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100-584: Luis de Góngora y Argote (born Luis de Argote y Góngora ; Spanish: [lwis ðe ˈɣoŋɡoɾa] ; 11 July 1561 – 24 May 1627) was a Spanish Baroque lyric poet and a Catholic prebendary for the Church of Córdoba. Góngora and his lifelong rival, Francisco de Quevedo , are widely considered the most prominent Spanish poets of all time. His style is characterized by what was called culteranismo , also known as Gongorismo . This style apparently existed in stark contrast to Quevedo's conceptismo , though Quevedo

200-514: A prebendary of Córdoba Cathedral , renounced his post in favour of his nephew, who took deacon 's orders in 1586. As a canon associated with this cathedral, Luis de Góngora traveled on diverse commissions to Navarre , Andalusia and Castile . The cities that he visited included Madrid , Salamanca , Granada , Jaén , and Toledo . Around 1605, he was ordained priest, and afterwards lived at Valladolid and Madrid . While in Madrid, he attended

300-639: A Mateo Vázquez . Viaje del Parnaso , or Journey to Parnassus , is his most ambitious verse work, an allegory that consists largely of reviews of contemporary poets. He published a number of dramatic works, including ten extant full-length plays: He also wrote eight short farces ( entremeses ): These plays and short farces, except for Trato de Argel and La Numancia , made up Ocho Comedias y ocho entreméses nuevos, nunca representados ( Eight Comedies and Eight New Interludes, Never Before Performed ), which appeared in 1615. The dates and order of composition of Cervantes's short farces are unknown. Faithful to

400-451: A clear destination); speluncas ("caves"); surculos (sprouts, scions ). He was also the first to write poems imitating the speech of blacks. Góngora also had a penchant for apparent breaks in syntactical flow, as he overturned the limitations of syntax, making the hyperbaton the most prominent feature of his poetry. He has been called a man of "unquestioned genius and almost limitless culture, an initiator who enriched his language with

500-774: A common way for Catholics to gain spiritual merit. It is generally accepted Cervantes died on 22 April 1616 (NS; the Gregorian calendar had superseded the Julian in 1582 in Spain and some other countries); the symptoms described, including intense thirst, correspond to diabetes , then untreatable. In accordance with his will, Cervantes was buried in the Convent of the Barefoot Trinitarians , in central Madrid. His remains went missing when moved during rebuilding work at

600-472: A conventional pastoral romance that received little contemporary notice; despite promising to write a sequel, he never did so. Aside from these, and some poems, by 1605, Cervantes had not been published for 20 years. In Don Quixote , he challenged a form of literature that had been a favourite for more than a century, explicitly stating his purpose was to undermine 'vain and empty' chivalric romances . His portrayal of real life, and use of everyday speech in

700-457: A literary context was considered innovative, and proved instantly popular. First published in January 1605, Don Quixote and Sancho Panza featured in masquerades held to celebrate the birth of Philip IV on 8 April. He finally achieved a degree of financial security, while its popularity led to demands for a sequel. In the foreword to his 1613 work, Novelas ejemplares , dedicated to his patron,

800-514: A long poem, the Viaje del Parnaso ( Journey to Parnassus ); and Ocho comedias y ocho entremeses ( Eight Plays and Eight Interludes ). The novel Los trabajos de Persiles y Sigismunda ( The Travails of Persiles and Sigismunda ), was published posthumously in 1616. The cave of Medrano (also known as the casa de Medrano) in Argamasilla de Alba, which has been known since the beginning of

900-416: A manual of self-help for executives and has obtained a recent publishing success.) He also wrote a rhetoric of Baroque literature, that starts from the texts to redefine the figures of speech of the time, because they did not relate to the classical models. It is a treaty on the concept, which he defines as "an act of the understanding which expresses the correspondence that is found between the objects". That

1000-559: A narrative tradition that includes Homer , Dante , Defoe , Dickens , Balzac , and Joyce . Sigmund Freud claimed he learnt Spanish to read Cervantes in the original; he particularly admired The Dialogue of the Dogs ( El coloquio de los perros ), from Exemplary Tales , in which two dogs, Cipión and Berganza, share their stories; as one talks, the other listens, occasionally making comments. From 1871 to 1881, Freud and his close friend Eduard Silberstein wrote letters to each other, using

1100-580: A poet. He also argued that the apparent simplicity of some of Góngora's early poems is often deceptive. Rafael Alberti added his own Soledad tercera ( Paráfrasis incompleta ). In 1961, Alberti declared, "I am a visual poet, like all of the poets from Andalusia , from Góngora to García Lorca." García Lorca presented a lecture called "La imagen poética en don Luís de Góngora" at the Ateneo in Seville in 1927. In this lecture, García Lorca paid Jean Epstein

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1200-524: A popular scene that has endured as a classic production for future theater. The philosophical dramas of Calderón de la Barca , of which Life Is a Dream is an outstanding example, represent a zenith in Spanish dramatic production and is part of a period of splendor that receives the generic name of the Spanish Golden Age . The Baroque is characterized by the following features: In view of

