If I could go back in time…I would fill up my heart with love, music and poetry like a troubadour…and my verses would conquer like a knight…
~ Rafael Lozano
This Unit will be about Spanish lyrical poetry and theater in the Middle Age. It is basically inspired by Spanish spoken literature from the 12th to the 15th century, referring to poetry, and to the 15th century referring to theatre. Aspects that can appear in that literature are: courteous love to a lady (platonic love) and love to God, idealization of the common world, honor versus vulgarity, virtues, fame, fortune, time, nature, heroism and glory, and a refined life in court. And questions to make could be: what were the literature and the music? What about those diverse cultures existing and living together in Spain at that time? What is fiction and what is reality in that literature? Europe was not the only place where all this was happening. Other continents were having their myths, too. Even in our present epoch, everyone receives a transmutation of all those thoughts. The Medieval World is one of our greatest dream makers. Amazing ideas, dreams, thoughts come to our imagination. Which one of us wouldn’t want to be a medieval hero in search of an adventure?
CURRICULUM PROCEDURE
This curriculum unit will focus on Spanish medieval literature, especially poetry and theatre. Influences and origins from other European countries as well as literature characteristics and aspects will also be a part of this unit: France, England, Germany and Italy including the Muslims who were present in Spain for over 740 years. Also Jewish reminiscences we are able to find. Many of these cultures had a lot of input to the medieval period. Literature will be the epicenter of my paper. I will consider the society, customs and literature focused on in Spain and their relation to all the other countries and cultures I mentioned above. Spain produced as an example “jarchas” in mozarabic language that Christians sang in Spanish territory conquered by the Arabs. Those love poems were completed by Jewish and Arabic poetry writers with short compositions called “moaxajas” and were written in classical Jewish as well as Arabic. The most autochthon Castilian form was the “villancico” sung by a choir, with religious content.
With my students, I plan to transform my classroom into a kind of medieval court. We will read and discuss specific topics of the medieval period and how they were developed even into our present structure in our modern world. I am a Spanish teacher and most of my students are Hispanic. We will work on the aspects of medieval life, society and literature. Selected readings will be an important part to complete this purpose. I will try to show native and original aspects in a bilingual way whenever it may be possible. Those historical settings and surroundings will be adjusted to our present society.
I teach the 9th to the 12th grade, so I will have to direct my unit to these students. I have predominantly Spanish native speaking students but I will make it understandable to other nonnative students, too. The literary aspect should be understood as well as the diverse phenomena occurring at that time. And finally, we shall perform a play or write a play in class. I will try to work together with my students and discuss common issues about poetry, theatre and about diverse poems and plays. After a background presentation and introduction, I would try to have a collaborative group so that we could be able to speak and discuss motives, passions, convictions, beliefs and influences that medieval authors had at that time. An important question could be: how have the events, traditions, habits and ideas of medieval times shaped our present world? Do we still have some reminiscences in our twenty first century? Are our current literature, philosophy and morality still influenced by those ideas? Do we still have those literature myths?
Lectures in bilingual versions will also be provided so that we can define reasons why love changed medieval culture and idealism or what were the main characteristics of life in court. It is also relevant to analyze the multicultural population living in Spain during that time. Students should be able to realize that Past-Present-Future is a continuum in our life and literature, and could we or should we recover some aspects from that society?
Because of multicultural students, it is of a high importance that a constant brainstorming of ideas and topics are present so that students can exchange them. And another important aspect is the interdisciplinary sense I will give. In this unit, other teachers are going to be involved in this Middle Age adventure with me, teachers belonging to other subjects such as: philosophy, to know what people believed about life and why they believed it; history, to know how people acted on what they believed; and art, to know how people showed their feelings and reactions to what they believed. But also English literature teachers can be participants so that we know what people said about what they believed, and music teachers are more than welcome to let the students know how medieval musicians played, sang and composed their texts and music.
Main Objectives
The main objective is to increase my students’ literary spirit. I want them to enjoy medieval reading as well as having a better knowledge about past cultures overseas. Let us give medieval spirit a chance and let us be a knight of our class table. The main objectives could be to define reasons why urban life was revitalized in the Middle Age.
I also want my students to develop ideas about how love changed medieval culture and idealism and to identify characteristics of life in court and their daily lives in castles. Important as well is to identify activities for entertainment for each social structure. According to our present society a very important factor is to analyze multicultural population living in Spain during the Middle Age. Regarding literature, students should be able to read and understand medieval texts, especially poetry and theater and to identify different types of Spanish traditional lyric and theatric forms. Because of focusing in poetry, students should analyze Romantic rela tionships. How was love considered then? And finally, all of us should be able to comprehend medieval spirit, belief and philosophy.
Objectives Referring to the Class Methodology
Here are several possible methodological objectives we would see in class: to show my Hispanic and multicultural students medieval aspects and trying to find in a reasonable way how far away those aspects are still in our society and which ones were lost. Could it be good to recover them? I consider important for my students to establish the habit of a weekly text reading from other epochs and literatures, so that they get more familiar with them and maybe it increases their reading desire. That would make them realize that Past-Present-Future is a continuum in our life and Literature. One of my goals is to promote in them a good research spirit; this will include reading, discussing and online resources as well as our Library facilities. And this would help us to offer possibilities of literary discussions and debates about other societies and their evolutions in class.
I wish also to include brainstorming with my class to produce a list of topics that the lords, monks, knights and ladies would write about in their daily lives including the following topics: Aspects required in a man to become a knight. How was a woman educated to become a Lady and her role at that time? The main role of a lord, his life, and his relation with his vassals. Characteristics required in monks to become writers, authors or copyists as well as aspects of a monastery where monks were living and writing.
