Pero Ferrús (fl.

Floruit

Floruit , abbreviated fl. , is a Latin verb meaning "flourished", denoting the period of time during which something was active...

 1380) was a Castilian

Castile (historical region)

A former kingdom, Castile gradually merged with its neighbours to become the Crown of Castile and later the Kingdom of Spain when united with the Crown of Aragon and the Kingdom of Navarre...

 poet. He lived in Alcalá de Henares

Alcalá de Henares

Alcalá de Henares , meaning Citadel on the river Henares, is a Spanish city, whose historical centre is one of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites, and one of the first bishoprics founded in Spain...

.

Ferrús was a Marrano

Marrano

Marranos were Jews living in the Iberian peninsula who converted to Christianity rather than be expelled but continued to observe rabbinic Judaism in secret...

, a term used to describe one who had converted to Christianity

Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

 from Judaism

Judaism

Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...

. The reasons for conversion by Marranos were various, but it did offer opportunities for advancement within the Christian world. Like several Marrano writers (such as Juan de Valladolid

Juan de Valladolid

Juan de Valladolid , also known as Juan Poeta , was a Castilian poet. Born Jewish, he converted to Christianity later in life. As a Marrano, or baptized Jew, he married a Christian woman named Jamila...

), Ferrús simulated the Christian faith while mocking his former co-religionists in his poetry. In Cantiga 302, he describes himself as being exhausted, seeking rest in a synagogue

Synagogue

A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...

. Unfortunately, this sleep is disturbed by "Jews with long beards and slovenly garments come thither for early morning prayer."http://www.saltshakers.com/lm/GraetzB.rtf Ferrús himself wrote a poem through which the Jewish community in Alcalá could respond to his jests. In Cantiga 303, they consider his poetry as proceeding from a lengua juglara ("buffoon tongue").

Ferrús wrote his poetry in the Provençal

Provençal literature

Occitan literature — still sometimes called Provençal literature — is a body of texts written in Occitan in what is nowadays the South of France. It originated in the poetry of the 11th- and 12th-century troubadours, and inspired the rise of vernacular literature throughout medieval...

 style, during a time in which this style was exceedingly popular at the Castilian court. His poetry celebrates the reign and accomplishments of Henry II of Castile. Ferrús makes an early reference to chivalric romances when he compares, for example, his love for his lady with the riches owned by Rrey Lysuarte (King Lisuarte). He is thus known to have read the popular romance Amadis of Gaul. His contemporary Pero López de Ayala

Pero López de Ayala

Don Pero López de Ayala was a Castilian statesman, historian, poet, chronicler, chancellor, and courtier. Ayala were one of the major aristocratic families of Castile; they were later claimed to be of the Jewish converso descent, but Pero's own father composed a genealogy tracing the family from...

 is also known to have read this romance.

Compositions

His poetic compositions appear in the Cancionero de Baena

Cancionero de Baena

The Cancionero de Baena was compiled between around 1426 to 1430 by the Marrano Juan Alfonso de Baena for John II of Castile. Its full title is Cancionero del Judino Juan Alfonso de Baena....

(301-305).

301. Untitled (in the style of Provençal

Provençal literature

Occitan literature — still sometimes called Provençal literature — is a body of texts written in Occitan in what is nowadays the South of France. It originated in the poetry of the 11th- and 12th-century troubadours, and inspired the rise of vernacular literature throughout medieval...

 and Galician

Galician literature

Galician language literature is the literature written in Galician. The earliest works in Galician language are from the early 13th-century trovadorismo tradition...

 poetry).

302. Cantiga de Pero Ferruz para los rabíes ("Pero Ferruz's cantiga for the rabbi

Rabbi

In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...

s"). (This poem is thought to have been written prior to the anti-Semitic

Anti-Semitism

Antisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...

 riots of 1388-1391, due to the tongue-in-cheek humor present in the poet's complaints about his former co-religionists and in the rabbis' response, which would have been impossible towards the end of the century).

303. Respuesta de los rabíes a Perro Ferruz ("The rabbis' response to Perro Ferruz"). (Most likely written by Ferrús himself).