1300-687: A position in the household of Giulio Acquaviva , an Italian bishop who spent 1568 to 1569 in Madrid, and was appointed Cardinal in 1570. When the 1570 to 1573 Ottoman–Venetian War began, Spain formed part of the Holy League , a coalition formed to support the Venetian Republic . Possibly seeing an opportunity to have his arrest warrant rescinded, Cervantes went to Naples , then part of the Crown of Aragon . The military commander in Naples

1400-514: A public ceremony in June 2015. No authenticated portrait of Cervantes is known to exist. The one most often associated with the author is attributed to Juan de Jáuregui , but both names were added at a later date. The El Greco painting in the Museo del Prado , known as Retrato de un caballero desconocido ( Portrait of an Unknown Gentleman ), is cited as 'possibly' depicting Cervantes, but there

1500-402: A small boat used for assaulting enemy galleys. The Marquesa lost 40 dead, and 120 wounded, including Cervantes, who received three separate wounds, two in the chest, and another that rendered his left arm useless, this last wound is the reason why he later was called " El Manco de Lepanto " (English: "The one-handed man of Lepanto", "The one-armed man of Lepanto"), a title that followed him for

1600-404: A successful comedy. Juan de la Cueva , in the second half of the 16th century, introduced two elements of great importance for the boom of this artistic production: popular ethics, that gave origin to the comedies of national historical character, and the freedom to compose plays considering popular taste. Lope de Vega and Tirso de Molina took these characteristics to their furthest extent. At

1700-703: A theme centered on the concern for the passage of time and the loss of confidence in the Neoplatonic ideals of the Renaissance . Likewise, the variety and diversity in the subjects dealt with, the attention to detail and the desire to attract a wide audience, of which the rise of the Lope de Vega comedies are an example. From the dominant sensual concern in the 16th century, there was an emphasis on moral values and didactics, where two currents converge: Neostoicism and Neoepicureism. El Criticón from Baltasar Gracián

1800-467: A year after Cervantes died, The works of Persiles and Sigismunda appeared. It draws on the Byzantine and Greek novelists such as Heliodorus (3rd century CE) and his The Ethiopian Story of Theagenes and Chariclea . It relates, in four books, how Periandro and Auristela travel from northern territories of Norway or Finland to Rome to receive Christian marriage. As is typical of this subgenre, throughout

1900-535: Is a humorous defense of his theater. He shows scorn about the rigid interpretation that the theorists of the Renaissance—mostly Italian—had done of the Aristotelian ideas on the theatre, and he proposes as values, naturalness as opposed to artifice, variety as opposed to unity, and considering popular taste. Among his prolific dramatic production, some works can be singled out: Peribáñez and

2000-664: Is a point of arrival in the baroque reflection on man and the world, the awareness of disappointment, a vital pessimism and a general crisis of values. The genres are mixed, Luis de Góngora wrote lyrical poetry of the Fábula de Polifemo y Galatea that makes virtue of difficulty, with romances and burlesque satirical works, of wide popular diffusion and the two currents are hybridized in the Fábula de Príamo y Tisbe; Quevedo wrote metaphysical and moral poems, while writing about vulgar and popular matters. The Spanish Baroque theater configures

2100-475: Is a treatise in conformity with Spanish anti- Machiavellism , proposing a politics free of intrigue and unconnected with bad influences. Towards 1636 Quevedo concluded his last great satirical prose: The hour of everybody and the Fortune with prudence , unpublished until 1650. In it, Jupiter requests Fortune to give for one hour what each individual truly deserves. This makes plain the falsity of appearances, and

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2200-422: Is inclusive rather than exclusive", one scholar has written, "willing to create and incorporate the new, literally in the form of neologisms ." Góngora had a penchant for highly Latinate and Greek neologisms, which his opponents mocked. Quevedo lampooned his rival by writing a sonnet , "Aguja de navegar cultos," which listed words from Góngora's lexicon : "He would like to be a culto poet in just one day, / must

2300-417: Is no evidence for this. It has been suggested that the portrait The Nobleman with his Hand on his Chest , also by El Greco, may possibly depict Cervantes. However, The Prado itself, while mentioning, in passing, that "specific names have been proposed for the sitter, including that of Cervantes", and even "that the painting could be a self-portrait [of El Greco]", goes on to state that "Without doubt,

2400-503: Is no wide following for the view that Cervantes had converso origins. Cuban writer Roberto Echevarría asserts that the claims of Cervantes' converso origins are based on "very flimsy evidence", namely Cervantes' lack of social and financial progression in a time when such rewards were denied to most Spaniards regardless of social group. It is generally accepted Miguel de Cervantes was born around 29 September 1547, in Alcalá de Henares . He

2500-417: Is one of disillusionment, based on the decay of Spanish society. The world is seen as a hostile space full of deceit and illusion triumphing over virtue and truth, where Man is a self-interested and malicious being. Many of his books are manuals of behavior that allow the reader to succeed gracefully in spite of the maliciousness of his fellow men. For this, he must be prudent and wise, have knowledge of life and

