Francisco de Quevedo
Encyclopedia
Francisco Gómez de Quevedo y Santibáñez Villegas (14 September 1580 – 8 September 1645) was a Spanish nobleman, politician and writer of the Baroque era. Along with his lifelong rival, Luis de Góngora
, Quevedo was one of the most prominent Spanish poets of the age. His style is characterized by what was called conceptismo
. This style existed in stark contrast to Góngora's culteranismo
.
into a family of hidalgos
from the village of Vejorís
, located in the northern mountainous region of Cantabria
. His family was descended from the Castilian
nobility.
Quevedo's father, Francisco Gómez de Quevedo, was secretary to Maria of Spain
, daughter of emperor Charles V
and wife of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor
, and his mother, Madrid
-born María de Santibáñez, was lady-in-waiting
to the queen. Quevedo matured surrounded by dignitaries and nobility at the royal court. Intellectually gifted, Quevedo was physically handicapped with a club foot
, obesity
, and myopia
. Since he always wore pince-nez
, his name in the plural, quevedos, came to mean "pince-nez" in the Spanish language
.
Orphaned by the age of six, he was able to attend the Imperial School
run by the Jesuits
in Madrid. He then attended university at Alcalá de Henares
from 1596 to 1600. By his own account, he made independent studies in philosophy, classical languages, Arabic, Hebrew, French and Italian.
In 1601, Quevedo, as a member of the Court, moved to Valladolid
, where the Court had been transferred by the King's minister, the Duke of Lerma. There he studied theology
, a subject that would become a lifelong interest, and on which in later life he would compose the treatise Providencia de Dios (God's Providence), against atheism.
By this time, he was becoming noted as both a poet and a prose writer. Some of his poetry was collected in a 1605 generational anthology by Pedro Espinosa entitled Flores de Poetas Ilustres (Flowers by Illustrious Poets).
We can also date back to this time the first draft of his picaresque novel Vida del Buscón -apparently written as an exercise in courtly wit- and a few satirical pamphlets that made him famous among his fellow students and which he would later disown as juvenile pranks.
Around this time, he began a very erudite exchange of letters with the humanist Justus Lipsius
, in which Quevedo deplored the wars that were ravaging Europe. The Court returned to Madrid in 1606, and Quevedo followed, remaining till 1611. By then, he was a well-known and accomplished man-of-letters. He befriended and was praised by Miguel de Cervantes
and Lope de Vega
, the premier playwright of the age.
for, despite his own physical handicaps, Quevedo found Alarcón's redheaded
and hunchbacked
physique a source of amusement. Quevedo also attacked Juan Pérez de Montalbán
, the son of a bookseller with whom he had quarrelled, satirizing him in "La Perinola" ("The Whirligig
"), a cruel piece that he included in his book Para Todos (To Everyone). In 1608, Quevedo dueled with the author and fencing
master Luis Pacheco de Narváez
as a result of Quevedo criticizing one of Narváez's works. Quevedo took off Pacheco's hat in the first encounter. They remained enemies all their lives. In Quevedo's Buscón, this duel was parodied with a fencer relying on mathematical calculations having to run away from a duel with an experienced soldier.
Quevedo could be impulsive. He was present at the church of San Martín
in Madrid when a woman praying there was slapped on the cheek by another man who had rushed up to her. Quevedo seized the man, dragging him outside the church. The two men drew swords, and Quevedo ran his opponent through. The man, who died of his wounds some time later, was someone of importance. Quevedo thus retired temporarily to the palace of his friend and patron, Pedro Téllez-Girón, 3rd Duke of Osuna
.
The preferred object of his fury and ridicule, however, was the poet Góngora
, whom, in a series of scathing satires, he accused of being an unworthy priest, a homosexual, a gambler, and a writer of indecent verse who used a purposefully obscure language. Quevedo lampooned his rival by writing a sonnet
, "Aguja de navegar cultos," which listed words from Góngora's lexicon
: "He would like to be a culto poet in just one day, / must the following jargon learn: / Fulgores, arrogar, joven, presiente / candor, construye, métrica, armonía..."
With the bluntness of his age, Quevedo mercilessly satirized even Góngora's physique, particularly his prominent nose (most famously in the sonnet "A una nariz", ["To a Nose"]), which in his day was thought to imply a Jewish heritage, with all the shame, possible censorship
, and persecution that such a connection implied in the Spain of the time. Quevedo's "A una nariz" begins with the lines: Érase un hombre a una nariz pegado, / érase una nariz superlativa, / érase una nariz sayón y escriba, / érase un peje espada muy barbado.
Góngora reciprocated with almost equal virulence.
, one of the great statesmen and generals of the age, whom he accompanied as secretary to Italy in 1613, carrying out a number of missions for him which took him to Nice
, Venice
and finally back to Madrid. There he engaged in all manner of courtly intrigue to get the viceroyalty of Naples for Osuna, an effort that finally bore fruit in 1616. He then returned to Italy in the Duke's entourage, where he was entrusted with putting in order the Viceroyalty's finances, and sent on several espionage
-related missions to the rival Republic of Venice
, although it is now believed these did not involve him personally. He was rewarded for his efforts with a knighthood in the order of Santiago
in 1618.
