The Riddle of Incest in Medieval Iberia

Critical Cluster The Riddle of Incest in Medieval Iberia Guest Editor Emily C. Francomano THE RIDDLE OF INCEST IN MEDIEVAL IBERIA Emily C. Francomano Georgetown University "«La verdura del ramo escome la rayz, / de carne de mi madre engruesso mi serviz» / El que adeuinase este vieso qué ditz, / esse aurìa la fija del rey enperadriz" (Libro de Apolonio, stanza 17). The correct, yet unacceptable solution to King Antiochus's riddle in the Libro de Apolonio reveals the incestuous relationship between the king and his daughter and also is die catalyst for the hero's exile and adventures: "Tú eres la rayz, tu fija el cimai; / tú pereces por ella, porpecado mortal, / ca la fija ereda la depda carnai, / la qual tú et su madre auiedes confinai" (stanza 25).' The threat, perpetration, or discovery of incest sets many a popular medieval tale in motion. Incest itselfis something ofa riddle. According to some theories, it is whatwe all naturally abhor. Others assert that it is what we all desire. I refer, of course, to the now classic discussions of incest and its taboo in psychoanalysis and structural anthropology, which have dominated literary criticism and cultural studies on die subject. Both consider the incest taboo the very keystone of culture. Contrary to popular belief, however, marriage and sexual relations between close relatives are not universally taboo: in-marriage was accepted diroughout the ancient Mediterranean world, in a manner "patendy different from the exchangist exogamic structures" described by structural anthropology (Jack Goody 43). The psychological and 1 The majority ofmedieval and traditional riddles about family relationships seem to suggest incest, but in reality point to acceptable blood and marital ties. For example, "Allá van nuestros padres / esposos de nuestras madres / padres de nuestros hijos / y de nuestros propios esposos". The answer is in-laws. Incest riddles invert the logic of "innocent" family riddles by affirming the incestuous relationship implied rather than denying it (Archer Taylor). La corónica 35.2 (Spring, 2007): 7-14 8 Emily C. FrancomanoLa corónica 35.2, 2007 structural explanations of the sources of incestuous desires and their taboo have also come under the close scrutiny offeminist scholarship. In her classic essay "The Traffic in Women", Gayle Rubin takes both Lévi-Strauss and Freud to task for their celebrations ofthe incest taboo as the ultimate site of cultural production, which also articulates the obligatory heterosexuality ofpatriarchal culture (183). Furdier, Madelon Sprengnether lucidly analyzes the "universalizing tendency" of both structural anthropology and psychoanalytic theory, asserting that the two now hegemonic paradigms rationalize "a need simultaneously to control women's mobility (the exchange of women) and to command the domestic display of their affections" (535). Anna Walecka concurs that "medieval incest fiction seems impervious to any but patriarchal interpretation" by reaffirming "momentarily disturbed hierarchies" ("Incest and Death" 164-65). Walecka's observation, indeed, may indicate why archetypal narratives are so important to psychoanalytic theory. The six articles in this cluster are concerned with unraveling the riddles ofincest in medieval Iberian romances, ballads, chronicles and devotional literature. The analyses of the contributors also delve into the manner in which many medieval incest stories do indeed rationalize the need for control and containment of women and their affection. And each ofthe contributors has chosen to deal with tales and images that are at the very core of Iberian and pan-European treatments of incest, narratives that appear in multiple configurations and diat clearly resonated with political and familial issues diat audiences faced in their extra-textual lives for centuries. Whatever the evolutionary, biological, social and psychological origins of the incest taboo, it was in full force in Medieval Christian culture. The Castilian term incesto comes from the Latin incestus or incestum (neuter of incestus: "impure", "unchaste"). It also signifies defilement and debauchery, "particularly the sort that makes one incapable ofperforming a religious ceremony" (Walecka, "The Concept of Incest" 117). Isidore of Seville defines incest as the illicit sexual commingling with dedicated virgins or close female family members and remarks that anyone soiled by such incest is held to be unchaste (Etimologías V 24, 26 and X 148).2 The formal term incesto rarely appears 2 "Incesti iudicium in vírgenes...