11 - Spain: Catalan and Castilian drama

Summary

Modern Spain is divided linguistically between two Romance languages: Castilian and Catalan. (The linguistic enclaves now known as the Basque Country and Galicia acquired literary importance only in the last century and are not relevant to our present concerns.) The union of the royal houses of Castile and Aragon brought about by the marriage of Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon in the late fifteenth century joined in confederation two regions that differed as much in cultural and historical development as they did in language. More intimately engaged in the Reconquest against the Moors, Castile had long remained a frontier society of warriors and settlers whose economy was based on sheep-farming. In contrast, the Catalan-speaking Crown of Aragon (a federation of Aragon, Catalonia and Valencia) developed a mercantile society with a powerful bourgeoisie and a Mediterranean empire.

Despite the geographic proximity of Castile and Catalonia, drama developed independently and at different paces in the two regions. Catalonia had profound cultural ties to southern France, and the development of its dramatic tradition paralleled that of northern Europe. From the eleventh century on, the cathedrals of Catalonia were important centres for drama that was distinguished for both its variety and its innovative character. Castile, on the other hand, appears to have had but isolated instances of dramatic activity until the latter half of the fifteenth century, when drama began to flourish.