Joan Boscà i Almogàver (, es, Juan Boscán Almogávar; 1490 – 21 September 1542), was a Spanish
poet
A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...
who incorporated
hendecasyllable
In poetry, a hendecasyllable (sometimes hendecasyllabic) is a line of eleven syllables. The term may refer to several different poetic meters, the older of which are quantitative and used chiefly in classical (Ancient Greek and Latin) poetry, and ...
verses into Spanish.
Biography
The exact date of birth for Boscà is unclear, but there is a consensus that he was born anywhere between 1487 and 1492. Boscà was born in
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
and was one of three children. His father, Joan Valentí Boscà, was a public official, and his mother was named Violant Almogàver. Boscà's father died in 1492. Around 1507, Boscà left to live in the court of
Fernando and Isabel, where he was a student of
Lucio Marineo Siculo
Lucio Marineo Siculo (Vizzini, 1444 or 1445 – Spain, 1533) was a Sicilian humanist, historian and poet, known as a prominent figure of the Spanish Renaissance.
He first taught Greek and Latin literature in Palermo. He moved to Spain and taug ...
from
Vizzini
Vizzini is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Catania, on the island of Sicily, southern Italy. It is located from Catania in the Hyblaean Mountains, on the most northwesterly slopes of Monte Lauro.
The commune territory is bou ...
,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
, who taught him the skill of translating
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
love
Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest Interpersonal relationship, interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure. An example of this range of ...
poetry
Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...
,
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 ...
, and
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
lyrics into Spanish. Marineo's teachings evidence the close cultural interactions that existed between Spain and Italy and helped to develop the talent of Boscán.
By 1522, Joan Boscà was working as a tutor to
Fernando Álvarez de Toledo
Fernando is a Spanish and Portuguese given name and a surname common in Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Switzerland, former Spanish or Portuguese colonies in Latin America, Africa, the Philippines, India, and Sri Lanka. It is equivalent to the G ...
,
Duke of Alba
Duke of Alba de Tormes ( es, Duque de Alba de Tormes), commonly known as Duke of Alba, is a title of Spanish nobility that is accompanied by the dignity of Grandee of Spain. In 1472, the title of ''Count of Alba de Tormes'', inherited by G ...
. In this same year, he participated with
Garcilaso de la Vega in giving naval assistance to the
Isle of Rhodes
Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the Sou ...
during a
Turkish invasion
The 2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria, code-named Operation Peace Spring ( tr, Barış Pınarı Harekâtı) by Turkey, was a cross-border military operation conducted by the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) and the Syrian National Arm ...
. Boscà fought against the Turks again in 1532 with Álvarez de Toledo and
Charles I Charles I may refer to:
Kings and emperors
* Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings
* Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily
* Charles I of ...
in
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
. During this period, Boscán had made serious progress in his mastery of verse in the Italian style.
Boscà is most famous for the incorporation of hendecasyllable verses into Spanish. Although he was preceded by
Íñigo López de Mendoza, 1st Marquess of Santillana
Inigo derives from the Castilian rendering (Íñigo) of the medieval Basque name Eneko. Ultimately, the name means "my little (love)". While mostly seen among the Iberian diaspora, it also gained a limited popularity in the United Kingdom.
Ear ...
, who wrote 42 sonnets in the Italian style, Boscà was one of the first people to use the present-day structures of the sonnet in
Castilian. His originality and open-minded nature made him an innovator, and his use of hendecasyllabic verse gave his poetry a distinctly creative flare that allowed him to emphasize the emotions and significance of each poem.
In the 1520s he came under the influence of
Andrea Navagiero
Andrea is a given name which is common worldwide for both males and females, cognate to Andreas, Andrej and Andrew.
Origin of the name
The name derives from the Greek word ἀνήρ (''anēr''), genitive ἀνδρός (''andrós''), that re ...
, the
Venetian ambassador to
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
. It is because of Navagiero's persuasion that Boscà abandoned the traditional eight-syllable verses of Spanish poetry. Boscán was also influenced by another Italian ambassador (a friend of Navagiero) named Count
Baldassare Castiglione
Baldassare Castiglione, Count of Casatico (; 6 December 1478 – 2 February 1529),Dates of birth and death, and cause of the latter, fro, ''Italica'', Rai International online. was an Italian courtier, diplomat, soldier and a prominent Renaissanc ...
. Boscán was urged by Castiglione and
Garcilaso to translate the ambassador's "
Il Cortegiano
''The Book of the Courtier'' ( it, Il Cortegiano ) by Baldassare Castiglione is a lengthy philosophical dialogue on the topic of what constitutes an ideal courtier or (in the third chapter) court lady, worthy to befriend and advise a Prince or pol ...
" into Spanish, which was published on 2 April 1534 to great success.
With Boscán's fame came great controversy, because he constantly had to combat with those who preferred the old style of poetry over the new. In 1539, he married Ana Girón de Rebolledo of Valencia and fathered three daughters. Boscán died on 21 September 1542 after becoming ill in
Perpignan
Perpignan (, , ; ca, Perpinyà ; es, Perpiñán ; it, Perpignano ) is the prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France, in the heart of the plain of Roussillon, at the foot of the Pyrenees a few kilometres from the ...
, while he was preparing some of his poetry for publication.