After the teacher has introduced the different medieval aspects, books, texts and writers, useful activities to be done in class could include reading short texts, short stories and poems. Discussions and debates in groups as well as conferences with other teachers to create an interdisciplinary sense in my subject. Other teachers involved could be from subjects like history, geography, art, philosophy and music; this interdisciplinary approach could help to make students get involved in medieval literature to finally be able to be a part of a play developed by students. I would let students create visual diaries as well as written ones and to let them draw detailed pictures and written texts of the topics listed in the brainstorming session. And finally, we could study female aspects in the Middle Ages, how and why were women treated differently during those centuries and their roles in society and in politics.
This unit would be taught one time a week during one hour and a half, following my actual school schedule, in one semester. Each two weeks a new literary genre would be taught.
GENERAL OVERVIEW OF THE UNIT
Literary Theories
I will try to explain Spanish lyrical poetry in its popular as well as highbrow version. My main focus will be on Spanish traditional lyric. Spanish lyric is probably the oldest in Romanesque Europe since Samuel Stern discovered the jarchas (1948). We can talk about Spanish Medieval poetry from different perspectives and theories. Doing my research, I found especially interesting diverse theses or theories that want to show how our lyrical poetry came about during the eleventh century:
A)Theory based on Provencal poetry and their troubadours : some authors and philologists support this theory based on the emergent Provencal lyric in the 11th century in that part of France and their poets and poetical performers.
B)Theory based on Latin liturgy: some authors think that all medieval poetical production, including the native one that troubadours were performing, derives from the Latin rhythmical poetry which was developed around churches and universities. The poetry of the goliards (wandering students and clerics in medieval Europe disposed to conviviality, license, and the making of ribald and satirical Latin poems and songs, they often critiqued the church) was the most representative picture of this theory defended by authors like G. Meyer or A. Brickmann.
C)Arabic-Andalusian theory: the Arabic influence in Spanish literature is obviously not a secret, but it is a very interesting opinion because the jarchas were sung and recited during the end of the ninth century and the beginning of the tenth. We have written examples from the eleventh one (A. F. Schack, A. R. Nykl and E. Garcia Gomez).
Jarchas are little songs posted at the end of Arabic or Hebraic poems called moaxajas.
This genre was very popular in the Moslem Andalusian zone.
D)Castilian theory: after the discovery of the jarchas, authors like Menendez Pidal contended that Castilia was the spreading center of popular lyric. He based his theory on checking themes and metrics between Mozarabic jarchas and Castilian villancicos (Christmas carols). Carol is the villa song and in its origins it served to register the daily life of the towns. Even if the origin goes back to the 13th century, it was very spread out in Spain. In the 14th –15th centuries he did not even give importance to the fact that Castilian traditional lyric was not written in texts until the XV century because he based his research on spoken transmission. I will come back later to these carols because they still have a big influence in Spain as well in Latin America.
E)Galician theory: critics like P. Vázquez Cuesta or Ferreira da Cunha think that this is the oldest lyrical technique of Spain, it is called poesía gallego-portuguesa and the poetical poems or poetical forms are called Cantigas de amigo (from Galicia). These cantigas are perfectly documented. Those authors go even farther and say that Galician lyric was older than the Mozarabic one because of the deep popular tradition existing in that region and because of the cathedral of Santiago that made a lot of pilgrims come from other parts of Spain as well as from Europe. Those pilgrims made that region have its own Latin-ecclesiastic poetry and liturgical music.
F)Folkloric theory: through comparative lyrical studies done with the oldest lyrical forms in Europe - French refrains, German Frauenlieder and Cantigas de amigo from Galicia – authors like Th. Frings and L. Spitzer based their theories in the deep popular roots existing in Western European countries which may have a common lyrical background which more or less came out simultaneously. Those songs were sung by women based on the existing folklore and raised in festivals and during agricultural work. L. Spitzer also based his theory about the jarchas around this folkloric theory.
It is clear that in Spain as well as in Europe there were existing lyrical forms and performers.
In France the Trouvères, in Germany the Minnesingers, in Italy the Stilnovistas and in Spain and
a part of Northern of Portugal the Gallego-Portuguesa lyric co-existed. Latin was a big influence
in the majority part of them at the beginning and then each European place developed its own
form. A good example of it is Spain where different cultures Latin, Hebraic, Arabic, Galician,
Castilian and Catalan were not only living together but also sharing together folklore, poetry,
music and literature. A good reference to this is shown in J. L. Moralejo’s book Historia de las
literaturas hispánicas no castellanas.
Poetic-Lyric Classification in the Spanish Medieval ages (11th –15th centuries)
I will classify our Spanish poetical as well as lyrical work in one group based on a traditional or popular version and the other group based on a highbrow version:
1)Traditional lyric, assigned to a popular audience: people who could not write at all nor read or barely do it; that was the reason why it was transmitted in a spoken way. This is the one I will focus on and write about. We have three types of lyrical forms:
2)Highbrow poetry, which was in search of an urban and aristocratic audience; it tries to experiment and develop forms coming from other countries. I will only mention them here, but I will develop them in this unit.
• Canción neotrovadoresca (neo-troubadour song) represented by poetical song performers like Carvajales, Villasandino or Baena.
Traditional Lyric Forms
Jarchas
Jarchas are little songs posted at the end of Arabic or Hebraic poems (these were an imitation of the Arabic ones) called moaxajas. This genre was very popular in the Moslem Andalusian zone. Jarchas are brief songs sung by Christians that were included in the moaxajas by Arabic or Hebraic poets. Jarchas are composed in Mozarabic language, not in Castilian. This Romance language is the result of Latin spoken by Christians who lived in places occupied by Arabs. It disappeared as reconquerers were imposing the languages raised in the Northern parts of Spain (Leonese, Castilian, Aragonese, Catalan…).
The moaxaja is a genre invented by Moccada Ibn Moafa probably around the year 1042; he didn’t use the classical Arabic form qasida. The Arabian poets living in Al-Andalus (South-East part of Spain) made this native and unique poetical form consisting in inserting a romance strophe called markaz. By doing this, the rest of the poem became a special structure. This poetic form was promptly imitated by the Hebraic poets, too.
