Blanquerna

Blaquerna, also called “Llibre d’Evast e d’Aloma e de Blaquerna son fill”, is a novel written by Ramon Llull that had a considerable influence on the narrative of the Middle Ages and on subsequent writers.
Written in Montpellier in 1283, the book vividly and realistically describes medieval life, in contrast to the chivalric novels of the time, which have a much more marked presence of the fantastic element. Following his religious vocation, the protagonist begins a search for God through a vital journey that, despite himself, will lead him to be a monk, abbot, bishop and Pope. Finally, he will become a hermit, for Llull, the state of maximum spiritual perfection. It is one of the works that we can consider as novels by Ramon Llull. Llull wrote it with the intention of reaching all kinds of audiences and, for this reason, disguises his true intention – to give a model of Christian life to follow for marriages, widows, children and men of religion – under the guise of an adventure novel, with a “hero”: Blanquerna.
The novel begins with the marriage of Evast and Aloma, who, as we can imagine, are a model Christian marriage to follow; they have a son, Blanquerna, who is an exemplary son (another model); this boy, when he grows up, has to marry, at least that is the intention of his parents, and they present him with a girl, Natana, model of virtues, daughter of a widowed woman (evidently, also a model for all widows). However, Blanquerna tells her parents that her desire is to dedicate her life to God, convinces Natana to do the same and both enter a monastery and a convent, respectively. Blanquerna, thanks to his merits, is ascending within the ecclesiastical hierarchy and at the same time he is organizing to perfection all the estates through which he passes to the point that he is elected Holy Father; At this point, he organizes the Christian world and once the task is completed, he withdraws from worldly life and becomes a hermit, which allows him a true spiritual communication with God, which was ultimately his most intimate desire.