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REVISTA DE INVESTIGACIÓN
Y DIVULGACIÓN CULTURAL
Nº. 3 · 2019
CONSEJO DE REDACCIÓN
Director:
Domingo Fernández Maroto
Asesores:
Palmira Peláez Fernández
Verónica Mena Álvarez
Daniel Marín Arroyo
Edición:
ORISOS. Asociación para la Investigación
y el Desarrollo Cultural
asociacionorisos@yahoo.es
Imprime:
Gráficas Cano, S.L.
Ctra. Valencia, 10, 02008 Albacete
967 246 266 - graficascano@graficascano.es
Depósito Legal: CR-927-2007
ISSN: 1888-4210
Diseño de portada y contraportada: Nacha Donado Huertas
Orisos Revista de Investigación y Divulgación Cultural no hace suyas necesariamente las opiniones
contenidas en las colaboraciones que publica, sin prejuicio de que el Consejo de Redacción velarán en
todo momento por la calidad científica de los trabajos que se remitan para su publicación.
Cualquier forma de reproducción, distribución, comunicación pública o transformación de esta obra
solo puede ser realizada con la autorización de sus titulares, salvo excepción prevista por la ley.
La Editorial, a los efectos previstos en el art. 32.1 párrafo 2 del vigente TRIPLI, se opone expresamente
a que cualquier fragmento de esta obra sea utilizado para la realización de resúmenes. Dicha actividad
requiere de una licencia específica. Diríjase a CEDRO (Centro Español de Derechos Reprográficos) si
necesita fotocopiar o escanear algún fragmento de esta obra, o si quiere utilizarla para elaborar resúme-
nes de prensa (www.conlicencia.com; 91 702 19 70 / 93 272 04 47).
Presentación. Domingo Fernández Maroto ............................................... 7
Prólogo. Ángela Madrid Medina ............................................................. 9
1. los yacimientos Prehistóricos en el corredor de Pozo cañada
y los altos de chinchilla. Patrones de asentamientos.
Juan Manuel Vila López ............................................................... 13
2. el matrimonio en la antigua roma.
Eugenio Gilabert Barba ................................................................ 53
3. la Población de ValdePeñas en el siglo XVII.
Sandalio Bravo Ibañez ................................................................. 77
4. el Patrimonio documental de eusebio Vasco.
Verónica Mena Álvarez .............................................................. 109
5. aPartaderos ferroViarios de la línea madrid-Jaén:
la estación de consolación.
Daniel Marín Arroyo .................................................................. 139
6. “en un tiemPo cogi flores”: marriage, loVe,
Women and literature in the middle ages.
Filomena Fernandes Gonçalves,
Francisco Javier Sánchez-Verdejo Pérez ..................................... 189
7. la maniPulación genética en menores: Víctimas y Victimarios.
Palmira Peláez Fernández ......................................................... 219
8. el amor, una emoción PositiVa. un estado de la cuestión.
María Eulalia Medina Márquez ................................................. 241
ÍNDICE
9. relatos cortos
garabateo
Juana María Martín Garrido ..................................................... 265
aniceto
Pedro Jesús Jaramillo Santos ...................................................... 279
Presentación
7
“No hay dos sin tres”, según el dicho popular, o como bien dice Paulo
Coelho en El Alquimista, “…todo lo que sucede dos veces, sucederá, cierta-
mente, una tercera”. Y así es que el número 3 de la Revista de Investiga-
ción y Divulgación Cultural ORISOS ve la luz, tras una dilatada espera y
retraso obligado por circunstancias totalmente ajenas a nuestra voluntad,
después de no poco esfuerzo y trabajo de nuestros socios, que ven com-
pensado con ello toda la labor previamente realizada.
De hecho, la publicación de este número consolida la Revista con
una proyección y una trayectoria en la que priman artículos de investiga-
ción rigurosos, fruto de la encomiable tarea investigadora que desarrollan
los miembros de la Asociación ORISOS.
La revista multidisciplinar ORISOS nació con una clara finalidad di-
fusora como medio de aprendizaje y enriquecimiento científico, para dar
a conocer trabajos de investigación que socios y colaboradores vienen
desarrollando en diversas áreas del conocimiento. Con ello, también se
pretende abrir debates en torno a las materias objeto de estudio, porque
con críticas constructivas y discusiones positivas en las que sean analiza-
das estas aportaciones, avanzaremos en diferentes áreas de investigación
y difundiendo lo investigado.
Somos conscientes que, como decía Aristóteles “Solo hay una ma-
nera de evitar la crítica: no hacer nada, no decir nada y no ser nada”;
es por ello que nuestro compromiso con la ciencia, y en general con la
cultura, nos compromete a enfrentarnos a la crítica y a otros argumentos
que permitan la provocación y el debate, no solo con el aporte de los
temas aquí tratados, sino a través de las diversas acciones que viene desa-
rrollando la Asociación ORISOS: cursos, conferencias, etc. En este sentido,
se pretende también que los contenidos de nuestra Revista puedan servir
de apoyo a nuevas investigaciones que contribuyan a enriquecer nuestro
discernimiento.
DOMINGO FERNÁNDEZ MAROTO
Director de la revista ORISOS
8
Tres lustros avalan ya la trayectoria de nuestra Asociación, en la que
medio centenar de socios, residentes muchos de ellos más allá de nues-
tro entorno provincial, unen sus ilusiones y trabajan sin ánimo de lucro,
aportando su granito de arena a la sociedad. Esta revista es buena prueba
de ello, porque al esfuerzo personal que han desarrollado, hay que unir
otros recursos, como el esfuerzo económico realizado para que vea la
luz. Es, sin duda, una apuesta por la cultura, componente esencial para
el desarrollo de nuestros pueblos, y por el compromiso con la formación
integral de las personas.
Así pues, uno de nuestros pilares esenciales es avanzar en el mundo
del conocimiento, continuar investigando, aunque ello supone en ocasio-
nes, descubrir que desconocemos más de lo que creemos saber.
Termino felicitando a los autores incluidos en este número, a sabien-
das que el entusiasmo de todos los que nos involucramos en este proyecto
de ORISOS seguro que suple las posibles deficiencias que el lector pueda
apreciar.
Prólogo
9
Es mucho lo que tiene que agradecer la investigación en España a
asociaciones como Orisos. Desde hace centurias, si tenemos en
cuenta a las antiguas de los Amigos del País y algunas reales aca-
demias, sin contar las siete grandes.
Por mi experiencia en la Confederación Española de Centros de Es-
tudios Locales, del CSIC, lo he podido comprobar a través de sus más de
cincuenta centros repartidos por la Península y los archipiélagos, entre los
que hay institutos, asociaciones, centros y reales academias (algunas de
ellas con mucho prestigio y encuadradas en el Instituto de España).
