Spanish Literature in the 15th Century: Poetry, Romances, and Celestina

Spanish Literature in the 15th Century

1. Poetry in the 15th Century

Along with the traditional song, another way of oral transmission developed: poesía de romancero. Learned poetry brought new themes and poetic styles, as seen in the songbooks. First, troubadour poetry of courtly love appeared. In the second stage of this era, poetry developed moral issues.

Romances

Romances are a large, old collection of poems that began to be composed in the 14th century. They were collected and published in the 16th century. The sung ballads are narrative poems of oral transmission with varied topics. Many are epic ballads that sing of heroic episodes involving great gentlemen like El Cid. There are also lyrical and loving themes. From the end of the 14th century, popular poetry also diffused through the ballads. Although romances are anonymous, not all are of popular creation. Ballads collected themes of popular song, and another group of romances recounted episodes of the wars against the Muslim kingdom of Granada.

Metrics: Simple, variable octosyllables. No rhyme, assonance in even verses.

2. Romances:

• Old Romances: A collection of old romances from anonymous oral tradition.
• New Romances: A collection written by known authors from the 16th century onward.

The Songbooks

Much of the poetry in the 15th century was taken up by different authors in songbooks, which are anthologies.

Key Authors

• Íñigo López de Mendoza, Marquis of Santillana: Wrote numerous love poems, simple in appearance and elegant, but of delicate creation. In his Serranillas, gallant situations arise where a gentleman woos a very idealized shepherdess in the midst of idyllic nature.

• Juan de Mena: The most important work of this poet is the Labyrinth of Fortune, a long allegorical poem that meditates on the fragility of human achievements.

• Jorge Manrique: Wrote cancioneril poetry but is remembered for the beautiful funeral elegy he dedicated to his father after his death, entitled Couplets to the Death of His Father. In this poem, he develops the theme of the meaning of life, stressing its fleeting nature in his songs. The 40 double sextuplets consist of six verses: four eight-syllable verses and two four-syllable verses that rhyme in consonance: 8a8b4c8a8b4c.

Celestina

Celestina was first published in 1499, divided into 16 acts. The action is addressed through the dialogues of the characters.

Plot Summary:

Calisto is a rich, idle young man who is in love with Melibea, a beautiful young woman who does not dare to fall in love. One of his servants introduces him to Celestina, a cunning and greedy old woman who is paid to bring him into contact with Melibea in exchange for gifts and money. The old woman succeeds in her mission, getting the two young people into a relationship, and Calisto rewards her generously.

Calisto's servants see the old woman dividing her earnings and kill her. Trying to escape, they fall from a window and are killed. Celestina had two maids who were lovers of the resentful servants. They try to avenge what happened to Calisto by hiring a soldier to make noise in the street while the lovers are together in Melibea's garden. Calisto, going down the wall of the garden for fear of being discovered, falls and dies. Melibea, seeing the sad end of her lover, throws herself from a tower in her home. The play ends with Melibea's father crying, which contributes to clarifying the meaning of what happened.