Medieval Castilian Literature: Epics, Lyric and Theater
Medieval Castilian Literature (SXI–SXV)
SXI–SXIII
Narrative
The minstrels, with epics, unveil the lives of heroes who stand out for their courage and bravery. The Cantar de Mio Cid is a sample of these epics in verse.
Mester de clerecía: told in verse are lives of saints and praises to the Virgin. Gonzalo de Berceo is a representative author of this tradition.
Prose
The first manifestations of prose open a new field of literature: historiography. Alfonso X, “the Wise,” is a key figure in this development.
Theater
Religious celebrations around Christmas gave rise to popular representations of scenes from the birth of Jesus. This is the origin of theater. A representative work of this period is The Order of the Magi.
Lyric
The first manifestations of lyric are short popular songs (albadas, dawns, jarchas, etc.) that the minstrels transmitted orally; popular pieces were often not considered worthy of being written down. As a result, few records were kept of these events.
SXIV
Narrative
Mester de clerecía: narrative poems with moralizing intent. New stanzas are interspersed in the narrative with lyrical, popular, satirical, and learned elements. The Book of Good Love by the Archpriest of Hita is a notable example.
Prose
The prose of the century reflects the legacy of Alfonso X. A concern arises for moralizing and didactic works: for example, the works of Don Juan Manuel (El Conde Lucanor).
Theater
From The Order of the Magi—theatrical representations of liturgical origin and religious subjects—until the appearance of Juan del Encina in the 15th century, there is a long vacuum in theatrical production.
Lyric
The lyrical character remains popular, anonymous, and oral. Learned authors show little interest in this popular literature, but they include refrains and jingles in their narrative poems. Later these pieces were compiled in songbooks for the 15th–16th centuries.
SXV
Narrative
Old ballads (romances) persist—epic compositions that form epic-lyric hybrids. Narrative evolves into novels that recount the fantastic adventures of knight-errants, and into the sentimental novel of courtly love (e.g., Carcel de Amor).
Theater
Juan del Encina introduced profane elements into theater. At the end of the century, La Celestina was published, which represents the first modern classic of Spanish literature.
Sources of Castilian Lyric
- Galician-Portuguese lyric: valued for its musical qualities.
- Cantigas: cantigas de amigo, cantigas de amor, and mocking songs or maldizer.
- Mozarabic lyric: the cultivated form called muwassahat; the final short stanzas are called jarchas.
- Thematic of jarchas: love.
- Mester de clerecía: author known; aims to teach and indoctrinate through stories. Its source is the accumulated knowledge in libraries. It is written and often has a religious nature, with themes on the Virgin and virtuous heroes. It uses four-line stanzas with Alexandrine verses (cuaderna vía). Metaphors, symbols, allegories, and irony are common.
- Mester de juglaría: anonymous; aims to entertain and inform. Sources are oral epics, historical deeds, and love poems. It is characterized by predominant irregularity, assonant rhyme, repetitions, and lexical formulas.
- Gonzalo de Berceo: the first Castilian poet known by name. He was born in the late 12th century and lived until 1264.
- Lives of Saints: the hero is a saint who stands out by his virtues. Examples include Vida de Santo Domingo de Silos, Vida de San Millán, and Vida de Santa Oria.
- Works of doctrinal character: The Sacrifice of the Mass, The Signs that Appear Before the Trial, and The Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence.
- Works on the Virgin: The Miracles of Our Lady and other Marian devotion texts.
Stylistic features: use of phrases and sayings, epithets, and comparisons. The lexis often belongs to agricultural and popular spheres; it appears as witness to what is recounted. There is frequent calling on the public to conclude the story or to participate casually. The tumbler or performer (jongleur/minstrel) was one of the figures associated with these performances.