Poema de Fernán González
Encyclopedia
The Poema de Fernán González is a Castilian epic poem
, specifically, a cantar de gesta
of the Mester de Clerecía
. Composed in a metre called the cuaderna vía, it narrates the deeds of the historical Count of Castile, Fernán González. It was written between 1250 and 1266 by a monk of San Pedro de Arlanza
. In 1960 a fourteenth-century Arab roofing tile was discovered in Merindad de Sotoscueva
north of Burgos
that had some verses of the poem scrawled on it in Old Spanish. It is the oldest copy of (a part of) the work.
The poem reiterates the campaigns of Fernán González against the Moors
, his wars against the Kingdom of Navarre
, his debates with the King of León, and his protection of San Pedro de Arlanza, where he was eventually laid to rest. Fernán's ability to keep Castile out of the reach of the Moors, however, is most heavily stressed. The poem is designed to present Fernán as the legitimate ruler of all Spain and thus justify Castilian supremacy in the poet's own day. The opening lines express the poet's own desire:
Despite this strong idealogical bent, the author was not well aware of the historical details. Very little about Fernán González has been conserved in writing and most of the stories about him were transmitted orally, developing into legend in the process. The Poema itself is conserved in only one fifteenth-century manuscript
, where the mentality and language of the work attest to its thirteenth-century origins.
Epic poetry
An epic is a lengthy narrative poem, ordinarily concerning a serious subject containing details of heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation. Oral poetry may qualify as an epic, and Albert Lord and Milman Parry have argued that classical epics were fundamentally an oral poetic form...
, specifically, a cantar de gesta
Cantar de gesta
A cantar de gesta is the Spanish equivalent of the Old French medieval chanson de geste or "songs of heroic deeds".The most important cantares de gesta of Castile were:...
of the Mester de Clerecía
Mester de Clerecía
Mester de Clerecía is a Castilian literature genre that can be understood as an opposition and surpassing of Mester de Juglaría. It was cultivated in the 13th century by Spanish clergymen....
. Composed in a metre called the cuaderna vía, it narrates the deeds of the historical Count of Castile, Fernán González. It was written between 1250 and 1266 by a monk of San Pedro de Arlanza
San Pedro de Arlanza
San Pedro de Arlanza was a monastery in north central Spain. Founded in 912, it has been called the "cradle of Castile"...
. In 1960 a fourteenth-century Arab roofing tile was discovered in Merindad de Sotoscueva
Merindad de Sotoscueva
Merindad de Sotoscueva is a municipality located in the province of Burgos, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2004 census , the municipality has a population of 516 inhabitants....
north of Burgos
Burgos
Burgos is a city of northern Spain, historic capital of Castile. It is situated at the edge of the central plateau, with about 178,966 inhabitants in the city proper and another 20,000 in its suburbs. It is the capital of the province of Burgos, in the autonomous community of Castile and León...
that had some verses of the poem scrawled on it in Old Spanish. It is the oldest copy of (a part of) the work.
The poem reiterates the campaigns of Fernán González against the Moors
Moors
The description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of the Maghreb region who are predominately of Berber and Arab descent. They came to conquer and rule the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years. At that time they were Muslim, although earlier the people had followed...
, his wars against the Kingdom of Navarre
Kingdom of Navarre
The Kingdom of Navarre , originally the Kingdom of Pamplona, was a European kingdom which occupied lands on either side of the Pyrenees alongside the Atlantic Ocean....
, his debates with the King of León, and his protection of San Pedro de Arlanza, where he was eventually laid to rest. Fernán's ability to keep Castile out of the reach of the Moors, however, is most heavily stressed. The poem is designed to present Fernán as the legitimate ruler of all Spain and thus justify Castilian supremacy in the poet's own day. The opening lines express the poet's own desire:
|
|
Despite this strong idealogical bent, the author was not well aware of the historical details. Very little about Fernán González has been conserved in writing and most of the stories about him were transmitted orally, developing into legend in the process. The Poema itself is conserved in only one fifteenth-century manuscript
Manuscript
A manuscript or handwrite is written information that has been manually created by someone or some people, such as a hand-written letter, as opposed to being printed or reproduced some other way...
, where the mentality and language of the work attest to its thirteenth-century origins.
Text
- Complete text at La Manticora: Revista de Textos Medievales.