Others consider Muqaddam Ibn Muafá the inventor of the moaxaja (he died in 912).
This is very significant because classical Arabic poetry was used in popular Romance poetry. The moaxaja was used around three centurie s (middle of the 11th century - beginning of the 14th century). It was used especially by aristocratic poets with a more popular background.
The jarchas were, almost for sure, not invented by Arabic poets because they reflected a very different sensibility from the one they normally had in their daily life and philosophy (superiority of the Lady, service to love and joyful suffering). Jarchas would become later the poetic form called zéjel.
We will now see the structure of one of these lyric poems using Arabic and Spanish terms. A jarcha (Arabic word which means “exit”) starts with an introduction with verses that have “rima común” (common rime) called cabeza (head), then those verses are followed by several strophes called gusn completed or finished by a qufl or “cierre” which repeats the common rhyme. The last one can be written in Mozarabic dialect (a Romance language), or dialectal Arabic (only in modern versions we will see classical Arabic). It is called jarcha (exit) or markaz and it is the support axis and end of the moaxajas because it imposes the rhymes to each qufl. If the jarcha is written in Romance language it is written in aljamiado, which is a Romance language written in Arabic characters.
In this example we will see a moaxaja ending in a jarcha, which is written in Mozarabic:
Bienhaya la que, apurada
por la ausencia de su amigo
cuyo amor le quita el sueño
cual cruelísimo enemigo,
así a su madre le canta
dando a sus penas alivio. (Jarchas)
This first part of the moaxaja was written originally in Arabic (now written in Spanish). In these last four verses where the jarcha is located are Arabic words, which shows a mixture of languages. I have translated it: Welcome the one, pushed / by her friend’s absence / whose love takes her sleep away / like a very cruel enemy / sings so to her mother / giving relief to her sorrows:
Ya, mamma, me-w l-habibebais'e no más tornarade.Gar ké faréyo, ya mamma:¿No un bezyello lesarade? (Jarchas)
This is how Christians spoke in Arabic territory (Mozarabic language): Mother, my friend / leaves now and will never come back / Tell me, what will I do, mother: / Will he leave me, at least, a little kiss?
Villancicos
The term Villancico, also known as carol, is the diminutive of villano, indicating a peasant or inhabitant of a small village in medieval Spain. Poetic and musical villancicos were thus understood to be an expression of villano life and were composed with accordingly idyllic simplicity. The villancico was a poetic and musical form indigenous and unique to Iberia. Concretely it may start in Castile, which developed a recognizably distinct identity by the middle of the fifteenth century. During probably three centuries this poetic form was expressed orally until written documents found in the fifteenth century. It is an anonymous and popular composition with estribillo or refrain (the number of verses can vary from two to five) it was used in urban zones, especially during Christmas, but not exclusively, and it had also secular or profane themes.
The poetic villancico derives from two related sources: the earliest was the Arabic zéjel, which is a poem written entirely in vulgar Arabic in which the first strophe was preceded by a short poem or refrain of two lines. The last line in each strophe followed the rhyme of the refrain. From the zéjel descended a type of vernacular Spanish as well as Galician-Portuguese poetic form known as the Cantiga de estribillo (or cantiga de refram). Some authors think that the zéjel and the cantiga de estribillo, common in the fifteenth century, were most apparently similar in the occurrence of refrain or estribillo and strophes mudanza which included a second part, turns vuelta. Especially important was the estribillo. Gilbert Chase, author of The Music of Spain, indicates that it was emblematic of the villancico that its "basic pattern rested on the device of the initial refrain" and that otherwise there could be found much latitude in the construction of its verse. Others classified the villancico also in three parts called copla o estribillo, copla, vuelta o tornata.
The musical form of the Iberian villancico essentially concurs with its poetic form; it repeats a musically distinct refrain at the end of every strophe. Additionally, each musical verse, or strophe copla, is a musically recognizable entity. The classical villancico of the fifteenth century, written and sung, is composed in ternary form. It begins with the refrain (estribillo, sometimes known as the “head”), then follows with a strophe which is divided in two parts (often called the “feet”). The first part of the strophe mudanza has a different melody and rhyme than the refrain; the second part of the strophe vuelta repeats the melody and rhyme of the refrain. A repetition of the refrain concludes one cycle of the villancico, and begins the next.
Villancicos were by and large polyphonic, written for at least two voices, but frequently as many as four, often for solo singing with some variety of instrumental accompaniments. Already the villancicos of the fifteenth century treated religious themes in their texts, along with amorous, pastoral, historical, or jocular themes. That the early villancico grew from essentially popular and dramatic roots probably explains its association with religious festivals dealing with the Roman Catholic cult of saints. The poetry of villancicos, which commemorated the lives of saints and other religious figures, was often of a conversational or confessional tone, and, in performance, elicited unlimited opportunity for renewed dramatic rendition of a collective cultural heritage.
It is important is that the villancico was a significant development of European music and became a great feature in the musical landscape of Mexico and Guatemala and its development in the colonies constitutes one of the first truly American musical contributions. In both its secular and religious guises, the villancico successfully transmitted elements of culture from Spain to the colonies. In Latin America it developed more with its lively social perspective and device of parody. But originally a Christian vision was imposed during the colonization by the Spanish and the Portuguese colonizers.
Villancicos with a popular-secular content were already written during the twelfth to the fifteenth century by el Marqués de Santillana, Garci Sánchez de Badajoz, Alonso de Proaza, Juan del Enzina, Lucas Fernández, Pedro Manuel Ximénez de Urrea , and Juan Boscán de Almogaver . Villancicos with a religious and Christmas spirit were written by Nicolás Nuñez in the fifteenth century.
