Ramon Llull: Life, Works, and Religious Pursuits

• Ramon Llull lived from 1232 to 1316.
• He was born in Palma de Mallorca to a family from Barcelona.
• Llull lived a normal life until 30, was married to Blanca Picany, and had two children.
• After experiencing religious conversions, through appearances of Jesus Christ, Llull dedicated his life to spreading the faith.
• Llull's objectives involved converting non-believers to Christianity, writing works to demonstrate the errors of non-believers, and convincing kings and the Pope to create missionary schools.
• Llull did not attend university, but studied on his own in areas like Latin, Arabic, philosophy, the Bible, and the Quran.
• He emphasized the use of words and reason to persuade.
• Llull was the first literary creator in Catalan, unintentionally.
• He wrote scientific, philosophical, and religious texts in Catalan instead of Latin.

Main Works

• Llibre de contemplació en Déu contains all of his thoughts in 4 volumes, in Catalan, Arabic, and Latin.
• Llibre del gentil i els tres savis features three wise men, Jewish, Christian, and Muslim, attempting to convert a gentile.
• Llibre de meravelles / Fèlix tells the story of a young man who travels the world learning. It includes El llibre de les bèsties.
• L'Orde de cavalleria is a manual of behavior for a Christian knight.

The Four Great Chronicles

• The historical context for these chronicles is the 13th to 15th centuries.
• This period saw the expansion of the Catalan Crown in the Mediterranean.
• Almogàvers were non-noble warriors recruited for the army.
• The chronicles served to justify the actions of kings and wars, acting as propaganda, preserve historical memory, and provide behavioral models for future monarchs.
• The narratives blend historical accounts with literature, establishing a new literary style in prose and are not objective.

The chronicles include

• Llibre dels feits by Jaume I, the first autobiography of a monarch.
• Crònica de Bernat Desclot about Pere II, written by commission.
• Crònica de Ramon Muntaner, written voluntarily, who claimed God commissioned it.
• Crònica de Pere III el Cerimoniós, dictated by the subject himself.

Books of Chivalry and Chivalric Novels

• Joanot Martorell, who lived from 1405 to 1465 in Valencia, wrote Tirant lo Blanc.
• Martorell came from a noble family facing economic problems and traveled through Europe, including Portugal, England, and Andorra.
• He was compelled to sell the manuscript of Tirant.
• Tirant lo Blanc was Inspired by romans courtois traditions, featuring knights, magic, and King Arthur.
• It is realistic and plausible with characters lacking supernatural powers, incorporates real and familiar settings, based on real events from the 15th century, includes complex and evolving characters, features humor and irony, and contains erotic scenes.

Troubadour Poetry

• Troubadour Poetry emerged in the 11th to 13th centuries.
• It began in the Occitan court, the area in southern France, encompassing Languedoc and Provence.
• It developed within a feudal environment where troubadours, poets, composed verses for the nobility.
• The poetry was written in Occitan and shows influence in medieval Catalan literature.
• Troubadour poetry employs verses of 8 or 10 syllables, with consonant or assonant rhyme depending on the poem.
• The theme of courtly love focuses on the impossible love between a troubadour and a noble, married, and unattainable woman.
• Strict codification dictates that love follows rigid social rules akin to feudalism
• The troubadour expresses submission to the lady, akin to a vassal.

Genres of Troubadour Poetry

Characters in Troubadour Poetry

• A Trobador is a noble poet who composes the verses.
• Joglars perform the poems in front of an audience.
• A Dama is a noble, married woman, admired by the troubadour.
• Marit or gilos is the husband, often ridiculed for being an obstacle to the troubadour's love.
• Lauzengiers are gossips who criticize and betray the troubadour.

Examples of Troubadours

• Guillem de Berguedà: wrote satirical sirventès poems.
• Cerverí de Girona: one of the last troubadours in Catalonia.

Characteristics of Books of Chivalry

• They were popular in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.
• They feature fantastical narratives about heroic knights.
• Knights are idealized protagonists, often with magical powers or supernatural assistance.
• they aim to exalt chivalry and its virtues.

Typical Elements

• Books focus on a brave and perfect knight, embodying honor, strength, and valor.
• Feature platonic love with an unattainable lady.
• There are adventures in exotic and mysterious places like islands and enchanted castles.
• Magic, in the form of magicians, fairies, and magical objects, is commonly present.
• The narratives follow a repetitive structure of tests, battles, until the final triumph.

Example

• Amadís de Gaula influenced El Quixot.

Characteristics of Chivalric Novels

• Evolved from books of chivalry in the 15th century.
• Protagonists are more realistic, lack supernatural powers.
• Stories are set in familiar places, not fantastical lands.
• Action is based on real military strategies, not magical trials.
• Characters exhibit complex psychology and evolve throughout the story.
• Incorporate humor, irony, and social criticism.

Example

• Tirant lo Blanc exemplifies the chivalric novel.

Structure of Words

• Words are formed by morphemes, the smallest units of meaning.

Types of Morphemes

• A lexeme is a root containing the main meaning of a word.
• A flexive morpheme provides grammatical information, such as gender, number, or verb tense.
• A derivative morpheme adds new meanings to the lexeme through prefixes or suffixes.

Word Formation

• Words are formed through derivation and composition.
• Derivation involves adding prefixes and suffixes to a lexeme to create a new word.
• Composition forms words by joining two lexemes.

Types of Compound Words

• Compound words can be without a hyphen, like paraigua for umbrella
• Compound words can be with a hyphen, like pèl-roig for redhead
• Compound words can be with Latin and Greek cultisms such as sociolingüística for sociolinguistics and cardiovascular.