Medieval Spanish Literature: 13th-15th Centuries

Posted on Feb 21, 2025 in English Studies

Mester de Clerecía

Mester de Clerecía refers to works of the 13th and 14th centuries. These works are characterized by:

  • Narrative, religious, or heroic character.
  • Moral or didactic intention.
  • Authors express their knowledge by referring to written sources.
  • Written in rhyme, regular meter, and the cuaderna vía (four-line stanza with a single rhyme).

They were used for reading individually or collectively and were conveyed by minstrels.

Anonymous Works of the 13th Century

In cuaderna vía:

  • The Book of Alexandre
  • The Book of Apolonius
  • The Poem of Fernán González

In couplets of short lines:

  • The Life of Saint Mary of Egypt

Gonzalo de Berceo

The first Castilian poet known by name. His works include:

  • Hagiographic works: Life of Saint Aemilianus, Life of Saint Dominic of Silos
  • Marian Works: Miracles of Our Lady
  • Doctrinal Work: The Sacrifice of the Mass

Miracles of Our Lady

Berceo exalts the figure of the Virgin as the savior of souls. The work includes an introduction and the Miracles (25 stories that exemplify the merciful action of Mary and her power of intercession before Christ). The Virgin is characterized in human terms: she is maternal, but also authoritarian and severe, punishing or relieving her devotees in distress.

Book of Good Love (14th Century)

The Archpriest of Hita presents an autobiography with a series of failed love affairs, usually involving a third party to mediate. Key episodes include Don Melón and Doña Endrina, which involves a mediator (Trotaconventos).

Structure: Unity through the protagonist (“I”) with digressions, moral exempla, allegorical and lyrical pieces.

Meaning: Ambiguous interpretation. The author states that his intention is to induce proper love and that examples are set *not* to be followed. There is parody and humor, but also serious parts.

Style: Popular language and use of proverbs, use of sexual euphemisms. Expressive resources: rhetorical questions, anaphora, antitheses, metaphors, etc.

Celestina’s Language: Characters adapt to the situation, expressing their thoughts using sentences (scholarly source) and sayings (reflecting the people’s thinking, providing humor to the work).

Romances

Anonymous narrative poems intended to be sung; orally disseminated, documented in the 15th century.

  • Old and new
  • Meter: Assonance rhyming in eight-syllable verses in pairs.
  • Themes: Epic, French-Carolingian, frontier, fictional, biblical, historical, etc.
  • Structure: Chronological, respecting the order of the narrative, but sometimes broken. Beginnings and endings *in medias res* (in the middle of things) and suspenseful. Narrator in first or third person.
  • Style: Use of singular verbs, archaisms, use of formulas, repetitions, and other resources (antithesis and enumerations).

Medieval Narrative Prose

  • End of the 12th century: Translations of the Bible.
  • Enxiemplos: 13th and 14th centuries, intended to offer Christian education to the people.
  • Early collections: Sendebar and Kalila and Dimna.

Alfonso X el Sabio

Castilian prose was consolidated thanks to him. His works include:

  • Historical: Estoria de España (History of Spain)
  • Legal: Siete Partidas (Seven-Part Code)
  • Scientific: Alfonsine Tables
  • Recreational: Book of Chess, Dice, and Tables

Don Juan Manuel

Nephew of Alfonso X, his works reflect his devotion to the Dominicans and his ambition to increase his economic and social power. The Count Lucanor (fifty-one enxiemplos). Parts II, III, IV: Cultured cases extolling the virtue of prudence. Part V serves as the conclusion of the work.

The Novel in the 15th Century

Fiction prose includes two great ideals of courtly society.

  • Chivalric Romance: Adventures of a knight-errant, heroism, fidelity to his lady, tests, and supernatural elements, interweaving plots. Example: *Amadis of Gaul*.
  • Sentimental Novel: Focuses on the emotional states of the characters; a love story with a tragic version of love, including letters and poems. Example: *Prison of Love* (Diego de San Pedro), originating in Giovanni Boccaccio’s *Fiammetta*; antitheses, paradoxes, and allegories.

Celestina

Work by Fernando de Rojas, in sixteen acts (Comedy of Calisto and Melibea, 1499) and 21 acts (Tragicomedy, 1502).

  • Genre: Drama or comedy in dialogue.
  • Structure: Dialogue, monologue, and asides.
  • Themes: Parody of courtly love, magic, mad love, sexual love, rebuke of moralizing or disillusioned and pessimistic vision of love.