Guide in PDF format

From the Troubadours to Ramon Muntaner

Code: 105837
Credits: 6

2026/2027

Degree programme	Type	Course
Catalan Philology: Literary Studies and Linguistics	OB	2

Contact lecturer

Name :: Francesc Josep Gomez Martin
Email :: francescjosep.gomez@uab.cat

Group languages

You can consult this information at the end of the document.

Prerequisites

None

Objectives

This course is an introduction to the history of medieval Catalan literature within its European context. Students will also be introduced into the practice of reading and interpreting medieval Catalan texts.

At the end of the course, students are expected (a) to have a general knowledge of all the relevant authors and genres, (b) to understand the developing of a literary tradition, (c) to be able to comment (viva voce) on any of the works included in the syllabus, and (d) to write short essays on any of them.

Learning outcomes

Write text commentaries from a critical standpoint.
Identify principal and secondary ideas and express them using correct language.
Identify the relationships between literature and history, art and other cultural movements.
Identify the key elements of Western cultural tradition from the 19th century to the present day.
Comment on literary texts, using the instruments acquired, with regard to the historical, social and cultural context.
Critically interpret literary works, taking into account the relationships between the different areas within literature and their relationship to humanistic, artistic and social areas.
Produce normatively correct written and oral texts.
Use technological resources (digital and audiovisual) to acquire knowledge and apply it in language and literature.
Produce written work and oral presentations that are effective and framed in the appropriate register.
Gain a greater capacity for reading, interpreting and critically analysing literary and linguistic texts.
Make appropriate use of the knowledge acquired in order to collect data and handle documentary sources in the study of Catalan language and literature.
Respect the opinions, values, behaviour and customs of others.
Plan, organise and carry out work in a team.
Use IT tools and be able to consult specific documentary sources.
Master oral and written expression in Catalan.
Produce work in accordance with academic ethics.
Produce critical texts on the main trends, the most significant authors and the most representative works in Catalan literature.
Write original essays, showing mastery of the relevant literature and of contemporary authors and works.
Produce critical texts on the main trends and the most significant authors and works of poetry and prose in Catalan literature.
Write original essays, showing mastery of the relevant literature, on medieval authors and works.
Describe the historical context of contemporary Catalan literature and relate works to their historical and cultural context.
Interpret Western cultural tradition from the 19th century to the present day, pinpointing features of the Western tradition in a contemporary text.
Explain the context of medieval Catalan literature and relate works to their historical and cultural context.
Describe and interpret the Western cultural tradition, from the classical period to the late Middle Ages, and recognise features of the Western tradition in a medieval text.
Describe the historical context of modern Catalan literature and relate literary works to their historical and cultural context.
Produce critical texts on works and trends in modern Catalan literature, showing suitable mastery of concepts and methods, and write original essays, showing mastery of the relevant literature on authors and works of the modern period.
Write historical interpretative essays on the contemporary literary tradition.
Present and explain overall perspectives on phenomena of contemporary Catalan literature.
Identify themes and motifs of the classical and medieval European tradition in any of its literary and artistic manifestations.
Recognise themes and motifs of the European tradition in a medieval Catalan text.
Write historical interpretative essays on the modern Catalan literary tradition.
Present and explain overall perspectives on phenomena of modern Catalan literature.
Recognise literary texts from philological and comparative standpoints, apply these criteria to texts in contemporary Catalan literature and write analyses of the literary language of contemporary Catalan texts.
Display basic knowledge of medieval Catalan and write versions of medieval texts in modern Catalan.
Analyse literary texts from philological and comparative standpoints, apply these criteria to the study of modern-period texts and write analyses of the literary language of modern Catalan texts.
Discern the sex/gender factor in the configuration of the literary canon.

Introduction

Medieval culture and comital Catalonia. The emergence of Romance literature: lyric poetry and verse narrative. Troubadour culture at the Catalan courts. The first literary manifestations in prose. The Homilies d’Organyà and translations.

1. Troubadour Poetry

The troubadour corpus. Songbooks (chansonniers). Poetics, formal and thematic genres, styles. Vidas and razos. Basic notions of language. The canso (love song): fin’amors (courtly love) and the feudal metaphor. Classical troubadours. Women troubadours (trobairitz). Catalan troubadours of the classical period: from Berenguer de Palol to Ramon Vidal de Besalú.

2. The Chronicles of Expansion

Precursors: Gesta comitum Barchinonensium. The Book of Deeds (Llibre dels feits) of James I of Aragon (†1276). The Book of King Peter (Llibre del rei En Pere, 1283–1285) by Bernat Desclot. The Chronicle (1325–1328) by Ramon Muntaner.

3. Lyric Poetry and Verse Narrative from Peter the Great to Peter the Ceremonious

Cerverí and Peter III of Aragon. The Gil Chansonnier (Sg) and the Chansonnier of the Counts of Urgell (Urg). The poetic theorists (preceptistes). The Consistori del Gay Saber of Toulouse. The circle of the Infante Peter of Aragon. The Cançoneret de Ripoll (1320–1350) and the Chaplain of Bolquera. Narrative genres. The Estanislau Aguiló and Paris–Carpentras chansonniers. The lai and the ventura. The presence of Matter of Britain themes.