With the fall from favor of Osuna in 1620, Quevedo lost his patron and protector and was exiled to Torre de Juan Abad
(Ciudad Real
), whose fiefdom his mother had purchased for him. His supposed vassals, however, refused to acknowledge him, forcing Quevedo into an interminable legal battle with the town's council
that would not be won until after his death.
Quevedo would write some of his better poetry in this retirement, such as the sonnet "Retirado a la paz de estos desiertos..." or "Son las torres de Joray...". He found consolation to his failed ambitions as a courtier in the Stoicism
of Seneca
, his study and commentary turning him into one of the main exponents of Spanish Neostoicism
.
The elevation of Philip IV
to the throne in 1621 meant the end of Quevedo's exile, and his return to Court and politics, now under the influence of the new minister, the Count-Duke of Olivares. Quevedo accompanied the young king in trips to Andalusia
and Aragon
, recounting some of its various incidents in interesting letters.
At this time he decided to denounce to the Spanish Inquisition
his own works, published without his consent by profiteering booksellers. It was a move to frighten off the booksellers and regain control over his writings, with a view to a definitive edition of his work that was not to come in his lifetime.
He became known for a disorderly lifestyle: he was a heavy smoker
, a frequent visitor to brothels and taverns, and cohabited with a woman only known as "Ledesma." Góngora derided him as a drunkard in a satirical poem as Don Francisco de Quebebo (a play on his name that can be roughly translated as "Don Francisco of What-I-drink.")
None of this put a stop to his career at court, perhaps because the king had an equally rowdy reputation. In fact, in 1632 he would become secretary to the king, thus reaching the apex of his political career.
His friend Antonio Juan de la Cerda, the Duke de Medinaceli, forced Quevedo to marry against his will with Doña Esperanza de Aragón, a widow with children. The marriage, made in 1634, barely lasted three months. Quevedo filled these years with febrile creative activity.
In 1634 he published La cuna y la sepultura (The cradle and the sepulchre) and the translation of La introducción a la vida devota (The introduction to a life of devotion) of Francis of Sales; between 1633-1635 he completed works like De los remedios de cualquier fortuna (Of the remedies of any fortune), the Epicteto, Virtud Militante, Los cuatro fantasmas (The four ghosts), the second part of Política de Dios (Politics of God), Visita y anatomía de la cabeza del cardenal Richelieu (Visit and anatomy of the head of the Cardinal Richelieu) or Carta a Luis XIII (Letter to Louis XIII
).
In 1635 there appeared in Valencia the most important of the numerous libels destined to defame him, El tribunal de la justa venganza, erigido contra los escritos de Francisco de Quevedo, maestro de errores, doctor en desvergüenzas, licenciado en bufonerías, bachiller en suciedades, catedrático de vicios y protodiablo entre los hombres. (The Court of the rightful revenge, erected against the writings of Francisco de Quevedo, teacher of errors, doctor in shamelessness, licensed in buffonery, bachelor in dirt, university professor of vices and proto-devil among men).
In 1639, he was arrested. His books were confiscated. The authorities, hardly giving Quevedo time to get dressed, took the poet to the convent
of San Marcos
in León
. In the monastery Quevedo dedicated himself to reading, as recounted in his Carta moral e instructiva (Moral and instructive letter), written to his friend, Adán de la Parra, depicting hour by hour his prison life ("From ten to eleven, I spend my time in prayer and devotions, and from eleven to noon I read good and bad authors; because there is no book, despicable as it can be, that does not contain something good...").
Quevedo, who was frail and very ill when he left from his confinement in 1643, resigned from royal court definitively to retire at Torre de Juan Abad. He died in the Dominican
convent of Villanueva de los Infantes
, on 8 September 1645. One tale tells that his tomb was pillaged days later by a gentleman who wished to have the gold spurs
with which Quevedo had been buried.
.
The first tercet from Quevedo's sonnet "¡Ah de la vida!" is considered to exemplify conceptismo in poetry at its peak:
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His poetry gives evidence not only of his literary gifts but also of his erudition (Quevedo had studied Greek, Latin
, Hebrew, Arabic, French
and Italian
). His poetic works range from satirical and mythological subjects to love poetry and philosophical pieces.
Quevedo constantly attacked avarice and avaricious people. His "Cartas del Caballero de la Tenaza" attack a notorious tightwad.
He also attacked apothecaries, who had a reputation for adulterating and badly preparing medications.
