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( es, Jorge de Montemayor) (1520? – 26 February 1561) was a
( es, Jorge de Montemayor) (1520? – 26 February 1561) was a Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
novelist
A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others asp ...
and 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 wri ...
, who wrote almost exclusively in Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
. His most famous work is a pastoral prose romance, the ''Diana'' (1559).
Biography
He was born atMontemor-o-Velho
Montemor-o-Velho () is a town and municipality of the Coimbra District, in Portugal. The population of the municipality in 2011 was 26,171, in an area of 228.96 km².
History
In 711, the Arab occupation of the Iberian Peninsula began. Mont ...
(near Coimbra
Coimbra (, also , , or ) is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2011 census was 143,397, in an area of .
The fourth-largest urban area in Portugal after Lisbon, Porto, and Braga, it is the largest cit ...
), whence he derived his name, the Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
form of which is Montemayor.
He seems to have studied music in his youth, and to have gone to Spain in 1543 as chorister
A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...
in the suite of the Portuguese Infanta Maria, first wife of Philip II Philip II may refer to:
* Philip II of Macedon (382–336 BC)
* Philip II (emperor) (238–249), Roman emperor
* Philip II, Prince of Taranto (1329–1374)
* Philip II, Duke of Burgundy (1342–1404)
* Philip II, Duke of Savoy (1438-1497)
* Philip ...
. In 1552 he went back to Portugal in the suite of the Infanta Juana, wife of João Manuel, Prince of Portugal
Dom João Manuel, Hereditary Prince of Portugal () (3 June 1537 – 2 January 1554) was a Portuguese ''infante'' (prince), the eighth son of King John III of Portugal by his wife Catherine of Austria, daughter of Philip I of Castile and Joanna of ...
, and on the death of this prince in 1554 returned to Spain. He is said to have served in the army, to have accompanied Philip II to England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
in 1555, and to have travelled in 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 ...
and the Low Countries
The term Low Countries, also known as the Low Lands ( nl, de Lage Landen, french: les Pays-Bas, lb, déi Niddereg Lännereien) and historically called the Netherlands ( nl, de Nederlanden), Flanders, or Belgica, is a coastal lowland region in N ...
; but it is certain that his poetical works were published at Antwerp in 1554, and again in 1558.
His reputation is based on a prose work, the '' Diana'', a pastoral romance published about 1559. Shortly afterwards Montemor was killed in Piedmont
it, Piemontese
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, apparently in a love affair; a late edition of the ''Diana'' gives the exact date of his death. The ''Diana'' is generally stated to have been printed at Valencia
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 al ...
in 1542; but, as the ''Canto de Orfeo'' refers to the widowhood of the Infanta Juana in 1554, the book must be of later date.
It is important as the first pastoral novel published in Spain; as the starting-point of a widespread literary fashion; and as the indirect source, through the translation
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...
included in Googe's ''Eglogs, epytaphes and sonnets'' (1563), of an episode in ''The Two Gentlemen of Verona
''The Two Gentlemen of Verona'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1589 and 1593. It is considered by some to be Shakespeare's first play, and is often seen as showing his first tentative steps in laying ...
''. Though Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
was Montemor's native language, he only used it for two songs and a short prose
Prose is a form of written or spoken language that follows the natural flow of speech, uses a language's ordinary grammatical structures, or follows the conventions of formal academic writing. It differs from most traditional poetry, where the ...
passage in the sixth book of the ''Diana''. His mastery of Spanish is amazing, and even Miguel de Cervantes
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (; 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616 NS) was an Early Modern Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-eminent novelists. He is best kno ...
, who judges the verses in the ''Diana'' with unaccustomed severity, recognizes the remarkable merit of Montemor's prose style. That he pleased his own generation is proved by the seventeen editions and two continuations of the ''Diana'' published in the 16th century, by parodies
A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its sub ...
, imitations and renderings in French and English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
.
References
*Further reading
{{DEFAULTSORT:Montemayor, Jorge De 1520s births 1561 deaths 16th-century Portuguese poets Portuguese male poets People from Montemor-o-Velho Spanish-language poets 16th-century Spanish novelists 16th-century male writers Spanish-language writers from Portugal