Author: Juan Ruiz, Archipreste de Hita
- Poetry / Essay
- Catedra
- ISBN: 9788437610115
- Release Date: 01-01-1970
-Reviewed by: Eduardo de Lamadrid

The greatest of all Spanish "mester de clerecía" works and a comic masterpiece. The "buen amor" of the title refers to spiritual love as contrasted with "amor loco", carnal love. Although nominally favoring the former, the first-person narrator makes a concession to human frailty by dwelling at length on the former. Juan Ruiz goes far beyond the theme of love, introducing a satire of medieval life and manners. Unforgettable characters are Trotaconventos, an old hag who is the hero's panderess and the prototype for all future go-betweens in Spanish literature, and Don Furón, the hero's rascally servant. Memorable also is the "parade of sausages" which anticipates Rabelais. This is a work by a good humored, jovial human being, yet who is also profoundly religious, charitable and tolerant. Quintessentially Spanish in his love of proverbs, little things and the anecdotal, he grounds his dreams and visions in real life.