His love poetry includes such works as "Afectos varios de su corazón, fluctuando en las ondas de los cabellos de Lisi" ("Several reactions of his heart, bobbing on the waves of Lisi's hair"). As one scholar has written, "Even though women were never very much appreciated by Quevedo, who is labeled as a misogynist, it is impossible to imagine that there was anyone else who could adore them more." The first four lines run as follows:
His work also employed mythological
themes, typical of the age, though it also employs satirical elements, for example in his "To Apollo
chasing Daphne
":
Quevedo's poetry also includes pieces such as an imagined dedication to Columbus
by a piece of the ship in which the navigator had discovered the New World
:
include La culta latiniparla ("The Craze for Speaking Latin") and Aguja de navegar cultos (Compass for Navigating among Euphuistic Reefs). Both works were written with the purpose of attacking culteranismo
.
(1627; "Dreams and Discourses"). Quevedo employed lots of word-play in this work, which consists of five "dream-visions." The first is "The Dream of the Last Judgment
", in which Quevedo finds himself witnessing the Day of Judgment, and closes with a glimpse of Hell
itself. The second dream is "The Bedeviled Constable
" in which constable is possessed by an evil spirit, which results in the evil spirit begging to be exorcised
, since the constable is more evil of the two. The third dream is the long "The Vision of Hell". The fourth dream-vision is called "The World from the Inside". The last dream is "The Dream of Death", in which Quevedo offers examples of man's dishonest ways.
He wrote too, in a satirical tone, La hora de todos y la Fortuna con seso (1699), with many political, social and religious allusions. He shows his ability in the use of language, with word-play and fantastic and real characters.
's novel Yo-Yo Boing! contemporary Latin American poets have a heated, drunken debate about Francisco de Quevedo's profile in defining the Spanish Golden Age. Quevedo is a main character of Captain Alatriste
's books written by Arturo Pérez-Reverte
. In the movie Alatriste
, he was played by Juan Echanove
. He is also a main character in the alternate history novel 1635: The Cannon Law
by Eric Flint
and Andrew Dennis.
Luis de Góngora
Luis de Góngora y Argote was a Spanish Baroque lyric poet. Góngora and his lifelong rival, Francisco de Quevedo, are widely considered to be the most prominent Spanish poets of their age. His style is characterized by what was called culteranismo, also known as Gongorism...
, Quevedo was one of the most prominent Spanish poets of the age. His style is characterized by what was called conceptismo
Conceptismo
Conceptismo is a literary movement of the Baroque period of Spanish literature. It began in the late 16th century and lasted through the 17th century....
. This style existed in stark contrast to Góngora's culteranismo
Culteranismo
Culteranismo is a stylistic movement of the Baroque period of Spanish history that is also commonly referred to as Góngorismo...
.
Biography
Quevedo was born in MadridMadrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
into a family of hidalgos
Hidalgo (Spanish nobility)
A hidalgo or fidalgo is a member of the Spanish and Portuguese nobility. In popular usage it has come to mean the non-titled nobility. Hidalgos were exempt from paying taxes, but did not necessarily own real property...
from the village of Vejorís
Santiurde de Toranzo
-Towns within the municipality:* Acereda* Bárcena* Iruz* Pando* Penilla* San Martín* Santiurde de Toranzo * Vejorís* Villasevil...
, located in the northern mountainous region of Cantabria
Cantabria
Cantabria is a Spanish historical region and autonomous community with Santander as its capital city. It is bordered on the east by the Basque Autonomous Community , on the south by Castile and León , on the west by the Principality of Asturias, and on the north by the Cantabrian Sea.Cantabria...
. His family was descended from the Castilian
Kingdom of Castile
Kingdom of Castile was one of the medieval kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula. It emerged as a political autonomous entity in the 9th century. It was called County of Castile and was held in vassalage from the Kingdom of León. Its name comes from the host of castles constructed in the region...
nobility.
Quevedo's father, Francisco Gómez de Quevedo, was secretary to Maria of Spain
Maria of Spain
Archduchess Maria of Austria was the spouse of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Bohemia and Hungary. She was the daughter of Emperor Charles V and twice served as regent of Spain.-Life:...
, daughter of emperor Charles V
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and, as Charles I, of the Spanish Empire from 1516 until his voluntary retirement and abdication in favor of his younger brother Ferdinand I and his son Philip II in 1556.As...
and wife of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor
Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor
Maximilian II was king of Bohemia and king of the Romans from 1562, king of Hungary and Croatia from 1563, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation from 1564 until his death...
, and his mother, Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
-born María de Santibáñez, was lady-in-waiting
Lady-in-waiting
A lady-in-waiting is a female personal assistant at a royal court, attending on a queen, a princess, or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman from a family highly thought of in good society, but was of lower rank than the woman on whom she...
to the queen. Quevedo matured surrounded by dignitaries and nobility at the royal court. Intellectually gifted, Quevedo was physically handicapped with a club foot
Club foot
A club foot, or congenital talipes equinovarus , is a congenital deformity involving one foot or both. The affected foot appears rotated internally at the ankle. TEV is classified into 2 groups: Postural TEV or Structural TEV....
