted to seek God. At 12 her mother died, and she went through a spiritual crisis. At 16 she stayed in a convent. At 19 she became very ill and was paralyzed for 2 years. She recovered and founded the Order of the Discalced Carmelites. She died in 1592. Her two prose works were:

• Camino de perfección (The Way of Perfection)
• El castillo interior o Las moradas (The Interior Castle)

The theme of Santa Teresa's work is the love of God.

San Juan de la Cruz

San Juan de la Cruz was a mystic. The fundamental theme of his poetry is the love of God. His work is the result of his mystical experiences, in which the Bride (the soul) seeks the Bridegroom (Christ). His poems are:

• Cántico espiritual (Spiritual Canticle)
• Llama de amor viva (Living Flame of Love)
• Noche oscura del alma (Dark Night of the Soul)

All of them are written in verse.

Fray Luis de León

Fray Luis de León was a professor at the University of Salamanca. Because of the translations and interpretations he made of the Bible, he was imprisoned for four years (Exposición del Cantar de los Cantares). He has only 20 original poems; the rest are translations of classical works. His most outstanding prose works are Cantar de los Cantares and Los nombres de Cristo. Most of his poetry is written in the oda and lira forms. He was an ascetic.

Mysticism

Mysticism is a religious movement that seeks to reach the highest spiritual experience. To become a mystic, the soul must travel three paths:

1. Via purgativa: withdrawing from or turning away from the "mundanal ruido" (the noise of the world), and practicing prayer and penance.
2. Via iluminativa: freed from your sins, your soul is prepared to encounter God.
3. Vida unitiva: union with God, which results in ecstasy.

Ascetic Literature

Ascetic literature is a part of mysticism in which writers express their experience with God and the Virgin.

Garcilaso de la Vega

Garcilaso de la Vega was born in 1501 in Toledo and died in 1536. He married Elena de Zúñiga but fell in love with Isabel Freyre. He was a perfect courtier, a man of letters and a man of arms. He died on the battlefield in Nice from the impact of a catapult. He died very young, so he could not publish his works; it was the widow of Boscán who published them. He produced 3 églogas, 38 sonnets, 5 canciones, 2 elegías, 1 epístola and 1 brief composition.

Humanism

Humanism was an intellectual and cultural movement that originated in Italy in the 14th century. It was characterized by:

• The study and knowledge of Greek and Latin.
• A return to the way of understanding life and the art of Greek and Roman culture.
• The cultivation of vernacular languages.
• An interest in the human being.

History and Politics

• Carlos I: grandson of the Catholic Monarchs, began to reign in 1517. He was elected Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. He had to face Protestantism and wars with France.
• Felipe II: reigned in the second half of the 16th century. His reign was marked by religion and the struggle against Protestantism.

Society

The 16th century was characterized by population growth and a certain economic boom. The bourgeoisie was the most prosperous and influential social class. The nobility maintained its privileges, and the popular classes remained less favored.

Worldview

New inventions changed the order of values. The medieval geocentrism gave way to Renaissance anthropocentrism: God was no longer the center of the world, and was replaced by the human being. The social ideal of these values is embodied in the courtier.

Art and Culture

In the Renaissance, an artistic canon of beauty was created based on Greco-Latin classicism: proportion, balance and idealization were sought. Religious motifs and a desire to teach dominated.

Petrarch was an Italian author of the 14th century who anticipated the new Renaissance sensibility that first flourished in Italy and then in Europe.

Topics

• Collige, virgo, rosas: "Gather, maiden, the roses."
• Ubi sunt: Where are they?
• Descriptio puellae: description of the woman.

Verbs

Indicative:

• Present: canto
• Preterite imperfect: cantaba
• Preterite perfect simple: canté
• Future imperfect: cantaré
• Future perfect: habré cantado
• Conditional simple: cantaría
• Conditional compound: habría cantado
• Present perfect: he cantado
• Pluperfect: había cantado
• Preterite anterior: hube cantado

Subjunctive:

• Present: cante
• Preterite imperfect: cantara or cantase
• Future imperfect: cantare
• Present perfect: haya cantado
• Pluperfect: hubiera or hubiese cantado
• Future perfect: hubiere cantado

Imperative: Present: canta tú

Non-personal forms:

• Simple: infinitive cantar; gerund cantando; participle cantado
• Compound: infinitive haber cantado; gerund habiendo cantado