2600-435: Is released from his tower, where he returns, chained, believing he has dreamed his experience of freedom. When a riot rescues him again, his will overcomes the predictions: he overcomes his violent nature, marries Rosaura to Astolfo, and accepts the hand of Estrella. El alcalde de Zalamea may have been first staged in 1636 or 37. It was printed in 1651. First translated into English as The Garrotte Better Given , from 1683 on

2700-535: Is the world's largest digital archive of Spanish-language historical and literary works. As listed in Complete Works of Miguel de Cervantes : Cervantes is generally considered a mediocre poet; few of his poems survive. Some appear in La Galatea , while he also wrote Dos Canciones à la Armada Invencible . His sonnets include Al Túmulo del Rey Felipe en Sevilla , Canto de Calíope and Epístola

2800-435: Is to say, a concept is every association between ideas or objects. To their classification and dissection Gracián dedicated his Art of talent, treatise on the witticism (1642), extended and reviewed in the later Witticism and art of talent (1648). The style of Gracián is dense and polysemous. It is constructed of brief sentences, abundant plays on words, and the ingenious association of concepts. Gracián's attitude to life

2900-678: Is yet to be proven and no evidence has been published on the matter. By 1580, Spain was occupied with integrating Portugal , and suppressing the Dutch Revolt , while the Ottomans were at war with Persia ; the two sides agreed a truce, leading to an improvement of relations. After almost five years, and four escape attempts, in 1580 Cervantes was set free by the Trinitarians , a religious charity that specialised in ransoming Christian captives , and returned to Madrid. While Cervantes

3000-500: The Celestina , is based on a popular cantar : Don Alonso dies at the hands of Don Rodrigo, jealous at losing Doña Ines. The Best Mayor, The King is about the dignity of the farmer: Don Tello, haughty nobleman, abuses Elvira, engaged to the farmer Sancho. Alfonso VII allows her to recover her reputation, making her marry Don Tello, and then executes Don Tello, to make the—now noble—widow marry Sancho. The other great dramatist of

3100-580: The Ottoman fleet at the Battle of Lepanto . This landmark sea battle, the most significant naval conflict since the Roman Battle of Actium (32 B.C.), stopped Muslim incursion into Europe, and for the first time allowed European Christians to feel that they were not to be overrun by Islam. According to his own account, although suffering from malaria, Cervantes was given command of a 12-man skiff ,

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3200-585: The Soledades and the Polifemo , the two landmarks of culteranismo . Góngora alternates popular poetry with a more cultured one. That way he tries to emulate the style of Ancient Romans and Greeks poets using moreover their mythology. The usage of words that come directly from Latin and its complex syntax make him a difficult author to understand. Quevedo's poetry first appeared in an anthology by Pedro de Espinosa, Flowers of Illustrious Poets (1605). Quevedo

3300-540: The 17th century was Pedro Calderón de la Barca (1600–1681). His most famous work is Life is a dream (1635), a philosophical drama in which Segismundo, son of the king of Poland, is chained in a tower because of the fateful predictions of the royal astrologers that he will kill his father. Meanwhile, Rosaura proclaims in the Court that her honor has been violated by Duke Astolfo. Duke Astolfo courts Estrella in order to become king. The aggressiveness of Segismundo explodes when he

3400-432: The 17th century, and according to the tradition of Argamasilla de Alba, was the prison of Don Miguel de Cervantes and the place where he conceived and began to write his famous work " Don Quixote de la Mancha ". Despite his subsequent renown, much of Cervantes' life is uncertain, including his name, background and what he looked like. Although he signed himself Cerbantes , his printers used Cervantes , which became

3500-431: The 2018 video game Detroit: Become Human . This inclusion likely serves as a symbolic reference to the game's exploration of themes such as identity, the human condition, and the blurred lines between appearance and reality—concepts that Góngora's poetry often delved into. Spanish Baroque literature The fundamental characteristics of Spanish Baroque literature are the progressive complexity in formal resources and

3600-475: The Catholic (1640) or The Discreet one (1646). In them he creates a full series that exemplifies the exemplary, prudent and sagacious man, and the qualities and virtues that must adorn him. The Manual oracle and art of prudence is a set of three hundred aphorisms composed to help the reader prevail in the complex world-in-crisis of the 17th century. (An English version of this dense treatise has been sold as

3700-630: The Civic Hospital at Messina , Sicily. Although he returned to service in July 1572 in the Tercio de Figueroa , records show his chest wounds were still not completely healed in February 1573. Based mainly in Naples, he joined expeditions to Corfu and Navarino , and took part in the 1573 occupation of Tunis and La Goulette , which were recaptured by the Ottomans in 1574. Despite Lepanto,

3800-599: The Commander of Ocaña (1604–12) is a tragicomedy set in 1406 in Toledo: Peribáñez understands that the Commander of Ocaña has overwhelmed him with honors to harass his woman. After killing him he wins the royal pardon. Around 1614 Lope composed one of his better tragicomedies: Fuenteovejuna . Following the Chronicle of the three orders (Toledo, 1572) of Francisco de Rades  [ es ] , it shows

