Key Figures in Medieval Castilian Literature: Ruiz, Berceo, and Alfonso X
Key Figures in Medieval Castilian Literature
Juan Ruiz de Hita, Arcipreste
Nothing is known with certainty about this writer’s life, beyond the data he provides in his only work, The Book of Good Love. This is the most important work of clergy in the 14th century. It is an autobiographical work written in a way that reflects the new values provided by the bourgeoisie: the enjoyment of the pleasures of life. It also presents the continuing debate between religious and secular sense. The author’s intention is ambiguous and contradictory; he teaches the way of sin to discourage it. It is a polymetric poem that dominates the frame via simplicity and naturalness, irony, humor, and colloquial speech, reflecting proverbs. It tries to moralize and entertain, and its interpretation is problematic due to the ambiguity of its messages. The exact location and date of his birth and death are also unknown. It is said he had good humor, a cheerful spirit, and was vital.
Gonzalo de Berceo: A Pioneer of Spanish Verse
Gonzalo de Berceo
He is the first poet of our culture to waive anonymity. He was a clergyman in some monasteries of La Rioja. The originality of his works is based on adapting sources so that ordinary people can understand them. Each of his works aspired to become a poem about a religious figure comparable with the heroes of the epics. Berceo’s literature is narrative and reflects the beliefs, habits, and customs of the time, using simple language, the expression equidistant between educated and vulgar, with a concrete, everyday taste.
Berceo’s Works
- Marian poems – about the Virgin.
- Writings – lives of saints.
- Doctrinal.
His most important works are Miracles of Our Lady, Life of San Millan de Cogolla, Life of Santo Domingo de Silos, and Holy Life of Oria. Miracles… has an allegorical introduction and 25 separate episodes, miracles of the Virgin. The characters are devout.
Other Epics
Apollonius’s Book, The Book by Alexandre, and Poem of Fernando Gonzalez
Alfonso X El Sabio: The Scholar King
Alfonso X El Sabio
The historical significance of Alfonso X is due less to his politics and more to the importance of his cultural industries. The project is to make Castilian the language of communication of the three communities that lived together in Castilla: Christian, Jewish, and Muslim.
The School of Translators of Toledo
Founded by Archbishop Don Raimundo in the 12th century, the school of translators reached its apogee under the reign of Alfonso X, who promoted and transformed it to realize its vast encyclopedic project.
The Work of Alfonso X the Wise
The subjects are historical, scientific, and legal. Historical works include two chronicles renovating the genre: History and General History of Spain or Cronica General, both incomplete. The first starts with the life of Moses and is interrupted in the Arab invasion of the Peninsula.
The Great and General Estoria attempts to reconstruct history.
The work includes a scientific treatise on astronomy, “on celestial bodies.”
The legal literature – the legal code is based on Roman law.
Medieval Castilian Prose in the 14th Century
The prose production increases considerably with new translations from Arabic and historical chronicles. The picture is enriched with the appearance of the new genre of novels of chivalry, adventure books, and works of Don Juan Manuel.
During the 14th century, continuing the tremendous work carried out during the reign of Alfonso X, the rise of the historical genre is reflected in the most important chronicles of the period.