, obesity
Obesity
Obesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health, leading to reduced life expectancy and/or increased health problems...
, and myopia
Myopia
Myopia , "shortsightedness" ) is a refractive defect of the eye in which collimated light produces image focus in front of the retina under conditions of accommodation. In simpler terms, myopia is a condition of the eye where the light that comes in does not directly focus on the retina but in...
. Since he always wore pince-nez
Pince-nez
Pince-nez are a style of spectacles, popular in the 19th century, which are supported without earpieces, by pinching the bridge of the nose. The name comes from French pincer, to pinch, and nez, nose....
, his name in the plural, quevedos, came to mean "pince-nez" in the Spanish language
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
.
Colegio Imperial de Madrid
Colegio Imperial de Madrid was the name of a Jesuit teaching institution in Madrid....
run by the Jesuits
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
in Madrid. He then attended university at Alcalá de Henares
Alcalá de Henares
Alcalá de Henares , meaning Citadel on the river Henares, is a Spanish city, whose historical centre is one of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites, and one of the first bishoprics founded in Spain...
from 1596 to 1600. By his own account, he made independent studies in philosophy, classical languages, Arabic, Hebrew, French and Italian.
In 1601, Quevedo, as a member of the Court, moved to Valladolid
Valladolid
Valladolid is a historic city and municipality in north-central Spain, situated at the confluence of the Pisuerga and Esgueva rivers, and located within three wine-making regions: Ribera del Duero, Rueda and Cigales...
, where the Court had been transferred by the King's minister, the Duke of Lerma. There he studied theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
, a subject that would become a lifelong interest, and on which in later life he would compose the treatise Providencia de Dios (God's Providence), against atheism.
By this time, he was becoming noted as both a poet and a prose writer. Some of his poetry was collected in a 1605 generational anthology by Pedro Espinosa entitled Flores de Poetas Ilustres (Flowers by Illustrious Poets).
We can also date back to this time the first draft of his picaresque novel Vida del Buscón -apparently written as an exercise in courtly wit- and a few satirical pamphlets that made him famous among his fellow students and which he would later disown as juvenile pranks.
Around this time, he began a very erudite exchange of letters with the humanist Justus Lipsius
Justus Lipsius
Justus Lipsius was a Southern-Netherlandish philologist and humanist. Lipsius wrote a series of works designed to revive ancient Stoicism in a form that would be compatible with Christianity. The most famous of these is De Constantia...
, in which Quevedo deplored the wars that were ravaging Europe. The Court returned to Madrid in 1606, and Quevedo followed, remaining till 1611. By then, he was a well-known and accomplished man-of-letters. He befriended and was praised by Miguel de Cervantes
Miguel de Cervantes
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra was a Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright. His magnum opus, Don Quixote, considered the first modern novel, is a classic of Western literature, and is regarded amongst the best works of fiction ever written...
and Lope de Vega
Lope de Vega
Félix Arturo Lope de Vega y Carpio was a Spanish playwright and poet. He was one of the key figures in the Spanish Golden Century Baroque literature...
, the premier playwright of the age.
Enemies
Quevedo's enemies included, among others, the dramatist Juan Ruiz de AlarcónJuan Ruiz de Alarcón
Juan Ruiz de Alarcón y Mendoza , one of the greatest Novohispanic dramatists of the Golden Age, was born in New Spain .-Genealogy:...
for, despite his own physical handicaps, Quevedo found Alarcón's redheaded
Red hair
Red hair occurs on approximately 1–2% of the human population. It occurs more frequently in people of northern or western European ancestry, and less frequently in other populations...
and hunchbacked
Kyphosis
Kyphosis , also called roundback or Kelso's hunchback, is a condition of over-curvature of the thoracic vertebrae...
physique a source of amusement. Quevedo also attacked Juan Pérez de Montalbán
Juan Pérez de Montalbán
Juan Pérez de Montalbán , Spanish Catholic priest, dramatist, poet and novelist, was born at Madrid.At the age of eighteen he became a licentiate in theology, was ordained priest in 1625 and appointed notary to the Inquisition...
, the son of a bookseller with whom he had quarrelled, satirizing him in "La Perinola" ("The Whirligig
Whirligig
A whirligig is an object that spins or whirls, or has at least one member that spins or whirls. Whirligigs are also known as pinwheels, buzzers, comic weathervanes, gee-haws, spinners, whirlygigs; whirlijig; whirlyjig; whirlybird; or plain whirly. Whirligigs are most commonly powered by the wind,...