Centros que, en función de los recursos de cada uno, vienen desa-
rrollando actividades al más alto nivel, sin excluir las internacionales, y
editando un considerable volumen de publicaciones, incluidas las pro-
cedentes de tesis doctorales y otros trabajos universitarios. Por lo que se
viene considerando a la CECEL en su conjunto como la mayor editorial de
temas científicos de España, con unos dos mil investigadores que lo hacen
para ella, en mayor o menor medida, de forma gratuita.
A esto hay que sumar el trabajo, igualmente desinteresado, de aso-
ciaciones como Orisos, que por haber nacido en el contexto de los tra-
bajos del yacimiento del Cerro de las Cabezas y estar integrada en gran
parte por personas vinculadas a la UNED, está llamada a tener una buena
presencia en el mundo de la ciencia y la cultura y una valiosa proyección
científica.
Ahora, con el esfuerzo que supone, sacan a la luz el tercer número
de su Revista. Con colaboraciones multidisciplinares. Desde el campo ju-
rídico, buscando respuestas éticas que preserven la dignidad humana, sin
cosificación del individuo, la psicología, con una catalogación del senti-
miento amoroso y la creación literaria. Aunque en su mayoría con trabajos
de temática histórica, general y local.
ÁNGELA MADRID MEDINA
Confederación Española de Centros de Estudios Locales (CSIC)
10
Lo que, siguiendo los términos acuñados por Eloy Benito Ruano,
hemos dado en llamar historia al por mayor e historia al por menor,
que, él también lo creía así, no son incompatibles. Muy al contrario, se
complementan. Ya que si es cierto que la historia general contextualiza la
historia local, lo es también que sin la local y regional la general no avan-
zaría adecuadamente. En el presente número, además, con la aportación
de fuentes primarias. Un trabajo duro y muy laborioso que personalmente
siempre agradezco.
Se recupera también a los que nos precedieron en estas inquietudes
y actividades. Personajes a los que conviene situar y comprender siempre
dentro de su época y sus circunstancias, según el signo de los tiempos. Te-
niendo en cuenta el esfuerzo realizado al no contar con nuestros recursos
y en este caso hasta las aficiones del enciclopedismo y el coleccionismo
de entonces.
Considero que no hay que preterir la literatura como fuente históri-
ca, que generalmente nos aporta valiosa información. Una muestra de ello
vamos a encontrarla también aquí, con el interés de los estudios transdi-
ciplinares.
Unos cuantos de los autores de este número fueron alumnos míos en
su momento. Algunos de ellos, como otros miembros de Orisos, gracias a
su capacidad y su constancia, ya cuentan en sus curricula con una pro-
ducción científica amplia y muy solvente. Doctorados incluidos.
Por eso estoy convencida de que entre todos ellos la Revista Orisos,
que con el número actual se va consolidando, la seguirán haciendo crecer
en la mejor dirección y con aportaciones científicas de referencia.
Artículos
“EN UN TIEMPO COGÍ FLORES”:
MARRIAGE, LOVE, WOMEN AND
LITERATURE IN THE MIDDLE AGES
Filomena Fernandes Gonçalves
Master en Literaturas y Culturas Modernas, área de
especialización en Estudios Ibéricos e Iberoamericanos
ESARS (Ministerio de Educación de Portugal)
Francisco Javier Sánchez-Verdejo Pérez
Doctor en Filología Inglesa
Profesor Asociado UCLM y Profesor Tutor. Centro Asociado
UNED Ciudad Real-Valdepeñas
“E u ”: M, L, W
L M A
ORISOS, Nº 3
pp.189 a 217 191
ABSTRACT
In the Middle Ages, one of the most common Galician-Portuguese
poetry productions were Cantigas de Amor (Love songs). King Alfonse XI
of Castile wrote one of these compositions, and allegedly dedicated it to his
mistress, Leonor of Guzmán. In this paper we will study the relationship
amongst this king, his mistress and his Portuguese wife, Mary, focusing in
his Cantiga “En un tiempo cogi flores”.
KEY WORDS:
Middle Ages, Galician-Portuguese poetry, King Alfonse XI of Castile,
Cantigas de Amor (Love songs).
RESUMEN
En la Edad Media, una de las producciones de poesía gallego-por-
tuguesa más comunes fueron las Cantigas de Amor. El rey Alfonso XI de
Castilla escribió una de estas composiciones, y supuestamente la dedicó
a su señora, Leonor de Guzmán. En este artículo estudiaremos la relación
entre este rey, su amante y su esposa portuguesa, María, centrándonos en
su Cantiga “En un tiempo cogi flores”.
PALABRAS CLAVE
Edad Media, poesía galaico-portuguesa, Alfonso XI de Castilla, Can-
tigas de Amor.
“Eu te matei, Senhora, eu te matei.
Com morte te paguei o teu amor”1
(António Ferreira: Castro)
1. INTRODUCTION
Galician-Portuguese lyric developed in the Middle Ages, mainly be-
tween the twelfth and fourteenth centuries, being this primitive language
1 “I have killed you, Milady, I have killed you. / With death you have been paid for your love.” The
translation provided is ours.
Filomena Fernandes Gonçalves
Francisco Javier Sánchez-Verdejo Pérez
192 ORISOS, Nº 3
pp.189 a 217
the one from which Portuguese and Galician originated later. Although
most of the poets referred to came from Galicia and Northern Portugal, it
was also cultivated by a great amount of poets from other parts of the Ibe-
rian Peninsula (the most outstanding example is that of Alfonse X, byname
Alfonse the Wise, or the Learned, author of The Cantigas of Santa María,
also in Galician-Portuguese), becoming a fundamental language in the cul-
ture lyrical of Castile in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. However,
according to Dronke, the new fashion of amour courtois is:
“at least as old as Egypt of the second millennium B. C., and...
is reflected even in the earliest recorded popular verse of Europe”2.
The Galician-Portuguese songs have three major genres:
a) “Love cantiga”. It comes from the cançó of troubadour literature
in Occitan. It is a composition centered on the theme of courtly love; it
talks about the passion of a knight for his lady (or senhor), which is al-
most never returned, so most of all the compositions deal with the subject
of the poet’s coita (sadness), caused by disdain or rejection (sanha) of his
lady, who is called senhor (lord), which at that time meant both male and
female. Thus, the love of a woman becomes the pursuit, the quest, almost
the only one, for a knight. As Olivares Merino suggests, the lady is placed
on a pedestal, unattainable, always desired3. The terms of feudalism are
transferred here, as in Provencal cançó, to the amorous experience. We
should highlight some terms we find in these compositions: fenhedor, the
term referring to the knight who has not dared yet to address to her lady;
pregador, who has already dared; entendedor, the one who has received
his lady’s smiles, and drutz, which is used when the lady has already em-
braced him...
