Literary Movements

14th–17th centuries

Petrarchism

Europe

European literary current influenced by Petrarch's style and theme of love; it spread the sonnet throughout Europe, including Portugal with Camões.

14th–16th centuries

Renaissance humanism

Italy / Europe

Intellectual and literary movement centered on the study of Greco-Latin classics and the valorization of the human being; cultural basis of the Renaissance.

14th–16th cent.

Italian Renaissance

Italy

Italian cultural and literary flourishing with Petrarch, Boccaccio, and Ariosto; Petrarch's Canzoniere shaped European lyric poetry for centuries.

14th–15th cent.

Medieval English courtly poetry

England

Medieval English poetic tradition centered on Chaucer and his Canterbury Tales; also includes alliterative poetry like Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and the work of John Gower.

13th–19th c.

Classical Vietnamese poetry (Nôm)

Vietnam

Vietnamese poetic tradition in Nôm script (adapted Chinese characters); Nguyễn Du's Truyện Kiều is considered the greatest poem in Vietnamese literature.

13th–17th centuries

Haiku and Renga

Japan

Japanese poetic forms of collaborative composition (renga) and lyric miniature (haiku); Matsuo Basho made haiku a standalone art form.

13th–14th cent.

Dolce Stil Novo

Italy

Italian poetic school centered on idealized and spiritualized love for women; precursor to Dante and Petrarch.

12th–14th c.

Minnesang

Germany / Austria

Medieval German lyric poetry on courtly love, parallel to Occitan troubadours; represented by Walther von der Vogelweide.

11th–14th cent.

Medieval epic poetry

Europe

Long poetic narratives about heroic deeds and warriors; includes the Song of El Cid, the Song of Roland, and the Nibelungenlied.

11th–14th cent.

Troubadour poetry

Occitania / Iberia

Medieval lyric poetry in vernacular language cultivated by Occitan troubadours and Galician-Portuguese troubadours; genres such as cantiga de amor, de amigo and de escárnio.

11th–13th cent.

Goliards

Medieval Europe

Tradition of medieval Latin poetry written by clerics and itinerant students; themes include drinking, love, and satire; the Carmina Burana are its most famous collection.

10th–2nd cent. BCE

Biblical and Hebrew literature

Middle East

Collection of poetic, narrative, and wisdom texts from the Old Testament, including Psalms, Song of Songs, and the Book of Job.

10th–15th cent.

Medieval Persian Sufi poetry

Persia / Central Asia

Mystical current in Persian poetry that uses love and wine as spiritual metaphors; Rumi, Hafez, and Sa'di are its greatest representatives.

10th–13th c.

Medieval Hebrew poetry

Al-Andalus / Europe

Renaissance of Hebrew poetry influenced by Arabic poetry; cultivated in Al-Andalus by Yehuda Halevi and Solomon ibn Gabirol.

10th–12th cent.

Persian epic poetry

Persia

Great tradition of epic poetry in the Persian language; Ferdowsi's Shahnameh is its central monument, narrating the mythical and heroic history of Persia.