Garcilaso de la Vega (c. 1501–;October 14, 1536), was the prototypical Spanish "Renaissance man," the soldier-poet who was the most influential (though not the first or the only) poet to introduce Italian Renaissance verse forms, poetic techniques and themes to Spain. His exact birth date is unknown, but estimations by scholars put his year of birth between 1498 and 1503. 1501 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 287th day of the year (288th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1536 was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. ... For other uses, see Renaissance Man (disambiguation). ... The Italian Renaissance began the opening phase of the Renaissance, a period of great cultural change and achievement in Europe that spanned the period from the end of the 14th century to about 1600, marking the transition between Medieval and Early Modern Europe. ...

Diáfano y querencioso caballero,
me siento atravesado del cuchillo
de tu dolor, y si lo considero
fue tu dolor tan grande y tan sencillo.

Antes de que la voz se me concluya,
pido a mi lengua el alma de la tuya
para descarriar entre las hojas
este dolor de recomida grama
que llevo, estas congojas
de puñal a mi silla y a mi cama.

Égloga, Miguel Hernández

Garcilaso was born in the Spanish city of Toledo. His father, Pedro Suárez de Figueroa, was a noble in the royal court of the Catholic Kings. His mother's name was Sancha de Guzmán. He had six brothers and sisters: Leanor, Pedro, Fernando, Francisco, Gonzalo, and Juana. Garcilaso was the second-oldest son which meant he did not receive the mayorazgo (entitlement) to his father's estate. However, he spent his younger years receiving an extensive education, mastered five languages (Spanish, Greek, Latin, Italian and French), and learned how to play the zither, lute and the harp. After his schooling, he joined the military in hopes of joining the royal guard. He was named "contino" (imperial guard) of King Carlos I (also Carlos V of the Holy Roman Empire) in 1520, and he was made a member of the Order of Santiago in 1523. Image File history File links Garcilaso. ... The Spanish poet Miguel Hernández (October 30, 1910-March 28, 1942), born in Orihuela (Spain), to a poor family and given little formal education, published his first book of poetry at 23, and gained considerable fame before his death. ... For other uses, see Toledo (disambiguation). ... The Catholic monarchs (Spanish: Reyes Católicos) is the collective title used in history for Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon. ... Latin was the language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ... Concert zither The zither is a musical string instrument, mainly used in folk music, most commonly in German-speaking Alpine Europe. ... A medieval era lute. ... The harp is a stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicular to the soundboard. ... Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Aragon and Castile. ... Charles V, Carlos I in Spain and its colonies (though he is often referred to as Carlos Quinto), Karl V in the Holy German Empire, Karl I in Austria, Karel V in most of the members of the Seventeen Provinces, Charles II in Burgundy, Carlo V in Naples and Milan... 17th century interpretation of saint James as the Moor-killer from the Peruvian school of Cuzco. ...

There were a few women in the life of this poet. His first lover was Guiomar Carrillo with whom he had an illegitimate child. He had another suspected lover named Isabel Freire, who was a lady-in-waiting of Isabel of Portugal. In 1525, Garcilaso married Elena de Zúñiga who served as a lady-in-waiting for the King's favorite sister, Leonor. Their marriage took place in Garcilaso's hometown of Toledo in one of the family's estates. He had six children: Lorenzo, an illegitimate child with Guiomar Carrillo, Garcilaso, Íñigo de Zúñiga, Pedro de Guzmán, Sancha, and Francisco. Isabella of Portugal Isabella of Portugal (or Isabel in Portuguese) (February 21, 1397 - December 17, 1471) was the only surviving daughter of king John I of Portugal and his wife Philippa of Lancaster. ...

