Floral Games were any of a series of historically related poetry contests withfloral prizes. InOccitan, their original language, andCatalan they are known asJocs florals (Catalan:[ˈʒɔksfluˈɾals],Valencian:[ˈdʒɔksfloˈɾals]; modern Occitan:Jòcs florals[ˈdʒɔksfluˈɾals] orfloraus[fluˈɾaws]).[a] In French, they became theJeux floraux (pronounced[ʒøflɔʁo]), and inBasqueLore jokoak (pronounced[loɾejokoak]). The original contests may have been inspired by the RomanFloralia (Ludi Floreales) held in honour ofFlora.
The original floral games of thetroubadours were held by theConsistori del Gay Saber inToulouse, annually from 1324, traditionally on 1 May. It is considered the oldest literary society in Europe. One contestant would receive thevioleta d'aur, golden violet, for the poem judged the best. The second prize was a silverwild rose (eglantina), and the other prizes, awarded for particular poetic forms, were similarly floral. The first prize was awarded on 3 May 1324 toArnaut Vidal de Castelnou d'Ari for asirventes in praise of theVirgin Mary. The contests were held intermittently until 1484, when the last prize was awarded toArnaut Bernart de Tarascon. From this period of 160 years survive the record of around a hundred prizes. These contests were judged in accordance with theLeys d'amor, a grammatical and literary treatise on Occitan poetry.
Initially the floral games were intended to keep alive the poetic language and style of the Occitan troubadours, but in time this aim was forgotten. In 1471 thegolden violet was awarded toPeire de Janilhacn'ostan qu'el fos Frances, per so que dictec el lengatge de Tholosa: notwithstanding that he was French, because he composed in the language of Toulouse.[1] In 1554 the Constistori, now the Collège, awarded a silvereglantine rose to none other thanPierre de Ronsard, the greatest French poet of his generation, for hisAmours. During theEnlightenment,Fabre d'Églantine received his name from thedog rose the Collège bestowed on him. The Consistori, as theAcadémie des Jeux floraux, continues to function.
AtPentecost, 31 May 1338, a poetic contest was held atLleida beforePeter IV of Aragon, at which awards were given to those poems judged the best.[2] A panel of judges was designated in advance by the king. The winning poets received arosa d'or (golden rose) and a piece of expensive goldensatin calleddiasprell. This contest was the first Catalan attempt to emulate the Toulouse games and it may have been part of a pattern of isolated events, though no other records have reached us.
AtValencia on 20 February 1393,John I of Aragon (Joan I el Caçador / Chuan lo Cazataire) founded an annual festival (la festa de la Gaya Ciencia orGaia Ciència) to be celebrated in honour of theVirgin Mary on the day ofAnnunciation (15 May) or the following Sunday in Barcelona.[3] The festival included a Catalan poetry contest, modelled on those held inToulouse,Paris, and other illustrious cities,[b] and the poems submitted would be judged by a panel ofliterati.
The first recorded contest held by John'sConsistori de Barcelona is believed to have taken place on 28 March 1395, with the king in attendance. This festival is called abella festa ... an honor de la dita gaya ciencia, the prizes for which were provided by the municipal government of Barcelona.[4] There is no record of the names of the winners, the prizes, or their poems. With the death of John two months later and his conflict with the city, the floral games and their source of prize money came to an end.
On 1 May 1398, John's successor,Martin the Humane (Martí l'Humà, Martín I d'Aragón), agreed to subsidise the annual festival and cover the cost of the gold and silver prizes for the winners, to be chosen bymantenidors (maintainers) named by the king. Under Martin a greatfesta was held in 1408 beneath the walls where theMirador del rei Martí—a recent addition the royal palace complex—and thePalau del Lloctinent meet in Barcelona.[5] On 17 March 1413Ferdinand of Antequera, who had succeeded Martin, confirmed that the floral games occurred on 1 May.
At the height ofromanticism in 1859, during the CatalanRenaixença,Antoni de Bofarull andVíctor Balaguer re-established the floral games (jocs florals orJocs de la Gaia Ciència) in Barcelona on the first Sunday in May with the theme ofPatria, Fides, Amor (Country, Faith, Love), alluding to the three typical prizes: theEnglantina d'or (goldeneglantine) given for the greatest patriotic poem, theFlor Natural (natural flower, the prize of honour, an actual rose) for the greatest love poem, and theViola d'or i argent (gold and silverviolet) to the greatest religious poem. There were other lesser prizes. A person winning all three great prizes was given the honorific title ofMestre en Gai Saber ("Master of the Gay Science").
The intellectual and political classes swiftly patronised the Jocs Florals and their support lent renewed prestige to Catalan poetry. Several different positions soon became apparent with respect to the models to be used for the creation of a Catalan literature.Marià Aguiló defended as worthy models all the various forms and authors. Antoni de Bofarull defended sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Catalan authors and the Barcelonese dialect as the best models for Catalan poetry. Finally, there was a "third way" that upheld a unique nineteenth-century Catalan poetry in Barcelonese dialect, but it had few defenders among the supporters of the Jocs Florals. In the end, the Jocs attracted persons of a wide variety of ideologies: republicans, conservatives, the young people. Eventually,Frederic Soler and his followers would participate in the majority of contests. The Jocs Florals went a long way to re-asserting the Catalan language after centuries of decline with respect to Castilian.
In 1879 Jocs Florals were established atValencia two decades after the ones in Barcelona. The games were traditionally held byLo Rat Penat in theValencian language. A total of seventeen prizes were awarded annually; the three top prizes were identical to those of the Barcelonan games. On top of the usual contests that included theatre andnarrative as well as poetry, there were extraordinary contests held by institutions all throughout theLand of Valencia.
The Jocs of Valencia witnessed thirty-fiveMestres en Gai Saber and two female winners of theFlor Natural (top prize, an actual rose). Figures likeBlasco Ibañez andNiceto Alcalá-Zamora have acted as maintainers, i.e. presidents and judges of the Jocs, and in 1914 and 1999 the maintainers were women. TheRegina (queen) who sits in theCadira d'Or (golden chair) is elected alternatingly from the three Valencian provinces (Alicante,Castellón, andValencia) and from thecomarques. Today the Jocs take place in theTeatro Principal with the attendance of the highest dignitaries of the Valencian Community.
In theBasque Country, the renaissance of the floral games (Lore Jokoak) was fostered byAntoine D'Abbadie (Anton Abbadia), an outstanding Basque French scholar and man of science settling down inHendaia. The festival aimed at providing a gathering point forBasque celebration, improving the social status of Basque culture, and encouraging literary production at either side of the French-Spanish border (especiallyLabourd,Navarre,Gipuzkoa). It was first celebrated inUrruña (1851).
Proper floral games lasted up until Antoine D'Abbadie's death in 1897, but their legacy was taken over by like initiatives, such as the Basque Festival inDonostia (presently held in early September). The coat of arms of theZazpiak Bat ("Seven provinces make one (territory)") was first coined in the context of theLore Jokoak.
The Barcelonan games inspired an imitation, theInternaciaj Floraj Ludoj (Juegos Florales Internacionales orJocs Florals Internacionals), inEsperanto in 1909. The games were the most prestigious Esperanto event in the era before the Second World War.
A national literary contest called theJuegos Florales was held inSantiago, Chile in 1914. On 22 DecemberGabriela Mistral, who took her pen name from Occitan poetFrédéric Mistral, won top prize for herSonetos de la Muerte. After winning theJuegos, she infrequently used her given name of Lucila Godoy for her publications.