The troubadour owes faithfulness and loyalty to his senhor, and des-
cribes these high concepts praising her physique and virtues (with ad-
jectives such as ben talhada, bon parescer...) However, he does not go
very deep the description, because he must keep his lady’s identity secret
(this is known as mesura). From the metrical point of view, it usually has
the structure of the so-called cantiga de maestria: four stanzas of seven
2 dronke, P. (1968), p. xvii.
3 oliVares merino, e. m. (1998a), p. 114.
“E u ”: M, L, W
L M A
ORISOS, Nº 3
pp.189 a 217 193
octosyllabic or decasyllabic verses, with the structure abbaccb, abbacca,
ababcca, ababccb. This type of literary production does disregard the
specific elements which describe and set the environment.
b) “Friend cantiga”. It is considered that Kardjas or Hardjas come
from it, since its main theme is love; they use a simple language and the
poem is told by a woman, a feminine poetic voice that expresses its fe-
elings either to her mother, sisters or friends, or to the nature –which is
personified– and which she feels herself identifies with. Apart from love,
other topics include the sorrow for the absence of the beloved or the joy
for encountering him. They also tend to play with the natural environ-
ment, especially related to the sea, something that is identified with the
marine society prevailing in Galicia.
Its most characteristic feature is the use of stylistic resources such as
parallelism and leixaprén. The verses are linked in pairs making the verses
of the second stanza a small variant of the verses of the first stanza. Toge-
ther with all these characteristics we find the inclusion of terms coming
out of Galician-Portuguese glossary, as well as the keeping of archaic pho-
netic or morphological words.
c) “Scorn and swear cantiga” (or escarño, in Galician-Portuguese). It
is a satirical genre of the Galician-Portuguese medieval lyric, derived from
the Provençal sirventés. There used to be a distinction between the scorn
cantigas (which use misunderstandings and concealed words) and swear
(maldizer), in which the poet expresses clearly his insults. As for the me-
tric, they follow the same conventions as love cantigas.
This genre seeks to meet the expectations of the public that requests
it, so its development is basically linked to its recipients’ literacy. The
ladies have great importance in shaping this audience. The feminine in-
fluence in the conception of the courtesy is very well-known: the courtly
atmosphere turns around the owner of the castle. She deals with the refi-
nement and fun that take place in the court4, while her husband deals with
hunting and war or perhaps is absent for a pilgrimage or the Crusade.
One of the most outstanding ladies of the time was Leonor de Aquitania
4 garcía gual, c. (1974), p. 45.
Filomena Fernandes Gonçalves
Francisco Javier Sánchez-Verdejo Pérez
194 ORISOS, Nº 3
pp.189 a 217
who promoted the culture and encouraged the development of courteois
literature, whose main characteristic is courtly love:
“Esta nueva concepción del amor, nacida sin duda en tierra
de Oc, se difunde en Francia y después por toda Europa; fue llevada
primero a la corte de Francia por el entorno de Leonor de Aquita-
nia, nieta de Guillermo IX, a pesar de las reticencias de su primer
marido, el rey Luís VII; después a las cortes anglonormandas por
la misma Leonor, cuando se casa con Enrique Plantagenet, tras su
divorcio en 1152; y por fin a las cortes de Champaña y de Flandes
por sus hijas María y Alix; y a las de Alemania y de Castilla por sus
otras hijas Matilde y Leonor. El papel de Leonor y de sus hijas es in-
contestable”5.
The feminine role in the dissemination of this culture from texts
should not surprise us since according to Francisco López Estrada6 the
number of women who read is much higher than those of men, especially
if the books refer to this “inner” literature that requires personal reading,
adding that in the Middle Ages women used to read more than men...
certain readings were more accessible to women; we must also take into
count the fact that reading is more propitious for the realm of private life,
where it is woman who rules, and it is her who is reflected in the artistic
works (paintings, engravings), literary works... of the time.
LOVE VERSUS DUTY
Having analysed the above said, we must bear in mind that medieval
writing is not exclusively a mere literary production. An increasing inte-
rest in the social involvement of literature as a human activity is gradually
shown through folk writings. We should not exclude from our conside-
ration the political implications7. However, when we take into account
the political meanings and consequences, we cannot consider them from
our point of view, but rather as González Fernández de Sevilla8 explains.
The authors’ productions offered a new dimension which made it more
real and effective since its purpose, amongst others (we should not forget
5 flori, J. (2001), p. 244.
6 lóPez estrada, f. (1986), p. 21.
7 coleman, J. (1981), p. 64.
8 gonzález fernández de seVilla, J. m. (1992), pp. 94-109.
“E u ”: M, L, W
L M A
ORISOS, Nº 3
pp.189 a 217 195
devices such as the poetical function in itself, didactism, artistic delight9),
was to serve people’s needs: everyday life, events, social affairs, personal
concerns and reflections...
The nature of the article we are about to deal with is connected
to the literary patrimony of Portuguese and Castilian Literature from the
Middle Ages, namely the “Cantiga de Amor” (Love song). “En un tiempo
cogi flores”10, the only literary production written by King Alfonse XI of
Castile and León (married to a Portuguese Princess, Mary of Portugal, his
cousin, King Peter I’s mother) was apparently dedicated to his mistress,
the so pretty Leonor of Guzmán (1310-1351), whom he had ten illegitima-
te children with11 (amongst which, Henry I, the Trastamarian, Fadrique of
Castile’s twin brother). The supposition of the fact that this cantiga may
be dedicated to Leonor of Guzmán has let researchers and scholars ven-
ture its dating around 1329, at the beginning of their love relationship12.
9 Piers Plowman and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight could well illustrate with examples this
twofold aspect.
10 This cantiga is found in Cancioneiro da Vaticana (1499) (?) and in Cancioneiro da Biblioteca
Nacional (1525-6).
11 As a curiosity, let’s take into account that this relationship was the basis for the inspiration of the
opera La Favorite (1840), by gaetano donizetti.
12 This theory is supported, among others, by beltrán PePió, V. (1985), p. 263.
Picture 1. Gothic sepulchre. Lying statues, made in ala-
baster, of Pedro López of Ayala and his wife Leonor de
Guzmán, in the tower-chapel of the Virgin of the Cabello.
Taken from http://www.euskonews.com/0388zbk/argaz-
kiak/gaia38803a_03.jpg (Retrieved from the internet on
December 14th, 2016).
Filomena Fernandes Gonçalves
Francisco Javier Sánchez-Verdejo Pérez
196 ORISOS, Nº 3
pp.189 a 217
Despite the above said, and to be true, the chronicles and documents
of the time have hardly transmitted facts related to the private, intimate
life of the main characters; however, the relationship of Alfonse XI with
Leonor of Guzmán lasted so much and had such political consequences
that it is not difficult at all to track the essential lines of that sentimental
relationship13.