3900-523: The Count of Lemos, Cervantes promises to produce one, but was pre-empted by an unauthorised version published in 1614, published under the name Alonso Fernández de Avellaneda . It is possible this delay was deliberate, to ensure support from his publisher and reading public; Cervantes finally produced the second part of Don Quixote in 1615. The two parts of Don Quixote are different in focus, but similar in their clarity of prose and their realism. The first

4000-544: The Judgment narrates the resurrection of the dead, who must answer for the manner of their life. It is a social satire against professions or trades: jurists, doctors, butchers... In 1619 he wrote the Politics of God, government of Christ and tyranny of Satan , a political treatise which expounds a doctrine of good government, or 'mirror of princes', for a righteous king, who should have Jesus Christ for model of conduct. It

4100-822: The Medrano Academy (Poetic Academy of Madrid) founded by its president Sebastian Francisco de Medrano between 1616-1626. While his circle of admirers grew, patrons were grudging in their admiration. Ultimately, in 1617 through the influence of the Duke of Lerma , he was appointed honorary chaplain to King Philip III of Spain , but did not enjoy the honour long. He maintained a long feud with Francisco de Quevedo , who wanted to match his influence in talent and wit. Both poets composed many bitter, satirical pieces attacking one another, with Quevedo criticizing Góngora's penchant for flattery, his large nose, and his passion for gambling. Quevedo even accused his enemy of sodomy , which

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4200-542: The Sharper called Don Pablos, example of wanderers and mirror of rogues . Quevedo also wrote satirical, political and moral prose works where a stoic morality predominates, where subjects like the criticism of archetypes of the society of the Baroque, the constant presence of death in the life of man, and Christian fervor whereupon the politics has to conduct itself. The first of his Dreams dates from 1605: The Dream of

4300-647: The Spanish language should not be underestimated, as he picked up what were in his time obscure or little-used words and used them in his poetry again and again, thereby reviving or popularizing them. Many of these words are quite common today, such as adolescente , asunto , brillante , construir , eclipse , emular , erigir , fragmento , frustrar , joven , meta , and porción . Góngora's poems are usually grouped into two blocks, corresponding more or less to two successive poetic stages. His Fábula de Polifemo y Galatea ( Fable of Polyphemus and Galatea ) and his Soledades (1613) are his best-known compositions and

4400-610: The abuses by the Commander Fernán Gómez de Guzmán of the neighbors of Fuenteovejuna and of Laurencia, newly married with Frondoso. The murder of the Commander by the town and pardon by the Catholic Monarchs in the light of the evidence finishes off the action. A popular revolt triggered by abuse of power is presented, but only concerning a particular injustice, and submission to the king is emphasized. The Knight of Olmedo (about 1620-25), tragedy rooted in

4500-462: The affairs of his recently deceased friend and minor poet, Pedro Laínez. There he met Catalina de Salazar y Palacios ( c.  1566 – 1626 ), eldest daughter of the widowed Catalina de Palacios; her husband died leaving only debts, but the elder Catalina owned some land of her own. This may be why in December 1584, Cervantes married her daughter, then between 15 and 18 years old. The first use of

4600-582: The colonies appear in his work. From 1596 to 1600, he lived primarily in Seville, then returned to Madrid in 1606, where he remained for the rest of his life. In later years, he received some financial support from the Count of Lemos , although he was not included in the retinue Lemos took to Naples when appointed Viceroy in 1608. In July 1613, he joined the Third Order Franciscans , then

4700-554: The common form. In later life, Cervantes used Saavedra , the name of a distant relative, rather than the more usual Cortinas , after his mother. Historian Luce López-Baralt claimed that it comes from the word shaibedraa that in Arabic dialect means "one-handed", his nickname during his captivity. Another area of dispute is his religious background. It has been suggested that not only Cervantes' father but also his mother may have been New Christians . Anthony Cascardi writes, "While

4800-459: The compliment of comparing the film director with Góngora as an authority on images. The philosopher Baruch Spinoza proposed in his Ethics (1677) that a man can die before his body stops moving. As an example he mentioned "a Spanish poet who suffered an illness; though he recovered, he was left so oblivious to his past life that he did not believe the tales and tragedies he had written were his own". The historian Carl Gebhardt wrote that "this

4900-480: The convent in 1673, and in 2014, historian Fernando de Prado launched a project to rediscover them. In January 2015, Francisco Etxeberria, the forensic anthropologist leading the search, reported the discovery of caskets containing bone fragments, and part of a board, with the letters 'M.C.'. Based on evidence of injuries suffered at Lepanto, on 17 March 2015 they were confirmed as belonging to Cervantes along with his wife and others. They were formally reburied at

5000-478: The crisis of the Baroque, Spanish writers reacted in several ways: The narrative of the 17th century opens with the figure of Miguel de Cervantes, who returned to Spain in 1580 after ten years absence. His first printed work was The Galatea (1585). It is a pastoral novel (see Spanish Renaissance literature ) in six books of verse and prose, according to the model of the Diana of Montemayor ; although it breaks with

