[Sidenote: Great age of printing.]

[Sidenote: Beginnings of public archives.]

[Sidenote: Luis Vives and Spanish originality in philosophical studies.]

The revival of cla.s.sical studies, which made available the writings of many Greek philosophers whose works had been unknown to the medieval scholars, and the complex movement of ideas engendered by the Protestant Reformation and the Catholic Reaction were the fundamental causes of the flourishing state of theological and philosophical studies in this period, especially in the sixteenth century. While this was by no means confined to Spain, the peninsula furnished its quota to the great names of the period. The philosopher Luis Vives (1492-1540) may be mentioned by way of ill.u.s.tration. Vives, who spent most of his life in Flanders and in England,--in which latter country he was the teacher of Mary Tudor, the later queen of England,--was regarded by contemporaries as a philosopher of the first rank, on a plane with Erasmus. Nearly a century before Francis Bacon (1561-1626) suggested the necessity for the observation of nature as the basis of knowledge rather than the blind following of cla.s.sical texts, Vives had p.r.o.nounced the same idea. Of importance, too, were his pedagogical doctrines, which profoundly influenced Comenius. The case of Vives was not unique, for the ideas which were later to be made famous by Reid, Descartes, Montaigne, Charron, and others had already been expressed by Spaniards of the sixteenth century. The common note in all their works was that of great liberty of thought in all things other than the Catholic faith, and in particular that of a reaction against submission to consecrated authority, which brought them into opposition to the slavish acceptance of cla.s.sical writings so much in vogue among the Humanists. In so doing, the Spanish philosophers were only expressing their national traits, for the Spaniards have always been able to reconcile their support of absolutism in government and of the principle of authority in religion with a degree of individualism that cannot be found in lands whose political and religious ideas have been more democratic. Partly on this account Spanish thought has not received due credit, for, though there were Spanish philosophers, there was no school of Spanish philosophy.

Furthermore, sweeping originality of thought on a universal basis was precluded by the necessity of subordinating all ideas to Catholic doctrine, while the philosophers who have attained to the greatest fame in modern times expressed themselves with independence in that respect, or at least without the preoccupation of not departing from it. That Spaniards were capable of originality within the field of religion itself was proved by the development of Spanish mysticism, already alluded to.

[Sidenote: Important character of Spanish writings on jurisprudence, politics, and economics.]

In jurisprudence and politics Spanish writers gained an indisputable t.i.tle to originality of thought, of positive influence on the civilization of other countries. This was due in part to the continuous warfare, the grave religious problems, and the many questions arising out of the conquest, colonization, and retention of the Americas, but it was also a result of a natural tendency in Spanish character to occupy itself with the practical aspects of affairs, directing philosophical thought toward its applications in actual life,--for example, in the case of matters to which the above-mentioned events gave rise. Spanish jurists achieved renown in various phases of jurisprudence, such as in international, political, penal, and canonical law, in the civil law of Rome and of the Spanish peninsula, and in legal procedure. Not Grotius (1583-1645), but his Spanish predecessors of the sixteenth century laid the foundations for international law, and the great Dutch jurist more than once acknowledged his indebtedness to Spaniards, who, like Vitoria and Vazquez, had provided him with rich materials for the thesis he set forth. Among the writers on political law may be mentioned Solorzano, whose _Politica indiana_, or Government of the Indies (1629-1639), was a noteworthy exposition and defence of the Spanish colonial system. In economics, too, the Spaniards were necessarily outstanding figures in their day, since the Spanish empire was the greatest and for a time the most powerful of the period. National resources, the income and expenditures of the state, and the method of the enjoyment of landed property were the three princ.i.p.al questions to engage the attention of the Spanish economists. When Martinez de la Mata declared that labor was the only true source of wealth, he was in so much the precursor of Adam Smith (1723-1790). Some economists expressed ideas which sound strangely like those set forth by Spencer, Wallace, Tolstoy, and others in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, such as the following: that immovable property should be taken away from the private individuals possessing it, and be redistributed under the control of the state; and that society should be considered as having legal t.i.tle to lands, giving only the user to individuals. Luis Vives was one of the representatives of these ideas. The principles of these economists found little support in practice, and cannot be said to have attained general acceptance among the Spanish writers on these subjects.

