Spanish prose gained popularity in the mid-thirteenth century when
Alfonso X of Castile gave support and recognition to the writing form. He, with the help of his groups of intellectuals, directed the composition of many prose works including
Las siete partidas, the first modern book of laws of the land written in the people's language. Another work was
Estoria de España, which accounted for the history of Spain from the
Creation until the end of the reign of his father, San Fernando. For his direction of these works and many others he directed, Alfonso X is called the father of Spanish prose. His nephew,
Juan Manuel, Prince of Villena, is famous for his prose work
Tales of Count Lucanor, which is a
frame story: short stories within an overall story. In this work, the Conde Lucanor seeks advice from his wise counselor, Patronio, who advises by telling of stories. Juan Manuel also wrote lesser-known works such as
El libro de los estados on the social classes and
El libro del caballero y escudero on philosophical discussions. Toward the end of the Middle Ages, writer
Hernando del Pulgar (1436 – c.1490) created a new type of prose named the
verbal portrait. This form is demonstrated by Pulgar's work
Claros varones de Castilla in which he represents the detailed lives of twenty-four distinguished contemporaries. He explores their moral and psychological natures as well as physical traits. Pulgar was the official historian of Fernando and Isabel, the
Catholic Monarchs of Spain. This position gave him close encounters with the characters in this book, making the work realistic and detailed.
Mester de Juglaría Medieval Spanish poets recognized the
Mester de Juglaría as a literary form written by the minstrels (juglares) and composed of varying line length and use of assonance instead of rhyme. These poems were sung to uneducated audiences, nobles and peasants alike.
Cantar de Mio Cid is the oldest preserved
Spanish cantar de gesta The
epic poem Cantar de mio Cid was written about a real person, Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar ("
el Cid", c. 1043 – 1099), and recounts his battles, conquests, and daily life. The anonymous poet composed it around 1140, although the only remaining copy was copied by Per Abbat in 1207 and is currently housed in the
National Library of Spain. The poem narrates various parts of El Cid’s life: his first exile from King Alfonso VI, the military campaigns that lead to the conquest of Valencia, his daughters’ marriages to the princes of Carrión, and finally the restoring of his honor and position. This epic is considered realistic due to the closeness to historical events and accuracy of the details, even portraying correctly the areas in which Cid traveled and lived. Unlike other European epics, the poem is not idealized and there is no presence of supernatural beings. It has
assonance instead of
rhyme and its lines vary in length, usually between ten and twelve syllables, which makes it a type of
mester de juglaria. The epic is divided into three parts, also known as cantos.
Mester de Clerecía This Castilian narrative poetry known as the
mester de clerecía became popular in the thirteenth century. It is the verse form of the learned poets, usually clerics (hence the name 'clerecía'). These poets carefully counted the number of syllables in each line and strived to achieve perfect lines. The line form is the Alexandrine line (14 syllables) with consonantal rhyme in stanzas of four lines each. This form is also known as the
cuaderna vía "fourfold way" and was borrowed from France. It was popular until the late fourteenth century. Popular themes of these poets were Christian legends,
lives of saints, and tales from
classical antiquity. The poems were recited by villagers in public plazas. Two traits separate this form from the
Mester de Juglaría: didacticism and erudition. Castilian priest and poet
Gonzalo de Berceo was one of the greatest followers of the mester de clerecía. All of his works were religious; two of the most well-known are
Milagros de Nuestra Señora (about the miracles worked by
Mary, mother of Jesus) and
Vida de Santa Oria.
Shem Tob ben Isaac Ardutiel, called "Sem Tob de Carrión", a Jewish poet born towards the end of the thirteenth century, was very admired for his
Proverbios Morales. Fourteenth-century poet
Juan Ruiz, called the "Arcipreste de
Hita, used the cuaderna vía
in parts of his famous work Libro de buen amor
. He introduced sixteen-syllable lines. Milagros de Nuestra Señora Milagros de Nuestra Señora is a collection of poems written by Gonzalo de Berceo sometime between 1246-1252. The work begins with a prologue, then details 25 different miracles credited to
Virgin Mary. The stories are not original to Berceo but rather taken from manuscripts written in
Latin and translated into the
Spanish dialect, Riojan. Each story presents a takeaway moral for the reader and works to increase religious understanding, while the work broadly introduced the
Monasteries of San Millán de la Cogolla. == Lyric poetry of the Middle Ages ==