Spanish RENAISSANCE literature: authors and works

The renaissance literature is the one that was created during the period of Renaissance, a moment in the history of humanity that affected all the arts globally. It took place from the 16th century and the Renaissance, after the dark period of the Middle Ages, wanted to go back to the origins revisiting the classics and the forms promoted by the Greek poets and Latinos. In this lesson from a TEACHER we are going to discover you the main authors and works of Spanish Renaissance literature So that, thus, you can know the most prominent names of this cultural movement that took place throughout Europe.

Index

1. Brief summary of Renaissance literature in Spain
2. Garcilaso de la Vega, one of the authors of Renaissance literature (1501-1536)
3. Juan Boscán (1493 - 1542)
4. Saint John of the Cross (1542 - 1591)
5. Fray Luis de León (1527 -1591)

The Renaissance in Spain It was somewhat peculiar, compared to the rest of the European countries. The origin of this movement is in Florence, Italy, and it spread throughout Europe, also reaching Spain. However, in our country the Renaissance coincided with the period called the Spanish Golden Age, a era of maximum literary and historical splendor and that has such prominent figures as Garcilaso de la Vega,

It is important to differentiate the authors of Spanish Renaissance literature from those who did not follow the Italian trail so much, but turned their style upside down. Garcilaso de la Vega, for exampleYes, he is considered a renowned and outstanding Renaissance poet; On the other hand, neither Cervantes nor Lope de Vega are usually included in these lists because, although they looked at the classics, they renewed them and opted for a new way of writing literature.

If you want to know in detail how the Renaissance movement was in Spain, do not miss our lesson on the characteristics of Renaissance literature.

We begin to talk about the most prominent authors of Spanish Renaissance literature by mentioning Garcilaso de la Vega. His poetry is influenced by three Italian Renaissance poets, such as: Virgilio, Sannazaro and Petrarca.

It has a style full of expressive richness and a poetic language very well worked and careful. To improve the understanding of his texts, Garcilaso opts for a type of poetry that uses literary resources that allow his ideas to reach more people.

In his works we find a very visceral and intimate poetry in which the author describes the states of his soul and his feelings. An intensified style full of personal experiences that try to explain his way of seeing and feeling the world. Although he is highly influenced by the Italians, Garcilaso includes the Spanish imprint on his texts with elements such as gravity or containment.

Works by Garcilaso de la Vega

Garcilaso's poetry came to us thanks to the compilation published in 1543 which includes 40 sonnets and 3 eclogues. The author did not see his published texts while he was still alive and his success came after the appearance of this compilation book.

Juan Boscan he is another of the best known and most studied Spanish Renaissance authors. He is a poet and translator who was born in Barcelona and had a complete humanistic training. Diego Hurtado de Mendoza, a friend of his and also a writer of the time, dedicated the well-known Epistle to Boscan in which the Renaissance author was the protagonist.

He was a Spanish ambassador to Italy and it was here that he met Garcilaso de la Vega. Although the first literary stage of Boscán was aligned with the tradition of the Medieval literature, the truth is that later he began to draw on the Italian tradition and included classical hendecasyllables and stanzas to his poems such as, for example, sonnets or royal octave.

Boscán is the author of the manifesto of the new aesthetic followed in Renaissance literature. An aesthetic that was aligned with the Italian and that defends the need to return to the classic to renew the quality of Hispanic letters. This manifesto is in the prologue of one of his poetry volumes and is dedicated to the Duchess of Soma.

Renaissance works of Boscán

• One of the best known works of Juan Boscán is his poem Hero and Leandro whose theme already indicates the Italian footprint of it. In fact, there is a great presence here of classical Greek myths.
• In itsEpistle to Mendozait is where we find the author's first attempt to incorporate the moral epistle model in Spain, a style that imitates Horacio.

Continuing with this lesson on the authors and works of Renaissance literature, we are now going to talk about the figure of San Juan de la Cruz, a Renaissance poet from Ávila and that, after studying Humanities, he entered the Carmelite order and changed his name from Juan de Tepes to San Juan de la Cruz. Within the order, he tried to promote different reforms that earned him enmity and prison. In 1578 he fled from jail and went to Andalusia, where he held different positions within the order.

His spiritual and ecclesiastical life His poetry strongly marked his poetry and, in fact, his Spiritual Canticle is a composition inspired by his life as director of the Carmelites. The rest of his texts have a traditional style and the vast majority of his compositions are octosyllabic.

Renaissance works of San Juan de la Cruz

His influence on Spanish literature is due, above all, to three mystical poems:

1. Dark night of the soul. It is a short poem in which it is explained how the soul is united to that of God in a mystical way.
2. Spiritual chant. It is the longest poem of San Juan de la Cruz and describes the mystical ways (purgative, illuminative and unitive)
3. Living flame of love. It is the shortest poem and tells how the soul can be burned because of the love of God.

We close this lesson on the authors of the Renaissance literature of Spain talking about Fray Luis de León, a theologian, poem and humanist that was part of the Salamanca school.

He is a very important poet in the second stage of the Renaissance in Spain and his work is included in the ascetic literature mid-sixteenth century. Like Saint John of the Cross, his style is closely linked to divine ecstasy and all the topics they deal with refer to religious motives and moral themes.

For Fray Luis, poetry is the way in which communication is established between the human being and God. For the poet, God is worthy of poetry and, therefore, verses should be cultivated dedicated to the Supreme Being and praising his power and goodness.

Works by Fray Luis de León

There are many poems signed by this author, however, there are some books that have been widely studied in classrooms for their historical and literary importance:

• The perfect married.
• Song of songs. Interpretations: literal, spiritual, prophetic.
• Funeral prayer to the teacher Domingo de Soto.

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