Let us see now one villancico, which has three parts; the first one is a choral part (toma o estribillo), the middle part (copla) and again the estribillo or refrain (vuelta o tornada). It is sung during Christmas time in Spain. I have translated it:
Dime, Niño de quién eres Tell me Child to whom you belong todo vestido de blanco. all dressed in white --Soy de la Virgen María I am from the Virgin Maria y del Espíritu Santo. and from the Holy Ghost.
Romancero
The Romancero it is one of the most representative poetic expressions of our Hispanic culture. Written in the 15th century, it was sung between the 12th, 13th and 14th centuries and transmitted as oral literature. The equivalent of romance is ballad; it is quite possible that Spain has the biggest, most abundant, most varied, and best conserved Romancero in all Europe.
Romances are short popular poems that narrate a story and are transmitted orally (probably over three centuries) as a short song. It is a verse composition, a narrative poem written in lines of sixteen syllables that adhere to one single assonance throughout. It is a poetic lyric-narrative form in verse. The poem is formed by an indefinite series of eight syllables verses, in which the even verses rhyme in assonant and the odd numbers don’t rhyme. Each verse was divided in two parts or hemistiquios (hemistiches) by a pause or cesura with only one assonant rhyme.
A collection of romances is called a romancero; in Spanish there are thousands. The poetical main body turns around epic poetry, large epic poems that told about heroic deeds; those epic poems were sung by juglares or jongleurs. He was a singing-poet who traveled from place to place to entertain people making his way by subsistence. Because thus type of ballad was very well accepted and the audience enjoyed it, the jongleurs began to write others in which they were talking about popular legends or bringing the news of events to the people. The main themes on that news were about the court or about the wars between Moors and Christians; it was a poetical way of information. They used also to interrupt the action, and like in a plot, it was a way to give more mystery to their narrations. A very important aspect here is that people, after listening to those narrative poems, memorized one part of it, normally the most dramatic or touching part; then those people or a person repeated the memorized part to others, and this is how it was orally transmitted. In the second half of the fourteenth century, the epic was declining; one of the epic missions was to keep the population and society close and united. So, we are going to see epic passages that have developed separately. The most memorable episodes will act independently and the most lyric and picturesque elements will be explained more precisely. The main characteristics that appear in almost each romancero are:
In the sixteenth and seventeenth century the romance became so popular, not only for the popular class but also for the highbrow, that they were collected and published in anthologies called romanceros. It means that highbrow poets began to write romances so that a “humble romance” that emerged in between humble people became a genre of cultured and refined literature.
We can attempt to outline generally the several types of the Spanish ballad, or romancero, as follows: those of spontaneous popular origin and early date; those based upon passages in the chronicles or cantares de gesta; folk-ballads of a relatively late date; those later ballads which were the production of conscious art. We can thus class Spanish ballads more broadly into:
A)Those of popular origin (traditional, oral transmission).
In that way we can classify “El Romancero” in the grouping of all the romances that have been written from the 14th century to the present time:
a) The old romancero: it is formed by all the composed anonymous romances from the 14th century to the 16th centuries. b) The new romancero: it is formed by all the romances new or artistic writings by cultured and known authors from the second half of 16th century.
Following the subjects or themes they treated, we can classify them as:
1. Historical (históricos): about medieval Spanish history; the most popular are: King Rodrigo (El rey Rodrigo): the last Spanish Gothic king, who allowed the Arab invasion. Bernardino the Carpio and Fernán González (Bernardo el Carpio y Fernán González): heroic vassals Seven Infants of Lara (Los siete infantes de Lara): history of revenge between two families. The Cid (El Cid): probable the most famous cycle of romances, it is the great epic of medieval Spain. It chronicles the life and feats of Rodrigo (or Ruy) Diáz de Vivar, a commander under King Alfonso VI of Castile in the eleventh century. Diáz de Vivar fought for Alfonso against the Moors, fought for the Moors against Alfonso, and reconquered the Kingdom of Valencia for himself in the eleventh century; he ruled there until his death. Even his title, El Cid Campeador, reflects his conflicting loyalities: "El Cid" is a Moorish title of respect, from Arabic al sayyid "Lord;" "Campeador" is Spanish for "Champion." There are several sources for the story of the Cid; Robert Southey's 1637 edition entitled The Chronicle of the Cid is based on the Chronica del Famoso Cavallero Cid Ruydiez Campeador (1552 and 1593), La Cronic de España, and what he calls Poema del Cid, an anonymous poem (c. 1207) preserved at Vivar. El Cid became a movie in 1961 with Charlton Heston as the main actor.
Like other historical tales whose heroes become the stuff of legends, poems, and ballads, the story of the Cid acquired fantastical details over the centuries. His exile, ordered by King Alfonso VI, is the most famous legend never written in Spanish literature and still today some facts are still unclear or unresolved. Was it reality or was it a legend? Was it one of the national heroes invented by the people because they were searching for unity against the enemy? Let us speculate…but let us also enjoy the romance.
I will show a significant part of the text; it is a transcription in a manuscript from a monk called Per Abbat who copied it in the sixteenth century (conserved in the Biblioteca Nacional). There are opinions that consider him as the real author. We will see first a version in Old Spanish (Old Castilian) and then modern Spanish, translated by myself, like all the other translations, too:
Mio Çid Roy Díaz por Burgos entrove,
En sue compaña sessaenta pendones;
exien lo ver mugieres e varones,
burgeses e burgesas por las finiestras sone.
De las sus bocas todos dizían una razóne:
"Dios, que buen vassallo, si oviese buen señore!"
