Fernando de Herrera (Mariah Zimmerman)
Fernando
de Herrera, also known as El Divino, was born in 1534 in Seville, Spain. Not
much is known about the early life of Herrera despite being well known in his
native town. There are references to a humble birth, with many claiming that he
was born of noble parents of moderate means. With that being said, he was a
lyric poet and scholar. He was one of the most prominent figures in the first
School of Sevilla (Seville). The School of Sevilla was a group of 16th
century Spanish neoclassic poets and humanists that took an interest in
rhetoric and the form of language.
Herrera
opted to take minor religious orders and was appointed to a benefice in Seville.
The income from this position allowed him to spend his life studying and
writing. The service that he entered into was that of Don Alvaro de Portugal,
Count of Gelves. Herrera fell in love with the Count’s wife, Leonor, who became
his muse and to whom many of his poems are dedicated.
Fernando
de Herrera published several works. His aristocratic literary ideas were
presented in Anotaciones a las obras de
Garcilaso de la Vega (1580; “Notes on the Works of Garcilaso de la Vega”).
This work praised the innovations of the poet Garcilaso de la Vega, as well as
several other poets of Sevilla. Two years later, he published his own poetry
titled Algunas obras de Fernando de Herrera (1582; “Some Works of Fernando de
Herrera”). In this publication he expanded on the style of Garcilaso de la Vega
and began to use culteranismo.
Culteranismo was an ornate and affected poetic style which flourished in 16th and 17th century Spain. While Herrera had many poems addressed to Leonor,
his most enduring poems are his patriotic odes which included Old Testament
rhetoric. Ferrera also composed a history titled Relación de la guerra de Chipre y batalla naval
de Lepanto (1572;
“Account of the War of Cyprus and the Naval Battle of Lepanto”), and a
biography titled Elogio de la vida y muerte de Tomás Moro (1592;
“Eulogy on the Life and Death of Thomas More”).
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