The military harangue, known in Spanish as the arenga, enables a commander to motivate his men before combat and can be found from ancient times to present in historical and literary descriptions of battles. "The Arenga in the Literature of Medieval Spain" examines the characteristics and role of the military harangue in Spain's literary texts from a variety of perspectives: rhetorical appeals, themes, effectiveness, eloquence, structure, and similarities with other medieval rhetorical arts.
The study first defines what constitutes an arenga and identifies its place within rhetoric (I. Defining the Harangue: The Arenga in Rhetoric). It then looks at harangues originating from Antiquity, examining Virgil's examples and those found in a medieval Spanish translation of Thucydides (II. Harangues from Classical Texts). Finally, it studies examples found in Spanish poetry and prose, dedicating two chapters to the most important harangues written in Spain during the Middle Ages (III. Thirteenth-Century Spanish Literary Arengas; IV. Fifteenth-Century Spanish Literary Arengas). The concluding chapter (V. Conclusion) is followed by an Appendix containing the full text of each harangue, a Works Cited, and a Selected Bibliography for further research.