4. Ramon Llull (1232–1316)

The life and works of Ramon Llull. The Art: foundations and stages. From the Book of Contemplation (Llibre de contemplació) to the Book of the Order of Chivalry (Llibre de l’orde de cavalleria). Lullian narrative: Romance of Evast and Blaquerna (Romanç d’Evast e Blaquerna). Short forms (examples, analogies, questions, proverbs, aphorisms, etc.) and mnemonic structures. Heuristic obscurity. Lullian encyclopedism: from Fèlix to the Tree of Science (Arbre de ciència). The autobiographical strategy: from Ramon the Fool (Ramon lo Foll) to Phantasticus. Lo desconhort and the Cant de Ramon. Arnau de Vilanova.

Learning activities and methodology

Title	Hours	ECTS	Learning outcomes
Critical reading	40	1.6	3, 5, 6, 10, 29, 34
Bibliographical research	11.5	0.46	8, 11, 14, 16
Oral presentations (flipped class)	8	0.32	2, 5, 7, 8, 9, 12, 14, 15, 16, 36
Seminars	12	0.48	2, 3, 5, 6, 10, 12, 23, 24, 29
Lectures	25	1	3, 6, 10, 11, 14, 23, 24, 29

Lectures will provide students with the historical context of medieval Catalan literature from 1150 to 1425. Seminars are aimed at improving the student's reading skills, by commenting on both the language and the literary contents of short texts. The students' oral presentations of one of such texts are meant to promote debate. Essays (on a work or more than one) are devised to start developing in-depth comprehension of both medieval language and literature. Focus is placed on improving reading skills.

The calendar will be available on the first day of class. Students will find all information on the Virtual Campus: the description of the activities, teaching materials, and any necessary information for the proper follow-up of the subject. In case of a change of teaching modality for health reasons, teachers will make readjustments in the schedule and methodologies.

15 minutes of a class are reserved, during the calendar established by the center/degree, for the complementation by the students of the evaluation polls.

Annotation: within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.

Assessment

Continuous assessment activities

Title	Weight	Hours	ECTS	Learning outcomes
Exam	40%	28.5	1.14	1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 19, 23, 24, 29, 34
Reading reviews	30%	1	0.04	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36
Commentaries	30%	24	0.96	1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15, 16, 19, 23, 24, 29, 34

Assessment is continuous.

The competencies of this course will be assessed through written tests and individual assignments. The assessment system is organized into three modules, each of which carries a specific weight in the final grade: (a) the commentary module, with an overall weight of 30%; (b) the reading reviews module, with an overall weight of 30%; and (c) the final examination, with a weight of 40%.

At the time each assessment activity is carried out, the lecturer will inform students (via Moodle) of the procedure and date for reviewing grades.

The resit assessment will consist of a written examination and/or the submission of the main assignment if it has not been passed. Students who have been assessed on at least 70% of the total grade and have obtained a final mark mininum 3.5.

A student will receive the grade of “Not Assessed” if they have not submitted at least 2/3 of the assessment activities.

In this course, the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies is not allowed in any of its phases. Any submitted work that contains content generated using AI will be considered academic dishonesty and will result in the activity being graded with a zero, without the possibility of reassessment, or in more serious sanctions in cases of greater severity.

In the event of a student committing any irregularity that may lead to a significant variation in the grade awarded to an assessment activity, the student will be given a zero for this activity, regardless of any disciplinary process that may take place. In the event of several irregularities in assessment activities of the same subject, the student will be given a zero as the final grade for this subject.

Activities involving academic fraud cannot be reassessed.

In the event that tests or exams cannot be taken onsite, they will be adapted to an online format made available through the UAB’s virtual tools (original weighting will be maintained). Homework, activities and class participation will be carried out through forums, wikis and/or discussion on Teams, etc. Lecturers will ensure that students are able to access these virtual tools, or will offer them feasible alternatives.

Erasmus and exchange students who request to advance an exam must present a document from their home university justifying their request.

One-day assessment

On the same day as the written examination for continuous assessment (January, weeks 2/3), students will be required to complete (a) a written examination (50%), three reading reviews (30%), and a text commentary (20%). To be eligible for reassessment, all activities must have been submitted. Reassessment will follow the same procedure as with the continuous assessment.

Bibliography

Compulsory readings:

• Ramon Muntaner, L’expedició dels catalans a Orient, versió de Jordi Llavina (Barcelona: Barcino, 2015. Tast de Clàssics, 9). O bé: Bernat Desclot, Crònica de la croada contra Catalunya, versió de Miquel Desclot (Barcelona: Barcino, 2015. Tast de Clàssics, 8).

• Ramon Llull, Romanç d’Evast e Blaquerna, a cura d’Albert Soler i Joan Santanach (Barcelona: Barcino, 2016. Biblioteca Barcino, 10).

