Literary texts from the Middle Ages (FEBRUARY 2018)

Read the INSTRUCTIONS for each part carefully before answering, as well as the wording of
each question.

PART I (up to 4 points)

INSTRUCTIONS:
 Mark each answer clearly by filling in the box on the answer sheet(s).
 Success: + 0.20. Error: - 0.06. Blank: 0
 It is not necessary to submit this questionnaire; only the answer sheet(s).
 This part is eliminatory. If in this part you do not obtain at least a 2, the second part will
NOT be corrected nor will the PEC grade be added.

1. Gonzalo de Berceo:
a. He is an author about whom we hardly know any information, and to whom only one
known composition is attributed: the Miracles of Our Lady .
b. He is the author of the Miracles of Our Lady , which represents one of the few examples
of works dedicated to the cult of the Virgin, a tradition little developed in medieval
Hispanic literature.
c. He composed the Miracles of Our Lady to worship the Virgin but also to entertain the
pilgrims of the Yuso monastery.
2. General Estoria…
a. It seeks to narrate the events that occurred from the beginning of time until the 15th
century.
b. It is developed following the Bible as a guiding thread, to which many other sources are
added.
c. It constitutes the best reflection of Alfonso X's deep interest in science.

3. Of the primitive Amadís de Gaula , the one that circulated in the Middle Ages, it can be
said that:
a. It is the original text by Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo.
b. Only a few folios have survived from him, from the beginning of the 14th century, so to
know him we have to turn to other sources.
c. In it the love story between Amadís and Oriana has a happy ending, as usually happens
in books of chivalry.

4. Evemerism is an important concept to understand medieval peninsular culture. From

him we can affirm that:
a. It alludes to a hermeneutical treatment that sought to get rid of the entire classical
mythological tradition.
b. It alludes to a hermeneutical treatment that seeks to overcome moral obstacles that
could arise when handling mythological and gentile literary material.
c. It alludes to a hermeneutical treatment that seeks to deify the monarch or the medieval
knight.
5. The Book of the Knight Zifar represents a fundamental work in the narrative of the 14th
century. Besides:
a. It is one of the fundamental texts written by Don Juan Manuel.
b. It has been proven that it is a translation of an Arabic original.
c. It is a tremendously syncretic work, where multiple genres and varied sources are
detected, both Eastern and Western.

6. The friend songs are:

a. The only genre of the Galician-Portuguese school.
b. One of the genres of the Galician-Portuguese school, along with songs of love, songs of
mockery, compositions with religious themes and songs of persecution.
c. Compositions in which cultured authors aim to imitate the forms, themes and resources
of traditional poetry.

7. The scarcity of epic poems is not proof of their non-existence: epic legends can be
continuously traced in medieval historiography. Some of the preserved texts are:
a. The Poem of Mio Cid , the Mocedades of Rodrigo and Roncesvalles .
b. The Poem of Mio Cid , the Song of the Infants of Lara and The Traitor Countess .
c. The Poem of Mio Cid , the Romanz of Infant García and the Song of Sancho II .

8. From the poem Elena and María , which is fully inscribed in the tradition of the
disputes of the knight and the clergyman, it can be said that:
a. It covers a topic never treated in Latin and Romance poetry between 1150 and 1250.
b. Its Hispanic version is distinguished from other known ones because it focuses its
attention on the mockery directed at the two classes personified in the respective lovers,
the abbot and the knight.
c. The Anglo-Norman elaboration Florence et Blancheflor has in common with Helen and
Mary the number of ships it contains.

9. The stanza: “Mester bring me beautiful, it is not joglaría; / mester is sen sin, ca is
clerecía: / fablar course rhymed by the cuaderna via / a syllavas cuntadas, ca is grant
mastery”, which serves to name the tetrastic monorhyms of Alexandrians, belongs to:
a. The Poem of Mio Cid .
b. The Song of the Infants of Lara .
c. The Book of Alexandre .

10. The Book of Good Love :

a. It has been read as an Ovidian erotic autobiography, to which are added the influences of
Adab erotica and all the philosophy that this entails.
b. It is composed entirely in tetrastic monorhyms of Alexandrians.
c. It was written at the beginning of the 15th century.

11. Most of the examples from El conde Lucanor respond to the following structure:
a. Patronio explains to Count Lucanor the problem he has, asking for his advice; He
responds by telling him a brief story, after which he makes an application of the story's
case to Patronio's specific situation; This pleases him and follows the advice.
 b. Lucanor explains to Patronio the problem he has, asking for advice; He responds by
telling him a brief story, after which he makes an application of the story's case to the
specific situation of Count Lucanor; This pleases him and follows the advice.
c. Lucanor tells Patronio a short story; He explains the problem he has, asking for advice;
Then Count Lucanor makes an application of the story's case to Patronio's specific
situation; This pleases him and follows the advice.

12. In general, it is understood that the Castilian epic is made up of three cycles, which
are:
a. That of the counts of Castile, that of the Cid and the French cycle.
b. That of the counts of Castile, that of the Cid and that of the chronicles.
c. That of Bernardo del Carpio, that of the Cid and the French cycle.

