Antonio de Nebrija (14445 July 1522) was the most influential Spanish humanist of his era. He wrote poetry, commented on literary works, and encouraged the study of classical languages and literature, but his most important contributions were in the fields of grammar and lexicography. Nebrija was the author of the Spanish Grammar ( Gramática de la lengua castellana, 1492) and the first dictionary of the Spanish language (1495). His grammar is the first published grammar study of any modern

European language Most languages of Europe belong to the Indo-European language family. Out of a total European population of 744 million as of 2018, some 94% are native speakers of an Indo-European language. Within Indo-European, the three largest phyla are Rom ...

. His chief works were published and republished many times during and after his life and his scholarship had a great influence for more than a century, both in Spain and in the expanding Spanish Empire.Perona 2004Hamann 2015

Name

Nebrija was baptized . In typical Renaissance humanist fashion, he Latinized his name as (or in Spanish) by taking '' Aelius'' from the Roman inscriptions of his native Lebrija, known in Roman times as . He was also known as , , and .

Biography

Nebrija was born into an hidalgo family in Nebrixa, a town now called Lebrija in the province of Seville. His parents were Juan Martínez de Cala and Catalina de Xarana. He was the second of five children. There is some uncertainty about his date of birth. Nebrija wrote that he was born the year before the Battle of Olmedo in 1445, putting his birthday in 1444 but elsewhere he makes other references that would contradict this date. Traditionally, 1444 has been accepted as his year of birth. At age fourteen Nebrija enrolled at the University of Salamanca, where he studied mathematics, philosophy, law and theology. These latter topics earned him a scholarship from the bishopric of Seville to study theology at the Royal College of Spain in Bologna. Little is known about his studies in Italy except that he was inspired by the works of the Italian humanists, especially Lorenzo Valla. After ten years in Italy Nebrija returned to Spain armed with the new concepts of Renaissance humanism. Once back in Spain, Nebrija served Alonso de Fonseca y Ulloa, archbishop of Seville, for three years. When Fonseca died in 1473, Nebrija returned to the University of Salamanca as a lecturer. In 1476 he was appointed First Chair of Grammar and in 1481 he published his first work, the ''Introductiones latinae'' (''Introduction to Latin''), a textbook on Latin grammar and literature. The first printing of 1,000 copies quickly sold out and was reprinted dozens of times in his lifetime.Grendler 2000 He married Isabel Montesino de Solís in 1487 and eventually fathered seven children. When Juan de Zúñiga, the master of the Order of Alcántara, offered him patronage, Nebrija quit the university in Salamanca and moved to Badajoz, where he lived for the next twelve years. After the success of his Latin textbook, Nebrija's literary scholarship turned to focus on Castilian rather than classical languages. In 1492 he published '' Gramática de la lengua castellana'' (''Grammar of the Castilian Language''), which he dedicated to Queen

Isabella I of Castile Isabella I ( es, Isabel I; 22 April 1451 – 26 November 1504), also called Isabella the Catholic (Spanish: ''la Católica''), was Queen of Castile from 1474 until her death in 1504, as well as List of Aragonese royal consorts, Queen consort ...

. His book was one of the first to codify a European vernacular language, and it ultimately had considerable political and scholarly influence. Nebrija recognized that language played a crucial role in governance of the state. In his dedication he wrote to Isabella that language was "the instrument of empire" and suggested that his grammar would prove useful as the Catholic Monarchs conquered peoples who spoke languages other than Castilian. In 1492 Nebrija also published the ''Diccionario latino-español'' (''Latin-Spanish Dictionary''). It was not the first Latin-Spanish dictionary (

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published one in 1490) but it would become hugely influential, in part because a few years later he reversed the order and published his ''Vocabulario español-latino'' (''Spanish-Latin Vocabulary'') in 1495. For the next century, the Spanish-Latin vocabulary continued to evolve with new words and translations. It also served as the basis for other authors developing non-Latin translating dictionaries including Spanish-Arabic (1505), Spanish-

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(1547) and Spanish-

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(1613). After publishing his dictionaries Nebrija turned his attention to biblical scholarship. He wanted to improve the text and interpretation of the Bible by using the same critical analysis that Italian humanists had applied to classical literature. Around 1504 he fell under the suspicion of Diego de Deza, the Grand Inquisitor of Spain, who confiscated and destroyed his work. In 1507 Cardinal

Jiménez de Cisneros Jiménez or Jimenez may refer to: People * Jiménez (surname), a Spanish name, includes the name Jimenez * Jiménez dynasty, a medieval Iberian ruling family, including a list of members Places Mexico * Ciudad Jiménez, a city in Chihuahua (offici ...

succeeded Deza as inquisitor general. Cisneros allowed Nebrija to resume his biblical studies and he eventually published a series of works that used the techniques of humanist scholarship to address problems of biblical translation and interpretation. Nebrija served briefly on the editorial committee assembled by Jiménez to prepare the Complutensian Polyglot Bible. He clashed with the more conservative editors, who resisted his humanist approach to translating the Bible. Jiménez supported the conservative viewpoint and Nebrija's input was largely ignored when the finished work was published in 1517. Nebrija wrote or translated a large number of other works on a variety of subjects, including theology, law, archaeology, pedagogy, and commentaries on Sedulius and Persius. Nebrija died on 5 July 1522 in Alcalá de Henares, Spain. His possible grandson Antonio de Lebrija was conquistador in Colombia and treasurer of the

Spanish conquest of the Muisca The Spanish conquest of the Muisca took place from 1537 to 1540. The Muisca were the inhabitants of the central Andean highlands of Colombia before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors. They were organised in a loose confederation of differe ...

expedition.Rodríguez Freyle, 1638, p.69

Works

*''Introductiones latinae'', 1481 *'' Gramática de la lengua castellana'', 1492 *''Diccionario latino-español'', 1492 *''Vocabulario español-latino'', ca. 1495 *''Iuris civilis lexicon'' 1506 *''Artis rhetoricae'', 1515 *''Reglas de ortografía española'', 1517 *Posthumously published ''Reglas de ortografía en la lengua castellana'', 1523

Notes

References

English * * * *Nebrija, Antonio De; Armillas-Tiseyra, Magalí (2016/01). "On Language and Empire: The Prologue to Grammar of the Castilian Language (1492)". ''PMLA''. 131 (1): 197–208. Spanish * *

External links