Narcís Vinyoles, also Narciso Viñoles (between 1442 and 1447 – 1517) was a poet, lawyer and politician from

Valencia, Spain Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area also ...

. He was twice appointed to the post of Justicia Civil, the supreme judge in civil cases, and in 1495,

King Ferdinand II Ferdinand II ( an, Ferrando; ca, Ferran; eu, Errando; it, Ferdinando; la, Ferdinandus; es, Fernando; 10 March 1452 – 23 January 1516), also called Ferdinand the Catholic (Spanish: ''el Católico''), was King of Aragon and Sardinia from ...

recommended him for Justicia Criminal. He was married to Brianda de Santángel, niece of the banker

Luis de Santángel Luis de Santángel (died 1498) was a third generation ''converso'' in Spain during the late fifteenth century. Santángel worked as ''escribano de ración'' to King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella I of Spain which left him in charge of the Royal f ...

who financed the voyage of

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus * lij, Cristoffa C(or)ombo * es, link=no, Cristóbal Colón * pt, Cristóvão Colombo * ca, Cristòfor (or ) * la, Christophorus Columbus. (; born between 25 August and 31 October 1451, died 20 May 1506) was a ...

. Vinyoles was fluent in

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

Castilian Spanish In English, Castilian Spanish can mean the variety of Peninsular Spanish spoken in northern and central Spain, the standard form of Spanish, or Spanish from Spain in general. In Spanish, the term (Castilian) can either refer to the Spanish langua ...

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 Italian, even composing poems in Italian. Although he was a native Valencian/Catalan speaker, he praised the "clean, elegant, and graceful Castilian Spanish" and called his own native language "a barbaric tongue". For this, he has been reviled as "the first traitor to the Valencian country and language". Vinyoles is one of the authors of ''

Scachs d'amor ''Scachs d'amor'' (Valencian for ''Chess of Love''), whose complete title is ''Hobra intitulada scachs d'amor feta per don Francí de Castellví e Narcis Vinyoles e mossèn Fenollar'', is the name of a poem written by Francesc de Castellví, Ber ...

'' or ''Chess of Love'', a poem based on a

chess game Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to distin ...

where he (as Venus) took the black (green in the poem) pieces and lost to

Francesc de Castellví Francesc () is a masculine given name of Catalan origin. It is a cognate of Francis, Francesco, Francisco, François, and Franz. People with the name include: *Cesc Fàbregas (Francesc Fàbregas i Soler) (born 1987), Spanish professional football ...

(as Mars, playing red, i.e. white), while

Bernat Fenollar Bernat Fenollar, also Mossèn (Bernat de) Fenollar (Penàguila, Valencian Community, 1438 – Valencia, 28 February 1516) was a poet, cleric and chess player from Valencia, Spain. He was an abbot (the title "Mossèn" was often given to clergymen), ...

(as Mercury) comments and establishes the rules. It is the first documented game played with the modern rules of chess, at least concerning the moves of the

queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

and

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vinyoles, Narcis Spanish chess players Spanish Roman Catholics Spanish poets 16th-century Spanish lawyers Spanish politicians 1440s births 1517 deaths 15th century in chess Spanish chess writers Scachs d'amor