More than analysing this literary production, it urges to get a dee-
per view of women’s condition in the Middle Ages, especially those who
belonged to upper social classes, particularly princesses from Portuguese
and Castilian Royal Families (which, actually, were the same) in the four-
teenth century. The case of these upper-social class women is greatly illus-
trative of the importance that women had in the shaping of the medieval
ways of life. Thus, taking into account the fact that the women who appear
in this analysis (but not exclusively) are members of –and belong to– the
aristocracy or the royalty, that is to say, they represent the highest social
stratum of the medieval society, they can be interpreted as exemplary, and
thus are worthy of imitation or contempt in the real sphere both for tho-
se who belong to those realms as for those who are in the inferior ones.
We cannot forget that authors used to state their love for a noble woman,
whom they used to view as a divine being.
Although in the heroic literature the main character is a man and
all his actions are located in fully masculine settings, not in all medieval
literary productions this is quite like that. The hero is a warrior, a feudal
vassal whose main activity is the use of weapons against his enemies and
his master’s. However, the character has peculiar features coming from
the polite sphere in which the woman has an important value. The kni-
ght designed in the Middle Ages requires love to justify the action in his
adventures and to promote his process of improvement, all of which is
given by the presence of a woman in whom he puts such passion. Thanks
to the love for a certain woman, the authors finished up the knight cha-
racteristics, which they stop representing only as a warrior, adopting then
a dichotomy of attitudes and behaviours. The feeling of love manages to
refine the knight in his contact with the ladies and inside the court. He is
configured more educated, sensitive and prudent.
13 beltrán PePió, V. (1989), p. 118.
“E u ”: M, L, W
L M A
ORISOS, Nº 3
pp.189 a 217 197
Then, from the very design of the character, the beloved woman
becomes a determining factor for recognition. That is, the knight requires
a maid to love, because she awakens in him all his impetus, strength and
motivation to get everything he wants in order to deserve and get her.
Therefore, the female character has an important role within the genre,
not only in her participation in the actions and plot development but in
the characteristics that make the character a hallmark in this particular
genre. Aurelio González says that when talking in general about the me-
dieval knight, we are talking about a model, a model that will have di-
fferent textual realizations and he will also work both in the cultural and
social dimension14.
Having said the above, since the lady is essential to fully understand
the model of a medieval knight, she cannot be understood without consi-
dering her role in its construction. For the historian Georges Duby15, the
relationship of both characters is linked from the very birth of the genre.
The characteristics and functions of both characters are given from their
indissoluble relationship. From this perspective, we will approach both
characters. Duby asserts that the female figures that surround the male
characters appear to revalue these men better16.
Rather than reflecting about the aesthetic representation of feelings
like love, jealousy or hate, it matters to try to understand these women’s
role in their homeland society, in the foreign society they come to integra-
te due to their royal marriages, as far as these roles were often incompati-
ble with happiness or love.
Furthermore, it is remarkable how these societies force women to
convey to a long list of rules, concerning moral (and therefore, religious)
principles and, at the same time, allows some of them to break these ru-
les, and, in some cases, even permits them to get privileges out of that
disrespect.
Those ways of life were ruled either by the principles of the eccle-
siastical culture or by the courtly cultural ones17. The first one stood for a
14 gonzález, a. (2003), p. 122.
15 duby, g. (1995), p. 115.
16 duby, g. (1992), p. 304.
17 ruiz-domènec, J. e. (1999).
Filomena Fernandes Gonçalves
Francisco Javier Sánchez-Verdejo Pérez
198 ORISOS, Nº 3
pp.189 a 217
model based on three principles: virginity (virginitas), marriage (matri-
monium) and widowhood (viduitas). It is this a model conceived from
the male point of view, whom woman had to complement (marriage) or
which she should avoid (virginity and widowhood). The second principle,
from its very origin, formulated a model from a point of view tending to
delight and establish the relationship between love and marriage18.
Whether victims or not of this status quo, what surpasses these alle-
ged moral or immoral behaviours is a widely spread sense of impunity
towards infidelity, either because it may result of a King’s desire (and
therefore it is not the female’s fault or sin), or because there is a certain
condescendence towards adultery, as the need to procreate surpasses the
need to be a good Christian. As a matter of fact, many clergy men also
prevaricate, protected as they were by the secret of confession of their
mistresses or the ultimate redemption of women, through long and some-
times painful penitence.
As far as King Alfonse’s Cantiga is concerned, it is undoubtedly
invaluable, for its cultural, historical and literary importance, but parti-
cularly an interesting document as it lets us perceive the human face of
a King who dared to let the world know he loved and was loved, even if
this meant to expose its eventual inability to perform the aesthetic literary
pretending that Troubadour’s Art demanded. Not for nothing, Alfonse was
one of the first in introducing some features of troubadour literature in
Castilian’s (for example, the use of the term senhor). We could ask oursel-
ves whether all the above said leads him to a portrait of a better king than
a poet... Who knows?
A great amount of the troubadour lyric praises the lady to get her
favour, but above all, it praises the loyal and hard-working attitude of the
troubadour lover. So the figure of the lady is always mediated by two fil-
ters: his desire to please her and his desire to show himself as the perfect
lover.
18 brooke, c. (1989), duby, g. (1983), ruiz-domènec. J. e. (1986) and ruiz-domènec. J. e. (2003).
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pp.189 a 217 199
THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS
Studying the Peninsular poetry of the Middle Ages merges us to
reflect about its characteristics and context, should we want to interpret
their pertinence and importance as authentic documents showing how life
in those days was.
According to the experts, medieval cantigas (songs) may have their
origins in “The Women’s Songs”, dating approximately from the ninth and
tenth century, known as Kardjas or Hardjas. Let us remember that a khar-
ja is a composition of verses shaped as a refrain which were found at the
end of the poems known as moaxaja, having been composed the latter
in classical Arabic or in Hebrew.
Kharjas were texts transcribed in Arabic or Hebrew characters, whe-
re women apparently let their mothers, sisters or friends know about their
sufferance because of their lovers. Two of the most representative exam-
ples are “¡Tant’ amáre, tant’ amáre” and “Garīdboš, ay yermanēllaš” (both
written in Mozarabic language):
Kharja in Mozarabic Translation into English
¡Tant’ amáre, tant’ amáre,
habib, tant’ amáre!
Enfermaron uelios gaios,
e dolen tan male.
So much loving, so much loving,
my lover, so much loving!
Bright eyes have grown dim
and suffer now so much!
Unknown author
This traditional, popular kharja, one of the most famous of this tra-
dition and belonging to the oldest ones, previous to 1042, talks about a
maiden who is in love.
Filomena Fernandes Gonçalves
Francisco Javier Sánchez-Verdejo Pérez
200 ORISOS, Nº 3
pp.189 a 217
Kharja in Mozarabic Translation into English19
Garīdboš, ay yermanēllaš
kóm kontenērhé mew mālē,
sīn al-ḥabīb non bibrē´yo:
¿ad ob l’iréy demandāre?
bay-še mio qorason de mib
Yā rabbī ši še tornarad
țanmal mio doler al-habīb
Enfermo Ϋed quan šanarad
¿Qué faré mamma?