Ya entra el Cid Ruy Díaz por El Cid Ruy Díaz is already entering in Burgos; Burgos;
sesenta pendones le acompañan. sixty banners accompany him. Hombres y mujeres salen a verlo, Man and women go out to see him, los burgaleses y burgalesas se the natives of Burgos show up at their asoman a las ventanas: todos afligidos y llorosos. all are distressed and weeping windows De todas las bocas sale el mismo From all mouths comes out the same
lamento: lament: “¡Oh Dios, qué buen vasallo “Oh God, what a good vassal if he si tuviese buen Señor!” (Victor) would have a good lord! (King)”
¡Quién hubiera tal ventura Who would have such an adventure sobre las aguas del mar on the waters of the sea como hubo el infante Arnaldos like the one the infant Arnaldos had la mañana de San Juan! the morning of San Juan! Andando a buscar la caza Going to look for hunting para su falcón cebar, to fatten his falcon, vio venir una galera he saw coming a galley que a tierra quiere llegar; that wanted to come to land; las velas trae de sedas, it brings the sails of silks,
la jarcia de oro torzal, the rope gold rigging,áncoras tiene de palta, it has anchors of palta (avocado),tablas de fino coral. planks of fine coral.Marinero que la guía, The sailor who guides it,diciendo viene un cantar, comes singing a song (poem),que la mar ponía en calma, that puts the sea in calm,los vientos hace amainar; makes the winds lessen;los peces que andan al hondo, the fishes that are in the depth,arriba los hace andar; makes them arise;las aves que van volando, the birds that are flying,al mástil vienen posar. (Santos) come to pose on the mast.
Que por mayo era, por mayo, It was around May, around May,cuando hace la calor, when it is hot,cuando los trigos encañan when the wheat grows (caned up)y están los campos en flor, and the fields are in blossom,cuando canta la calandria when the calandria bird (thekla) singsy responde el ruiseñor, and the nightingale responds,cuando los enamorados when loversvan a servir al amor; are going to serve the love;sino yo, triste, cuitado, but I am sad, full of grief,que vivo en esta prisión; living in this prison;que no sé cuándo es de día in which I do not know when it is dayni cuándo las noches son, nor when are the nights,sino por una avecilla but by a small birdque me canta al albor. which sings to me in the dawn.Matómela un ballestero; A crossbowman killed it;déle Dios mal galardón. (Santos) Make God give him a bad reward.
The evolution and development of the romancero is not only limited to Spain. Spanish people took it with them wherever they went. In Hispanic speaking countries like Mexico, the “corridor,” is a type of romance; these Mexican corridos use rhythms typically from Mexico. There are also religious romances, like those that tell about Jesus’ birth, which are sung during Christmas time like the Christmas carols in the United States. And the romancero has developed in a new form of diverting young children and kids, not only on books, also on TV and movie theaters.
Spanish Medieval Theater
Liturgical Drama
It is important to say that in this part I will generalize aspects of Europe’s theatre as well as the Spanish one; some aspects were normally imported from countries like France, Italy (the Latin tradition) or England. Once the classical theatre was removed by Christian authors (but not the language), let us start with the theory that says that the Christian-catholic church tried to expand its influence and for that it adapted frequently pagan and popular festivals, a lot of those having already theatrical elements. This takes us back to the 10th century, concretely to the year 925 where a small liturgical piece was found and it is supposedly the origin of the liturgical drama. It is the moment where the three Maries are talking between them in Christ’s tomb. It was a composition of three verses with a small dialog. In the year 970 that little piece had a handbook with annotations including physical gestures and dressing codes. The mess itself was not that far to be represented as a drama. Festivities were celebrated with theatrical activities such as processions like Palm Sunday. Psalms also were suggesting certain type of dialog. That little piece is considered an Eastern trope.
The Spanish medieval theater is linked with the Christian liturgy. In the 11th Century the tropo (trope), a phrase or verse added as an embellishment or interpolation to the sung parts of the Mass in the Middle Ages, were texts which finality was to embellished and help the listener to understand better the liturgy. It is considered as a figure of speech, a form of expression (as a simile or metaphor) used to convey meaning or heighten effect often by comparing or identifying one thing with another that has a meaning or connotation familiar to the reader or listener. Those tropos were added to the complex musical elements of the mess, they were extended melodies to create little dialoged scenes like the Latin Quem quaeritis where the apostles are visiting the Holy sepulcher of Christ’s resuscitated. Castile had those tropes in the 12th or 13th Century, but there are few examples. In the 14th century tropes began to be incorporated also in vulgar language and they moved from the inside of the church to the outside, normally to streets or public squares, so that it was represented and available for more people. It was then when the nomination of tropo changed to auto; it was the auto sacramental (sacramental act) performed outdoors as part of the Corpus Christi feast day celebrations, autos were short allegorical plays in verse dealing with some aspect of the mystery of the Holy Eucharist. Generally they explained and tried to embellish Christ’s life (Holy Birth, Passion and the arrival of the Three Wise Men).
In short we can say that the liturgical drama is a little play of one of Christ’s episode adapted to the mess ceremony. Later it would be extended to saints’ lives too.
Religious Drama
The liturgical drama developed for two more centuries and altar boys and normally young people from the choir were representing different biblical stories in church. In the beginning the clothes used were the once wearied normally at church for the mess celebration and the original architectonical forms inside the church were also used as scenery. But this changed and the scenery was adapted to show some particular biblical scenario like Eden’s garden, Jerusalem or Heaven; in between there was a neutral area used by the actors to represent the scene. The entire evolution of Christ’s life was performed as well as other themes like the Creation. In the main nave there was the scenario arranged for the correspondent scene, on the altar it was the heaven and on the other opposite side it was represented the hell, normally by a monster with a big mouth. The plays were episodes and the action was played including hundreds or thousands of years, different places were represented at the same time so that the environment had a big spiritual, allegorical and temporary load. Important here is to know that the medieval drama had not always that tension and conflict than the Greek tragedy; the purpose was to dramatized human salvation.