[Sidenote: Paez de Castro and the new sense of historical content.]

The advance of historical studies in this period, especially in the sixteenth century, was nothing short of remarkable. For the first time history won a right to be considered apart from polite literature. Two novelties marked the era, one of them relative to the content of history, and the other concerning the methods of investigation and composition. Formerly history had reduced itself to little more than the external political narrative, dealing with wars, kings, and heroes, being more rhetorical in form than scientific. The new sense of content was represented princ.i.p.ally by the philosopher Luis Vives and by the historian Paez de Castro, one-time chronicler of Charles I. Vives gave his opinion that history should deal with all the manifestations of social life. Paez de Castro stands forth, however, as the man who most clearly expressed the new ideas. According to him the history of a land should include the study of its geography, of the languages of its peoples, of the dress, laws, religions, social inst.i.tutions, general customs, literature, arts, sciences, and even the aspects of nature of the land in so far as these things affected the actions of men. Paez de Castro was also a follower of Perez de Guzman and Hernando del Pulgar in his appreciation of the psychological element in history. The most exacting methodologists of the present day do not require more than did Paez de Castro nearly four centuries ago. Incidentally, it becomes clear that the credit ordinarily a.s.signed to Voltaire (1694-1778) and Hume (1711-1776) as innovators in this respect belongs rather to Spaniards of the sixteenth century. Vives and Paez de Castro were not alone in their concept of history. On the other hand they were not able to put their ideas into practice, and were not followed by the majority of the writers on methodology. Nevertheless, all were agreed that the education of the historian should be encyclopedic in character,--an ideal which necessarily involved a measurable attainment of the plan of Paez de Castro.

[Sidenote: Zurita and Morales and the advance in historical investigation and criticism.]

If these concepts as to historical content were not fully realized, those with regard to the methods of investigation and criticism found a worthy representation in the majority of the historians of the era. To be sure, some of the great writers, like Florian de Ocampo and Mariana, displayed too much credulity or a disposition to imagine events for which they lacked doc.u.mentary proof. Furthermore, this was a thriving period of forgeries, when writers invented cla.s.sical authors, chronicles, letters, and inscriptions with which to support their narratives. Still, the evil brought about the remedy; the necessity for criticism was so great that its application became customary. In addition, men sought doc.u.ments, if only to disprove the forgeries, with the result that the employment of source material and the use of the sciences auxiliary to history were a factor in the works of the numerous great historians of the time. The highest representatives of the new sense of historical a.n.a.lysis were the official chroniclers of Charles I and Philip II. First in point of time was Florian de Ocampo, whose _Cronica general_ (General chronicle) was published in 1543. While giving too free rein to the imagination, his _Cronica_ had a fairly complete doc.u.mental basis in some of its parts. Far superior was the _a.n.a.les de Aragon_, or Annals of Aragon (1562-1580), of Jeronimo curita, or Zurita, which in its use of archive material was the greatest historical work of the sixteenth century. Of equal rank with Zurita was Ambrosio de Morales, the continuer of Ocampo, whose _Cronica_ was published in 1574-1575. Morales, who was a distinguished palaeographist and archaeologist, made a notable use of inscriptions, coins, ma.n.u.scripts, ancient books, and other ancient evidences. While the influence of Gibbon (1737-1794) on historiography in these respects is not to be denied, it is only fair to point out the merits of his predecessors of the Spanish _siglo de oro_ in precisely those qualities for which the great Englishman has won such signal fame.

[Sidenote: The historian Mariana.]

[Sidenote: The bibliographer Nicolas Antonio.]