Mio al-habib eštad yana.
Tell me, my little sisters
how shall I sustain my pain,
I shall not live without my love:
where shall I seek for him?
My heart fades away.
Oh God, will he return
Such is my huge pain for my love
He is ill, when will he heal?
What shall I do, mother?
My love is at the door.
Abul-L-Hassan Yehuda Ben
Semuel Halevi
Having been examined as independent compositions, kharjas are
related to the Galician-Portuguese Cantigas de amigo, as well as to the
popular female lyrical poetry previous to the Troubadour tradition. In fact,
they have been described as the oldest manifestation of European popular
lyrical poetry, opposed to the troubadour poetry1920(which was a perfect
example of learned poetry, written by authors who used a strict literary
code).
These texts are of great importance to us, as they convey the chance
to analyze both the Proto-Galician-Portuguese Language, as a “Romanice
Loqui” and the cultural references to the daily life of people in the Middle
Ages –the girl whose confident is found inside the family nucleus, or the
man wounded that may not heal (“quan šanarad”, found in the latter
Kharja) from his war wounds, amongst others.
On the other hand, these documents, as primeval of the Medieval
Troubadour Poetry, allow us to study more thoroughly the specificities of
Medival Poetry in the Iberian Peninsula:
19 The translation provided into English is ours.
20 Let us remember William of Poitiers as one of the first known troubadours.
20
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“Medieval Galician-Portuguese Cantigas (songs) remain as one
of the richest parts of Iberian Peninsula’s Middle Ages heritage. Wri-
tten in a time range of about 150 years, generically from the end
of the twelfth century to mid-fourteenth century, medieval Cantigas
may be historically situated at the dawn of Iberian nationalities, be-
ing largely contemporary of the so-called Christian Reconquista, an
event which they refer frequently”21.
If we can state that the origins of Cantigas de Amigo (friend songs)
are mainly Iberian, Cantigas de Amor (love songs) find their background
in Provençal culture, brought to the Peninsula by the troubadours and
minstrels who used to either attend Alfonse X’s Court, or come in pilgri-
mage to the holy places in the Peninsula, especially Santiago de Compos-
tela, or were even on their way to the Holy Land to visit Jerusalem. Thus,
taking the above said into account, we must bear in mind the fact that due
to the so many contacts between the main countries of Europe (mainly
the western ones such as Italy or Spain, but also Germany), a new fashion
was adopted, each country producing a good number of troubadours and
romance writers in order to satisfy the taste demanded and appreciated by
the corresponding European courts22.
This explains why these compositions are of a more elaborate kind,
preserving thematic and formal characteristics that associate them to no-
ble or aristocratic authors. Galician-Portuguese love cantiga follows the
universe of Provençal fin’amor, in a model which resumes an art of loving
that expresses relationships between man and woman or, using the words
that the troubadours repeat, between the servant poet and his noble lady
(the so-called courtly love, an inaccurate expression that became traditio-
nal). And it is not exact since this kind of productions does not encompass
exclusively the concept of courtly. Olivares Merino23 agrees on the use of
the expression fin’amor opposed to courtly love, since he stated that Pro-
vençal poets never used the second term, but the first one. In this sense,
M. Valency expresses excellently that:
21 Taken from http://cantigas.fcsh.unl.pt/sobreascantigas.asp?ling=eng (Retrieved from the In-
ternet on October 20th, 2016).
22 oliVares merino, e. m. (1998a), p. 115.
23 oliVares merino, e. m. (1998a), p. 113.
Filomena Fernandes Gonçalves
Francisco Javier Sánchez-Verdejo Pérez
202 ORISOS, Nº 3
pp.189 a 217
“the adjective fin, fis, from Latin fides, had the sense of faithful,
honest, sincere, true”24.
Olivares Merino states that for him, fin’amor is the most accompli-
shed manifestation of the masculine erotic ideal25. Notwithstanding, this
concept of love saw the light at the beginning of the XIth century though it
remained in the –almost exclusively– realm of aristocracy, not permeating
into middle classes let alone the peasantry.
Thus, the Cantiga de amor presents, in a rhetorically rich style, an
essentially sentimental masculine voice singing the beauty and virtues of
an unachievable and immaterial lady, and also the correlative coita (su-
ffering) of the poet before her indifference or his inability to declare his
love. Albeit decisively influenced by Provençal cançó, as we have said,
Galician-Portuguese cantiga de amor assumes some distinctive properties,
as the facts of being shorter and including (in most cases) a refrain (the
Provençal cançó being always de maestria, without refrain)26.
Such is the case of King Alfonse XI of Castile, from whom we know
only one composition, named “En un tiempo cogi flores”, which according
to Toro and Vallín27 is the oldest Galician-Castilian composition –this idea
is also confirmed by Vicente Beltrán28. Let’s remember that this composi-
tion uses Castilian language, although it is imbued with Portuguese words,
it combines elements from love and friend cantigas. The author introduces
some breakdowns in relation to the preceding lyrical poetry, such as new
love thematic aspects, new descriptive resources and new strophic ways.
ALFONSE XI OF CASTILE – THE KING, THE MAN, THE POET
THE KING
Alfonse, “the Just”, was Fernando IV of Castile and Constance of Por-
tugal’s son (Constance was King Denis’ daughter, who in turn was king
24 Valency, m. (1958), p. 142.
25 oliVares merino, e. m. (1998a), p. 74-77.
26 Taken from http://cantigas.fcsh.unl.pt/sobreascantigas.asp?ling=eng
27 toro, m. i and Vallín, g. (2005), p. 96
28 beltrán PePió, V. (2002), p. 39.
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pp.189 a 217 203
Alfonse X of Castile’s grandson). He was born in Salamanca, on the 3rd of
August 1311, and became king at the age of one, due to his father’s early
death, ruling up to 1350.
When he reached adulthood, and after a violent and cruel process of
control of the kingdom, with many executions having taken place (Juan of
Haro, “the one-eyed”, and Álvaro Nuñéz Osorio), King Alfonse succeeded
in pacifying the kingdom. In 1328, he married his cousin Mary of Portugal,
King Alfonse IV of Portugal’s daughter, King Dennis of Portugal’s son. This
marriage, alongside with his sister Leonor’s with Alfonse IV of Aragon,
laid the basis for an Iberian peace, although, in what concerns Portugal,
Picture 2. Statue of the King Alfonse XI of Castile located
in Algeciras. Taken from https://upload.wikimedia.org/wi-
kipedia/commons/5/55/Algeciras_Alfonso_XI.jpg (Retrie-
ved from the internet on December 14th, 2016).