The entertainment and spectacle was taken outside church because of popular request and also because the Church wanted to get new members and believers, and this was a good method to make illiterate and uncultured people to understand better their mission on Earth. So in the cities and villages there was done a lot of performances in the streets and market’s squares were people could go, watch and hear the actors performing. Without undoing the main religious intentionality and content, this theatrical performance would become slowly a more secular spirit.
El Auto de los Reyes Magos
This play called “El Auto o Representación de los Reyes Magos” was written at the end of the twelfth century or the beginning of the thirteenth and it is the first preserved theatrical play or fragment written completely in Castilian. Here we can see the characteristics of the Spanish Liturgical as well as religious drama. It is incomplete, the five scenes have 147 verses, and the verses have different measures. There are monologs as well as dialogs in which we can see how the Magi decide to go to worship Jesus as he was born. The last part is missing, it should be the one in which the Magi adore Jesus.
We are going to see some parts of that sacramental play; they belong to Scene I and Scene II where the Magi or three Wise Men are the main characters. This text is based on an early manuscript of the “Auto de los Reyes Magos”. It is the only fragment left to us, not only of this piece, but from the medieval Spanish theater. The text is taken from that edited by Ramón Menéndez Pidal and published by him in the Revista de Archivos, Bibliotecas y Museos (Madrid, 1900). I am doing the translation here too: on this web page by Harsch we can see not only the text but also the manuscript, <http://www.fhaugsburg.de/~harsch/hispanica/Cronologia/siglo12/Magos/mag_f.html>:
Scene I
(Gaspar speaks)
Dios criador, qual marauila Creator God, what a miracleno se qual es achesta strela! I do not know what this star is!Agora primas la e ueida, It is now the first time I have seen it,poco timpo a que es nacida. it was born short time ago.Nacido es el Criador The Creator is bornque es de la gentes señor? the one who is the Lord of people?Non es verdad non se que digo, It is not true…I don’t know what I say,todo esto non uale uno figo; all of this is not a fig worthotra nocte me lo catare, at another night I may take a sample,si es uertad, bine lo saber. If it is true, I will know it for sure.Bine es uertad lo que io digo? Is it real truth what I am saying?en todo, en todo lo prohio. in all of it, in all of it I can affirm it.Non pudet seer otra sennal? May it not be another sign?Achesto es I non es al; This is what it is and nothing elsenacido es Dios, por uer, de fembra born is god, in truth, of a womanin achest mes de december. in this month of December.
(Scene II)
(Gaspar to Baltasar)
Dios uos salue, senior; sodes uos strelero? May God save you Sir; are you an astrologer?
| dezidme la uertad, de vos sabelo quiro | tell me the truth, I want to know it from |
| you | |
| [vedes tal marauilla?] | did you see such a miracle? |
| [nacida] es una strela. | a star is born. |
| (Baltasar) | |
| Nacido es el Criador, | Born is the Creator, |
| que de las gentes es señor | who is the Lord of people. |
| Ire, lo aorare | I will go and worship him. |
| (Gaspar) | |
| Io otrosi rogar lo e. | I am also going to beseech Him. |
| (Melchior, to the other two) | |
| Seniores, a qual tirra, o que [redes] andar? | Sirs, to what country, or what way are |
| we | |
| going? | |
| queredes ir conmigo al Criador rogar? | Do you want to go with me to beseech |
| the | |
| Creator? | |
| Auedes lo ueido? Io lo uo [aor]ar. | Have you seen it? I am going to worship |
| Him. | |
| (Gaspar) | |
| Nos imos otrosi, sil podremos falar. | We are going too and see if we can find |
| him | |
| Andemos tras el strela, ueremos el logar. | Let us go behind the star, we will see the |
| place. | |
| (Melchior) | |
| Cumo podremos prouar si es homne mortal | How will we able to tell if he is a mortal |
| man | |
| o si es rei de terra o si celestrial? | or if He is a King of earth or of heaven? |
| LESSON PLANS | |
| Lesson Plan I | |
| Overview and Purpose |
I use this activity to stimulate the interest of students in learning about language in relation to literature, semantic and lexical influences as well as evolutions in Spanish language. It can be used in Spanish language class, also literature and even for performing arts. This lesson plan is done with Mr. M. Thompson, a World History teacher. We have tried to work on historical as well as linguistic skills.
Concept Development
Explain to students the following:
• Medieval Spain was a battlefield where Christians attempted to regain control from the Moors, who had invaded their country before the 8th century. The Moors influence on Spain during the Middle Ages is still very evident. More than 4000 words of Arabic origin are used in modern Spanish Moorish architecture (slender, columns, horseshoe, arches, etc.) can be found in Spain. A dark era in Spain’s medieval history took place with the establishment of the Spanish Inquisition in 1480. Inquisitors were prohibiting everything that was against the faith, religious and political system, too. Especially touched were those suspected of being heretics and false converts from the Jewish and Muslim faiths.
Objectives
Students will be able to:
• When students have completed their research, writing, costumes and set, have them present the play. The play is to show how the events of medieval Spain affected social life.
This lesson should take 6 hours of class time.
This lesson plan was developed with Mr. Garza, an English teacher, and it is about The Middle Ages and Spanish Poetry.
Objectives
Background
Students will be lectured about Medieval Western Europe specifically about major figures of the time as well as religious attitudes and political and social institutions.
Students will also be lectured about the core elements of poetry and poetry analysis—structure, point-of-view, imagery, symbolism, mood, tone, and theme.
Procedures/Steps
The instructor will provide information on a Spanish poet of the Middle-Ages and model poetry analysis using a specific poem of the poet and a step-by-step format to follow.
Students will be assigned at least two poems by the same poet to analyze. The class as a whole will then go over the assigned poems.
Students will be instructed to find a partner within the class to work with and will select a poet and one of the poet’s works to research and conduct a brief presentation on the poet’s life and to lead the class into analysis of a selected poem.
After each presentation has been completed, the instructor will lead a discussion on issues and themes revealed through the analysis of selected poems and how the poems and poets reflect the essence of the era.