Works
Joan Boscà's most famous works appear in ''Las obras de Boscán y algunas de Garcilaso de la Vega repartidas en quatro libros'' (''The Works of Boscà and Some of Garcilaso de la Vega Divided in Four Volumes''). In volume three, this includes ''Leandro y Hero'' (
Leander and Hero), based on an ancient
Greek fable and ''Ottava Rima'' (Royal Octave). A stanza of "Ottava Rima" reads:
Carlos Clavería, who has edited Boscán´s work, affirms that the reader who reaches the third book will find veritable treasures, including the above cited mythological poem based on
Musaeus Musaeus, Musaios ( grc, Μουσαῖος) or Musäus may refer to:
Greek poets
* Musaeus of Athens, legendary polymath, considered by the Greeks to be one of their earliest poets (mentioned by Socrates in Plato's Apology)
* Musaeus of Ephesus, liv ...
and with touches of
Virgil
Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: t ...
and
Hesiod
Hesiod (; grc-gre, Ἡσίοδος ''Hēsíodos'') was an ancient Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer. He is generally regarded by western authors as 'the first written poet i ...
. The reader will also find a Petrarchan poem that has includes a very surprising turn. ''Capítulo'', which begins in a rather conventional manner, but then turns to describe in the last thirty-two tercets a painting from antiquity:
Timanthes
Timanthes of Cythnus ( el, Τιμάνϑης) was an ancient Greek painter of the fourth century BC. The most celebrated of his works was a picture representing the sacrifice of Iphigenia, in which he finely depicted the emotions of those who to ...
's ''The Sacrifice of Iphigenia'' best known for the veil worn by
Agamemnon
In Greek mythology, Agamemnon (; grc-gre, Ἀγαμέμνων ''Agamémnōn'') was a king of Mycenae who commanded the Greeks during the Trojan War. He was the son, or grandson, of King Atreus and Queen Aerope, the brother of Menelaus, the husb ...
, her father, since the poet was unable to show his immense suffering. This is one of the earliest
ekphrasis
The word ekphrasis, or ecphrasis, comes from the Greek for the written description of a work of art produced as a rhetorical or literary exercise, often used in the adjectival form ekphrastic. It is a vivid, often dramatic, verbal descrip ...
found in Iberian Renaissance poetry.
Frederick A. de Armas
Frederick A. de Armas (born 1945) is a literary scholar, critic and novelist who is Robert O. Anderson Distinguished Service Professor in Humanities at the University of Chicago.
Biography
Frederick A. de Armas was born in Havana, Cuba on February ...
, 'Un pintor clásico en la poesía del Siglo de Oro: Timantes en Boscán, Garcilaso, Lope de Vega y Argensola,” ''Serenisima palabra: Actas del X Congreso de la Asociación Internacional Siglo de Oro (Venecia, 14-18 de Julio 2014)'', eds. Ana Bognolo et al., ''Biblioteca de Rassegna Iberistica'' 5. Venezia: Edizione Ca’Foscari, 2017: 49-67. What cannot be shown or described in the poem is the extreme jealousy felt by the poetic voice.
Later reputation
Boscà's and his close friend
Garcilaso de la Vega (who he met at the Spanish court) are seen as very influential in the poetry of the
Spanish Renaissance
The Spanish Renaissance was a movement in Spain, emerging from the Italian Renaissance in Italy during the 14th century, that spread to Spain during the 15th and 16th centuries.
This new focus in art, literature,
quotes and science inspired b ...
. Boscán was the first poet to introduce the Italian metres to Spain.
Boscà's poems were published after his death by his
widow
A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has Death, died.
Terminology
The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed ''widowhood''. An archaic term for a widow is "relict," literally "someone left over". This word ...
around 1543 (
Garcilaso died in 1536 and Boscà was given the task of editing some of his works before his own death on September 21, 1542). The collection proved popular: between 1543 and 1597, twenty-one editions were printed throughout Europe. While the collection was supposed to focus mainly on his poetry, Boscà was soon overshadowed by his friend Garcilaso. In contrast to Garcilaso, who explored several genres and themes in the new Italian style, Boscà wrote mostly about love. He has been compared to Fray
Luis de León
Luis de León ( Belmonte, Cuenca, 1527 – Madrigal de las Altas Torres, Castile, Spain, 23 August 1591), was a Spanish lyric poet, Augustinian friar, theologian and academic, active during the Spanish Golden Age.
Early life
Luis de ...
, a poet and professor of the 16th century, who also enjoyed the process of translating and writing poetry.
One of his works, ''Oh Sombra!'', was adapted into a song by the
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
band
Electrelane
Electrelane were an English indie rock band, formed in Brighton in 1998 by Verity Susman and Emma Gaze. The band comprised Susman, Gaze, Mia Clarke, and Ros Murray. Their music drew from a wide range of influences including Neu!, Stereolab, Son ...
in 2004.
References
* "Juan Boscán." (original name "Joan Boscà") In ''Sixteenth-Century Spanish Writers''. Volume 318: ''Dictionary of Literary Biography'', Edited by Gregory B. Kaplan. Chicago: Bruccoli Clark Layman / Gale, 2005. pp. 14–21. (for the poem)
*
External links
Link to search for more information and critical essays on Juan Boscán in the Literature Resource Center (a database).
Juan Boscán
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boscan Almogaver, Juan
1490s births
1542 deaths
Writers from Barcelona
Poets from Catalonia
Translators from Catalonia
Translators to Spanish
Spanish poets
Spanish male poets