5100-461: The end of the 16th century Lope de Vega created the new comedy: to a theme of romantic character is added another theme, historical or legendary, of moriscos , of captives, or religious. It concludes with a happy ending. Constructed on three days, the redondilla or the décima is used in the dialogues, the romance in the narrations, the sonnet in the monologues and the tercet in serious situations. The new art to make comedies , written in 1609,

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5200-458: The fact that Spanish is often referred to as "the language of Cervantes". In 1569, Cervantes was forced to leave Spain and move to Rome , where he worked in the household of a cardinal . In 1570, he enlisted in a Spanish Navy infantry regiment, and was badly wounded at the Battle of Lepanto in October 1571 and lost the use of his left arm and hand. He served as a soldier until 1575, when he

5300-532: The family disappears until 1564 when he filed a lawsuit in Seville . Seville was then in the midst of an economic boom, and Rodrigo managed rented accommodation for his elder brother Andres, who was a junior magistrate. It is contended that Cervantes attended the Jesuit college in Seville, where one of the teachers was Jesuit playwright Pedro Pablo Acevedo, who moved there in 1561 from Córdoba. However, legal records show his father got into debt once more and in 1566

5400-450: The family might have had some claim to nobility they often found themselves in financial straits. Moreover, they may have been of converso origin, that is, converts to Catholicism of Jewish ancestry. In the Spain of Cervantes' days, this meant living under clouds of official suspicion and social mistrust, with far more limited opportunities than were enjoyed by members of the 'Old Christian' caste." According to Charles D. Presberg, there

5500-443: The family moved to Madrid . In the 19th century, a biographer discovered an arrest warrant for a Miguel de Cervantes, dated 15 September 1569, who was charged with wounding Antonio de Sigura in a duel. Although disputed at the time, largely on the grounds such behaviour was unworthy of so great an author, it is now accepted as the most likely reason for Cervantes leaving Madrid. He eventually made his way to Rome, where he found

5600-412: The following jargon learn: / Fulgores, arrogar, joven, presiente / candor, construye, métrica, armonía... " Quevedo actually mocked Góngora's style in several sonnets, including "Sulquivagante, pretensor de Estolo." This anti-Gongorist sonnet mocks the supposed unintelligibility of culteranismo and its widespread use of flowery neologisms, including sulquivagante (he who plies the seas; to travel without

5700-651: The good and bad poets of his time. He considered Góngora to be one of the good ones. Velázquez painted his portrait. Numerous documents, lawsuits and satires by his rival Quevedo paint a picture of a man jovial, sociable, and talkative, who loved card-playing and bullfights . His bishop accused him of rarely attending choir , and of praying less than fervently when he did go. Góngora's passion for card-playing ultimately contributed to his ruin. Frequent allusions and metaphors associated with card-playing in Góngora's poetry reveal that cards formed part of his daily life. He

5800-429: The hidden truth under the veils of the hypocrisy. Operating by antithesis Quevedo shows doctors who are in fact executioners, the rich as poor but thieving, and a whole gallery of social types, offices and states is presented, all implacably satirized. Marcus Brutus (1644) arises from glosses or commentaries to the biography that Plutarch wrote on this Latin statesman in his Parallel lives . The most important work of

5900-419: The intervals dances were executed or entremeses represented. The stage was a simple platform and the decoration a curtain. The changes of scene were announced by one of the actors. The poet wrote the comedy, paid by the director, to whom he yielded all the rights on the work, represented or printed, to modify the text. The works lasted three or four days in the billboard, or (with exceptions) fifteen days for

6000-423: The lines: Érase un hombre a una nariz pegado, / érase una nariz superlativa, / érase una alquitara medio viva, / érase un peje espada muy barbado (English: Once there was a man stuck to a nose, / it was a nose more marvellous than weird, / it was a nearly living web of tubes, / it was a swordfish with an awful beard). This angry feud came to a nasty end for Góngora when Quevedo bought the house Góngora lived in for

6100-612: The lyrics for the song "Fortune Presents Gifts Not According to the Book" on their 1990 album Aion . In the second of the five parts of Roberto Bolaño 's novel 2666 (published posthumously in 2004), "The Part about Amalfitano", one of the characters (the poet, whose name is never explicitly stated) quotes a verse from Góngora: Ande yo caliente y ríase la gente . John Crowley 's novel "The Solitudes" (a.k.a."Aegypt", 1987) repeatedly refers to and quotes from Góngora's poem "Soledades." A portrait of Luis de Góngora appears as an Easter egg in

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6200-748: The most convincing suggestion has connected this figure with the Second Marquis of Montemayor, Juan de Silva y de Ribera, a contemporary of El Greco who was appointed military commander of the Alcázar in Toledo by Philip II and Chief Notary to the Crown, a position that would explain the solemn gesture of the hand, depicted in the act of taking an oath." The portrait by Luis de Madrazo , at the Biblioteca Nacional de España , painted in 1859,

6300-546: The most studied. The Fábula is written in royal octaves ( octavas reales ) and his Soledades is written in a variety of metres and strophes, but principally in stanzas and silvas interspersed with choruses. Góngora's Fábula de Polifemo y Galatea (1612) narrates a mythological episode described in Ovid 's Metamorphoses : the love of Polyphemus , one of the Cyclopes , for the nymph Galatea , who rejects him. In

