Juan de Mena (1411–1456) was one of the most significant Spanish poets of the fifteenth century. He was highly regarded at the court of
Juan II de Castilla, who appointed him ''veinticuatro'' (one of twenty-four aldermen) of Córdoba, ''secretario de cartas latinas'' (secretary of Latin letters) and ''cronista real'' (royal chronicler). His works show the influence of
Renaissance humanism
Renaissance humanism was a revival in the study of classical antiquity, at first in Italy and then spreading across Western Europe in the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries. During the period, the term ''humanist'' ( it, umanista) referred to teache ...
and place him in the period of transition in Spain from the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
to the
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ide ...
.
Biographical Information
There is scant evidence about the early part of Mena’s life, but most modern scholars agree that he was born at
Córdoba, Spain
Córdoba (; ),, Arabic: قُرطبة DIN: . or Cordova () in English, is a city in Andalusia, Spain, and the capital of the province of Córdoba. It is the third most populated municipality in Andalusia and the 11th overall in the country.
The ...
, his father died shortly after his birth, and his mother a few years later. He was likely the second of two sons and was related to a former ''veinticuatro'' of Córdoba, although it is unclear how. ''Memorias de algunos linages'' (An Account of Some Lineages), attributed to Mena, claims that his family came from the
valley of Mena in
La Montaña
''La Montaña'' ('The Mountain') was a revolutionary socialist periodical published in Argentina. The newspaper was directed by José Ingenieros and Leopoldo Lugones
Leopoldo Antonio Lugones Argüello (13 June 1874 – 18 February 1938) was an ...
, a region of the northern Spanish province of
Cantabria
Cantabria (, also , , Cantabrian: ) is an autonomous community in northern Spain with Santander as its capital city. It is called a ''comunidad histórica'', a historic community, in its current Statute of Autonomy. It is bordered on the east ...
, and served under
Fernando III de Castilla and his successors in the ''
Reconquista
The ' ( Spanish, Portuguese and Galician for "reconquest") is a historiographical construction describing the 781-year period in the history of the Iberian Peninsula between the Umayyad conquest of Hispania in 711 and the fall of the N ...
''. His formal education probably began in Córdoba and later continued in
Salamanca
Salamanca () is a city in western Spain and is the capital of the Province of Salamanca in the autonomous community of Castile and León. The city lies on several rolling hills by the Tormes River. Its Old City was declared a UNESCO World Herit ...
, where he appears to have fulfilled the requirements for the Master of Arts degree. He then traveled to Rome, perhaps as a continued part of his education, although there is no evidence that he participated in formal study there. During this trip and a later one to Florence, Mena appears to have been seeking ecclesiastical benefices; however, both attempts were fruitless and each was followed by a marriage, first to a supposed sister of García y Lope de Vaca and, secondly, to Marina Méndez, more than 20 years his minor. Neither marriage resulted in descendants for the poet. Some scholars have pointed to a possible ''
converso
A ''converso'' (; ; feminine form ''conversa''), "convert", () was a Jew who converted to Catholicism in Spain or Portugal, particularly during the 14th and 15th centuries, or one of his or her descendants.
To safeguard the Old Christian p ...
'' origin for Mena’s family, but others have found these claims to be highly speculative. Mena continued in the role of ''cronista real'' under
Enrique IV de Castilla until his death at
Torrelaguna
Torrelaguna () is a municipality in the Community of Madrid, Spain. It covers an area of 43.40 km2. , it has a population of 4,724.
History
Public transport
Torrelaguna has three line buses. They are:
Line 197: Torrelaguna - Madrid (Pl ...
in 1456, although he apparently did not write any chronicle.
Works
Mena was considered by his contemporaries to be the outstanding poet of his time, and his knowledge of
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, 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 ...
and the
Classics
Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...
was greatly admired. His activities at the court of Juan II brought him into contact with many important figures; the most significant friendship that resulted was with
Íñigo López de Mendoza. It persisted until the end of Mena’s life despite important political differences.
His poetry frequently appeared in ''cancioneros'' (collections of verse), such as the ''Cancionero general'' of Hernando del Castillo, and his works were well known throughout the sixteenth century, influencing later Spanish poets, such as
Garcilaso de la Vega,
Fernando de Herrera
Fernando de Herrera (~1534–1597), called "El Divino", was a 16th-century Spanish poet and man of letters. He was born in Seville. Much of what is known about him comes from ''Libro de descripción de verdaderos retratos de illustres y memorable ...
and
Luis de Góngora
Luis de Góngora y Argote (born Luis de Argote y Góngora; ; 11 July 1561 – 24 May 1627) was a Spanish Baroque lyric poet and a Catholic priest. Góngora and his lifelong rival, Francisco de Quevedo, are widely considered the most prominent ...
. The extensive commentary that accompanied later editions of Mena’s ''Laberinto de Fortuna'', such as those of Hernán Núñez (1499) and Francisco Sánchez de las Brozas (1582), provide further evidence of the extent of his literary influence in Spain. His style is marked by its frequent use of
Latinism
A Latinism (from lat-med, Latinismus) is a word, idiom, or structure in a language other than Latin that is derived from, or suggestive of, the Latin language. The Term ''Latinism'' refers to those loan words that are borrowed into another lan ...
s and
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 ...
, as well as by mentions of a wide array of figures from
Greco-Roman mythology. In his imitation of classical and medieval sources, such as
Dante
Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: ' ...
