A ''romancero'' is a collection of Spanish '' romances'', a type of folk ballad (sung narrative). The ''romancero'' is the entire corpus of such ballads. As a distinct body of literature they borrow themes such as war, honour, aristocracy and heroism from

epic poetry In poetry, an epic is a lengthy narrative poem typically about the extraordinary deeds of extraordinary characters who, in dealings with gods or other superhuman forces, gave shape to the mortal universe for their descendants. With regard t ...

, especially the medieval '' cantar de gesta'' and

chivalric romance As a literary genre, the chivalric romance is a type of prose and verse narrative that was popular in the noble courts of high medieval and early modern Europe. They were fantastic stories about marvel-filled adventures, often of a chivalri ...

, and they often have a pretense of

historicity Historicity is the historical actuality of persons and events, meaning the quality of being part of history instead of being a historical myth, legend, or fiction. The historicity of a claim about the past is its factual status. Historicity deno ...

. The ''romancero'' was once thought to extend back in time to before the earliest

Old Spanish Old Spanish (, , ; ), also known as Old Castilian or Medieval Spanish, refers to the varieties of Ibero-Romance spoken predominantly in Castile and environs during the Middle Ages. The earliest, longest, and most famous literary composition in O ...

''cantares'', like the ''

Cantar de mio Cid ''El Cantar de mio Cid'', or ''El Poema de mio Cid'' ("The Song of My Cid"; "The Poem of My Cid"), is an anonymous '' cantar de gesta'' and the oldest preserved Castilian epic poem. Based on a true story, it tells of the deeds of the Castilian h ...

'', but it is now argued that they are instead successors to the truly epic chivalric genres. The earliest examples of ''romances'' date from the fourteenth century, and some are shortened narrations of stories drawn from the ''cantares'' and romances. Many tales take place against the backdrop of the ''

Reconquista The ''Reconquista'' (Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese for ) or the fall of al-Andalus was a series of military and cultural campaigns that European Christian Reconquista#Northern Christian realms, kingdoms waged ag ...

'', showing Spaniards and

Moors The term Moor is an Endonym and exonym, exonym used in European languages to designate the Muslims, Muslim populations of North Africa (the Maghreb) and the Iberian Peninsula (particularly al-Andalus) during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a s ...

in conflict or in love, while others draw their themes from the

Matter of Britain The Matter of Britain (; ; ; ) is the body of medieval literature and legendary material associated with Great Britain and Brittany and the list of legendary kings of Britain, legendary kings and heroes associated with it, particularly King Art ...

or the

Matter of France The Matter of France (), also known as the Carolingian cycle, is a body of medieval literature and legendary material associated with the history of France, in particular involving Charlemagne and the Paladins. The cycle springs from the Old Fr ...

. The ballads form a continuous link in the chain of tradition from the earliest Spanish vernacular literature to the literature of the 20th century. ''Romancero gitano'' (" Gitano Romancero") is title of a book of songs by

Federico García Lorca Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca (5 June 1898 – 19 August 1936) was a Spanish poet, playwright, and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblematic member of the Generation of '27, a g ...

, many of which have themes derived from the life and culture of the gitanos of Andalusia.

References

{{Reflist
Romancero
(2011). In ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Retrieved on 22 February 2011. *''Romancero tradicional de las lenguas hispánicas''. Ed. by R. Menéndez Pidal, D. Catalán, et al. Madrid: Editorial Gredos, 1957-85). 12 vols. *Katz, Israel J. "Romancero," ''Diccionario de la Música Española e Hispanoamericana'' (Madrid: Sociedad General de Autores y Editores, 2002).

References

Further reading