RLSP 217
Love and marriage in Medieval and Early Modern Spain Spring 2024
Division I

We are often told that love is a natural human feeling and marriage its happiest consequence. But these two conditions are constructed and depend on society’s dominant values. In this class we focus on pre-modern Spain to study the principles and fears that create definitions of love and marriage, also with a view to how some of these have survived to this day in our own communities. Our theoretical frames will come from the medieval and early modern periods, but also from contemporary definitions and critiques. Primary sources will include lyrical traditions, the writings of King Alfonso X, the works of Santa Teresa de Ávila, San Juan de la Cruz, Lope de Vega, Tirso de Molina, Pedro Calderón de la Barca, Miguel de Cervantes, among others.