"), a cruel piece that he included in his book Para Todos (To Everyone). In 1608, Quevedo dueled with the author and fencing
Fencing
Fencing, which is also known as modern fencing to distinguish it from historical fencing, is a family of combat sports using bladed weapons.Fencing is one of four sports which have been featured at every one of the modern Olympic Games...
master Luis Pacheco de Narváez
Luis Pacheco de Narváez
Don Luis Pacheco de Narváez was a Spanish writer on fencing. He was don Jerónimo Sánchez de Carranza's student and later published a multitude of works based on the Destreza school of fencing. Some of his works were compendiums of Carranza's work while others were less derivative.He may be the...
as a result of Quevedo criticizing one of Narváez's works. Quevedo took off Pacheco's hat in the first encounter. They remained enemies all their lives. In Quevedo's Buscón, this duel was parodied with a fencer relying on mathematical calculations having to run away from a duel with an experienced soldier.
Quevedo could be impulsive. He was present at the church of San Martín
San Martín
-People:*José de San Martín, national hero of Argentina, an 18th-century general and the main leader of the southern part of South America's struggle for independence from Spain...
in Madrid when a woman praying there was slapped on the cheek by another man who had rushed up to her. Quevedo seized the man, dragging him outside the church. The two men drew swords, and Quevedo ran his opponent through. The man, who died of his wounds some time later, was someone of importance. Quevedo thus retired temporarily to the palace of his friend and patron, Pedro Téllez-Girón, 3rd Duke of Osuna
Pedro Téllez-Girón, 3rd Duke of Osuna
Pedro Téllez-Girón, 3rd Duke of Osuna was a Spanish nobleman and politician. He was the 2nd Marquis of Peñafiel, 7th Count of Ureña, Spanish Viceroy of Sicily , Viceroy of Naples , a Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece since 1608, Grandee of Spain, member of the Spanish Supreme...
.
The preferred object of his fury and ridicule, however, was the poet Góngora
Gongora
Gongora, abbreviated Gga in horticultural trade, is a member of the Orchid family . It consists of 65 species known from Central America, Trinidad, and tropical South America, with most species found in Colombia...
, whom, in a series of scathing satires, he accused of being an unworthy priest, a homosexual, a gambler, and a writer of indecent verse who used a purposefully obscure language. Quevedo lampooned his rival by writing a sonnet
Sonnet
A sonnet is one of several forms of poetry that originate in Europe, mainly Provence and Italy. A sonnet commonly has 14 lines. The term "sonnet" derives from the Occitan word sonet and the Italian word sonetto, both meaning "little song" or "little sound"...
, "Aguja de navegar cultos," which listed words from Góngora's lexicon
Lexicon
In linguistics, the lexicon of a language is its vocabulary, including its words and expressions. A lexicon is also a synonym of the word thesaurus. More formally, it is a language's inventory of lexemes. Coined in English 1603, the word "lexicon" derives from the Greek "λεξικόν" , neut...
: "He would like to be a culto poet in just one day, / must the following jargon learn: / Fulgores, arrogar, joven, presiente / candor, construye, métrica, armonía..."
With the bluntness of his age, Quevedo mercilessly satirized even Góngora's physique, particularly his prominent nose (most famously in the sonnet "A una nariz", ["To a Nose"]), which in his day was thought to imply a Jewish heritage, with all the shame, possible censorship
Censorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
, and persecution that such a connection implied in the Spain of the time. Quevedo's "A una nariz" begins with the lines: Érase un hombre a una nariz pegado, / érase una nariz superlativa, / érase una nariz sayón y escriba, / érase un peje espada muy barbado.
Góngora reciprocated with almost equal virulence.
Relationships with the Duke of Osuna
About that time, Quevedo grew very close to Pedro Téllez-Girón, 3rd Duke of OsunaPedro Téllez-Girón, 3rd Duke of Osuna
Pedro Téllez-Girón, 3rd Duke of Osuna was a Spanish nobleman and politician. He was the 2nd Marquis of Peñafiel, 7th Count of Ureña, Spanish Viceroy of Sicily , Viceroy of Naples , a Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece since 1608, Grandee of Spain, member of the Spanish Supreme...
, one of the great statesmen and generals of the age, whom he accompanied as secretary to Italy in 1613, carrying out a number of missions for him which took him to Nice
Nice
Nice is the fifth most populous city in France, after Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse, with a population of 348,721 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Nice extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of more than 955,000 on an area of...
, Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
and finally back to Madrid. There he engaged in all manner of courtly intrigue to get the viceroyalty of Naples for Osuna, an effort that finally bore fruit in 1616. He then returned to Italy in the Duke's entourage, where he was entrusted with putting in order the Viceroyalty's finances, and sent on several espionage
Espionage
Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it...
-related missions to the rival Republic of Venice
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...
, although it is now believed these did not involve him personally. He was rewarded for his efforts with a knighthood in the order of Santiago
Order of Santiago
The Order of Santiago was founded in the 12th century, and owes its name to the national patron of Galicia and Spain, Santiago , under whose banner the Christians of Galicia and Asturias began in the 9th century to combat and drive back the Muslims of the Iberian Peninsula.-History:Santiago de...
in 1618.
Temporary exile and retirement
Torre de Juan Abad
Torre de Juan Abad is a municipality in the province of Ciudad Real, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. It has a population of 1,259....