Students will develop an outline and compose an essay on the following topic using their analysis for support: How does Spanish poetry of the Middle Ages reflect the attitudes and beliefs of the era?
Time
This lesson should take 11 to 12 hours of class time.
This lesson plan was done with Mr. Sliva, our Geography teacher. We focus here more on society and statistics as well as community and documentation in the Spanish Medievo. It was a challenge for both, because it goes a little bit far away from our main teaching subject, but it was a good interdisciplinary work, and worth it.
Medieval Society in Spain
Key Words
The Middle Ages, history, society, community functions
Subject
History-Sociology-Language
Aims - Objectives
Defining the basic structure of medieval society in Spain and its reflection in documents dating back to the Middle Ages. Instructing students into various working techniques to increase their own learning. The level of the documents is chosen in accordance with the level of the group.
Demands on students and used teaching methods
Skills in team work, skills in analyzing and interpreting Spanish medieval pictures and statistics. Cooperative learning, teamwork and investigative learning.
Lesson Organization and Procedure
Some basic material should be compiled before the lessons. Medieval pictures from old Spanish calendars could serve as an introduction to the Middle Ages. The pictures should contain scenes from everyday life, different professions and classes. There should also be demographic statistics. A few text documents that describe Spanish medieval society should be used.
During the first lesson the students study medieval pictures in groups and on the basis of them, try to build images about Spanish Medieval society. Every group prepares a short presentation based on the pictures.
In the next stage the students get acquainted with medieval documents tackling Spanish society structures. Then they compare the images based on the pictures with those based on the texts of the documents given, thus extending their knowledge of the period. Every group reports on their basic observations to the teacher. After that the students compare notes, two groups at a time.
In the next stage all basic information concerning society in the Spanish Middle Ages is written on notes and then on the blackboard.
During the second lesson students are provided with demographic statistics in Spain at that time, and they should be able to interpret the changes observed in them. Once the changes have been analyzed, the students ponder on their impact on society. They can use their textbooks.
Main Goal
The students have to cooperate a lot with other members of the group, as well as mould their own opinions on the basis of the documents in Spanish, which develops their argumentation skills and reasoning. There can be many different correct answers if they are well substantiated with data from the sources.
Continuous observation on part of the teacher and feedback at different stages, review and worksheet.
Two class periods.
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Chase, Gilbert. The Music of Spain. New York, NY: Dover Publications, 1959. This is a revised and enlarged version of the first edition published in 1941. Fully indexed with photos and illustrations the author explains the origins, development and influence of Spanish music.
Harsch, Ulrich. Auto de los Reyes Magos. 2003. Bibliotheca Augustana. Fh-Augsburg.de. 5 July 2005. <http://www.fh-augsburg.de/~harsch/hispanica/Cronologia/siglo12/Magos/mag_f.html>. Example of the first theatrical play in Castilian-Spanish, also available the manuscript
Jarchas. Penn University. 3 March 2005. <http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/romance/spanish/219/03alandalus/jarchas.html> Example of Jarcha (Spanish poetic form)
Saez, Jose Luis. ¿Qué es un villancico? 2004. Terra.es. 4 March 2005. <http://www.terra.es/personal/7sietes/queesvillancico.htm> Example of Villancico (Christmas Coral)
Santos, Posada Mariano. El Romancero. 1997-1999. M.E.C. 5 March 2005. <http://roble.pntic.mec.es/~msanto1/lengua/1romance.htm> Example of romances (border or Moorish, legendary and lyrical)
Victor, M. Y. El Cid. 1998. Answers.com. 5 March 2005. <http://www.answers.com/main/source_info_frames.jsp?sourceURL=http://web.jet.es/vliz/cid.htm&imageURL=h ttp://www.answers.com/main/content/img/webpics/elcid.jpg&imgSrcURL=http://web.jet.es/vliz/cid.gif&flavor=A C> Example of the romance El Cid
Supplemental Resources
Carnes, Pack. Proverbia in Fabula. Essays on the Relationship of the Fable and the Proverb, Volume 10. New York: Peter Lang, 1988. We can see works of Paremiology and how the paremiologists relate the refrain with short stories.
Collins, Roger. Early Medieval Europe, 300-1000. 2nd edition. NewYork: Palgrave Macmillan, 1999. Classic textbook about early medieval Europe, it examines how socials, political, economical and structural of Antiquity were replaced by their medieval equivalents. How Catholics and Christians were living with the emerging empire of the Islam in Europe from the fall of the Roman Empire through to the end of the tenth century.
Corbishley, Mike. The Middle Ages. New York: Facts on File, 1990. Maps, charts, illustrations, and text explore the history and culture of the Middle Ages.
Corrick, James A. The Early Middle Ages. San Diego, CA: Lucent Books, 1995. Provides an overview of the early Middle Ages in Europe from approximately 500 to 1500
---. The Late Middle Ages. San Diego, CA: Lucent Books, 1995. Gives a history of the Middle Ages with a focus on documentation and primary source quotations.
Geary, Patrick. Before France and Germany: The Creation and Transformation of the Merovingian World. New York, Oxford University Press, 1988. Conceptions of European history to present the Merovingian period (ca. 400-750) as an integral part of Late Antiquity. Mapping the complex interactions of a volatile era, tracing the Romanization of barbarians and the barbarization of the Romans, which made these populations indistinguishable.
Harper, James. Revelations of the Medieval World. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1995. The focus of this site is the Renaissance, researching the time period before the one being studied is valuable. We can read about revelations in the chapters “The Middle Ages,” “Town and Country,” and “Houses of God.” There is a graphical layout. Within each chapter there is a six-page gatefold that reveals a reconstruction of a historical place or event in its entire medieval original splendor.
Howarth, Sarah. What Do We Know about the Middle Ages? New York, NY: Peter Bedrick Books, 1995. An overview of daily life in the Middle Ages.