304. Dezir de Pero Ferruz al Rey don Enrique (1379; written in the year of Henry's death). "Dezir" can be translated as a piece of friendly advice.

305. Dezir de Pero Ferruz a Pero López de Ayala

Pero López de Ayala

Don Pero López de Ayala was a Castilian statesman, historian, poet, chronicler, chancellor, and courtier. Ayala were one of the major aristocratic families of Castile; they were later claimed to be of the Jewish converso descent, but Pero's own father composed a genealogy tracing the family from...

(between 1379 and 1390; this cantiga combines the theme of the good life in Castile with a series of loores, or lyric paeans, to a series of Greek, Roman, Biblical, chivalric, and Arab heroes. These include Geryon

Geryon

In Greek mythology, Geryon , son of Chrysaor and Callirrhoe and grandson of Medusa, was a fearsome giant who dwelt on the island Erytheia of the mythic Hesperides in the far west of the Mediterranean. A more literal-minded later generation of Greeks associated the region with Tartessos in southern...

, Cacus

Cacus

In Roman mythology, Cacus was a fire-breathing giant monster and the son of Vulcan.-Mythology:Cacus lived in a cave in the Palatine Hill in Italy, the future site of Rome. To the horror of nearby inhabitants, Cacus lived on human flesh and would nail the heads of victims to the doors of his cave...

, Scipio Africanus

Scipio Africanus

Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus , also known as Scipio Africanus and Scipio the Elder, was a general in the Second Punic War and statesman of the Roman Republic...

, Joshua

Joshua

Joshua , is a minor figure in the Torah, being one of the spies for Israel and in few passages as Moses's assistant. He turns to be the central character in the Hebrew Bible's Book of Joshua...

, King David, Arthur

King Arthur

King Arthur is a legendary British leader of the late 5th and early 6th centuries, who, according to Medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and...

, Galahad

Galahad

Sir Galahad |Round Table]] and one of the three achievers of the Holy Grail in Arthurian legend. He is the illegitimate son of Lancelot and Elaine of Corbenic, and is renowned for his gallantry and purity. Emerging quite late in the medieval Arthurian tradition, he is perhaps the knightly...

, Roland

Roland

Roland was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the Matter of France. Historically, Roland was military governor of the Breton March, with responsibility for defending the frontier of Francia against the Bretons...

, Amadis de Gaula

Amadis de Gaula

Amadis de Gaula is a landmark work among the knight-errantry tales which were in vogue in 16th century Iberian Peninsula, and formed the earliest reading of many Renaissance and Baroque writers, although it was written at the onset of the 14th century.The first known printed edition was published...

, Saladin

Saladin

Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb , better known in the Western world as Saladin, was an Arabized Kurdish Muslim, who became the first Sultan of Egypt and Syria, and founded the Ayyubid dynasty. He led Muslim and Arab opposition to the Franks and other European Crusaders in the Levant...

, Bernardo del Carpio

Bernardo del Carpio

Bernald del Carpio, also Bernaldo del Carpio and Bernardo del Carpio, is a legendary hero of medieval Kingdom of Asturias, comparable to other legendary medieval Iberian heroes like El Cid.-The story:...

, El Cid

El Cid

Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar , known as El Cid Campeador , was a Castilian nobleman, military leader, and diplomat...

, and Ferdinand III of Castile

Ferdinand III of Castile

Saint Ferdinand III, T.O.S.F., was the King of Castile from 1217 and León from 1230. He was the son of Alfonso IX of León and Berenguela of Castile. Through his second marriage he was also Count of Aumale. He finished the work done by his maternal grandfather Alfonso VIII and consolidated the...

. The list culminates with a mention of Henry II of Castile).

Sources

• Brian Dutton, Joaquín González Cuenca (editors), Cancionero de Juan Alfonso de Baena (Madrid: Visor Libros, 1993), 534-544.
• Enciclopedia Universal Sopena, Tomo Cuarto (Barcelona: Editorial Ramon Sopena, S.A., 1963), 3545.
• Jewish Apostates