Alfonso Martínez de Toledo (ca. 1398 – ca. 1470), known as the

Archpriest The ecclesiastical title of archpriest or archpresbyter belongs to certain priests with supervisory duties over a number of parishes. The term is most often used in Eastern Orthodoxy and the Eastern Catholic Churches and may be somewhat analogous ...

of Talavera (''Arcipreste de Talavera''), was a Castilian poet and writer. He was born and studied in

Toledo, Spain Toledo ( , ) is a city and municipality of Spain, capital of the province of Toledo and the ''de jure'' seat of the government and parliament of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castilla–La Mancha. Toledo was declare ...

, spent time in

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

and Aragón, and served as a prebendary at the

cathedral of Toledo , native_name_lang = , image = Toledo Cathedral, from Plaza del Ayuntamiento.jpg , imagesize = 300px , imagelink = , imagealt = , landscape = , caption ...

. He then became archpriest at Talavera. He wrote two hagiographies, ''Vida de San Isidoro'' (''Life of Saint Isidore'') and ''Vida de San Ildefonso'' (''Life of

Saint Ildephonsus Ildefonsus or Ildephonsus (rarely ''Ildephoses'' or ''Ildefonse''; Spanish: San Ildefonso; c. 8 December 607 – 23 January 667) was a scholar and theologian who served as the metropolitan Bishop of Toledo for the last decade of his life. His Go ...

''), as well as the historical compilation ''Atalaya de las crónicas''.

Corbacho

Martinez wrote the work known as ''Corbacho o Reprobación del amor mundano'' (1438), inspired by Boccaccio's ''Corbaccio'' (dated to either 1355 or 1365). Martínez’s ''Corbacho'' is his best known work.Alfonso Martínez de Toledo “Arcipreste de Talavera” (1398-1470)
It consists of four parts, the first of which is a treatise against

lust Lust is a psychological force producing intense desire for something, or circumstance while already having a significant amount of the desired object. Lust can take any form such as the lust for sexuality (see libido), money, or power. It can ...

; the second, a satire lampooning women of all social stations; the third and fourth, the complexions of human beings and their varying amatory inclinations.

Phlegmatic The four temperament theory is a proto-psychological theory which suggests that there are four fundamental personality types: sanguine, choleric, melancholic, and phlegmatic. Most formulations include the possibility of mixtures among the types w ...

men were “lazy and negligent... neither with a propensity to neither laugh nor cry… taciturn, solitary, half-mute... suspicious...” In it he describes the personalities of men of varying complexions:

Melancholic Melancholia or melancholy (from el, µέλαινα χολή ',Burton, Bk. I, p. 147 meaning black bile) is a concept found throughout History of medicine#Greece and Roman Empire, ancient, medieval medicine of Western Europe, medieval and Lear ...

men "have no sense of temperance in anything they do, and only bang their head against the wall. They're very iniquitous, petulant, miserable...” Martínez employs bombastic language

latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

ized by the device known as

hyperbaton Hyperbaton , in its original meaning, is a figure of speech in which a phrase is made discontinuous by the insertion of other words.Andrew M. Devine, Laurence D. Stephens, ''Latin Word Order: Structured Meaning and Information'' (Oxford: Oxford Uni ...

, and also employs rhymed prose and homeoteleuton. The value of this work resides in the fact that Martínez also employed

vernacular A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...

language, capturing popular and colloquial speech, thus making his work a precursor to ''

La Celestina ''The Tragicomedy of Calisto and Melibea'' ( es, Tragicomedia de Calisto y Melibea), known in Spain as ''La Celestina'' is a work entirely in dialogue published in 1499. It is attributed to Fernando de Rojas, a descendant of converted Jews, w ...

''. The first part of ''Corbacho'' is focused on earthly love, which Martínez rejects by pointing out all of its pitfalls.Anita Obermeier, ''The History and Anatomy of Auctorial Self-criticism in the European Middle Ages'' (Rodopi, 1999), 240. In the second part, Martínez applies his arguments against earthly love to a criticism of women in general, repeating such stock arguments, for example, that women are the source of man's perdition. Martínez's chapter titles alone indicate only too well his opinions on the opposite sex: “How a woman is jealous of anyone more beautiful than she,” “How a woman is disobedient,” “How a woman lies even while under oath,” “How a man should watch out for a drunken woman,” “How a woman loves whomever she pleases regardless of age.” Juan Rodríguez de la Cámara's ''Triunfo de las donas'' (1445) includes 40

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

arguments meant to counter the

misogyny Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women. It is a form of sexism that is used to keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the societal roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practiced fo ...

of Martínez's ''Corbacho''. Rodríguez's work presents arguments for the superiority of women to men.Declamation on the Nobility and Preeminence of the Female Sex by Henricus Cornelius Agrippa, 1529
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References

External links

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Vida de Sanct Isidoro
(digital text)

(digital text) {{DEFAULTSORT:Martinez de Toledo, Alfonso Spanish poets 1398 births 1470 deaths 15th-century Spanish writers People from Toledo, Spain 15th-century Castilian Roman Catholic priests 15th-century Spanish poets Spanish male poets

Corbacho

References

Further reading

External links