Wednesday, February 14, 2018

Mariah on Fernando de Herrera

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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