Filomena Fernandes Gonçalves
Francisco Javier Sánchez-Verdejo Pérez
204 ORISOS, Nº 3
pp.189 a 217
the relationships were sometimes tense, mostly due to the public and very
manifest relationship between Alfonse XI and Leonor of Guzmán.
Together with Alfonse IV of Portugal, his father-in-law, both Castilian
and Portuguese troops defeated, in the battle of Salado (1340), the mena-
cing hordes of North-Africans which had advanced through Andalucia the
previous year, a victory that meant the end of the Muslim menace in the
Peninsula.
Alfonse XI died during the Great Plague (yersinia pestis) of 1350, at
the siege of Gibraltar.
THE MAN
Alfonse XI is known to have loved Leonor of Guzmán, mother of
ten of his children, amongst which were the twin brothers Fadrique and
Henry; the latter became King Henry of Trastamara.
He was married to Princess Maria of Portugal, whom he had King
Peter I, “The Cruel”, and grew to respect her, although never having loved
her as his favourite one, even though she was one of the most beautiful
women of his time.
Luis de Camões, a Portuguese poet, dedicates five stanzas from his
epic text The Lusiads calling her “the fairest to look”, with lovely face, an-
gel hair and Ivoirian shoulders:
102
Entrava a fermosíssima Maria
Polos paternais paços sublimados,
Lindo o gesto, mas fora de alegria,
E seus olhos em lágrimas banhados.
Os cabelos angélicos trazia
Pelos ebúrneos ombros
espalhados.
Diante do pai ledo, que a agasalha,
Estas palavras tais, chorando,
espalha:
102
The beauteous dame approach’d the
palace gate,
Where her great sire was thron’d in
regal state:
On her fair face deep-settled grief
appears,
And her mild eyes are bath’d in
glist’ning tears;
Her careless ringlets, as a mourner’s,
flow
Adown her shoulders, and her
breasts of snow:
A secret transport through
the father ran,
While thus, in sighs, the royal bride
began:
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103
«Quantos povos a terra produziu
De África toda, gente fera e estranha,
O grão Rei de Marrocos conduziu
Pera vir possuir a nobre Espanha.
Poder tamanho junto não se viu,
Despois que o salso mar a terra
banha;
Trazem ferocidade e furor tanto,
Que a vivos medo, e a mortos faz
espanto.
103
“And know’st thou not, O warlike
king,” she cried,
“That furious Afric pours her
peopled tide--
Her barb’rous nations, o’er the
fields of Spain?
Morocco’s lord commands the
dreadful train.
Ne’er since the surges bath’d the
circling coast,
Beneath one standard march’d so
dread a host:
Such the dire fierceness of their
brutal rage,
Pale are our bravest youth as
palsied age
104
«Aquele que me deste por marido,
Por defender sua terra amedrontada,
Co pequeno poder, oferecido
Ao duro golpe está da Maura espada,
E, se não for contigo socorrido,
Ver-me-ás dele e do Reino ser
privada;
Viúva e triste e posta em vida escura,
Sem marido, sem Reino e sem
ventura.
104
Their shrieks of terror from the
tombs we hear
To stem the rage of these
unnumber’d bands,
Alone, O sire, my gallant husband
stands;
His little host alone their breasts
oppose
To the barb’d darts of Spain’s
innum’rous foes:
(…)
Filomena Fernandes Gonçalves
Francisco Javier Sánchez-Verdejo Pérez
206 ORISOS, Nº 3
pp.189 a 217
105
«Portanto, ó Rei, de quem com puro
medo
O corrente Muluca se congela,
Rompe toda a tardança, acude cedo
À miseranda gente de Castela.
Se esse gesto, que mostras claro e
ledo,
De pai o verdadeiro amor assela,
Acude e corre, pai, que, se não
corres,
Pode ser que não aches quem
socorres.»
105
Then haste, O monarch, thou whose
conqu’ring spear
Has chill’d Malucca’s sultry waves
with fear:
Haste to the rescue of distress’d
Castile,
Oh! be that smile thy dear affection’s
seal!,
And speed, my father, ere my
husband’s fate
Be fix’d, and I, deprived of regal
state,
Be left in captive solitude forlorn,
My spouse, my kingdom, and my
birth to mourn.”
106
Não de outra sorte a tímida Maria
Falando está, que a triste Vénus,
quando
A Júpiter, seu pai, favor pedia
Pera Eneias, seu filho, navegando;
Que a tanta piedade o comovia,
Que, caído das mãos o raio infando,
Tudo o clemente Padre lhe concede,
Pesando-lhe do pouco que lhe pede.
Os Lusíadas,
Luís de Camões,
Canto III, 1562.
106
In tears, and trembling, spoke the
filial queen.
So, lost in grief, was lovely Venus
seen,
When Jove, her sire, the beauteous
mourner pray’d
To grant her wand’ring son the
promis’d aid.
Great Jove was mov’d to hear the fair
deplore,
Gave all she ask’d, and griev’d she
ask’d no more.
So griev’d Alonzo’s noble heart. And
now
The warrior binds in steel his awful
brow;
The Lusiad
by Luis de Camões
trans. by William Julius Mickle
(1776, edition of 1877)29
29
29 Taken from http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/lus/lusbk03.htm (Retrieved from the Internet on
October 28th, 2016). The bold is ours.
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pp.189 a 217 207
Being a monarch, Alfonse had royal duties that prevented him, as
many others, from choosing his spouse. This circumstance led to much
sufferance, both to him and especially to these women, who were rivals
and shared the same spaces throughout their lives, until their king’s death,
when Queen Mary ordered the execution of Leonor of Guzmán.
THE POET
Alfonse was a protector of the arts and also a poet.
Count Pedro of Barcelos, his uncle, must have recognized his talent,
and left him, in a will dated in 1350, his Livro de Cantigas (songbook),
Picture 3. Portrait of María of Portugal. Flemish anonymous
(XVIth century). Taken from https://www.museobilbao.
com/catalogo-online/retrato-de-dona-maria-de-portu-
gal--69332 (Retrieved from the internet on December 14th,
2016).
Filomena Fernandes Gonçalves
Francisco Javier Sánchez-Verdejo Pérez
208 ORISOS, Nº 3
pp.189 a 217
most probably the archetype of the Italian Apographs30 that transmitted
to us the most substantial part of the profane Galician-Portuguese poetry.
