ARCHPRIEST OF HITA: BIOGRAPHY, WORKS AND CHARACTERISTICS - LITERATURE - 2025

The archpriest of Hita, whose birth name was Juan Ruiz (1283-1350), was a 13th-century Castilian writer who left a deep mark on Spanish literature through his work: the Book of Good Love. Although it is his only written production, that does not detract from it, that manuscript is considered the masterpiece of medieval Spanish literature.

Most of what is known about Juan Ruiz is thanks to his book. His work keeps meticulous biographical aspects that have left between seeing the adventures, experiences and passions of this Spanish poet.

Image alluding to the Spanish Middle Ages. Source: By Romanesque Period, from Wikimedia Commons

Thanks to the Book of Good Love his name is known, if he had not specified it, Juan Ruiz would have gone unnoticed in history. In a section of the manuscript it says: “therefore I, Juan Ruiz, / Arçipreste de Fita…”.

It is, therefore, as a result of the literary depth of his work and his self-mention in it that research begins on the life of this mysterious character.

The mystery of the archpriest

It is in a document found in Toledo where its formal existence is specified. This writing speaks of a man named "Johanne Roderici archipresbitero de Fita", who was a witness to an arbitration that took place between the brotherhood of clerics of Madrid and Archbishop Gimeno de Luna, in 1330.

Thanks to the participation of the writer in his role as archpriest during that sentence, he began to put together what was his life, following up on the rest of the legal manuscripts on the activities that took place in Toledo at that time.

There are still many aspects to be revealed about this character, which makes the study of his work very interesting, which is, perhaps, the most reliable source of the mystery that his life has meant.

Biography

As mentioned previously, what is known of his life is very little, except what the writer himself has left between seeing in his work and what the researchers have revealed after studying documents of the time.

However, despite all the mystery, some dates come to the fore, placing his birth in 1283.

Three localities are awarded his birth

Now the exact place of his birth is in dispute.

Scholars from the town of Alcalá de Henares (in Madrid) and Alcalá la Real (in Jaén) are awarded, each in turn, to be the birthplace of the now renowned and famous Archpriest of Hita. Even the town of Guadalajara has joined the lawsuit.

The truth is that until reliable evidence of the exact place where he could have been born is obtained, the hypotheses will continue to haunt, and even more places may be added to the brawl.

Your parents and family

Added to the mystery of his birthplace is a family origin typical of a medieval epic story. His father, according to several historians, was Arias González de Cisneros, who served as a knight from Palencia and fought in the war in Granada, remaining a prisoner for almost 25 years.

From this vision of the possible father the hypothesis is derived that Juan Ruiz was born in Alcalá la Real, since the place where Arias González was possibly confined was Benzayde, which is in said town of Jaén.

While there, Arias González was handed over as a woman to a young Christian woman whose name is unknown. The bestowal of the maiden was made by the King of Granada. The couple had a total of six male children, Juan Ruíz being the third.

Childhood and youth

Juan Ruiz spent his childhood and youth in the lands dominated by the Muslims. In 1305 the family was released and they went to Castile. While there they were protected by Simón de Cisneros, Ruiz's uncle and bishop of Sigüenza, a man with important connections to Queen María de Molina.

Those power relations of Ruiz's uncle very surely allowed the young man to obtain royal favors, and could even intervene in the appointment that was made to him as archpriest of Hita later.

Being between both worlds, the Muslim Arab and the Christian, was generating in the boy and the young Juan Ruiz a very particular vision of religious and secular life, a vision that was reflected in his work.

His studies

The writer Juan Ruiz obtained his most important knowledge in Toledo, specifically in the university professor of this town. During his training he witnessed the priestly reforms carried out by Gonzalo Pétrez and Jofré de Loaisa, who were the archbishop and the priest on duty in the area.

After some time, and this is attributed to the influence of his uncle Simón and the intelligence with which he knew how to function, Juan Ruiz began to hold positions of an ecclesiastical nature.

Your trips and first charges

These charges allowed him to travel through Guadalajara, Hita, Alcalá de Henares, Segovia and Madrid. These places represent the geographical context in which the plot of his book takes place.

It is believed that the position of archpriest was held from 1320. He displayed the knowledge learned in his youth and adulthood in Toledo, earning, at first, the respect of his subordinates. However, due to his passions towards women, little by little his image was declining.

According to found notes, he was part of the entourage of Don Gil de Albornoz, who, from 1337 to 1350, served as Archbishop of Toledo. With the pontiff he traveled to Rome and Avignon.

It is believed that Gil de Albornoz entrusted Juan Ruiz with making some strong changes in his archpriesthood, reforms that were not well seen by the clergymen under his command and that led the latter to conspire against the archpriest until he was imprisoned.

A very productive betrayal

The truth is that without that betrayal that the clergymen of his archpriest did to Ruiz, his masterpiece might not exist, and we would not know it today, since it has been concluded that the Book of Good Love was written while was serving a sentence.

If the poet had not had all the free time that he had during his imprisonment, it is most likely that his autobiography, as his work is considered, would not have seen the light.

According to the dates present in the manuscripts that are preserved, the text was elaborated between 1330 and 1343.

The Book of Good Love was a surprise for medieval literature, as it broke with known patterns. Perhaps the greatest thing about the creation of the Archpriest of Hita was to use his poetry to make his biography in such a masterful way, reaching a milestone and immortalizing himself with it.

A life of loves and follies

Reading his book reveals to the reader a man passionate about women, who walked between power and the religious attributions that his position gave him, by means of which he imposed order, but at the same time he allowed himself to be carried away by temptations. carnal, without missing any opportunity to fulfill their wishes.

