Spanish Pre-Renaissance Literature and Poets

Spanish Pre-Renaissance and Renaissance Literature

The Renaissance emerged in Italy during the 14th Century. Key authors included Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio.

The Spanish Renaissance

The Spanish Renaissance is typically divided into two stages:

• 1st Stage: Pre-Renaissance (15th Century) - A period of transition. Christian, political, social, and moral creations were based on two parallel lines:
  • Traditional Folk Poetry (lyric traditional ballads)
  • Courtly Literature (poetry, courtly romances, and books of chivalry)
• 2nd Stage: Renaissance (t-5) - This designation refers to a later period.

Transition and New Thought

In the transition from the medieval period to the Renaissance, a new thought emerged: Humanism. This was the germ of a new vision of life, shifting focus from faith and belief. Succeeding as a liberating movement, humanism showed interest in all facets of life. The invention of printing also influenced poetry during this time.

15th Century Context

The first two-thirds of the century were periods of anarchy. The monarchy lost political authority, and the nobility gained moral standing (a climate of civil war). There was an abandonment of conquest and a period of impoverishment. In the last third of the century, the Catholic Monarchs came to power and restructured royal authority. It is during this stage that medieval ideas were in crisis, including the theocentric conception of the world, a spirit of hierarchical rebellion, and the limits between the divine and human.

Types of Poetry

Traditional Folk Poetry (Lyrical Songs and Romances)

Popular lyric poetry was born from and loved by the people, from the noble to the most humble. It dealt with universal themes and was part of a traditional oral poetry. Examples include:

• Mozarabic Jarchas (short, popular ditties of four verses, found at the end of muwassahas)
• Galician-Portuguese Lyric (11th and 13th Centuries)
• The traditional Castilian Lyric

Courtly Cult Poetry

Noble estates underwent a profound transformation of customs and mentalities. Nobles became protectors and creators of culture, and literary courts emerged. There was a close rapport between life and literature. Courtly poetry was collected in cancioneros (songbooks).

Themes included:

• Love Poetry inspired by courtly love
• Moral-Didactic Poetry (often using allegory and a worshipful style) - influenced by Humanism, the Italian Renaissance (like Dante's allegorical structure)
• Influence of Greco-Roman Culture (interest in learning about the classics)

Notable Poets

Santillana

A powerful noble with a humanistic culture. He cultivated all forms of courtly poetry, including Provençal-type poems, Dantean allegory, and 42 sonnets in the Italian style.

Juan de Mena

Latin secretary to King John II. Known for his humanistic and classical culture.

Jorge Manrique

Participated in the politics of his time. Famous for his "Coplas por la muerte de su padre" (Stanzas on the Death of His Father), a funeral elegy that invites reflection on death and expresses his personal grief over the passing of a loved one.