Castellano-muerte del conde de villamediana

Don Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *Don (river), a river in European Russia *Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name * Don, Benin, a town in Benin * Don, Dang, a village and hill station in Dang district, Gu ...

Juan de Tassis y Peralta, 2nd Count of Villamediana ( es: ''Don Juan de Tassis y Peralta, segundo conde de Villamediana''; baptised 26 August 1582 – 21 August 1622) was a Spanish poet of the Baroque ''

Culteranismo ''Culteranismo'' is a stylistic movement of the Baroque period of Spanish history that is also commonly referred to as ''Gongorismo'' (after Luis de Góngora). It began in the late 16th century with the writing of Luis de Góngora and lasted throu ...

'' school. In Spain he is simply known as Conde de Villamediana.

Life

Villamediana was born at

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

in late 1581 or early 1582. His father, Juan de Tassis y Acuña, 1st Count of Villamediana, upon whom the title of count was conferred by King

Philip III of Spain Philip III (; 14 April 1578 – 31 March 1621) was King of Spain and King of Portugal, Portugal (where he is known as Philip II of Portugal) during the Iberian Union. His reign lasted from 1598 until his death in 1621. He held dominion over the S ...

in 1603, was a diplomat heading the Spanish legation who signed the Treaty of London, May 1604. On leaving

Salamanca Salamanca () is a Municipality of Spain, municipality and city in Spain, capital of the Province of Salamanca, province of the same name, located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is located in the Campo Charro comarca, in the ...

he married in 1601, and succeeded to the title on the death of his father in 1607; he was prominent in the life of the capital, was forbidden to attend court, and resided in Italy from 1611 to 1617. On Villamediana's return to Spain, he was soon noted as a

satirist This is an incomplete list of writers, cartoonists and others known for involvement in satire – humorous social criticism. They are grouped by era and listed by year of birth. Included is a list of modern satires. Early satirical authors *Aes ...

. Prominent men such as the

Duke of Lerma Francisco Gómez de Sandoval y Rojas, 1st Duke of Lerma, 5th Marquess of Denia, 1st Count of Ampudia (1552/1553 – 17 May 1625), was a favourite of Philip III of Spain, the first of the '' validos'' ('most worthy') through whom the later H ...

Rodrigo Calderón, Count of Oliva Don Rodrigo Calderón, Conde de la Oliva de Plasencia, Marqués (Marquis) de Siete Iglesias (1576 – Madrid, 21 October 1621) was a favorite minister of the Duke of Lerma, while the latter was ''valido'' or valued minister of King Philip I ...

and Jorge de Tobar were frequent targets. Villamediana was once more ordered to withdraw from court in 1618. He returned on the death of Philip III and was appointed gentleman-in-waiting to Philip IV's young wife, Elisabeth of France, daughter of

Henri IV Henry IV (; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry (''le Bon Roi Henri'') or Henry the Great (''Henri le Grand''), was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 16 ...

. According to legend, a fire broke out while Villamediana's

masque The masque was a form of festive courtly entertainment that flourished in 16th- and early 17th-century Europe, though it was developed earlier in Italy, in forms including the intermedio (a public version of the masque was the pageant). A mas ...

, ''La gloria de Niquea'', was being acted before the court on 14 May 1622, and he carried the queen to a place of safety. Suspicion deepened; Villamediana neglected a significant warning that his life was in peril, and "he was murdered as he stepped out of his coach. The responsibility for his death was divided between Philip IV and Olivares (the King's chief minister and

favourite A favourite was the intimate companion of a ruler or other important person. In Post-classical Europe, post-classical and Early modern Europe, early-modern Europe, among other times and places, the term was used of individuals delegated signifi ...

)". In 1928, claimed to have discovered documents in

Simancas Simancas is a town and municipality of central Spain, located in the province of Valladolid, part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is situated approximately 10 km southwest of the provincial capital Valladolid, on the r ...

that implicated Villamediana in a trial on sodomy which concluded with the burning of five young men on 5 December 1622. Some consider that his murder was the result of this trial; others attribute it to his satires or to dangerous liaisons. Villamediana was also the subject of homophobic innuendo in a satirical poem by

Francisco de Quevedo Francisco Gómez de Quevedo y Santibáñez Villegas, Order of Santiago, Knight of the Order of Santiago (; 14 September 1580 – 8 September 1645) was a Spanish nobleman, politician and writer of the Baroque era. Along with his lifelong rival, ...

.Spanish Writers on Gay and Lesbian Themes: David William Foster, page 12, 1999 Villamediana's works, first published at

Saragossa Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...

in 1629, contain both his satirical and more serious verses.

References

Attribution: *

Sources

*Kusche Zettelmeyer, Maria, Juan Pantoja de la Cruz, Madrid, 1964. Maria Kusche was a leading researcher on 16th century court painters

Sofonisba Anguissola Sofonisba Anguissola ( – 16 November 1625), also known as Sophonisba Angussola or Sophonisba Anguisciola, was an Italian Renaissance painter born in Cremona to a relatively poor noble family. She received a well-rounded education that ...

Juan Pantoja de la Cruz Juan Pantoja de La Cruz (1553 – 26 October 1608) was a Spanish painter, one of the best representatives of the Spanish school of court painters. He worked for Philip II and Philip III. The Museo del Prado contains examples of his severe portr ...

and

Alonso Sanchez Coello Alonso is a Spanish name of Germanic origin that is a Castilian variant of ''Adalfuns''. The original Visigothic name ''Alfonso'' suffered the phonetic change of the phoneme /f/ into the mute /h/ in the Early Middle Ages (around 9th Century), w ...

. * Maria Kusche Zettelmeyer,

y sus seguidores, Bartolomé González,

Rodrigo de Villandrando Rodrigo de Villandrando (died c. 1457) was a Spanish routier from Castile and mercenary military leader in Gascony during the final phase of the Hundred Years' War. He was famous for his pillaging and was consequently known as the Emperor of Pi ...

Antonio López Polanco Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language–speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular m ...

. Fundación de Apoyo a la Historia del Arte Hispánico, 2007. {{DEFAULTSORT:Villamediana, Count Of 1582 births 1622 deaths Writers from Lisbon Tassis y Peralta, Juan de 17th-century Spanish poets