[Sidenote: Historians of the Americas.]

The historian of this era who attained the greatest reputation, though far from equalling Vives and Paez de Castro on the one hand or Zurita and Morales on the other, was the Jesuit Mariana. In 1592-1595 he published his history of Spain in Latin (_Historia de rebus Hispaniae_), which he brought out in Castilian in 1601 under the t.i.tle _Historia general de Espana_ (General history of Spain). This work, which is still one of the most widely read of all Spanish histories, was remarkable for its composition and style, in which respects it was superior to others of the period, though otherwise inferior to the best works of the time.

It was intended to be popular, however, on which account it should not be judged too critically from the standpoint of technique. Mariana's history was an external political narrative, from the Castilian point of view, of the events which had developed the national unity of Spain. His own bias, politically and otherwise, was only too apparent, besides which he displayed the faults of credulity and imagination already alluded to. Nevertheless, Mariana made use of ma.n.u.scripts and the evidence of inscriptions and coins, though not to the same degree as Zurita, Morales, and others. His style was tinged with the Humanistic ideals of the period, being strongly influenced by Livy. Many other students of history or of the sciences auxiliary to history are deserving of recognition, and at least one of them demands mention, Nicolas Antonio, the greatest bibliographer of his time. In 1672 he published his _Bibliotheca hispana_ (republished in 1788 as the _Bibliotheca hispana nova_, or Catalogue of new Spanish works) of all Spanish works since 1500, and in 1696 completed his _Bibliotheca hispana vetus_, or Catalogue of old Spanish works (published in 1788), of Spanish books, ma.n.u.script and printed, prior to the sixteenth century.

Deserving of special notice was a remarkable group of historians of the Americas, such as Fernando Colon (Ferdinand Columbus), Fernandez de Oviedo, Lopez de Gomara, Bernal Diaz del Castillo, Bernabe Cobos, Gutierrez de Santa Clara, Juan de Castellanos, Acosta, Garcilaso de la Vega, Herrera, Cieza de Leon, Zarate, Jerez, Dorantes de Carranza, Gongora, Hevia, Leon Pinelo, Mendieta, Pizarro, Sahagun, Suarez de Peralta, Alvarado, Torquemada, Solis, Cortes, Las Casas, Cervantes de Salazar, Lopez de Velasco, the already cited Solorzano, Perez de Ribas, Tello, Florencia, Vetancurt, and many others. The works of some of these men were written in Spain as official chronicles of the Indies, while those of others were prepared independently in the Americas. Religious history was abundantly produced, as also were books of travel, especially those based on the expeditions and discoveries in the Indies.

In all of the historical production of the era, not merely in the work of Mariana, the influence of cla.s.sical models was marked.

[Sidenote: The conquest of the Americas and resultant Spanish achievements in natural science, geography, and cartography.]

If the output of Spaniards in the domain of the natural sciences was not so great as in the realm of philosophy, jurisprudence, and history, it was nevertheless distinctively original in character,--necessarily so, since the discovery of new lands and new routes, to say nothing of the effects of continuous warring, not only invited investigation, but also made it imperative, in order to overcome hitherto unknown difficulties.

In dealing with the Americas a practice was made of gathering geographical data which for its completeness has scarcely ever been surpa.s.sed. Explorers were required by law to make the most detailed observations as to distances, general geographical features, character of the soil, products, animals, and peoples, with a view to the collection and the study of their reports at the _Casa de Contratacion_, for which purpose the post of cosmographical chronicler of the Indies was created. Equal amplitude of data was also to be found in books of travel. To enumerate the contributors to geographical knowledge it would be necessary to name the hundreds of Spanish voyages and explorations in the new world of which accounts were written by their leaders or by friars accompanying the expeditions. A noteworthy compendium of these reports has recently been published, although it was compiled in the sixteenth century, the _Geografia y descripcion universal de las Indias_ (Geography and general description of the Indies) for the years 1571 to 1574 by Juan Lopez de Velasco. Something of a like nature was achieved for the peninsula itself in the reign of Philip II. As was inevitable, Spaniards were prominent in cartography. Aside from the men who accompanied the expeditions in the new world, the most famous cartographers of the time were those of the _Casa de Contratacion_, many of whom made contributions to cartographical science, as well as additions to the mapping of the world. One interesting instance was the use of maps with equi-distant polar projections years before Mercator in 1569 first employed this method, which was henceforth to bear his name.