6400-595: The motivations of others, until the point to behave "to the occasion" and "to play of the" dissimulation. Gracián is recognized as precursor of existentialism , he also influenced French moralists like La Rochefoucauld , and, in the 19th century, the philosophy of Schopenhauer . This half of the century closes with the Life and facts of Estebanillo González , man of good humor (Antwerp, 1646). It narrates his life (1608–1646) as servant of many masters, and soldier in several causes. It displays many characteristic themes of

6500-479: The name Cervantes Saavedra appears in 1586, on documents related to their marriage. Shortly before this, his illegitimate daughter Isabel was born in November. Her mother, Ana Franca, was the wife of a Madrid innkeeper; they apparently concealed it from her husband, but Cervantes acknowledged paternity. When Ana Franca died in 1598, he asked his sister Magdalena to take care of his daughter. In 1587, Cervantes

6600-479: The other are included within the story itself and poetry from each is included at the back of some of the books. In Giannina Braschi 's bilingual novel Yo-Yo Boing! (1998) contemporary Latin American poets have a heated debate about Góngora's and Quevedo's role in defining the Spanish empire through their works. The musical group Dead Can Dance used an English translation of Góngora's Da bienes Fortuna as

6700-493: The pen names Cipión and Berganza. In 1905, the tricentennial of the publication of Don Quixote was marked with celebrations in Spain; the 400th anniversary of his death in 2016, saw the production of Cervantina , a celebration of his plays by the Compañía Nacional de Teatro Clásico in Madrid. Man of La Mancha , the 1965 musical, was loosely based on Cervantes' life. The Miguel de Cervantes Virtual Library ,

6800-732: The picaresque genre: swindles, fights, deceits, drunkenness, robberies and prostitution. Religious prose shines with Miguel de Molinos (1628–1696), originally from Teruel but settled in Rome. His quietist doctrine can be read in Spiritual guide (1675), a manual of contemplative mysticism which despises action. Luis de Góngora and Francisco de Quevedo were the two most important poets. They were enemies and composed many bitter (and funny) satirical pieces attacking each other. Góngora's lyric collection consists of numerous sonnets, odes, ballads, songs for guitar, and of certain larger poems, such as

6900-424: The poem's end, Acis , enamored with Galatea, is turned into a river. Góngora's Fábula de Píramo y Tisbe ( Fable of Pyramus and Thisbe ) (1618) is a complex poem that mocks gossiping and avaricious women. Góngora also wrote sonnets concerning various subjects of an amatory, satirical, moral, philosophical, religious, controversial, laudatory, and funereal nature. As well as the usual topics ( carpe diem etc.)

7000-564: The rest of his life. His actions at Lepanto were a source of pride to the end of his life, while Don John approved no less than four separate pay increases for him. In Journey to Parnassus , published two years before his death in 1616, Cervantes claimed to have "lost the movement of the left hand for the glory of the right". As with much else, the extent of his disability is unclear, the only source being Cervantes himself, while commentators cite his habitual tendency to praise himself. However, they were serious enough to earn him six months in

7100-561: The second half of the century is The Criticon (modeled on The Satyricon ) (1651–1657) by the Aragonese Jesuit Baltasar Gracián (1601–1658). With it, the Spanish novel is solved in concepts or abstractions. The idea prevails over the concrete figure. It is a philosophical novel written in form of allegory of the human life. Gracián cultivated didactic prose in treatises of moral intention and practical purpose, like The Hero (1637), The Politician don Fernando

7200-538: The sole purpose of ejecting him from it. In 1626 a severe illness, which seriously impaired the poet's memory, forced him to return to Córdoba, where he died the following year. By then he was broke from trying to obtain positions and win lawsuits for all his relatives. He was buried in one of the side chapels in the Mezquita section of the Córdoba cathedral where his funeral monument can be seen. An edition of his poems

7300-463: The sonnets include autobiographical elements, describing, for example, the increasing decrepitude and advancing age of the author. In addition, Góngora composed one of his most ambitions works, El Panegírico al Duque de Lerma (1617), a poem in 79 royal octaves. Cervantes, after reading "El Panegírico", said: "the [work] I most esteem from those I've read of his." He also wrote plays, which include La destrucción de Troya , Las firmezas de Isabela , and

7400-420: The square or led to the corral, and ladies attended the spectacle with their faces covered with masks or obscured behind lattice windows. The function began with a performance on guitar of a popular piece; immediately, songs accompanied with diverse instruments were sung. The praise came soon, species of explanation of the merits of the work and synthesis of its argument. The main comedy or work then started, and in

7500-774: The title was more accurately rendered as The Mayor of Zalamea . It presents the story of the rape of Isabel, daughter of Pedro Crespo, by the captain Alvaro de Ataide. Pedro Crespo being named mayor, he kills de Ataide. The king listens to his defense and Crespo presents his reasons. He is then pardoned by the King. This customary drama of honor deals with Lope's similar theme of the honor of a peasant. Miguel de Cervantes Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra ( / s ɜːr ˈ v æ n t iː z , - t ɪ z / sur- VAN -teez, -⁠tiz ; Spanish: [miˈɣel de θeɾˈβantes saaˈβeðɾa] ; 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616 NS )

