Berceo is anecdotally the first Spanish poet with a known name. Historical records probe that he was a cleric, his life linked to the monasteries of San Millán de la Cogolla (Logroño) and Santo Domingo de Silos (Burgos). The author is the first representative of the so-called 'mester de clerecía' (poetical work of the clergy), thus inaugurating the path of erudite and poetry subjected to strict formal norms of verse construction, in contrast to the popular epics and minstrels, which used a fluctuating and irregular metric. 

The author, being both a theologian and a poet, handles the new way of poetry writing with remarkable formal mastery and properly counting syllables for the construction of each verse. Following the norms of the 'mester of clerecía', all his works are written in 'cuaderna via', also called monorhyme tetramorph. This consists of a quartet formed by stanzas of fourteen syllables and a single rhyme: AAAA, BBBB, and following. Each stanza is made up of four Alexandrian verses (of fourteen syllables), each separated into two halves of seven syllables by a caesura that coincides with the end of the word and phonic group, to preventing any synalepha.

As a poet, his work is full of candor, reiterating commonplaces of a tradition, both literary and theological, in which he participates due to his living environment. He consistently follows a systematic and coherent scheme with the theological truths that give content to his poems. However, all this complexity, both formal and thematic, is largely veiled by the popular tone that he printed throughout his creation. His work intended for the people, this author has been described as a 'minstrel to the divine'. In his intent to reach out to the laypeople Berceo is a vulgarizer of Christian theology, searching for his poetry creations on the extensive works in Latin that he's so familiar with, due to his religious studies. In this way he collaborates to a redefinition and enrichment of the Castilian language, adding to its vocabulary many words from Latin, also known as cultisms.  However, some critics have not considered Berceo an original author due to this form of appropriation of previous literary work,  reducing his task to almost a mere translator who expands works previously written in Latin, disseminating and explaining them with clear catechetical and propaganda intentions.

Most of his literary work consists of hagiographies, that is, biographies of the saints, especially those who were worshiped in the monasteries with which he was associated. Berceo's captivating poetic personality stands out especially in his most famous work on the Virgin Mary,  Milagros de Nuestra Señora. This work is inspired by the extensive current of literature dedicated to the Virgin Mary, which develops throughout the Middle Ages, both in Latin and in Romance languages. Berceo constructs in this poetry work a magistral example of Christian literature that presents a highly idealized image of nature, in order to induce a mood of calm concentration in the reader. To this aim, in its introduction, he makes a detailed description of Paradise, following strict formulas prescribed by the 'locus amoenus' of medieval scholasticism (a term that in Latin means pleasant place). The allegorical introduction is followed by twenty-five poems that narrate miracles attributed to the Virgin. Berceo infuses his work with a delicate and naive personality, with a diaphanous and friendly style.

Milagros de Nuestra Señora

Duelo de la virgen

Loores de la Virgen

Del scarifico de la misa

Los signos del juicio final

Vida de San Millán de la Cogolla

Vida de Santo Domingo de Silos

The work, in medieval Castilian dialect, consists of a compilation of examples in verse cuaderna via that relate twenty-five miracles performed by the Virgin Mary.

Poetry

Religious

The Baroque is period characterized by a cultural development unwind due to the Counter-Reformation and the Council of Trent. In many respects, Baroque supposes a  return to the Middle Ages, ceasing the clear Renaissance separation between the natural and the supernatural. The Inquisition watches over any intellectual activity that does not highlight or otherwise avoids the transcendental. Scientific research and rational philosophy practically end in Spain, with Theology taking their place. Superstition supplants religiosity in people's minds and so-called miracles ubiquitously flourish. 

In this context, the Spanish genius, unable to create intellectually in other areas, takes refuge in the aesthetic task, with an impressive list of painters, sculptors, and architects who live in this era. The literature demonstrates the same splendor. When Cervantes was still alive,  other outstanding authors such as Lope de Vega, Góngora, and Quevedo wrote their literary masterpieces. Shortly after this giants of the Spanish literature history died, began his careers the last genius of the Baroque era, Calderón de la Barca and Gracián. Somehow, the limitation in freedom of expression is offset by an increase in artifice and exaggeration in style, subjecting the language of the Renaissance to an intense elaboration that gives rise to the two great movements of the time: the 'culteranismo' and the 'conceptismo'.

Middle Ages

Crónica Najerense

Guía de Perplejos, by Maimónides

Poema del Mio Cid

Batalla de las Navas

Fernando III, King of Castile and León

Libro de Apolonio

Historia Gothica, by Rodrigo Jiménez de Rada

Alfonso X crowned king of Castile, León and Galicia

Alfonso X crowned king

Universidad de Valladolid

Estudios Generales de Alcalá

Libro del Caballero Zifar

Libro de Buen Amor

El conde Lucanor, by don Juan Manuel

Fratricídio de Montiel

Historia universal, by Ibh Jaldún

Rimado de palacio, by López de Ayala

Compromiso de Caspe

Debete on the Talmud

Cancionero de Baena

Corbacho, by Arcipreste de Talavera

Cancionero de palacio

Coplas de Ay, panadera

Isabel la Católica crowned queen

Inquisition is stablished in Castile

Conquest of Granada

The Jews are expeled from Spain

Treaty of Tordesillas

Cancionero, by Juan del Encina

La Celestina, by Fernando de Rojas

De amore, by Andreas Capellanus

Saladino recovers Jerusalen

Third crusade

Harmonia Mundi, by Kepler

Novum Organum, by Bacon

University of Bologna

IV Council of Letrán

Frederic II crowned emperor

Canticle of the sun, by Francis of Assisi

University of Montpellier and Toulouse

Carmina Burana

Roman de la Rose, by Guillarme de Lorris

Chronicon Mundi, by Lucas de Tuy

Seventh crusade

Tractatus, by Étiene de Bourbon

Opus Maius, by Roger Bacon

Tractatus, by Humberto de Romans

Eighth crusade

Roman de la Rose, by Jean de Meun

Marco Polo writes a manuscript about his travels 

Travels of Marco Polo

Divine Comedy, by Dante Alighieri

Poems from Petrarca

One Hundred Years War starts

Black Death

The Decameron, by Boccaccio

Canterbury Tales, by Chaucer

Benedict XIII pope

Council of Constanza 

End of the Western Schism

Council of Basilea

Milagros de nuestra señora (1246)

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Milagros de nuestra señora (1246)

By Gonzalo de Berceo

Time Period: Middle Ages

Genre: Poetry, Religious

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