13. Indicate which of the following statements about traditional poetry is incorrect :
a. Traditional lyrical compositions lack recognized authorship.
b. References to traditional poetry frequently appear in chronicles and theater.
c. One of the forms of traditional lyric is that of the minstrelsy mester.

14. A palimpsest is: WRONG QUESTION CANCELED

a. A luxury codex made of parchment.
b. A poor quality manuscript made on paper.
c. A recycled manuscript to write a new text on it.

15. Indicate which of the following statements referring to the Book of Alexandre is
incorrect :
a. It is a translated and expanded version of the French Chanson de Roland .
b. The author of the Book of Alexandre turned to classical Latin material, but also to oral
tradition.
c. The work begins with an exordium in which the author justifies his work.

16. Regarding the terms post quem and ante quem , which definition is correct?
a. Ante quem indicates that a certain work is after a certain date.
b. Post quem refers to a date prior to the writing of a work.
c. Post quem indicates that a certain date is after the writing of a work.

17. Which of the following works did not exist as an autonomous fictional text?
a. The Demand for the Holy Grail .
b. The Book of the Knight Zifar .
c. The Swan Knight .

18. The Sendebar was translated at the request of:

a. The infante Don Sancho, future Sancho IV.
b. The infante Don Fadrique, brother of Alfonso
c. Beatriz de Suavia, mother of Alfonso

19. The meaning 'to admonish, teach, prevent, warn' refers directly to the content of the
work and its objective: to educate a prince through dialogue. The figure of the teacher is
occupied by a father, who addresses his son. What work does this definition fit?
a. Calila and Dimna.
b. Punishments of Sancho IV .
c. Book of the twelve wise men.

20. The Infinite Book was written by Don Juan Manuel:

a. In its first period.
 b. In its second period.
c. In its third period.

PART II (up to 4 points)

INSTRUCTIONS:
 The answer should not exceed two sides of a sheet of paper. It will not be corrected beyond this
limit.
 It is not necessary to hand in this sheet, only the sheet with your answers.

STATEMENT
The following fragment tells the beginning of a story about Saladin. Starting from this
premise:
a) Place this story within the work to which it belongs, explaining the general
structure of the work in which the story is inserted. (1 point)
b) Summarize the plot of the complete story of Saladin from which this fragment
begins, and explain the teaching you want to convey with it. (1 point)
c) Analyze the character of Saladin in this story and compare it to another or others
in which it appears within the same work, and explain why it is essential to
understand such a work. (1 point)
d) Analyze some features of style and literary language of the fragment. (1 point)

« [...] And all these reasons I told you now because you praise me and my understanding a lot,
and it is certain that, because of all these cataretic things, that you do not praise me so much.
And to what you asked me, I would like you to tell me what was the best thing that anyone could
see in himself, to know this the truth, I would very much like you to consider what he told
Saladin about a very good mistress, the wife of a knight, his vassal. […]
» Saladin was a soldier of Babylon and always brought with him very great people; And one
day, because everyone couldn't pose with him, he went to pose at a gentleman's house. And
when the knight saw his master, who was so honored, in his house, he did as much service and
pleasure as he could, and he and his wife and his men served him as much as they could. And
the Devil, who always works to make the world do the most wrong thing, put it in Saladin's mood
to forget everything he had to keep and to amass that owner not as he should.
»And the love was so great, that he had to come to terms with his bad advisor on how he could
accomplish what he wanted. And you should know that everyone had to pray to God to keep
their lord from wanting to do evil, almost if the lord wants it, it is true that he will never lose
whoever advises him and who helps him to accomplish it.
» And so he answered Saladin, who then failed whoever advised him how he could accomplish
what he wanted. And that bad advisor advised her to send for her husband and that she had a
lot of money and that she had very good people that she was mayoral; and after a few days, he
who was sent to some land would dream of his service, and as long as the knight studied there,
he would be able to fulfill all his will. […]
PART III
INSTRUCTIONS:
 This part should ONLY be answered by students who have not taken the Continuous
Assessment Test (PEC). In this case, this part will be corrected with a score of up to 2 points. If a
student has taken the PEC and answers this question, said answer will not be corrected.

STATEMENT
Comment on the following text answering the questions asked:

a) Analyze the main theme/s, in relation to the rest of the work to which it belongs.
You must identify this work. (1 point)
b) Explain the metric structure and analyze the most prominent stylistic features. (1
point)

He did this, the mother dubbed it:

"Go, stay still, from here, the Creator is worth you,
From me and from your father you may well receive our grace.
Go to Carrión of inherited sodes,
“Just as I have, you are married.”
They kissed their father's and mother's hands;
The masters blessed them and gave them their grace.
My Çid and the others from cavalgar thought
to large garrisons, horses and weapons.
The ifantes of Valençia la Clara are already leaving,
espi[di]endos' of the owners and of all their companies.
Through the orchard of Valençia, weapons come out,
Mio Çid goes happy with all his companies.
Violo in the auveros he who in good time carries a sword,
that these marriages will not be without any blemish;
We can't regret that you loved them married.