• Ramon Llull, Llibre de les bèsties (= llibre VII del Fèlix o Llibre de meravelles), edicions diverses

Bibliography

Badia, Lola (dir.), Literatura medieval, 3 vols. (Història de la literatura catalana, dir. À. Broch, volums I-III) (Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2013-2015).

Riquer, Martí de, Història de la literatura catalana: Part antiga, 3 vols. (Barcelona: Ariel, 1964); també en 4 vols. (Barcelona: Planeta, 1984).

Soberanas, Amadeu-J.; Andreu Rossinyol, i Armand Puig (ed.), Homilies d’Organyà (Barcelona: Barcino, 2001. ENC B, 20).

Riquer, Martín de (ed.), Los trovadores: Historia literaria y textos, 3 vols. (Barcelona: Planeta, 1975).

Els trobadors: Text provençal i versió catalana, a cura d’Alfons Serra-Baldó (Barcelona: Barcino, diverses reedicions).

Les trobairitz: Poetes occitanes del segle xii, introducció de Magda Bogin, versions poètiques d’Alfred Badia (Barcelona: Horsori, 2006. Clàssiques catalanes, 1).

Poesia trobadoresca: Antologia, a cura de Lola Badia i versions d’Alfred Badia (Barcelona: Edicions 62 i “la Caixa”, 1982. Les Millors Obres de la Literatura Universal, 14).

Cots, Montserrat, «Las poesías del trovador Guillem de Cabestany», BRABLB 40 (1985-1986): 227-330.

Espadaler, Anton M. (ed.), Ramon Vidal de Besalú, Obra completa (Barcelona: Universitat de Barcelona, 2018. Filologia UB).

Gómez, Francesc J. (trad.), Guillem de Cabestany, Cançons, vida i llegenda del cor menjat (Barcelona: Barcino, 2024. Tast de Clàssics, 24).

Riquer, Martí de (ed.), Les poesies del trobador Guillem de Berguedà (Barcelona: Quaderns Crema, 1996).

Spampinato, Margherita, Berenguer de Palol (Mòdena: STEM – Mucchi, 1978)

Cingolani, Stefano Maria, La memòria dels reis: Les quatre grans cròniques i la historiografia catalana, des del segle x fins al xiv (Barcelona: Base, 2007).

Cingolani, Stefano Maria (ed.), Bernat Desclot, Llibre del rei En Pere (Barcelona: Barcino, 2010. Biblioteca Barcino, 6).

Soldevila, Ferran (ed.), Les quatre grans Cròniques: 1, Llibre dels feits del rei en Jaume; 2, Crònica de Bernat Desclot; 3, Crònica de Ramon Muntaner; 4, Crònica de Pere III el Cerimoniós; 5, Apèndix i índexs, ed. rev. a cura de Josep Massot (Barcelona: Institut d’Estudis Catalans, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2014, 2016).

Badia, Lola, Poesia catalana del segle xiv: Edició i estudi del «Cançoneret de Ripoll» (Barcelona: Quaderns Crema, 1983).

Cabré, Miriam, Cerverí de Girona: Un trobador al servei de Pere el Gran (Barcelona: Universitat de Barcelona, 2011).

Coromines, Joan (ed.), Cerverí de Girona, Lírica, 2 vol. (Barcelona: Curial, 1988).

Fedi, Beatrice (ed.), Las Leys d’amors: Redazione lunga in prosa (Florència: Edizioni del Galluzzo, 2019. Archivio Romanzo, 35)

Riquer, Martín de (ed.), Obras del trovador Cerverí de Girona (Barcelona: Instituto de Estudios Mediterráneos, 1947).

Web Qui és Ramon Llull, del Centre de Documentació Ramon Llull de la UB: www.quisestlullus.narpan.net

Badia, Lola, Teoria i pràctica de la literatura en Ramon Llull (Barcelona: Quaderns Crema, 1992. Assaig, 10).

Badia, Lola, i Anthony Bonner, Ramon Llull: Vida pensament i obra literària (Barcelona: Empúries, 1988).

Bonner, Anthony, L’Art i la lògica de Ramon Llull: Manual d’ús (Barcelona: Universitat de Barcelona, 2012. Blaquerna, 9).

Bonner, Anthony (ed.), Ramon Llull, Llibre del gentil e dels tres savis (Palma: Patronat Ramon Llull, 2017. NEORL, 2).

Bonner, Anthony (ed.), Ramon Llull, Llibre de meravelles (Barcelona: Barcino, 2017. Biblioteca Barcino, 11).

Bonner, Anthony (ed.), Ramon Llull, Vida de mestre Ramon (Barcelona: Barcino, 2016. Biblioteca Barcino, 8).

Fernández-Clot, Anna, i Albert Soler (ed.), Ramon Llull, Llibre de l’orde de cavalleria (Barcelona: Barcino, 2025. Biblioteca Barcino, 20).

Pring-Mill, Robert, El microcosmos lul·lià (Palma: Nova Editorial Moll, 2007 [1a ed. 1961])

Ruiz Simon, Josep M., L’Art de Ramon Llull i la teoria escolàstica de la ciència (Barcelona: Quaderns Crema, 1999. Assaig, 25).

Software