(Ciudad Real
Ciudad Real
Ciudad Real is a city in Castile-La Mancha, Spain, with a population of c. 74,000. It is the capital of the province of Ciudad Real. It has a stop on the AVE high-speed rail line and has begun to grow as a long-distance commuter suburb of Madrid, located 115 miles to the north. A high capacity...
), whose fiefdom his mother had purchased for him. His supposed vassals, however, refused to acknowledge him, forcing Quevedo into an interminable legal battle with the town's council
City council
A city council or town council is the legislative body that governs a city, town, municipality or local government area.-Australia & NZ:Because of the differences in legislation between the States, the exact definition of a City Council varies...
that would not be won until after his death.
Quevedo would write some of his better poetry in this retirement, such as the sonnet "Retirado a la paz de estos desiertos..." or "Son las torres de Joray...". He found consolation to his failed ambitions as a courtier in the Stoicism
Stoicism
Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy founded in Athens by Zeno of Citium in the early . The Stoics taught that destructive emotions resulted from errors in judgment, and that a sage, or person of "moral and intellectual perfection," would not suffer such emotions.Stoics were concerned...
of Seneca
Seneca the Younger
Lucius Annaeus Seneca was a Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, dramatist, and in one work humorist, of the Silver Age of Latin literature. He was tutor and later advisor to emperor Nero...
, his study and commentary turning him into one of the main exponents of Spanish Neostoicism
Neostoicism
Neostoicism was a syncretic philosophical movement, joining Stoicism and Christianity.-Lipsius:Neostoicism was founded by Flemish humanist Justus Lipsius, who in 1584 presented its rules, expounded in his book De constantia , as a dialogue between Lipsius and his friend Charles de Langhe...
.
The elevation of Philip IV
Philip IV of Spain
Philip IV was King of Spain between 1621 and 1665, sovereign of the Spanish Netherlands, and King of Portugal until 1640...
to the throne in 1621 meant the end of Quevedo's exile, and his return to Court and politics, now under the influence of the new minister, the Count-Duke of Olivares. Quevedo accompanied the young king in trips to Andalusia
Andalusia
Andalusia is the most populous and the second largest in area of the autonomous communities of Spain. The Andalusian autonomous community is officially recognised as a nationality of Spain. The territory is divided into eight provinces: Huelva, Seville, Cádiz, Córdoba, Málaga, Jaén, Granada and...
and Aragon
Aragon
Aragon is a modern autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. Located in northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces : Huesca, Zaragoza, and Teruel. Its capital is Zaragoza...
, recounting some of its various incidents in interesting letters.
At this time he decided to denounce to the Spanish Inquisition
Spanish Inquisition
The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition , commonly known as the Spanish Inquisition , was a tribunal established in 1480 by Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile. It was intended to maintain Catholic orthodoxy in their kingdoms, and to replace the Medieval...
his own works, published without his consent by profiteering booksellers. It was a move to frighten off the booksellers and regain control over his writings, with a view to a definitive edition of his work that was not to come in his lifetime.
He became known for a disorderly lifestyle: he was a heavy smoker
Smoking
Smoking is a practice in which a substance, most commonly tobacco or cannabis, is burned and the smoke is tasted or inhaled. This is primarily practised as a route of administration for recreational drug use, as combustion releases the active substances in drugs such as nicotine and makes them...
, a frequent visitor to brothels and taverns, and cohabited with a woman only known as "Ledesma." Góngora derided him as a drunkard in a satirical poem as Don Francisco de Quebebo (a play on his name that can be roughly translated as "Don Francisco of What-I-drink.")
None of this put a stop to his career at court, perhaps because the king had an equally rowdy reputation. In fact, in 1632 he would become secretary to the king, thus reaching the apex of his political career.
His friend Antonio Juan de la Cerda, the Duke de Medinaceli, forced Quevedo to marry against his will with Doña Esperanza de Aragón, a widow with children. The marriage, made in 1634, barely lasted three months. Quevedo filled these years with febrile creative activity.
In 1634 he published La cuna y la sepultura (The cradle and the sepulchre) and the translation of La introducción a la vida devota (The introduction to a life of devotion) of Francis of Sales; between 1633-1635 he completed works like De los remedios de cualquier fortuna (Of the remedies of any fortune), the Epicteto, Virtud Militante, Los cuatro fantasmas (The four ghosts), the second part of Política de Dios (Politics of God), Visita y anatomía de la cabeza del cardenal Richelieu (Visit and anatomy of the head of the Cardinal Richelieu) or Carta a Luis XIII (Letter to Louis XIII
Louis XIII of France
Louis XIII was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1610 to 1643.Louis was only eight years old when he succeeded his father. His mother, Marie de Medici, acted as regent during Louis' minority...
).
