GONZALO DE BERCEO: BIOGRAPHY AND WORKS - LITERATURE - 2024

Gonzalo de Berceo (1198-1264) was a Spanish writer belonging to the Middle Ages, recognized as the first poet of the Castilian language. At that time, literary works with a basic vocabulary and written by people with little academic training abounded. For that reason it is considered that Berceo broke a paradigm, being the first to begin to write erudite or cultured poetry.

His poetry was classified as cultured because his verses were rich in literary resources and were organized in a well-defined formal structure. This was completely contrary to the one that had been developing up to that moment.

Bust of Gonzalo de Berceo

The aforementioned characteristics, in addition to the fact that the theme addressed in his poems was of a religious nature, constitute the reason why his works led him to become the first representative of the “mester de clerecía” literary school.

Despite the fact that his poems were addressed to people of a high cultural level, he was in charge of writing them in a simple way, with a wide scope for the understanding of those who did not have this level. This attitude merited his consecration in history.

Biography

Part of her name, as was customary at the time, is due to her birthplace: Berceo, a municipality in the Spanish community of La Rioja, where she was given birth in 1198.

Religious education and roles in the Church

During his training as an ecclesiastic, he had the opportunity to be educated at the monastery of San Millán de la Cogolla, specifically in San Millán de Suso, which was located in his hometown: La Rioja.

In that institution, according to what was declared by Brian Dutton -editor of several Gonzalo works-, he served as a notary for one of the abbey superiors, whose name was Juan Sánchez; who is believed to have a deep trust in Berceo.

Through the religious education received in that monastery, Gonzalo acquired the necessary knowledge to open the way to the beginning of his long and fruitful path as a secular clergyman.

In that sense, in 1221 de Berceo performed functions as a deacon, at which time, according to research, he should have been at least 25 years old. Later, he was a priest in 1237.

He also dedicated himself to teaching and preparing those who, like him, offered part of their lives to the exercise of religious habits.

Academic training

Regarding his higher studies, he had the privilege of being educated at the “General Studies” institute, located in Palencia. There Berceo received classes in four subjects: canon law, arts, logic and theology.

Due to the fact that this institute was the first university establishment for Latin Christians, Berceo, in comparison with the religious and illustrious men of that time, had a better, updated and more complete academic training.

Death

The exact date of his death is unknown, but since San Millán's last document about him is dated 1264, it is believed that by then he had passed away.

Overview of his work

Among the general aspects, the fact that the realization of his work consisted of translating and adapting old texts written in Latin into Spanish stands out. In the adaptation process, he made use of literary resources and strategies that allowed him to give that unique and personal touch to his poems.

Berceo Monastery

In his work you can see the use of the typical words of the community in which he was born and raised. In addition to the inclusion of some aspects of minstrel narratives and the use of the usual literary structure up to that time.

Despite the fact that Berceo was a very cultured man, and his work a clear demonstration of this, he made sure that his poems could be heard and understood by both the cultured and the not so cultured. For this purpose, he used a simple narrative full of elements of popular use and knowledge.

For Berceo it was satisfactory that by adapting and writing in a simple and natural way, he not only managed to convey what he wanted, but also made his work understand and feel to more people.

What is stated in the previous paragraph is, in general, the desire of every writer: to enter and become part of people's minds, as Gonzalo did.

Particularities of his work

His poems were written in the form of cuaderna via, that is, stanzas composed of verses of fourteen metric syllables, divided, by a space or pause, into two parts of seven syllables each.

If there is something that stands out in his work, it is that there is a consonant rhyme in his verses, that is: the presence of the same syllables at the end of each line starting from the stressed vowel between the linked verses.

In his poems there is an absence of sinalefa and a notable presence of rhetorical riches. Among these it is worth mentioning: comparisons, metaphors, symbologies, among others.

It is important to note that the language in which Berceo wrote his works was Spanish, since it was the one spoken in most of La Rioja. Despite this, also in some areas of that community, especially in La Roja Alta, people used to communicate in Basque.

Euskera is a language from the Basque Country or Euskadi, for that reason and for what was stated in the previous paragraph, in his writings the repeated use of words and expressions from that country is notable.

Among the Vasquismos used, gabe stands out, which means lacking or without; beldur, which means fear; çatico, which translates as bit.

Topic and structure

The topics covered in his writings are ecclesiastical in nature. In most of these Berceo makes descriptions of the history of the life of the saints, or the so-called hagiographies. This type of work was mainly the object of those blessed of great importance in the abbeys with which Berceo had some relationship.

Berceo produced the hagiographies in three parts. The first was an account of the life of the blessed. The second recounted the circumstances surrounding the realization of a miracle in life, while the third recounted the compliments after the saint died, to all those people who came to him with faith in a moment of crisis.

He not only dedicated himself to writing about saints, but also about the Virgin Mary and her miracles. The Marian works were made using the same structure as the hagiographies.