---. See Through History: The Middle Ages. New York: Penguin Books, USA Inc., 1993. In The Middle Ages, as with others on this time period, the researcher will find connections to the Renaissance. The contrasting aspects of the medieval world from everyday life to art, war, and religious belief are revealed in stunning see-through cutaways combined with authoritative text about a water mill, a castle, an abbey, and a street
scene.
Janson, H. W. History of Art. 2nd edition, New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1971. Excellent reproductions of the art described and discussed. Art history is very important. It can be useful to understand medieval art.
Jeep, John M. Medieval Germany: An Encyclopedia. New York: Garland Pub, 2001. Nearly 650 alphabetically arranged entries cover German- and Dutch-speaking Europe from A.D. 500 to 1500. Articles cover major persons, places, historical occurrences, artistic and technological accomplishments, intellectual developments, and daily life.
Laird, Paul R. Towards a History of the Spanish Villancico. Warren, Michigan: Harmonie Park Press, 1997. A book that show us how textual concordances have been applied to villancicos’ studies.
Langley, Andrew. Medieval Life. 1st American Edition. New York: Knopf, Distributed by Random House, 1996. An illustrated look at various aspects of life in medieval Europe, covering everyday life, religion, and other medieval aspects.
Macauly, David. Castle. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1977. The author traces the step-by-step planning and construction of both castle and town. He has also another book dedicated where he writes and illustrates about cathedrals (1973).
McKitterick, Rosamond. The Early Middle Ages: Europe 400-1000. London: Oxford University Press, 2001. A book that gives us information from Byzantium and the Arabs, Norway and England, the peasantry, the economy in Western Europe, religion (Jews, heretics and pagans), Spain and the Carolingian Renaissance.
Moralejo, J. L., Literatura Hispanolatina, s.V-XVI. Historia de las Literaturas Hispánicas no castellanas Ed. Diez Borque, Madrid, 1980. 19-130. Great source where we can see other Spanish literatures from different epochs and languages spoken in Spain, except the Castilian ones.
Neubecker, Ottfried, and others. Heraldry - Sources, Symbols and Meaning. London: Tiger Books International, 1997. A book that talks about Heraldry, Symbols and their meanings. It can be useful to understand Middle Age system of symbols.
Pidal, Ramón Menéndez. Revista de Archivos, Bibliotecas y Museos. Madrid, 1900. The text of the play “Auto de los Reyes Magos”is taken from that edited by Ramón Menéndez Pidal and published by him in this magazine.
Roehrich, Lutz & Mieder Wolfgang. Sprichwort. Stuttgart: J. B.Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1977. Based in German tradition, this book is very useful to know about refrains in general, aspects like definition, history, linguistic and social themes are analyzed.
Singer, Samuel. Sprichwoerter des Mittelalters. Berna, Verlag Herbert Lang & Cie, 1944. First European repertoire about European refrains including Latin tradition. Interesting here is that each refrain is analyzed semantically following its time and local evolution.
Fry, Plantagenet Somerset. History of the World. London: Dorling Kindersley, 1994. Great book for an overview of the main events in world history, continent by continent, year by year. Includes a 15-page fully illustrated reference section and glossary, and a comprehensive index. Written by an expert in world history, supported by an international team of historians.
Adams, Michael. Glosary of Medieval Terms. 1988. M.S.U.S. 11 January 2005. <http://cal.bemidji.msus.edu/History/mcmanus/ma_gloss.html> Glossary of Medieval Terms
Edsall, Lynette K. Internet Sources for Medievalists. 1996. C.U.A. 12 January 2005. <http://www.cua.edu/www/hist/netserf/home.htm> Internet Connection for Medieval Resources
Halsall, Paul. Internet Medieval Sourcebook. Fordham Univ. 1996. 14 January 2005. <http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/sbook.html> Medieval Sourcebook
Gonzalez Alberte Antonio. Retorica medieval cristiana. Malaga Univ. 18 January 2005. <http://www.anmal.uma.es/anmal/numero6/Alberte.htm> Medieval Christian rhetoric
Moheno von der Walde, Lilian. Hispanomedievalismo. Recursos en línea. 2003. 25 January 2005. <http://www.waldemoheno.net/recursos.html> Hispanic-Medievalist aspects, online resources
Castle Explorer. CD-Rom, DK Multimedia, 1996. A medieval experience featuring the illustrations of Stephen Biesty and recreated 3D rooms. They provide a wealth of information about life in 14th-century feudal Europe. CD 940.1 CAS
Decisions, Decisions: Feudalism. CD-Rom. Tom Snyder Productions, 1996. This is a role playing software package that mixes computer software, background information booklets, and pencil and paper to create a dynamic cooperative learning environment.
Castle Explorer. CD-Rom. Dorling Kindersley, New York, NY 1996 A medieval learning adventure featuring the acclaimed illustrations of Stephen Biesty. What was it like to live, work, eat, sleep, fight, and play in the mighty feudal fortresses that loomed over the landscape of 14th century Europe? 10 scrolling panoramas, 4 fully rendered 3D environments, 5 full-motion-video live-action characters, 30,000 words of text, more than 3 hours of audio, and more than 80 3D objects.
Castle. PBS Home Video / Turner Video, 1983. In live-action documentary sequences, host David Macaulay leads viewers on a tour of these ancient fortresses with their restored interiors. A colorful and detailed animated story dramatizes medieval life and the exciting siege of Macaulay's castle. He explains the castle's cultural and sociological and architectural significances. VHS 723 CAS.
The Middle Ages. Thousand Oaks, CA: Goldhil Home Media International, 2001. Castles, cathedrals, nobility, knights in shining armor, witches, dungeons, gothic splendor and almost constant war. The Middle Ages spanned the time from around 500 A.D. to 1400 A.D. VHS 940 MID.