Spanish innovators have not received the credit they deserve, princ.i.p.ally because their results were in many cases deliberately kept secret by the Spanish government, which wished to retain a monopoly of the information, as well as of the trade, of the new world. Spanish achievements, it will be observed, were designed to meet practical ends, rather than to promote universal knowledge,--unfortunately for the fame of the individuals engaged in scientific production.

[Sidenote: Similarly, Spanish achievements in the mathematical and physical sciences.]

Naturally, these accomplishments in geography and cartography necessitated a solid foundation in the mathematical and physical sciences, and such a basis in fact existed. The leading scholars, especially those of the _Casa_, who always stood out from the rest, displayed a remarkable conjunction of theory and practice. At the same time that they were writing doctrinal treatises about cosmography, astronomy, and mathematics, they were able to make maps and nautical instruments with their own hands, and not infrequently to invent useful appliances. Problems in connection with the variations of the magnetic needle, the exact calculation of longitude, the observation of eclipses, and the perfection of the astrolabe were among those which preoccupied students of that day. The advancement of Spaniards is evidenced by the facility with which the theory of Copernicus (that the sun, and not the earth, is the centre of the solar system) was accepted in Spain, when it was rejected elsewhere. It is noteworthy, too, that when Pope Gregory XIII proposed to correct the calendar, he sought information of Spanish scholars, whose suggestions were followed. In the same year (1582) that the Gregorian calendar went into effect in Rome, it was adopted also in Spain. In nautical science, as might have been expected from the practical character of Spanish studies, Spaniards were preeminent. Among the more important names was that of Alarcon, better known for his voyage of 1540 in the Gulf of California and along the western coast of the California peninsula. Advance in naval construction accompanied that of navigation proper. The new world provided Spaniards with an opportunity, of which they did not fail to avail themselves, for progress in the sciences of physics and chemistry, always with practical ideals in mind. Theories were set forth as to such matters as cyclones, terrestrial magnetism, atmospheric pressure, and even telegraphy, while mechanical inventions were made, because these things were related to specific problems. The most remarkable example of the heights to which Spaniards attained in physics and chemistry was in the application of these sciences to metallurgy. When the mines of the Americas were first exploited, it was necessary to resort to German methods, but it was not long before Spaniards easily took first rank in the world. A work by Alonso Barba, for example, published in 1640, was translated into all of the leading European languages, and served as the princ.i.p.al guide of metallurgists for more than a century. As engineers Spaniards lagged behind other European peoples; engineering works were not greatly involved in the colonization of the Americas. It is interesting, however, to note the numerous studies of projects by Spaniards of the sixteenth century,--among them, Cortes, Saavedra, Galvan, Lopez de Gomara, Gil Gonzalez Davila, Salcedo, Esquivel, and Mercado,--with a view to the construction of a ca.n.a.l at the Isthmus of Panama to facilitate communication with the Pacific.

[Sidenote: Progress in medicine.]

Finally, the science of medicine, which had already entered upon an experimental stage in the reign of the Catholic Kings, advanced to a point which enabled it to compare, not unfavorably, with the achievements in other branches of precise knowledge. Medicine, too, had the Americas to thank for much of its progress, owing to discoveries of botanical and mineralogical specimens of a medicinal character. The universities of Salamanca, Valencia, and Barcelona took the lead in medical studies, and furnished most of the great names of the era. In the seventeenth century medical science experienced a marked decline, due among other things to a return to an imitation of cla.s.sical methods.