, Mena helped stretch the capabilities of a fledgling Castilian literary tradition, paving the way for later poets. It is largely due to the awkwardness and weight of his style and
lexicon
A lexicon is the vocabulary of a language or branch of knowledge (such as nautical or medical). In linguistics, a lexicon is a language's inventory of lexemes. The word ''lexicon'' derives from Greek word (), neuter of () meaning 'of or fo ...
that his influence began to wane in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and fell out of favor with nineteenth-century critics. Modern critics have reinstated Mena’s importance to Spain’s literary history and consider him to be one of the three major poets of the fifteenth century, along with Íñigo López de Mendoza and
Jorge Manrique.
''La Coronaçión''
Mena wrote ''La Coronaçión'' (or ''Calamicleos'', The Coronation, 1438) and dedicated it to Íñigo López de Mendoza, marqués de Santillana (marquis of Santillana), in response to the latter’s 1438 victory on the frontier between Muslim and Christian Spain, which resulted in the taking of Huelma. Although a relatively minor victory, it was the first successful campaign of the ''Reconquista'' since 1431. The poem consists of 51 stanzas recounting a dream sequence in which the poet first sees historical and mythological figures being punished for their vices or their failure to act, and later sees those figures who have earned a place on
Mount Parnassus
Mount Parnassus (; el, Παρνασσός, ''Parnassós'') is a mountain range of central Greece that is and historically has been especially valuable to the Greek nation and the earlier Greek city-states for many reasons. In peace, it offers ...
for their virtues; principal among those praised is the marqués de Santillana.
Although Santillana was also well known as a poet, he is praised in the poem as an exemplar of the four
cardinal virtues
The cardinal virtues are four virtues of mind and character in both classical philosophy and Christian theology. They are prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance. They form a virtue theory of ethics. The term ''cardinal'' comes from the ...
. The poem is
allegorical
As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a hidden meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory t ...
in nature and corresponds to Mena’s idea of satire in that it condemns vice and praises virtue. It is possible to interpret the ''Reconquista'' and national unity as the principal themes of the poem; one of Mena’s lesson seems to be that internal strife is a vice that hinders the Christian reconquest of Spain.
In the original version of ''La Coronaçión'' Juan de Mena included extensive commentary, in highly ornamental and Latinate prose. The commentary addresses each stanza and explains mythological references, as well as the poem’s moral-allegorical function. Such commentary was ordinarily reserved for the Classics.
''Laberinto de Fortuna''
''
Laberinto de Fortuna'' (Labyrinth of Fortune, 1444) is Mena’s masterpiece. The 297 stanza poem (also known as ''Las Trecientas'' (The Three Hundred), as there are versions with three additional stanzas) reintroduces the themes of national unity and the ''Reconquista'' but is dedicated to Juan II.
Lyric Poetry
In addition to his moral-political works, Mena also produced more traditional courtly poetry. There are fifty or so surviving examples of Mena’s
lyric poetry
Modern lyric poetry is a formal type of poetry which expresses personal emotions or feelings, typically spoken in the first person.
It is not equivalent to song lyrics, though song lyrics are often in the lyric mode, and it is also ''not'' equi ...
, including love lyrics,
occasional verse
Occasional poetry is poetry composed for a particular occasion. In the history of literature, it is often studied in connection with orality, performance, and patronage.
Term
As a term of literary criticism, "occasional poetry" describes the work ...
s, satirical pieces, and exchanges with other poets. The minor lyrics are far less complex than his major works in both style and content. His love poetry was well respected for its originality and treatment of the nature of love’s passion as an abstract, intellectual experience.
Other works
Other works include a translation of the ''
Ilias latina
The ''Ilias Latina'' is a short Latin hexameter version of the ''Iliad'' of Homer that gained popularity in Antiquity and remained popular through the Middle Ages. It was very widely studied and read in Medieval schools as part of the standard La ...
'', the Latin version of Homer’s ''
Iliad
The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Ody ...
'', into Spanish (ca. 1442), ''Tratado sobre el título de duque'' (Treatise on the Title of Duke, 1445), a prologue to Álvaro de Luna’s ''Libro de las virtuosas e claras mugeres'' (Book of Virtuous and Illustrious Women), and ''Coplas de los pecados mortales'' (Stanzas on the Deadly Sins, unfinished, 1456). ''Tratado de amor'' (Treatise on Love, ca. 1444) and ''Memorias de algunos linages'' or ''Memorias genealógicas'' (An Account of Some Lineages, 1448) are also attributed to de Mena.
References
*Gericke, Philip O.: "Juan de Mena (1411–1456)." ''Castilian Writers'', 1400-1500. Edited by Frank A. Domínguez and George D. Greenia. Vol. 286. Detroit, MI: Gale, 2004. 109-126.
*Street, Florence: “La vida de Juan de Mena.” ''Bulletin hispanique'' 55 (1953): 149-173.
*Mena, Juan de: ''Obras completas''.
d. y prólogo de Ángel Gómez Moreno Barcelona: Turner, 1994.
*Crosas López, Francisco: La materia clásica en la poesía de cancionero. Kassel: Ed. Reichenberger, 1995. . (Teatro del Siglo de Oro: Estudios de literatura; 30).
External links
Link to full text of ''Laberinto de Fortuna'' in Spanish at Cervantes Virtual*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mena, Juan de
1411 births
1456 deaths
Spanish poets
Conversos
Spanish male poets
University of Salamanca alumni