• What is medieval literature?
• Characteristics of medieval literature
• Medieval literature themes
• Works and authors of medieval literature

We explain what medieval literature is, its common themes and other characteristics. Also, the most important authors and works.

Medieval literature is marked by Christianity.

What is medieval literature?

The literature medieval groups the set of written artistic productions of Europe dating back to the thousand years that the Middle Ages, the historical period between the fall of the Roman empire in the 5th century and discovery of America in the fifteenth century, and characterized by the emergence of a feudal society agrarian.

The Middle Ages was a long and complex period, traditionally called obscurantism, since the margins of literacy and distribution of literate culture in Europe fell dramatically compared to the Antiquity and especially with the later Renaissance. The spirit of the time was religious, and Christianity reigned in European culture, imposing faith and values dogmatic above any other point of view.

Consequently, medieval literature presents a marked predominance of religiosity and mystical literature, as well as the exploration of local stories and mythologies in a Christian key. Bestiaries, hagiographies, mystical poetry, hymns, and liturgies were the genders predominant, although towards the end of the period the novel emerged, anticipating the immense cultural changes that came with the Renaissance in the 15th century.

However, it is difficult to speak of the literature generated in an entire continent throughout ten centuries of history as if it were a single thing, and that is why "medieval literature" is a generic and panoramic title that has limited utility. Medieval literary works often respond more to his context geographical, political and cultural appearance, than the total of the time.

Characteristics of medieval literature

From a very broad perspective, medieval literature is characterized by the following:

• It can be classified into two parts: religious literature, emanating from the Church and the world of Christian culture, and profane literature, less abundant, emanating from the people.
• It presents an absolute predominance of Christian values ​​in its different forms of literature, from lyrical to narrative. This sometimes implies a direct reference to Christ or the Gospel, or sometimes a more or less covert symbolism, in which the traditional imagery of the Celtic, Germanic and Anglo-Saxon peoples, for example, was often “Christianized”.
• Anonymous texts abound, especially in secular literature, with various versions coming from the tradition popular oral. Often this is due to the dynamics of ecclesiastical censorship or control that existed on the texts, since the popular masses were illiterate and the circulation of the written word was very restricted.
• In contrast, many of its well-known authors were ecclesiastical fathers, nuns, or priests, whose works explored concepts of theology, philosophy, liturgy or veiled criticisms were made of the Church itself.
• His works present an important mark of orality, since they were often read to his audience, rather than read silently, and this translates into an important predominance of the verse, since it facilitates the memorization of the lines.
• On the other hand, didacticism was an important trait in this literature, so that it was accompanied by a moralizing, educational spirit.
• Initially it was composed entirely in Latin, but as the centuries progressed it began to be written in vernacular languages. Both medieval English and French had their moment of glory as the language of medieval letters, while Spanish had its peak towards the end of the period, during the Baroque.
• The most cultivated genera were the drama (the sagas), the fable, the lyric and, towards the end of the Middle Ages, the novel.

Medieval literature themes

In chivalric books Christian armies fought against other religions.

The great themes of medieval literature can be summarized in the following points:

• The books of chivalry. The struggle of the Christian forces against the Islam or against the heretical remains of religions Ancient Europeans had their representation in the feats of chivalry, in which the archetype of the hero more or less repeated a series of initiatory milestones in a journey full of symbols.
• Courteous love. The romance between ordinary citizens, especially between loving shepherds, abounded in the Middle Ages, especially in secular literature. These types of love affairs used to be intense, poetic and platonic, and were related in verses and songs.
• The poetry mysticism. Verses about religious experience or love for the Lord, under which declarations of love to third parties were often disguised, especially in the case of priests, nuns or impossible loves.
• Hagiography. The lives of the saints, related from a pedagogical point of view, as an example to follow.
• The bestiaries. These were books close to the zoological atlas, in which fiction had an important place, since animals were explained morally instead of scientifically. Thus, many were emblems of certain sins, while others appeared as emissaries of God, taken from different acts of chivalry or from the Christian Gospel itself.

Works and authors of medieval literature

Giovanni Boccaccio wrote "The Decameron", one of the great works of Italian literature.

Some of the best known works of medieval literature, along with their authors (when they were known) were the following:

• The Amadís de Gaula. By an anonymous author, it is the masterpiece of the Spanish medieval tradition, and one of the most famous chivalric books, which Don Quixote will later make fun of. It dates from the 13th or 14th century and narrates the adventures of Amadís, son of King Perion, a knight errant.
• Beowulf or Beovulfo. It's a long poem Epic of Anglo-Saxon origin and unknown author, whose composition date is unknown (but it is estimated between the 8th and 12th centuries). In it the life and coronation of the king of the Geats is narrated, and his fight against terrible mythological beasts.
• The Song of Roldán. Titled Roland's Chanson In its original French, it is an epic poem thousands of verses long, composed in the late 11th century and attributed to Turoldo, a Norman monk. It is supposed to be the oldest deed song in Europe, and it narrates the events of the battle of Roncesvalles, under the command of Count Roldán of the Comarca de Brittany.
• The Song of Mío Cid. Another anonymous deed song, inspired by the last days of the Cid Campeador, the Castilian knight Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar. A version dating from around the year 1200 is preserved, and it is the first poetic work in Spanish literature.
• The Song of the Nibelungs. A song of deed written around the 13th century by an unknown Germanic author. In it meet different legends traditional Germanic, mixed with mythological concepts and historical facts.
• The Canterbury Tales. It is a collection of 24 stories written by the English writer and diplomat Geoffrey Chaucer (1343-1400), sometime between 1387 and his death. Composed in verse for the most part, these stories they constitute the most important medieval work in the English language.
• The Decameron. A compendium of short stories and novels written by the Italian humanist Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375), whose contents range from the erotic to the tragic, passing through humor. Written in dialect Florentine vernacular, it is one of the great works of Italian literature of all time, not only medieval.