Hagiografia en versos «joco-serios» y humorísticos : las vidas de san Jerónimo y de san Blas en dos pliegos sueltos del XVII

Resumo

The 17th century offers us a set of hagiographical texts, which, despite their almost generalized scarce literary value, show us a clear reflection of the historical and religious moment when they came up. At the same time they mean the continuity of a genre born in the early years of Christianity which, notwithstanding, succeeded in adapting itself to the new context within which the history of Western Christianity was shaped. In this article we show, as an example, two texts collected from chapbooks belonging to the National Library in Madrid. The first text is a narrative, in «jocular-serious» verses, of Saint Jerome’s life; the story answers the Council of Trent’s impulse to achieve the edification of the faithful through the example of the saints; the other text, a narrative of the miracle of Saint Blas, is included in the context of the patron saint celebrations; for that reason, its marked humorous tone favours the insertion of the Saint in the daily and also merry life of his devotees.