26

In approaching the study of the cantiga de amor from a historical standpoint, a less univocal and banal vision of it emerges, especially when it is observed that—at intervals of variable duration—the troubadours used the genre as a ground for literary discussion. Around the 1280s, a group of Galician-Portuguese poets, linked to the cultural circles of Sanche IV of Castile’s court, took part in a controversy which, without departing from the principles of fin’amor, focused on the topics of silence and poetic perseverance. These topics bring to light a network of intertextual relationships so that, unexpectedly, each text acquires a “second” meaning by being involved in a rich interlace of literary cross-references and allusions. We will show that the role given in courtly fiction to the song and to the troubadour generated a poetic game at a certain time in tradition, in which troubadours, making use of stereotypes well established in the chant courtois, ignited a debate that brought together controversy and poetic game.