Lovers from Teruel is a medieval romantic legend whose events are said to have occurred in the Spanish city of Teruel in 1217.
Content
Legend Events
A girl and a boy from the noble families of the city of Teruel, Isabella de Segura and Diego Marcia, loved each other, but could not be together, since Diego was poor and Isabella's father was the richest man in the city. Diego decided to go in search of wealth in other countries and asked his beloved to wait for him. Isabella's father agreed not to marry his daughter until six years later. After six years and one day, having won fame and fortune, Diego returned to his homeland, but learned that on the day of his arrival, his beloved was married to another. Agreeing with the girl’s father, Diego did not count the day of his departure, while Isabella’s father counted the period starting from that day.
At night, Diego finds a way to see Isabella and asks her for one kiss, but she refuses him, because she is already the wife of another. Struck by grief, Diego dies at her feet. At the funeral, Diego Isabella appeared in a wedding dress and, leaning against a dead body, kissed him, after which she herself died. Touched by this story, the townspeople decided that the lovers, separated in life, should rest together, and with the permission of the church they were buried nearby.
Tomb
The legend gained worldwide fame, many people came to the city of Teruel to see the resting place of Isabella and Diego. The remains, according to tradition, belonged to the beloved, were exhumed and placed in new marble sarcophagi made by the sculptor Juan de Avalos (1911-2006). Marble sarcophagi with Gothic-style lids depicting Isabella and Diego are placed side by side, the arms of the figures stretch to each other, however, for reasons of piety, they do not touch, since Isabella was the wife of another during her lifetime.
Interpretation of Bocaccio
A similar story in general terms, but with a lot of copyright details and an erotic context, tells Bocaccio in The Decameron (c. 1352-1354); beloved boy and girl bear the names of Girolamo and Salvestra. It seems unlikely that the plot migrated to folklore from the writer's work, moreover, free from any erotic content, so researchers are inclined to believe that Bocaccio borrowed and re-styled the plot of a legend already known in its time and supplemented with copyright details. This allows us to put the story of the Lovers from Tyrone on a par with such archetypal works of unhappy love as Hero and Leander , Romeo and Juliet .