Hippocrates and other Greek writers were regarded as incapable of mistake, wherefore investigation and experiment ceased to hold the place they had won in the sixteenth century. Some men endeavored to continue the experimental tradition, but, as indeed elsewhere in Europe, they were despised by the cla.s.sical element, who arrogated to themselves the honor of possessing the only real medical knowledge, charging their opponents, usually with truth, with employing experimentation because they were unable to read the accounts of cla.s.sical remedies set forth in Greek and Latin. Nevertheless, it was to experimental methods, princ.i.p.ally in the sixteenth century, that the discovery of many hitherto unknown cures was due.

CHAPTER x.x.x

THE GOLDEN AGE: LITERATURE AND ART, 1516-1700

[Sidenote: Victory of Castilian over foreign tongues in polite literature and remarkable outburst of productivity.]

The general conditions affecting literature and art in the _siglo de oro_ have already been alluded to in the preceding chapter. The influence of Humanism and the impulse of the Renaissance were more directly felt in polite literature than in didactic and scientific works. Furthermore, this type of literature was more easily understood by people at large than the more special studies, and it is not surprising that Spain's intellectual greatness should have been appreciated by the majority of the educated cla.s.ses in terms of poetry, the novel, and the drama, together with the manifestations of the age in the fine arts. The very men who contributed works of a scientific character could not resist the appeal of _belles lettres_, and wrote books which not infrequently demonstrated their double right to homage.

Knowledge of Latin, Greek, and various modern languages, especially Italian and French, was more or less general among the educated cla.s.ses, giving an opportunity for the satisfaction of one's wishes to delve into a varied literature, and opening the way to foreign influences upon Castilian work. The day of French influence seemed for a time to have pa.s.sed, however (although it returned with the decline in the later seventeenth century); rather, a current against it had set in. The effect of the other three languages was so great, however, that Castilian temporarily lost some of its prestige, which pa.s.sed over especially to Latin and Italian. Most works of an erudite character now appeared in Latin, and that language was the official tongue of most of the courses in the universities. The church, too, lent its weight to Latin. Nevertheless, Castilian was at no time in real danger. Anything intended for popular consumption found its way into Castilian, and not a few notable scientific works employed that language. Save for a few inefficacious attempts of the Humanists to use Latin, the field of polite literature was captured wholly by the native tongue. This victory for national sentiment carried with it an exuberant outburst of productivity which affected all cla.s.ses. Prior to this time the clergy had provided almost the only representatives to win fame in _belles lettres_; now, they were joined and rivalled, even outdone, by laymen, both soldiers and civilians. The n.o.ble families caught the enthusiasm and made their houses centres for gatherings, and the kings themselves were carried along in the current. Charles I was exceptionally fond of the novels of chivalry, which he used to have read aloud to him; Philip II, himself little affected, tolerated the tastes of his daughters which led them to make poetry form a part of the palace distractions; but it was under Philip IV that the royal love and patronage of literature attained to its highest point. Philip IV himself wrote comedies, and filled the palace with poets, dramatists, and writers of prose.

Meanwhile, the general public got its first real opportunity to attend the theatre, and bought meritorious books (which printing now rendered available), while men discussed their favorite authors with the same ardor that they might their favorite bull-fighters.

[Sidenote: Spanish contributions to philology.]

One of the princ.i.p.al studies of the Humanists was that of grammar, Latin and Greek chiefly. The cla.s.sical authors and the patristic writings of the medieval period occupied their attention, together with allied works in other languages, such as ancient Hebrew or modern Italian. The Spanish Humanists held a noteworthy place in the development of this movement in Europe. While many individuals might be named, Arias Montano was perhaps the greatest of Spain's representatives. Interest in language study carried Spaniards far afield among contemporary tongues, and in one respect led to a remarkable contribution to knowledge. As conquerors and as missionaries Spaniards came in contact with a variety of peoples. .h.i.therto unknown, or little known, to the world, from the numerous tribes of the Indians in the Americas to the Chinese and j.a.panese of the Far East. Many valuable data were acc.u.mulated in Spanish about these peoples and their customs, and their languages were studied and in many cases written down by Spaniards, who systematized them for the first time. Much of this material has only recently become available, but it ranks as an achievement of the _siglo de oro_; perhaps the more valuable parts were prepared in the sixteenth century.

