INTRODUCTION.—1. Spanish Literature and its Divisions.—2. The Language.
PERIOD FIRST.—1. Early National Literature; the Poem of the Cid; Berceo,
Alfonso the Wise, Segura; Don Juan Manuel, the Archpriest of Hita, Santob,
Ayala.—2. Old Ballads.—3. The Chronicles.—4. Romances of Chivalry.—5.
The Drama.—6. Provençal Literature in Spain.—7. The Influence of Italian
Literature in Spain.—8. The Cancioneros and Prose Writing.—9. The
Inquisition.
PERIOD SECOND.—1. The Effect of Intolerance on Letters.—2. Influence of
Italy on Spanish Literature; Boscan, Garcilasso de la Vega, Diego de
Mendoza.—3. History; Cortez, Gomara, Oviedo, Las Casas.—4. The Drama,
Rueda, Lope de Vega, Calderon de la Barca.—5. Romances and Tales;
Cervantes, and other Writers of Fiction.—6. Historical Narrative Poems;
Ercilla.—7. Lyric Poetry; the Argensolas; Luis de Leon, Quevedo, Herrera,
Gongora, and others.—8. Satirical and other Poetry.—9. History and other
Prose Writing; Zurita, Mariana, Sandoval, and others.
PERIOD THIRD.—1. French Influence on the Literature of Spain.—2. The
Dawn of Spanish Literature in the Eighteenth Century; Feyjoo, Isla,
Moratin the elder, Yriarte, Melendez, Gonzalez, Quintana, Moratin the
younger.—3. Spanish Literature in the Nineteenth Century.
INTRODUCTION.
1. SPANISH LITERATURE AND ITS DIVISIONS.—At the period of the subversion of the Empire of the West, in the fifth century, Spain was invaded by the Suevi, the Alans, the Vandals, and the Visigoths. The country which had for six centuries been subjected to the dominion of the Romans, and had, adopted the language and arts of its masters, now experienced those changes in manners, opinions, military spirit, and language, which took place in the other provinces of the empire, and which, were, in fact, the origin of the nations which arose on the overthrow of the Roman power. Among the conquerors of Spain, the Visigoths were the most numerous; the ancient Roman subjects were speedily confounded with them, and their dominion soon extended over nearly the whole country. In the year 710 the peninsula was invaded by the Arabs or Moors, and from that time the active and incessant struggles of the Spanish Christians against the invaders, and their necessary contact with Arabian civilization, began to elicit sparks of intellectual energy. Indeed, the first utterance of that popular feeling which became the foundation of the national literature was heard in the midst of that extraordinary contest, which lasted for more than seven centuries, so that the earliest Spanish poetry seems but a breathing of the energy and heroism which, at the time it appeared, animated the Spanish Christians throughout the peninsula. Overwhelmed by the Moors, they did not entirely yield; a small but valiant band, retreating before the fiery pursuit of their enemies, established themselves in the extreme northwestern portion of their native land, amidst the mountains and the fastnesses of Biscay and Asturias, while the others remained under the yoke of the conquerors, adopting, in some degree, the manners and habits of the Arabians. On the destruction of the caliphat of Cordova, in the year 1031, the dismemberment of the Moslem territories into petty Independent kingdoms, often at variance with each other, afforded the Christians a favorable opportunity of reconquering their country. One after another the Moorish states fell before them. The Moors were driven farther and farther to the south, and by the middle of the thirteenth century they had no dominion in Spain except the kingdom of Granada, which for two centuries longer continued the splendid abode of luxury and magnificence.
As victory inclined more and more to the Spanish arms, the Castilian dialect rapidly grew into a vehicle adequate to express the pride and dignity of the prevailing people, and that enthusiasm for liberty which was long their finest characteristic. The poem of the Cid early appeared, and in the thirteenth century a numerous family of romantic ballads followed, all glowing with heroic ardor. As another epoch drew near, the lyric form began to predominate, in which, however, the warm expressions of the Spanish heart were restricted by a fondness for conceit and allegory. The rudiments of the drama, religious, pastoral, and satiric, soon followed, marked by many traits of original thought and talent. Thus the course of Spanish literature proceeded, animated and controlled by the national character, to the end of the fifteenth century.
In the sixteenth, the original genius of the Spaniards, and their proud consciousness of national greatness, contributed to the maintenance and improvement of their literature in the face of the Inquisition itself. Released by the conquest of Granada (1492) from the presence of internal foes, prosperous at home and powerful abroad, Spain naturally rose to high mental dignity; and with all that she gathered from foreign contributions, her writers kept much of their native vein, more free than at first from Orientalism, but still breathing of their own romantic land. A close connection, however, for more than one hundred years with Italy, familiarized the Spanish mind with eminent Italian authors and with the ancient classics.
During the seventeenth century, especially from the middle to the close, the decay of letters kept pace with the decline of Spanish power, until the humiliation of both seemed completed in the reign of Charles II. About that time, however, the Spanish drama received a full development and attained its perfection. In the eighteenth century, under the government of the Bourbons, and partly through the patronage of Philip V., there was a certain revival of literature; but unfortunately, parties divided, and many of the educated Spaniards were so much attracted by French glitter as to turn with disgust from their own writers. The political convulsions, of which Spain has been the victim since the time of Ferdinand VII., have greatly retarded the progress of national literature, and the nineteenth century has thus far produced little which is worthy of mention.
The literary history of Spain may be divided into three periods:—