Thus, a man who was not afraid to show himself as he was can be appreciated in his work, a duality that ended up costing him dearly.

Perhaps the counterproductive, and that was possibly the strong part of the betrayal received, was trusting a lot of those around him and exposing his vices with women so much.

What is stated in the previous paragraph is said because many scholars deduce that from there, from his libertine life while he held an ecclesiastical office, his accusers used to set the trap that later led him to prison.

A connoisseur of music

The Archpriest of Hita was not only good at lyrics, but also at music. This can be clearly seen in the Book of Good Love by seeing the fluid and technical language used in the verses.

We could, therefore, classify him as a kind of cultured troubadour who used his poetic-musical knowledge to gain the trust and affection of his relatives, as well as the love of women.

Death of Juan Ruiz

It often happens with many geniuses that their death, at first, goes unnoticed. This is what happened to Juan Ruiz. The date of his death is known by mere logic, because in 1350 the clergyman Pedro Fernández assumed the position of archpriest of Hita, which makes it presume that he died that year.

There was no document that spoke directly of his death, or the causes, or where he was buried. A dishonorable and base luck, in reality, saved only by the great impact that his lyrics later had on Spanish and world literature.

Plays

Of Juan Ruiz, the archpriest of Hita, there is only one known work, a work of which we have spoken and of which we will delve a little more in the following lines: the Book of Good Love.

Fragment of the Book of good love. Source:

As mentioned, the book was written during his time in prison. The text is not framed within any literary trend known for its time. The work of the archpriest shows a clear autobiographical tendency, achieved in a tenacious and very well elaborated way.

The text seeks to educate people about the importance of always looking for good love, of what is necessary for man, becoming, practically, the only real thing in existence.

Juan Ruiz, in his leading role, is shown as a man and as a clergyman. Leave between seeing the duality of the being that seeks God to find the divine, and the individual who needs women to satisfy the carnal, and how no one escapes from that.

The story takes the reader through a considerable number of love affairs that end in continuous failure. However, the protagonist does not give up, but insists on continuing and achieving the task: finding good love.

The wealth of

It is necessary to limit the excellent historical resource that is the work of Juan Ruiz, by narrating in such an exact way the various festivities and customs of the different towns through which his narrative walks. This is one of the most valuable aspects of this manuscript.

Regarding the metric and the rhyme handled by Juan Ruiz in his work, it is necessary to praise the good use of the cuaderna via (Alexandrian verses of fourteen syllables superimposed in fourteen-verse stanzas) along with the development of the other so many forms poetics of the time, such as cantigas, songs of the blind and other popular subways.

It is due to the Book of Good Love, to get out of the argumentative complexity of the pre-existing medieval works to something simpler and more digestible, more human and tangible, closer to the reality of the people. This is, perhaps, one of the most notable legacies of Juan Ruiz's work: the simplicity of the beautiful.

Characteristics as a writer

As a writer, Juan Ruiz maintains a first-person narrative that is sometimes ambiguous, moving from the attitudes of the clergyman to those of the carnal man.

He manifests a broad management of genres within his work, being very good at developing fables, stories, stories, songs and sayings. With the same dexterity an excellent command of rhetoric is evident.

Juan Ruiz was given very easy description of any person, event or object, as well as the possibility of expanding any situation using all possible literary resources. This particularity made the archpriest of Hita a weighty writer that makes one seriously think about why he did not work as a writer long before.

There is a marked misogynistic inclination in the work of the archpriest, it is impossible to ignore how the poet makes women see women as prey. For him the female is an object of enjoyment and use, although in the vast majority of cases the man did not get to fulfill his mission.

The Ovidian, Mozarabic and Hebrew influence is evident in the character of the writer. Not in vain all that he experienced in Granada, Castilla and Toledo, nor the intense knowledge that he obtained from his mentors.

Teachings, dissertations and lyrical variants are the order of the day in the pen of the Archpriest of Hita. His strong didactic are stories and fables, in order to broadly illustrate to readers what he wants to convey.

A complete writer

He was a man with a lot of knowledge in the various branches of knowledge of the time, delving not only in the ecclesiastical but also in the profane. He handled topics such as astrology or money and its effect on man. He also shows a remarkable handling of cantigas, very popular between the 13th and 15th centuries.

Certainly a very complex and cultured human being, wrapped in a deep mystery halo. His work is torn between the cultured and the popular, and he achieves it so well that it transcends, when he likes, both languages. This shows his mastery of letters, and how well he got along with both worlds: the secular and the ecclesiastical.

Although the data available to concretely put together what was the life of Juan Ruiz, archpriest of Hita, are scarce, the influence and weight of his work in Spanish literature is undeniable.

The Book of Good Love is and will always be an obligatory reference, the best book written in the Spanish language of the Middle Ages.

References

1. Archpriest of Hita. (S. f.). (N / a): Wikipedia. Recovered from: es.wikipedia.org
2. Good love book. (S. f.). (N / a): Wikipedia. Recovered from: es.wikipedia.org
3. Archpriest of Hita. (2013). (N / a): Escritores.org. Recovered from: Escribres.org.el
4. Pérez Priego, MA (S. f.). Archpriest of Hita. The author and his work. Spain: Cervantes Virtual. Recovered from: cervantesvirtual.com
5. Archpriest of Hita (Juan Ruíz). (Sf). (n / a): Biographies and Lives. Recovered from: biografiasyvidas.com