Garcilaso's military career meant that he took part in the numerous battles and campaigns conducted by Carlos V across Europe. His duties took him to Italy, Germany, Tunisia and France. In France, he would fight his last battle. The King desired to take control of Marseille and eventually control of the Mediterranean Sea, but this goal was never realized. Garcilaso de la Vega died on October 14, 1536 in Nice, France after suffering 25 days from an injury sustained in a battle at Le Muy. His body was first buried in a the Church of Santo Domingo in Nice, but two years later his wife had his body moved to the Church of San Pedro Martir in Toledo. City flag Coat of arms Motto: By her great deeds, the city of Massilia shines Location Coordinates Time Zone CET (GMT +1) Administration Country Region Provence-Alpes-Côte dAzur Department Bouches-du-Rhône (13) Subdivisions 16 arrondissements (in 8 secteurs) Intercommunality Urban Community of Marseille Provence M... Composite satellite image of the Mediterranean Sea. ... is the 287th day of the year (288th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1536 was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. ... Night view along the Promenade des Anglais This article is about the city. ... Le Muy is a city localised in Var departement, near Draguignan and Saint-Tropez. ...

The Renaissance

When the Renaissance began in Spain at the end of the 15th century, the country was at the point of "unification." The conquest of Granada, the expulsion of the Jews, and the publication of the first grammar of the Castilian language all occurred in 1492, and are often taken together as being symbolic of that unification. But underneath this superficial unity, there were social pressures and conflicts of unimaginable proportions. The Spanish Golden Age (16th and 17th centuries), called by Américo Castro the Conflictive Age, was a time in which individuals became obsessed with a notion of honor that was based on the opinion of others and on one's status as Old Christian or New Christian. Administrative posts formerly occupied by Jews were occupied by many New Christians after the Expulsion. The Spanish Renaissance literature is the literature written in Spain during the Renaissance. ... (14th century - 15th century - 16th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 15th century was that century which lasted from 1401 to 1500. ... The Conquest of Granada was a play written by John Dryden and acted in 1670. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... For the topic in theoretical computer science, see Formal grammar Grammar is the study of rules governing the use of language. ... This article is about the international language known as Spanish. ... The Spanish Golden Age (in Spanish, Siglo de Oro) was a period of flourishing in arts and literature in Spain, coinciding with the political decline and fall of the Habsburgs (Philip III, Philip IV and Charles II). ... (15th century - 16th century - 17th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 16th century was that century which lasted from 1501 to 1600. ... (16th century - 17th century - 18th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 17th century was that century which lasted from 1601-1700. ... Américo Castro Américo Castro y Quesada (1885 – 1972) was a Spanish cultural historian, philologist, and literary critic who challenged some of the prevailing notions of Spanish identity, raising heated controversy with his conclusions that (1) Spaniards didnt become the distinct group they are today until after the... The term New Christian (cristianos nuevos in Spanish, cristãos novos in Portuguese) was used to refer to the Jews and Moors who were converted to Christianity and their baptized descendants. ...

The Holy Office (or Spanish Inquisition), established in 1478 to insure that New Christians remained true to orthodox beliefs and practices, was often used as an instrument to pursue petty squabbles between individuals and to deprive rivals or personal enemies of their social standing identity as it extended its reach to Christians whose ancestors, at any time in the past, had not been born into the faith. A truly bizarre result of this last distinction could be seen in the 16th and 17th centuries, when peasants occasionally used their illiteracy as proof of their purity of blood. Saint Dominic (1170 – August 6, 1221) Presiding over an Auto-da-fe, by Pedro Berruguete, (1450 - 1504). ... Inquisition (capitalized I) is broadly used, to refer to things related to judgment of heresy by the Roman Catholic Church. ... Events February 18 - George, Duke of Clarence, convicted of treason against his older brother Edward IV of England, is privately executed in the Tower of London. ... Separate articles treat Eastern Orthodox Christianity and Orthodox Judaism. ...

