Spanish Literature in the 15th Century: Key Authors

The Marquis of Santillana

The Marquis of Santillana was a great promoter of 15th-century culture. Besides his literary work, the Marquis was interested in investigation and criticism, and he elaborated a history of Spanish literature, as well as the first book of Castilian proverbs. Throughout his life, he surrounded himself with intellectuals and humanists, such as his secretary, Juan de Mena. All that kept him abreast of literary fashions and trends, especially Italian. In this sense, the Marquis of Santillana is considered the introducer of Italian forms in Spain. To him should be attributed the first sonnets in Castilian, a hitherto unknown composition, and that a century later would be the favorite of Renaissance poets. His work, 42 Sonnets Done in the Italic Style, has the virtue of introducing the first forms of Italian poetry of Dante Alighieri, paving the way for Renaissance poets such as Garcilaso and Boscán.

Within this Italianate style, his most polished work is La Comedieta of Ponza, in which couplets describe the famous naval battle of the same name.

Among his most outstanding works are the Serranillas, minor art poems recounting the meeting between a gentleman and a mountain peasant. These compositions, of jocular and erotic tone, were an interpretation of the French pastourelles, although with a clear influence of autochthonous Castilian folk poetry.

Jorge Manrique

Jorge Manrique is considered one of the great poets of the 15th century. Coplas a la muerte de su padre (Stanzas about the Death of his Father) is a work that has earned him the praise of great poets of other ages. In Coplas, the poet celebrates the figure of his father, Don Rodrigo Manrique, who appears as a hero facing death calmly.

Themes

There are two essential issues that are discussed in the work: death and fame. Death is presented as the ground around which the poet's reflections revolve: the longing for the past, the transience of life, the vanity of pleasure, etc. Fame is presented as a way to survive beyond death, another lifestyle that can continue and that death cannot take away. This glimmer of hope to talk about something more enduring than earthly life is an example of the pre-Renaissance of the 15th century in Spain.

Structure of the Work

In this scheme, three parts can be appreciated that compose the verses and what each one occupies:

• General consideration of the transience of life. The poet calls on humans to consider their mortal status and divine destiny.
• What is exposed in the first part is illustrated with examples that demonstrate how people and their grandeur have been obliterated by death.
• Don Rodrigo is praised, along with his virtues and the deeds he did in life. Death dialogues with the protagonist, who agrees with Christian resignation to the step to the other life.

The first two parts of the work relate to mortal life. In the last, we may distinguish two: fame, which lives in the memory for posterity, and everlasting or eternal life.

Metrical Form

It consists of 40 stanzas of pie quebrado (broken foot), a stanza often used by poets of the 15th century and which could offer varied combinations. The form chosen by Manrique consists of two rhyming sextuplets: abc, abc. This combination is known as the copla manriqueña.