Spanish Medieval Literature: Works, Authors, and Eras (10th-15th C)

Characteristics of Medieval Literature (10th-14th Centuries)

• Oral Transmission: Works were sung or recited due to widespread illiteracy among the populace.
• Anonymity: Works often had a collective origin, lacking a single known author.
• Didactic Purpose: Content aimed to teach Christian values or proper behaviors.

Major Works and Literary Schools (10th-14th Centuries)

Traditional Medieval Lyric Poetry

• Jarchas:
  • Earliest known lyric poetry in the Iberian Peninsula.
  • Express love from a woman's perspective.
  • Written in Mozarabic (Romance dialect).
  • Appeared at the end of longer compositions written in Arabic or Hebrew.
• Cantigas de Amigo:
  • Love compositions spoken by a woman.
  • Written in Galician-Portuguese.
  • Characterized by formal simplicity, repetitions, and parallelism.
• Villancico (Carol):
  • Compositions of love spoken by a woman.
  • Written in Castilian.
  • Characterized by formal simplicity.

Mester de Juglaría (Minstrelsy)

The "Office of the Minstrels" involved narrative poems recited by minstrels (juglares) who emerged to educate, entertain, and inform the public.

Epic Poetry (Cantar de Gesta)

• Realism: Based on real events and real-world scenarios.
• Irregular Meter: Lines typically contained 16 syllables.
• Fixed Formulas: Frequent use of fixed formulas, including appositions, vocatives, appeals to the public, and epic epithets.

Poema del Mio Cid

The most famous Spanish epic, traditionally divided into three parts:

• The Song of Exile (Cantar del Destierro).
• The Song of the Weddings (Cantar de las Bodas).
• The Song of the Affront of Corpes (Cantar de la Afrenta de Corpes).

Mester de Clerecía (Clergy School)

The "Office of the Clergyman" produced works of a cultured character with a strong religious and didactic purpose.

• Stanza Form: Used the cuaderna vía (four Alexandrine verses, monorhyme, consonant rhyme).
• 13th Century: Gonzalo de Berceo (e.g., Milagros de Nuestra Señora).
• 14th Century: Juan Ruiz, Archpriest of Hita (e.g., Libro de Buen Amor).

Medieval Prose Development

• Early Period: Writing was still primarily in Latin.
• 13th Century: Alfonso X the Wise deemed the Castilian language worthy to write and translate major works (e.g., Las Siete Partidas, General History).
• 14th Century: Don Juan Manuel (Count Lucanor) created collections of stories designed to impart moral lessons.

Literature of the 15th Century (Pre-Renaissance)

Sources and Influences on 15th Century Literature

Literature in the 15th century drew heavily from:

• Classical Antiquity: Greek and Latin classics (e.g., Ovid, Horace).
• 14th Century Italian Authors: Dante (The Divine Comedy), Petrarch (lyric poetry, immortalizing Laura/Madonna), and Boccaccio (Decameron).
• Provençal Troubadour Poetry: Focused on courtly love (fin'amors). This poetry was highly artful and reflected feudal relations: the woman (lord) was distant and cold, while the poet-minstrel-lover (vassal) suffered from unrequited love.

Key Features and Literary Trends

General Features

• Individualism: Anonymity declined as importance was given to the individual author, raising awareness of copyright.
• Shift in Purpose: The strong didactic tendency disappeared.
• New Figure: The noble courtier, devoted equally to arts and arms, emerged.

Poetry Trends

• Courtly Love Poetry: The love theme was highly cultivated, utilizing complex structures and numerous rhetorical resources (Poesía de Cancionero).
• Cultured Allegorical Poetry: Addressed philosophical and political issues in an artificial and complex style.
• Popular Poetry (Romancero): Emergence of the old romances (ballads), derived initially from the chanson de geste. These compositions featured unlimited length, eight-syllable verses, and assonant rhyme in the even lines. Themes included border conflicts and historical narratives.

Major Works and Authors of the 15th Century

Cancionero and Allegorical Poetry

• Marqués de Santillana: Known for his serranillas and his attempt to adapt the Italian sonnet and hendecasyllable (11-syllable verse) into Castilian.
• Juan de Mena: Author of Laberinto de Fortuna (The Labyrinth of Fortune, 300 stanzas), a major work of political allegorical poetry.
• Jorge Manrique: Famous for Coplas por la muerte de su padre (Stanzas on the Death of His Father), a profound meditation on life, fame, and death.

La Celestina (Tragicomedy of Calisto and Melibea)

This pivotal work marks the transition between the Medieval and Renaissance eras.

• Genre: Theater intended to be read, not represented on stage.
• Authorship: The first act was written anonymously, with the remainder completed by Fernando de Rojas.
• Themes: Shows a profound change in the conception of life.
• Transitional Features:
  • Medieval Traits: Moralizing prognosis. Death is often seen as punishment.
  • Renaissance Traits: Characters actively desire to enjoy life, love, and sex.