The "revival" or "re-birth" known as the Renaissance was based upon interpretations of Roman and Greek texts whose emphasis upon art and the senses marked a great change from the God- and Bible-centered contemplation of the values of humility, introspection and meekness. Beauty came to represent a deep inner virtue and value, and was considered "an essential element in the path towards God." As city dwelling became more common during the Renaissance, a type of poetry called pastoral became popular. Pastoral poetry really depicted ladies and gentlemen who sought the simple life in the guise of shepherds, without the complications of newly developing urban existence. The forms and themes of pastoral poetry were not entirely new. Spanish pastoral poets, such as Juan Boscán Almogáver and Garcilaso de la Vega, imitated the sonnet, tercet and other verse forms often used in Italian pastoral works. Garcilaso also drew on ancient Roman writers Virgil, Horace and Ovid as inspiration for his lyric poems. These poems contained sentimental discussions of rural love and the beauty of the Spanish landscape. He also captured the Spanish spirit through descriptions of his experiences as courtier, soldier, artist, and musician, but it was his literary skill that influenced Spanish poets in later centuries. Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew from a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula circa the 9th century BC to a massive empire straddling the Mediterranean Sea. ... This article discusses the term God in the context of monotheism and henotheism. ... This Gutenberg Bible is displayed by the United States Library. ... Urbanism is the study of cities - their economic, political, social and cultural environment, and the imprint of all these forces on the built environment. ... Titians The Pastoral Concert Pastoral refers to the lifestyle of shepherds and pastoralists, moving livestock around larger areas of land according to seasons and availability of water and feed. ... Pastoral poetry is a literary work dealing with the lives of shepherds or rural life in general and typically drawing a contrast between the innocence and serenity of a simple life and the misery and corruption of city and especially court life // The characters in pastoral poetry are often used... Shepherd in FăgăraÅŸ Mountains, Romania. ... Juan Boscán Almogáver (1490? - 1542), Spanish poet, was born about the close of the 15th century. ... Francesco Petrarca, or Petrarch, one of the best-known early Italian sonnet writers. ... A tercet is three lines of poetry forming a stanza or complete poem. ... Publius Vergilius Maro (October 15, 70 BC – September 21, 19 BC), later called Virgilius, and known in English as Virgil or Vergil, was a classical Roman poet, the author of epics in three modes: the Bucolics [commonly but less correctly called the Eclogues], the Georgics and the substantially completed Aeneid... Horace, as imagined by Anton von Werner Quintus Horatius Flaccus, (December 8, 65 BC - November 27, 8 BC), known in the English-speaking world as Horace, was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus. ... For other uses, see Ovid (disambiguation) Publius Ovidius Naso (March 20, 43 BC – 17 AD) was a Roman poet known to the English-speaking world as Ovid who wrote on topics of love, abandoned women and mythological transformations. ... omg holy crap| cellpadding=4 cellspacing=0 style=width:270px; margin: 0 0 1em 1em; background:#FFFFFF; border: 0px #aaaaaa solid; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 85%; float:right; | // |- |} Lyric be excepted. ...

Works

Garcilaso de la Vega is best known for his tragic love poetry that contrasts the playful poetry of his predecessors. He seemed to progress through three distinct episodes of his life which are reflected in his works. During his Spanish period, he wrote the majority of his eight-syllable poems; during his Italian or Petrarchan period, he wrote mostly sonnets and songs; and during his Neapolitan or classicist period, he wrote his other more classical poems, including his elegies, letters, eclogues and odes. Influenced by many Italian Renaissance poets, Garcilaso adapted the eleven-syllable line to the Spanish language in his "sonetos," which were mostly written in the 1520s, during his Petrarchan period. Increasing the number of syllables in the verse from eight to eleven allowed for greater flexibility. In addition to the "soneto," Garcilaso helped to introduce several other types of stanzas to the Spanish language. These include the "estancia," formed by eleven- and seven-syllable lines; the "lira," formed by three seven-syllable and two eleven-syllable lines; and "endecasílabos sueltos," formed by unrhymed eleven-syllable lines. Petrarchan (also Petrarchanism, Petrarchian) - Refers to a concept of unattainable love first developed by Italian humanist and writer, Francesco Petrarch. ... Neapolitan may refer to: Neapolitan, a resident of Naples, Italy Neapolitan language, a language of Naples and environs in southern Italy Neapolitan ice cream, a mixture of chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry ice cream side-by-side in the same container Neapolitan chord, in music, is the first inversion of a... A syllable (Ancient Greek: ) is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds. ... In poetry, a stanza is a unit within a larger poem. ... Estancia is a 4th class municipality in the province of Iloilo, Philippines. ...