Meanwhile, the process of purifying Castilian grammar was constantly going on, and it is interesting to note the strong nationalistic tendency in favor of a phonetic spelling as opposed to the expression of the etymological form. Rhetoric was regarded as a part of grammar, and it is easy to understand that in an age of Humanism the question of style should be a favorite topic.

[Sidenote: Lope de Rueda and the development of the national theatre.]

It was in this period that the national theatre developed, and Spaniards displayed such originality and forcefulness as to make a profound impression on the dramatic literature of the world. At the outset of the reign of Charles I, Gil Vicente and Torres Naharro were continuing the tradition of Juan del Enzina with crude farces and allegorical religious plays. Despite the fact that these were generally acted in convents, they were so frequently of a licentious character that in 1548 their publication was forbidden. Meanwhile, cla.s.sical plays and compositions written in imitation of the Latin and Greek masters were proving difficult compet.i.tors to the weakly groping Spanish stage. The regeneration of the national theatre was due to Lope de Rueda of Seville, whose name first appears in 1554. The greatness of Rueda was due primarily to his own acting, which gave him an opportunity to re-introduce Spanish plays and make a success of them. While staging translations of Latin and Italian works, Rueda wrote and played short acts of a dramatic and episodical character. Others carried on the task begun by Rueda until the machinery for the Spanish theatre was fairly well prepared for the works of the great masters,--for example, the three-act comedy had developed, first employed by Francisco de Avendano.

Cervantes wrote a number of plays, between 1583 and 1587, but while they were not without merit they were completely overshadowed by those of the great writers of dramatic literature.

[Sidenote: The great masters of the Spanish theatre.]

First of the great masters, chronologically, was Lope de Vega (1562-1635), who was also one of the most prolific writers of all time.

It is said that he wrote 1800 comedies and 400 religious, allegorical plays (one of the leading types of the era), besides many shorter dialogues, of which number 470 of the comedies and 50 of the plays have survived. His writings were not less admirable than numerous, and marked a complete break with the past. An inventive exuberance, well-sustained agreeability and charm, skill in the management of fable and in the depiction of character, the elevation of women to a leading place in the dramatical plot (a feature without precedent), an instinct for theatrical effects, intensity of emotional expression, wit, naturalness and n.o.bility of dialogue, and realism were the most noteworthy traits of his compositions, together with a variety in subject-matter which ventured into every phase of the history and contemporary customs of Spain. His defects were traceable mainly to his facility in production, such as a lack of plan and organization as a whole, wherefore it has been said that he wrote scenes and not complete plays, although his best works are not open to this charge. In the meantime, the paraphernalia of theatrical presentation had been perfected. In 1579 the first permanent theatre was built in Madrid, followed quickly by the erection of others there and in the other large cities. Travelling companies staged plays in all parts of Spain, until the theatre became popular. If Lope de Vega profited from this situation, so also did the stage from him, for he provided it with a vehicle which fixed it in public favor at a time when the balance might have swung either way. The fame of Lope de Vega eclipsed that of his contemporaries, many of whom were deserving of high rank. In recent years one name has emerged from the crowd, that of Friar Gabriel Tellez, better known by his pseudonym, Tirso de Molina (1571-1658). In realism, depiction of character, profundity of ideas, emotion, and a sense of the dramatic he was the equal and at times the superior of Lope de Vega. The successor in fame and popularity of Lope de Vega, however, was Pedro Calderon de la Barca (1600-1681), whose compositions faithfully represented the devout Catholicism and chivalric ideals (exaggerating the fact) of his contemporaries. Calderon was above all a writer of religious, allegorical plays. In the domain of the profane his plays were too grave and rigid to adapt themselves to the comic, and they were characterized by a certain monotony and artifice, a subst.i.tution of allegory for realism, and an excess of brilliance and lyrical qualities, often tinged with rhetoric and obscure cla.s.sical allusions. Not only were these three masters and a number of others great in Spain, but also they clearly influenced the dramatic literature of the world; it would be necessary to include most of the famous European playwrights of the seventeenth century and some of later times if a list were to be made of those who drew inspiration from the Spanish theatre of the _siglo de oro_.