At its core, we know the Galician-Portuguese profane songs throu-
ghout three major manuscripts. The oldest one, Cancioneiro da Ajuda,
may be dated at the early fourteenth century and it is the only one con-
temporary of the last generation of troubadours. It is a rich enlightened
manuscript, but also the most incomplete, since it contains only 310 com-
positions, of which the overwhelming majority belong to a single genre,
cantiga de amor. Discovered at the early nineteenth century, in the Library
of Colégio dos Nobres, it is stored today at Ajuda’s National Library and
we know little about its origins or course. It is anyway a clearly unfinished
manuscript, which is visible through many of its miniatures, which pre-
sent incomplete painting or merely drawn figures (the same applies to the
initials). The two other manuscripts, namely Cancioneiro da Biblioteca
Nacional (also known as Cancioneiro Colocci-Brancuti, the most comple-
te, stored at Portugal National Library in Lisbon) and Cancioneiro da Vati-
cana (stored at the Vatican Apostolic Library), are copies made in Italy in
the first decades of sixteenth century, under the orders of Angelo Colocci,
a well-known humanist, after a former medieval songbook now disappea-
red. Apart from these three big collections, several volante parchments
with compositions, two of them important and including musical notation,
reached the present day: Vindel Parchment and Sharrer Parchment31.
Little do we know, however, of king’s Alfonse XI literary production.
We have evidence of his writing the Cantiga “En un tiempo cogi flores” in
the fourteenth century. This is, thus, a spurious song, because this genre
was already in its decay period, even if the language used is still the Oc-
citan and the artistic and cultural patterns of the Provençal compositions
are still respected.
30 As far as we know, it was Pedro, Count of Barcelos, troubadour and king Dennis of Portugal’s
illegitimate firstborn child, who compiled the songs we have in the present day (through the Italian
Apographs). He was probably their last compiler, if we accept that the first compilation could have
been produced in the court of Alfonse X, as taVani, g. believes (1986, 65-66). Either way, the merit of
angelo colocci’s work in the sixteenth century must be emphasized, a work without which our vision of
Galician-Portuguese lyric would be restricted to Cancioneiro da Ajuda, with only about 310 love songs,
instead of the 1680 we have today, covering multiple genres.
31 http://cantigas.fcsh.unl.pt/sobreascantigas.asp?ling=eng
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“En un tiempo cogi flores” is dedicated to his mistress Leonor of
Guzmán (already a young widow when he met her), and we find king
Alfonse in his death bed, reaffirming his love to Leonor, whom he calls
his “noble rose” and his need to see her before dying, and Leonor answe-
ring him that she would rather be the one who would be leaving this life,
rather than Alfonse. It is a dialogued love song, where both of the lovers
know their fate and both reassure one another’s love. And because of this
reason, it is almost a quasi tragic song.
In fact, it is the first time that occurs in this type of courtesan lyric
the association of a long-time motif in Romania: comparison of woman
with rose. This identification had reached a great development in the Ma-
rian literature of the thirteenth century, entering the Galician-Portugue-
se school through The Cantigas of Santa María. In fact, the relationship
between woman and rose used to be a recurring motif in the romance
language countries, developing later in the Marian poetry, and thanks
to the influence of Alfonso X’s Cantigas arrives and spreads itself in the
Galician-Portuguese school. Thus, the comparison of the woman with the
flower evolves as one of the favourite resources32 in the descriptio pue-
llae between 1300 and 1400. Beltrán33 makes a deep analysis of the main
compositions which use the literary motif of the rose both in Spanish and
Portuguese literary tradition. We refer the reader to his study for some
more examples.
More specifically, not only do we find one association of the lover
with the rose in the composition we are studying, but rather at least four
of them, which enhances the value of this device:
“Em huum tiempo cogi flores / del mui nobre paraiso” (l. 1-2)
“En el tiempo en quee solia / yo coger d’aqueestas flores” (l. 13-14)
“¡Ay, senhora, nobre rossa!” (l. 29)
“Yo soy la flor de las flores” (l. 37)34
32 beltrán PePió, V. (1985), p. 272.
33 beltrán PePió, V. (1985), p. 268 and following.
34 Gathered by beltrán PePió, V. both in 1985 (268 and following) and 1989 (55 and following); also
http://cantigas.fcsh.unl.pt/cantiga.asp?cdcant=1703&pv=sim (Retrieved from the Internet on Octo-
ber 20th, 2016).
Filomena Fernandes Gonçalves
Francisco Javier Sánchez-Verdejo Pérez
210 ORISOS, Nº 3
pp.189 a 217
When studying the Galician-Portuguese tradition we find a set of
compositions which were composed by poets, amongst them we find, the
King Denís of Portugal (as well as the aforementioned Alfonse XI). These
works were written approximately in the period of a century (1225-1325),
at which time Galician-Portuguese lyricism was on the rise and began its
later decline. We find that these types of compositions were practiced in
the different courts (Castilian and Portuguese) which at that time prevai-
led: in Castile, that of Fernando III’s, Alfonso X’s and Sancho IV’s; and in
Portugal, that of Alfonso III’s and Denis’. And most of them follow the
same model and metric patterns as the above said compositions, whether
love, friend or scorn.
However, in spite of the fact that we keep a small number of such
compositions, it should be customary to compose a dialogical text, much
to the liking of the court and the palatial celebrations that took place.
Such importance is endorsed by the characteristics present in Alfonso XI’s
composition, where he appears talking, and at the end her beloved’s voice
appears.
It is the only preserved lyric composition written by the king, but
the fact of his choosing this dialogical form makes us understand that he
knew the tradition that preceded him and the particularity of approaching
the subject of love in that way. The truth is that, following the theory
proposed by the anonymous writer of the Cancioneiro da Biblioteca Na-
cional de Lisboa, in this case we find a love cantiga, since it is the knight
who starts talking. The king addresses his lady using a word of the lexicon
of love cantigas: senhora, a term that we will find within the Castilian
corpus, and that, in this sense, links it to this tradition that precedes it.
Although it does not appear in Alfonso XI’s poem, it is common to find
the word used by the lady to refer to his beloved: amigo. It is this use of
a specific technical lexicon, typical of love cantigas, which undoubtedly
leads us to that Galician-Portuguese tradition. The text by Alfonso XI, as it
is said, would be, therefore, one of the many links that establishes a direct
relationship between Galician-Portuguese lyric and Castilian song-antho-
logy poetry, as Vallín emphasizes in his work and in collaboration with
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pp.189 a 217 211
Toro and Vallín35 in their study on the Galician-Castilian corpus and the
beginnings of the cancioneril lyric.
According to its line of argument, we find three main motifs: the
lover’s suffering, the people’s “mal dizer”, and the final reconciliation. Al-
fonse XI describes us, at the beginning of the poem, the pitiful situation
of the unrequited lover, a situation quite close to the Galician-Portuguese
tradition36.
As a literary document, this cantiga is a refrain song where the ru-
les that commanded “Love Vassalage” are not respected. Even though the
identity of the dame should never be revealed and the troubadour should
never confess openly his feelings towards her, this is what the author does
in this composition.
However, as an authentic document that allows us to get to know
what the medieval context of Love, Duty and Marriage was, this may be
one of the most precious ones we have in Iberian Medieval Poetry. We
have a king who was married to someone he did not love, but who admits
that there is someone he loves truly and not only does he choose to live
with her but also decides to have more children with her than he has with
his queen. We actually understand that this urge to guarantee the suc-
cession to the throne is the only reason why king Alfonse XI had prince
Peter with Mary of Portugal, whereas Leonor of Guzmán, “the Noble Rose”
(quoted from the cantiga; the capital letters are ours), was his true love.