Throughout his life, Garcilaso de la Vega wrote various poems in each of these types. His works include: forty Sonetos (Sonnets), 22 Canciones (Songs), eight Coplas (Couplets), three Églogas (Eclogues), two Elegías (Elegies), and the Epístola a Bóscan (Letter to Bóscan). Allusions to classical myths and Greco-Latin figures, great musicality, alliteration, rhythm and an absence of religion characterize his poetry. It can be said that Spanish poetry was never the same after Garcilaso de la Vega. His works have influenced the majority of subsequent Spanish poets, including other major authors of the period like Jorge de Montemayor, Fray Luis de León, San Juan de la Cruz, Miguel de Cervantes, Lope de Vega, Luis de Góngora and Francisco Quevedo. Jorge de Montemayor (or Montemor) (1520? - February 26, 1561), Spanish novelist and poet, of Portuguese descent, was born at Montemor o Velho (near Coimbra), whence he derived his name, the Spanish form of which is Montemayor. ... Fray Luis de León (Cuenca, La Mancha Spain 1527 – 1591) was a scholar and poet of the Spanish Golden Age. ... Saint John of the Cross (Juan de la Cruz) was a Spanish Carmelite friar, born on June 24, 1542 at Fontiveros, a small village near Avila. ... Don Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (IPA: in modern Spanish; September 29, 1547 – April 23, 1616) was a Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright. ... Lope de Vega Lope de Vega (also Félix Lope de Vega Carpio or Lope Félix de Vega Carpio) (25 November 1562 – 27 August 1635) was a Spanish playwright and poet. ... Luis de Góngora, in a portrait by Diego Velázquez. ... Francisco de Quevedo y Villegas Francisco Gómez de Quevedo y Santibáñez Villegas (Madrid, September 17, 1580–Ciudad Real, September 8, 1645) was a writer of the Spanish Golden Age. ...

For example: (égloga Tercera):

Más a las veces son mejor oídos

el puro ingenio y lengua casi muda,

testigos limpios de ánimo inocente,

que la curiosidad del elocuente.

He was very good transmitting the sense of the life, an exemple, in his «dolorido sentir»:

No me podrán quitar el dolorido

sentir, si ya primero

no me quitan el sentido.

It believes in a world that is not the Christian world, is the pagan one (Égloga primera):

Contigo mano a mano

busquemos otros prados y otros ríos,

otros valles floridos y sombríos,

donde descanse, y siempre pueda verte

ante los ojos míos,

sin miedo y sobresalto de perderte. (Égloga primera)

References

• Creel, Bryant. "Garcilaso de la Vega." Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 318: Sixteenth-Century Spanish Writers. A Bruccoli Clark Layman Book. Edited by Gregory B. Kaplan, University of Tennessee. Gale, 2005. pp. 62-82.

External links

• (Spanish) Page about Garcilaso de la Vega "La Página de Garcilaso en Internet." 2006. La Asociación de Amigos de Garcilaso de la Vega (Toledo, España). <http://www.garcilaso.org/>.
• "Mullticulturalism Gone Wrong: Spain in the Renaissance," Alix Ingber, Professor of Spanish. (adapted from a lecture). <http://www.dean.sbc.edu/ingber.html>. [Last updated: January 19, 1998].
• "Spanish Literature," Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia 2006. <http://encarta.msn.com>. 1997-2006 Microsoft Corporation. 1993-2006 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.