7600-498: The tradition when introducing realistic elements, like the murder of a shepherd, or the agility of certain dialogues. In 1605 he published The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha , with immediate success. In 1613 the Exemplary novels appeared. They are a collection of twelve short novels that look for an ideal, although this is not always clear. In 1615, Cervantes published the second part of Don Quixote . In 1617,

7700-466: The trip they experience a variety of trials, mishaps, and delays: captivity by Barbarians, the jealousy and machinations of rivals. The work takes advantage of resources of the Exemplary Novels - especially the italianizing ones - puzzles, confusions, disguises, etc. Francisco de Quevedo wrote towards 1604 his first work of prose fiction : the picaresque novel titled The Life Story of

7800-503: The unfinished Doctor Carlino . Although Góngora did not publish his works (he had attempted to do so in 1623), manuscript copies were circulated and compiled in cancioneros (songbooks), and anthologies published with or without his permission. In 1627, Juan Lopez Vicuña published Verse Works of the Spanish Homer , which is also considered very trustworthy and important in establishing the Góngora's corpus of work. Vicuña's work

7900-425: The vast power, beauty, and scope of a mighty pen." As far away as Peru , he received the praise of Juan de Espinosa Medrano (ca. 1629–1688), who wrote a piece defending Góngora's poetry from criticism called Apologético en favor de Don Luis de Góngora, Príncipe de los poetas lyricos de España: contra Manuel de Faria y Sousa, Cavallero portugués (1662). As Dámaso Alonso has pointed out, Góngora's contribution to

8000-458: The war overall was an Ottoman victory, and the loss of Tunis a military disaster for Spain. Cervantes returned to Palermo , where he was paid off by the Duke of Sessa , who gave him letters of commendation. In early September 1575, Cervantes and Rodrigo left Naples on the galley Sol ; as they approached Barcelona on 26 September, their ship was captured by Ottoman corsairs , and the brothers taken to Algiers , to be sold as slaves , or – as

8100-406: Was a capital crime in 17th century Spain. In his "Contra el mismo (Góngora)", Quevedo writes of Góngora: No altar, garito sí; poco cristiano, / mucho tahúr, no clérigo, sí arpía. (English: There's no altar, but there's a gambling den; not much of a Christian, / but he's very much a cardsharp , not a cleric, definitely a harpy ). Góngora's nose, the subject of Quevedo's "A una nariz", begins with

8200-614: Was a Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-eminent novelists. He is best known for his novel Don Quixote , a work considered as the first modern novel . The novel has been labelled by many well-known authors as the "best book of all time" and the "best and most central work in world literature". Much of his life was spent in relative poverty and obscurity, which led to many of his early works being lost. Despite this, his influence and literary contribution are reflected by

8300-419: Was a master of conceptismo , a movement in opposition to culteranismo. Theatrical performances of this time took place in open sites, squares or fixed corrals : the corrals of comedies. They began around two in the afternoon and lasted until dusk. In general they did not have seats, and spectators remained standing throughout the performance. The nobility occupied balconies and windows of houses that surrounded

8400-438: Was a resourceful individual with a keen eye for business. When Rodrigo was imprisoned for debt from October 1553 to April 1554, she supported the family on her own. Cervantes' siblings were Andrés (born 1543), Andrea (born 1544), Luisa (born 1546), Rodrigo (born 1550), Magdalena (born 1554) and Juan. They lived in Córdoba until 1556, when his grandfather died. For reasons that are unclear, Rodrigo did not benefit from his will and

8500-599: Was appointed as a government purchasing agent, Commissary of the Royal Galleons in Seville, obtaining wheat and oil for the doomed Spanish Armada . He became a tax collector in 1592 and was briefly jailed for 'irregularities' in his accounts, but quickly released. Several applications for positions in Spanish America were rejected i.e. to the Council of Indies in 1590, though modern critics note images of

8600-562: Was appropriated by the Spanish Inquisition and was later surpassed by an edition by Gonzalo de Hozes in 1633. The Generation of '27 took its name from the year 1927 in which the tricentennial of Góngora's death, ignored by official academic circles, was celebrated with recitals, avant-garde happenings, and an ambitious plan to publish a new critical edition of his work, as well as books and articles on aspects of his work that had not been fully researched. The Generation of '27

8700-433: Was based on his imagination. The image that appears on Spanish euro coins of €0.10, €0.20 and €0.50 is based on a bust, created in 1905. Cervantes claimed to have written over 20 plays, such as El trato de Argel , based on his experiences in captivity. Such works were extremely short-lived, and even Lope de Vega , the best-known playwright of the day, could not live on their proceeds. In 1585, he published La Galatea ,

8800-419: Was captured by Barbary pirates ; after five years in captivity, he was ransomed, and returned to Madrid . His first significant novel, titled La Galatea , was published in 1585, but he continued to work as a purchasing agent, and later as a government tax collector . Part One of Don Quixote was published in 1605, and Part Two in 1615. Other works include the 12 Novelas ejemplares ( Exemplary Novels );

