Mester de juglaría ("Ministry of
jongleur
A minstrel was an entertainer, initially in medieval Europe. It originally described any type of entertainer such as a musician, juggler, acrobat, singer or fool; later, from the sixteenth century, it came to mean a specialist entertainer who ...
y") is a
Spanish literature
Spanish literature generally refers to literature ( Spanish poetry, prose, and drama) written in the Spanish language within the territory that presently constitutes the Kingdom of Spain. Its development coincides and frequently intersects wi ...
genre
Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...
from the 12th and 13th centuries, transmitted
orally by "juglares" who made their living by telling and singing these stories in public places and palaces while performing short theatrical scenes, acrobatics or other amusements.
These anonymous stories were mostly
cantar de gesta
A ''cantar de gesta'' is the Spanish equivalent of the Old French medieval ''chanson de geste'' or "songs of heroic deeds".
The most important ''cantares de gesta'' of Castile were:
* The '' Cantar de Mio Cid'', where the triumph of the true no ...
. Although versified to make
it easier to memorize, juglares probably often changed the story a little bit as they passed it to others.
There are more theories regarding the origin of these texts. The ''individualist theory'' states that these texts
were the creation of one poet and they didn't change much. On the other hand, the ''traditionalist theory''
says that it is a collective work of the public and it was totally changed on its route.
Compared to the
Mester de Clerecía the authors weren't educated, treated popular topics, used simple language and the metrics of the verses is irregular.
The most known examples of the works that can be classified as Mester de Juglaría is El
Cantar de Mio Cid and
Representación de los Reyes Magos.
Medieval literature
Chansons de geste
Spanish literature
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