[Sidenote: The three types of the sixteenth century novel.]

The history of the Spanish novel in this era reduces itself to a discussion of three leading types, those of chivalry, love, and social customs, the last-named an outgrowth from the picaresque novel, and more often so-called. The novel of chivalry, descendant of _Amadis de Gaula_, was by far the most popular in the sixteenth century, having almost a monopoly of the field. Like the reprehensible "dime novel" of recent American life its popularity became almost a disease, resulting occasionally in a derangement of the mental faculties of some of its more a.s.siduous readers. The extravagant achievements of the wandering knights ended by proving a bore to Spanish taste, and the chivalric novel was already dead when Cervantes attacked it in _Don Quixote_.

Meanwhile, the amatory novel had been affected by the introduction from Italy of a pastoral basis for the story, which first appeared in the middle of the sixteenth century and endured for about a hundred years.

This novel was based on an impossible situation, that of country shepherds and shepherdesses who talked like people of education and refinement. Only the high qualities of the writers were able to give it life, which was achieved by the excellence of the descriptions, the lyrical quality of the verse, and the beauty of the prose style. The true Spanish novel was to develop out of the picaresque type, which looked back to the popular _La Celestina_ of 1499. About the middle of the sixteenth century and again just at its close there appeared two other works, frankly picaresque, for they dealt with the life of rogues (_picaros_) and vagabonds. The name "picaresque" was henceforth employed for works which did not come within the exact field of these earlier volumes, except that they were realistic portrayals of contemporary life. Such was the state of affairs when Cervantes appeared.

[Sidenote: Cervantes and _Don Quixote_.]

[Sidenote: The _Novelas exemplares_.]

Miguel de Cervantes y Saavedra (1547-1616) had a long and varied career before his publication of the book which was to place him at a bound in the front rank of the literary men of all time. He was a pupil of the Humanist Hoyos in 1568; a chamberlain of Cardinal Acquaviva at Rome in 1569; a soldier from 1570 to 1575, taking part in the battle of Lepanto; and a captive in Algiers from 1575 to 1580. A devotee of _belles lettres_ from youth, he produced many works between 1583 and 1602 in poetry, the drama, and the pastoral novel, in none of which did he attain to real eminence, though a writer of note. In 1603 he wrote the first part of the _Quixote_, and published it in 1605. The book leaped into immediate favor, ran through a number of editions, and was almost at once translated, at least in part, into all the languages of western Europe. It is easy to point out the relationship of _Don Quixote_ to the many types of literature which had preceded it. There was the influence of Lucian in its audacious criticism, piquancy, and jovial and independent humor, in its satire, in fine; of Rojas' _La Celestina_ or of Rueda in dialogue; of Boccaccio in style, variety, freedom, and artistic devices; of the Italian story-writers and poets of the era; even of Homer's _Odyssey_; and especially of the novels of chivalry.