In 1635 there appeared in Valencia the most important of the numerous libels destined to defame him, El tribunal de la justa venganza, erigido contra los escritos de Francisco de Quevedo, maestro de errores, doctor en desvergüenzas, licenciado en bufonerías, bachiller en suciedades, catedrático de vicios y protodiablo entre los hombres. (The Court of the rightful revenge, erected against the writings of Francisco de Quevedo, teacher of errors, doctor in shamelessness, licensed in buffonery, bachelor in dirt, university professor of vices and proto-devil among men).
Arrest and exile
Convent
A convent is either a community of priests, religious brothers, religious sisters, or nuns, or the building used by the community, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglican Communion...
of San Marcos
San Marcos (León)
San Marcos is a former monastery and hospital in the city of León, Spain. It is now a parador, and includes a church and museum....
in León
León, Spain
León is the capital of the province of León in the autonomous community of Castile and León, situated in the northwest of Spain. Its city population of 136,985 makes it the largest municipality in the province, accounting for more than one quarter of the province's population...
. In the monastery Quevedo dedicated himself to reading, as recounted in his Carta moral e instructiva (Moral and instructive letter), written to his friend, Adán de la Parra, depicting hour by hour his prison life ("From ten to eleven, I spend my time in prayer and devotions, and from eleven to noon I read good and bad authors; because there is no book, despicable as it can be, that does not contain something good...").
Quevedo, who was frail and very ill when he left from his confinement in 1643, resigned from royal court definitively to retire at Torre de Juan Abad. He died in the Dominican
Dominican Order
The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...
convent of Villanueva de los Infantes
Villanueva de los Infantes
Villanueva de los Infantes is a municipality in the province of Ciudad Real, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. It has a population of c. 5,800.This is also the capital of the comarca Campo de Montiel. It has been signed by the Universidad Complutense de Madrid as "El Lugar de La Mancha" called at start...
, on 8 September 1645. One tale tells that his tomb was pillaged days later by a gentleman who wished to have the gold spurs
Spurs
Spurs are tools worn on the heel of a boot, used when riding horses.Spurs can also refer to:* The Chancellor's Spurs, a traveling trophy awarded to the winner of the college football game between Texas Tech University and the University of Texas at Austin...
with which Quevedo had been buried.
Style
Quevedo was an adherent of the style known as conceptismo, a name derived from concepto, which has been defined as "a brilliant flash of wit expressed in pithy or epigrammatic style." Conceptismo is characterized by a rapid rhythm, directness, simple vocabulary, witty metaphors, and wordplay. In this style, multiple meanings are conveyed in a very concise manner, and conceptual intricacies are emphasised over elaborate vocabulary. Conceptismo can effect elegant philosophical depth, as well as biting satire and humor, such as in the case of the works of Quevedo and Baltasar GraciánBaltasar Gracián
Baltasar Gracián y Morales, SJ was a Spanish Jesuit and baroque prose writer. He was born in Belmonte, near Calatayud .-Biography:...
.
The first tercet from Quevedo's sonnet "¡Ah de la vida!" is considered to exemplify conceptismo in poetry at its peak:
- Ayer se fue, mañana no ha llegado,
- Hoy se está yendo sin parar un punto;
- Soy un fue, y un seré y un es cansado.
Works
Poetry
Quevedo produced a vast quantity of poetry. His poetry, which was not published in book form during his lifetime, "shows the caricature-like vision its author had of men, a vision sometimes deformed by a sharp, cruel, violently critical nature." Despite his satirical work, Quevedo was primarily a serious poet who could write touching and well-regarded love poems.His poetry gives evidence not only of his literary gifts but also of his erudition (Quevedo had studied Greek, Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
, Hebrew, Arabic, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
and Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
). His poetic works range from satirical and mythological subjects to love poetry and philosophical pieces.
Quevedo constantly attacked avarice and avaricious people. His "Cartas del Caballero de la Tenaza" attack a notorious tightwad.
He also attacked apothecaries, who had a reputation for adulterating and badly preparing medications.
His love poetry includes such works as "Afectos varios de su corazón, fluctuando en las ondas de los cabellos de Lisi" ("Several reactions of his heart, bobbing on the waves of Lisi's hair"). As one scholar has written, "Even though women were never very much appreciated by Quevedo, who is labeled as a misogynist, it is impossible to imagine that there was anyone else who could adore them more." The first four lines run as follows:
- Within a curly storm of wavy gold
- must swim great gulfs of pure and blazing light
- my heart, for beauty eagerly athirst,
- when your abundant tresses you unbind.
His work also employed mythological
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
themes, typical of the age, though it also employs satirical elements, for example in his "To Apollo
Apollo
Apollo is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in Greek and Roman mythology...
chasing Daphne
Daphne
Daphne was a female minor nature deity. Pursued by Apollo, she fled and was chased. Daphne begged the gods for help, who then transformed her into Laurel.-Overview:...
":
- Ruddy silversmith from up on high,
- in whose bright beams the rabble pick their fleas:
- Daphne, that nymph, who takes off and won't speak,
- if you'd possess her, pay, and douse your light.