Similarly, Berceo made use of his lyrics to address religious themes of another type, as well as including matters of deep and broad social interest.

Plays

Among his most important works, those mentioned and organized below stand out, presented in the chronological order in which, according to research, Berceo published them.

Life of San Millán de la Cogolla

Composed of 489 stanzas, it constitutes Berceo's first work. The document on which it was based for its elaboration was the biography of Emiliano or Millán, Vita Beati Emiliani, made by San Braulio de Zaragoza.

Millán was a saint whose birth and death spanned the period from 474 to 574. He founded a monastery that he baptized with the same name.

This work, as explained in a previous paragraph, follows the structure of hagiographies. In that poem the realization, after his death, of two miracles is narrated, one called the miracle of the bells and the other as the miracle of the rain.

Life of Santo Domingo de Silos

This poetic composition focuses, as its title indicates, on the life of a saint named Domingo, who came to the world around the year 1000, and, like Berceo, was also born in La Rioja.

The source used for the versification of this poem was the biography of Santo Domingo, composed by Silense Grimaldus: Vita Domici Silensis.

From Berceo to Santo Domingo, a great connection and deep devotion was established. Among what can be told of his life, exposed in this work, is the fact that at the age of 30 he consolidated as a priest.

For many years he literally lived in solitude, he decided to completely withdraw from society to later enter the monastery of San Millán.

He entered this monastery as a monk and the relationship and influence he had on it made him a very important blessed for Riojan history.

He left the earthly plane in 1703. After his death the miracles performed were diverse.

Praises of Our Lady

Berceo's first Marian work. In it she tells how the protection of the Virgin Mary has influenced the events that are part of the history of men. This it does in 233 stanzas.

The poem is structured in three parts. In the first Berceo shows the influence of Mary in the salvation of the world, thanks to Jesus Christ. In the next part she narrates the most important events in the life of Jesus. And the last part is made up of all those eulogies dedicated to the mother of the Savior.

The Mourning of the Virgin

Composed of 210 stanzas, in which it narrates the painful process of recognition, acceptance and resignation that the Virgin Mary experienced regarding the death of her son Jesus.

At the beginning of the play there is a conversation between the virgin and a saint, and later it is she who continues the story, without the intervention of another character. A way of narrating quite different from what Berceo was accustomed to her readers.

However, in the last part of the poem, he recounts the events as he had been doing in his other works. It should be noted that, according to critics, this is one of the religious poems of Riojan origin that has the greatest manifestation of feelings.

Miracles of Our Lady

There are 911 stanzas through which this work is related, the longest and most widely recognized by Berceo.

This poem focuses on recounting the events that occurred around 25 miracles performed by the Virgin Mary. Each one in a very detailed and independent way from the others, although some are a little more or less extensive.

According to studies, apparently Berceo did not use just one document to elaborate the work in its entirety, but, rather, he used a set of miracle stories that was very popular on the European continent in the times of the Middle Ages.

For the last thing explained in the previous paragraph is that the geographical setting is varied. Of the stories, 3 are told in Spain, 2 in Santiago, 5 in Italy, and 2 in Palestine and Constantinople.

Signs of the Last Judgment

Seventy-seven stanzas have this work, which is based on a homily by a saint named Jerome. Here, compared to other works that also address the Last Judgment. Berceo anticipates absolutely nothing about the time and place where the judgment will take place.

Because of its name, it is structured in two parts: the narration of the 15 signs of the Judgment, which range from stanza 1 to 25; and the story of the Last Judgment, between stanzas 26 and 77.

In his work, it is evident that Berceo perceives the history of humanity as a process that revolves around the coming of Christ to the world, and whose beginning is creation and ends, of course, with the Final Judgment.

In this, as in the rest of his works, Berceo uses a language and form of writing that is simple and easy to understand for most of his readers. This is due, above all, to the fact that she is very clear and precise in what she wants to convey, and therefore does not open space for double interpretations, facilitating the assimilation of her compositions.

It is also important to note that in this work Berceo also shows the way in which he understands the definition of man, or rather, the one he himself created from his interpretation.

For him, man is composed of two elements: soul and body. No one dies forever, for the soul remains beyond death. While the body will rejoin the soul when the end of the world comes.

He also makes public his vision of death and the society that surrounded him.

References

1. Harlan, C. (2018). Mester of clergy. (n / a): About Spanish. Recovered from: com
2. Gonzalo de Berceo. (Sf). (n / a): Biographies and Lives. Recovered from: com
3. Lacarra D., María J. (Sf). Gonzalo de Berceo (¿1195? -1253-1260?). (n / a): virtual Cervantes. Recovered from: cervantesvirtual.com
4. Gonzalo de Berceo. (S. f.). (n / a): Wikipedia. Recovered from: wikipedia.org
5. Gonzalo de Berceo. (Sf). Spain: Spain is culture. Recovered from: españaescultura.es