Nevertheless, Cervantes took all this and moulded it in his own way into something new. The case of the novel of chivalry may be taken for purposes of ill.u.s.tration. While pretending to annihilate that type of work, which was already dead, Cervantes in fact caught the epic spirit of idealism which the novelists had wished to represent but had drowned in a flood of extravagances and impossible happenings, raising it in the _Quixote_ to a point of sublimity which revealed the eternal significance in human psychology of the knightly ideal,--and all in the genial reflection of chimerical undertakings amid the real problems of life. On this account some have said that the _Quixote_ was the last and the best, the perfected novel of chivalry. Withal, it was set forth in prose of inexpressible beauty, superior to any of its models in its depth and spontaneity, its rich abundance, its irresistibly comic force, and its handling of conversation. The surprise occasioned by this totally unlooked for kind of book can in part be understood when one recalls that in the domain of the real and human, the public had had only the three picaresque novels already alluded to, before the appearance of _Don Quixote_. In his few remaining years of life Cervantes added yet other works in his inimitable style, of which the two most notable were the second part of the _Quixote_ (1615), said by many to be superior to the first, and the _Novelas exemplares_, or Model tales (1612-1613), a series of short stories bearing a close relationship to the picaresque novels in their dealings with the lives of rogues, vagabonds, and profligates, but as demonstrably different from them as the _Quixote_ was from the novels of chivalry, especially in that Cervantes was not satirizing, or idealizing, or even drawing a moral concerning the life he depicted, but merely telling his tale, as an artist and a poet. Well might he say that he was the first to write novels in Castilian. There were many writers of fiction after him in the era, but since the novel had reached its culminating point in its first issue, it is natural that the art did not progress,--for it could not!

[Sidenote: Lyric and epic poetry.]

While the Spanish theatre and the Spanish novel were of world-wide significance, furnishing models which affected the literature of other peoples, Spanish lyric poetry had only national importance, but it has a special interest at this time in that it was the most noteworthy representative of the vices which were to contribute to destroy Spain's literary preeminence. In the first place, lyric poetry was an importation, for the Italian lyrics overwhelmed the native product and even imposed their form in Castilian verse. Much excellent work was done, however, notably by Garcilaso de la Vega (1503-1536). Eminent on another account was Luis de Argote y Gongora (1561-1627), commonly referred to by the name of his mother, Gongora. Gongora affected to despise popularity, declaring that he wished to write only for the cultivated cla.s.ses. To attain this end he adopted the method of complicating the expression of his ideas, making violent departures from the usual order of employing words (hyperbaton), and indulging in artificial symbolism. This practice, called euphuism in English, for it was not peculiar to Spain but became general in Europe, won undying fame of a doubtfully desirable character for Gongora, in that it has ever since been termed _gongorismo_ in Spanish, although the word _culteranismo_ has also been applied. Similar to it was conceptism, which aimed to introduce subtleties, symbols, and obscurities into the ideas themselves. It is natural that the lyric poetry of the later seventeenth century should have reached a state of utter decline. Epic poetry did not prosper in this era; its function was supplied by romance.

[Sidenote: Achievements in satire, panegyrics, and periodical literature.]

In addition to the various forms of prose writing already discussed, there were many others, and great distinction was achieved in them by the Spaniards of the _siglo de oro_. Among the many who might be mentioned was Francisco de Quevedo, especially famous as a satirist and humorist. One interesting type of literature was that of the panegyrics of Spain in answer to the Hispanophobe works of foreigners, who based their characterizations of Spaniards in no small degree, though not wholly, on the exaggerated condemnation of Spain's dealings with the American Indians by Bartolome de Las Casas, himself a Spanish Dominican.

The _Politica indiana_ of Solorzano belongs in this cla.s.s of literature, as a refutation, though a reasoned one, of the indictment of Las Casas and others. In addition to the already-mentioned "relations of events,"

forerunner of the modern newspaper, it is to be noted that the _Gaceta_ (Gazette), the official periodical, began to be published in the seventeenth century. With regard to the non-Castilian parts of Spain it need only be said that Castilian triumphed as the literary language, although works in the vernacular continued to be published in Catalonia, Valencia, and Majorca.