8900-488: Was highly influenced by his older rival from whom he may have isolated "conceptismo" elements. Góngora was born to a noble family in Córdoba , where his father, Francisco de Argote, was corregidor, or judge. In a Spanish era when purity of Christian lineage ( limpieza de sangre ) was needed to gain access to education or official appointments, he adopted the surname of his mother, Leonor de Góngora. His uncle, Don Francisco,

9000-519: Was in captivity, both Don John and the Duke of Sessa died, depriving him of two potential patrons, while the Spanish economy was in dire straits. This made finding employment difficult; other than a period in 1581 to 1582, when he was employed as an intelligence agent in North Africa, little is known of his movements prior to 1584. In April of that year, Cervantes visited Esquivias , to help arrange

9100-559: Was more comic, and had greater popular appeal. The second part is often considered more sophisticated and complex, with a greater depth of characterisation and philosophical insight. In addition to this, he produced a series of works between 1613 and his death in 1616. They include a collection of tales titled Exemplary Novels . This was followed by Viaje del Parnaso , Eight Comedies and Eight New Interludes , and Los trabajos de Persiles y Sigismunda , completed just before his death, and published posthumously in January 1617. Cervantes

9200-408: Was often reproached for activities beneath the dignity of a churchman. Culteranismo apparently existed in stark contrast with conceptismo , another movement of the Baroque period which is characterized by a witty style, wordplay, simple vocabulary, and conveying multiple meanings in as few words as possible. However, all elements of "conceptismo" were already present in Góngora's late style, which

9300-536: Was passionately debated and misunderstood even by his defenders. The best-known representative of Spanish conceptismo , Francisco de Quevedo, had an ongoing feud with Luis de Góngora in which each criticized the other's writing and personal life. The word culteranismo blends culto ("cultivated") and luteranismo (" Lutheranism ") and was coined by its opponents to present it as a heresy of "true" poetry. The movement aimed to use as many words as possible to convey little meaning or to conceal meaning. "Góngora's poetry

9400-479: Was probably Góngora, whose works Spinoza possessed, and who lost his memory a year before his death". The narrator of the Captain Alatriste series, a friend of Francisco de Quevedo within the stories, illustrates Góngora's feuding with Quevedo, both by quoting poetry from each as well as describing Quevedo's attitude toward Góngora through the course of the story. Excerpts of poetry from one against

9500-621: Was published almost immediately after his death by Juan López de Vicuña; the frequently reprinted edition by Hozes did not appear until 1633. The collection consists of numerous sonnets, odes, ballads, songs for guitar, and of some larger poems, such as the Soledades and the Fábula de Polifemo y Galatea ( Fable of Polyphemus and Galatea ) (1612), the two landmark works of the highly refined style called "culteranismo" or "Gongorismo". Miguel de Cervantes , in his Viaje del Parnaso , catalogued

9600-549: Was rediscovered by English writers in the mid-18th century. The literary editor John Bowle argued that Cervantes was as significant as any of the Greek and Roman authors then popular, and published an annotated edition in 1781. Now viewed as a significant work, at the time it proved a failure. However, Don Quixote has been translated into all major languages, in 700 editions. Mexican author Carlos Fuentes suggested that Cervantes and his contemporary William Shakespeare form part of

9700-561: Was the case of Cervantes and his brother – held for ransom, if this would be more lucrative than their sale as slaves. Rodrigo was ransomed in 1577, but his family could not afford the fee for Cervantes, who was forced to remain. Turkish historian Rasih Nuri İleri found evidence suggesting Cervantes worked on the construction of the Kılıç Ali Pasha Complex , which means he spent at least part of his captivity in Istanbul . This

9800-559: Was the first to attempt to self-consciously revive baroque literature. Dámaso Alonso wrote that Góngora's complex language conveyed meaning in that it created a world of pure beauty. Alonso explored his work exhaustively and called Góngora a "mystic of words." Alonso dispelled the notion that Góngora had two separate styles – "simple" and "difficult" poems – that were also divided chronologically between his early and later years. He argued that Góngora's more complex poems built on stylistic devices that had been created in Góngora's early career as

9900-467: Was the second son of barber-surgeon Rodrigo de Cervantes and his wife, Leonor de Cortinas ( c.  1520–1593 ). Rodrigo came from Córdoba, Andalusia , where his father Juan de Cervantes was an influential lawyer. Rodrigo was frequently in debt, or searching for work, and moved constantly. Leonor came from Arganda del Rey , and died in October 1593, at the age of 73; surviving legal documents indicate she had seven children, could read and write, and

10000-579: Was Álvaro de Sande, a friend of the family, who gave Cervantes a commission in the Tercio of Sicily under the Marqués de Santa Cruz . At some point, he was joined in Naples by his younger brother Rodrigo. In September 1571, Cervantes sailed on board the Marquesa , part of the Holy League fleet under Don John of Austria , illegitimate half brother of Phillip II of Spain ; on 7 October, they defeated

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