Stating this in a Love cantiga is rare, but it may be even rarer to find it in
not one Cancioneiro, but in two of them. Would the social status of its au-
thor interfere in this choice to include it in them, we do not know it. What
we know as a fact is that this piece of Medieval Literature can be found
in Cancioneiro da Biblioteca Nacional, under the number and reference
B 607, and Cancioneiro da Vaticana, numbered and referenced as V 209.
35 toro, m. i and Vallín, g. (2005).
36 For a deeper analysis of this composition, and since that is not the main goal of this paper, we do
advice to read the whole study by beltrán PePió, V. (1985).
Filomena Fernandes Gonçalves
Francisco Javier Sánchez-Verdejo Pérez
212 ORISOS, Nº 3
pp.189 a 217
MARY OF PORTUGAL – THE PORTUGUESE QUEEN OF THE CASTILIANS
Having to bear the burden of becoming the Portuguese mother of
the heir to the throne of Castile is, by itself, a great responsibility.
Having to accept one’s father’s orders as far as marriage is concerned
becomes an even much higher responsibility, especially when you are a
king’s daughter.
But becoming the spouse of a king who is in love with a Castilian
woman, of great noble importance and also loved by her own people, as
Leonor of Guzmán was, becomes a giant task for a frail, cult, beautiful
woman who is not welcome in Spain. Mary of Portugal is a piece of mer-
chandise whose purpose is to be a part of a trade to assure peace between
two cousins of the same royal family, disputing territory and power.
Having unexpectedly fallen in love with his newly met cousin and
husband and having to share him with another woman, for more than
twenty years, having to bear all the humiliation this would mean (Mary
Picture 4. Folio from Cancioneiro da
Biblioteca Nacional. Taken from http://
cantigas.fcsh.unl.pt/manuscrito.as-
p?cdcant=1703&cdmanu=3356&nor-
dem=1&x=1 (Retrieved from the Inter-
net on October 28th, 2016).
Picture 5. Folio from Cancioneiro da
Vaticana - V 209. Taken from http://
cantigas.fcsh.unl.pt/manuscrito.as-
p?cdcant=1703&cdmanu=3367&nor-
dem=3&x=1 (Retrieved from the Inter-
net on October 28th, 2016).
“E u ”: M, L, W
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ORISOS, Nº 3
pp.189 a 217 213
ran away to Portugal, due to the despair and mistreatments suffered at the
hands of her husband), may explain why, as soon as the king died, Mary
of Portugal followed his father’s example of murdering her rival. Her fa-
ther had ordered the execution of Inês of Castro, daughter of King Alfon-
se’s chief steward José Fernandes of Castro, the eternal love of Portuguese
prince Pedro (who dared to defy his father, the king, by marrying Inês
against his will), and Mary of Portugal, Pedro’s sister, orders the execution
of Leonor of Guzmán, leaving her ten children without a mother. This de-
cision may not have pleased the Castilian court, and this has cost Mary a
great deal of hatred. Who knows if this fact will not also explain her own
son’s cruelty, Pedro?
As far as we are concerned, analyzing the story of this princess, as
well as all the women who were forced to marry against their will or choi-
ce, and having to leave their countries to go abroad must have been of
great tragic sufferance. We can only imagine how little rights these noble
women actually had. It would seem better to be poor and freer than living
in palaces and being a hostage for an entire life.
That gives us just a glimpse of the woman’s condition in the Middle
Ages and helps us to look in a rather critical way to the romanticized ima-
ge we have of life in those days.
Mary of Portugal was a noble woman in between two lands and two
lovers. She could not return to her fatherland, because her father would
not allow it –even though if she came for a while, and she could not settle
down properly in Castile, because she was not welcome there.
Mary of Portugal represents all the medieval women who had the
chance of being educated, lived in palaces, were intelligent, but lead lives
that closely resemble the lives of slaves of their own sex and social con-
dition.
Filomena Fernandes Gonçalves
Francisco Javier Sánchez-Verdejo Pérez
214 ORISOS, Nº 3
pp.189 a 217
CONCLUSIONS
Galician-Portuguese Poetry presents an invaluable challenge in the
field of Iberian Literature. Many researchers have devoted their work to its
study; however, it cannot be denied that little do Spanish and Portuguese
know about their common literary bonds and heritage.
In this paper we have attempted to describe the origins and the
characteristics of love cantigas, with echoes of the cançó of troubadour
literature in Occitan, friend cantigas as a more modern version of the
Kardjas from the ninth century and Scorn and swear cantigas as heirs of
the Provençal sirventês, all of them found in our common Iberian Medie-
val Literature.
We have analysed King Alfonse XI of Castile’s love cantiga “En un
tiempo cogi flores”, written and dedicated to his mistress, Leonor of Guz-
mán, published in two of the most important collections of literary pro-
ductions in Galicia, Portugal and Castile, Cancioneiro da Ajuda and Can-
cioneiro da Vaticana.
And having studied this cantiga, we bear in mind that this is only one
of the thousands of other compositions that remain to be studied.
On the other hand, it has become clear that these literary produc-
tions represent farther more than simple poems dedicated to someone;
they are truly authentic documents that allow us to understand the perso-
nal, cultural and political implications of being a king, a man and a poet,
divided between his wife (and queen) and his lover in the Middle Ages.
Furthermore, this literary document may also help us understand the
political implications that King Alfonse’s confessed infidelity had in the
internal and external political relationships, especially with Portugal. One
must not forget about the alliance between Castile and Portugal to fight for
the end of the Arab presence in Iberian Peninsula, for instance, or the con-
flicts that lead to the death of Fadrique of Castile, which precipitated the
war between King Peter and his step brother, Henry, later, king himself, too.
We have also tried to prove that, rather than being an ex-libris of this
literary genre, even though its theoretical background is mostly respected,
“E u ”: M, L, W
L M A
ORISOS, Nº 3
pp.189 a 217 215
this composition is an interesting document that confirms the dichotomy
roles kings were hoped to play. Beyond the specific characteristics that
king Alfonse included in his Cantiga, those of this medieval aesthetic
school have been also taken into account.
Having said the pertinence of literature as to illustrate the intrinsic
games of power and love, and as we move to the establishment of a Gali-
cian-Portuguese poetry, it is important to keep in mind that what should
join us, Portuguese and Spaniards, is our commitment to the study of our
common origins and identity.
Sharing such information will directly benefit us, in the first place,
and others who are working to bring about the continued development
and maintenance of peninsular common heritage.
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(Footnotes)
1 The translation provided into English is ours.
2 Taken from http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/lus/lusbk03.htm
(Retrieved from the Internet on October 28th, 2016). The bold is ours.