Quevedo's poetry also includes pieces such as an imagined dedication to Columbus
Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus was an explorer, colonizer, and navigator, born in the Republic of Genoa, in northwestern Italy. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean that led to general European awareness of the American continents in the...
by a piece of the ship in which the navigator had discovered the New World
New World
The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
:
- Once I had an empire, wanderer,
- upon the billows of the salty sea;
- I was moved by the wind and well-respected,
- to southern lands I forged an opening.
Novels
The only novel written by Quevedo is the picaresque Vida del Buscón or El Buscón (Full title: Historia de la vida del Buscón, llamado Don Pablos, ejemplo de vagamundos y espejo de tacaños (1626; Paul the Sharper or The Scavenger; The Swindler). It is a work divided into three books.Theological works
Quevedo produced about 15 books on theological and ascetic subjects. These include La cuna y la sepultura (1612; The Cradle and the Grave) and La providencia de Dios (1641; The Providence of God).Literary criticism
His works on literary criticismLiterary criticism
Literary criticism is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often informed by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of its methods and goals...
include La culta latiniparla ("The Craze for Speaking Latin") and Aguja de navegar cultos (Compass for Navigating among Euphuistic Reefs). Both works were written with the purpose of attacking culteranismo
Culteranismo
Culteranismo is a stylistic movement of the Baroque period of Spanish history that is also commonly referred to as Góngorismo...
.
Satire
Quevedo's satire includes Sueños y discursos, also known as Los SueñosLos Sueños
Los Sueños is a satirical prose work by the Spanish Baroque writer Francisco de Quevedo. Written between 1605 and 1622, it was first published in Barcelona in 1627 under the title Sueños y discursos de verdades descubridoras de abusos, vicios y engaños en todos los oficios del mundo Los Sueños...
(1627; "Dreams and Discourses"). Quevedo employed lots of word-play in this work, which consists of five "dream-visions." The first is "The Dream of the Last Judgment
Last Judgment
The Last Judgment, Final Judgment, Day of Judgment, Judgment Day, or The Day of the Lord in Christian theology, is the final and eternal judgment by God of every nation. The concept is found in all the Canonical gospels, particularly the Gospel of Matthew. It will purportedly take place after the...
", in which Quevedo finds himself witnessing the Day of Judgment, and closes with a glimpse of Hell
Hell
In many religious traditions, a hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless. Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations...
itself. The second dream is "The Bedeviled Constable
Constable
A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions.-Etymology:...
" in which constable is possessed by an evil spirit, which results in the evil spirit begging to be exorcised
Exorcism
Exorcism is the religious practice of evicting demons or other spiritual entities from a person or place which they are believed to have possessed...
, since the constable is more evil of the two. The third dream is the long "The Vision of Hell". The fourth dream-vision is called "The World from the Inside". The last dream is "The Dream of Death", in which Quevedo offers examples of man's dishonest ways.
He wrote too, in a satirical tone, La hora de todos y la Fortuna con seso (1699), with many political, social and religious allusions. He shows his ability in the use of language, with word-play and fantastic and real characters.
Political works
His political works include La política de Dios, y gobierno de Cristo (1617–1626; The Politics of the Lord) and La vida de Marco Bruto (1632–1644; The Life of Marcus Brutus).Popular culture
In Giannina BraschiGiannina Braschi
Giannina Braschi is a Puerto Rican writer. She is credited with writing the first Spanglish novel YO-YO BOING! and the poetry trilogy Empire of Dreams , which chronicles the Latin American immigrant's experiences in the United States...
's novel Yo-Yo Boing! contemporary Latin American poets have a heated, drunken debate about Francisco de Quevedo's profile in defining the Spanish Golden Age. Quevedo is a main character of Captain Alatriste
Captain Alatriste
Captain Alatriste is a series of novels by Spanish author Arturo Pérez-Reverte. It deals with the adventures of the title character, a Spanish soldier living in the 17th century.-Series:...
's books written by Arturo Pérez-Reverte
Arturo Pérez-Reverte
Arturo Pérez-Reverte Gutiérrez is a Spanish novelist and journalist. He worked as a war correspondent for twenty-one years . His first novel, El húsar, set in the Napoleonic Wars, was released in 1986. He is well known outside Spain for his "Alatriste" series of novels...
. In the movie Alatriste
Alatriste
Alatriste is a 2006 Spanish historical film directed by Agustín Díaz Yanes, based on the main character of a series of novels written by Arturo Pérez-Reverte, The Adventures of Captain Alatriste ....
, he was played by Juan Echanove
Juan Echanove
-Selected filmography:*Manolete *Alatriste .*Bienvenido a casa *Morir en San Hilario .*Los Reyes Magos - voz - .*Sin noticias de Dios...
. He is also a main character in the alternate history novel 1635: The Cannon Law
1635: The Cannon Law
1635: The Cannon Law is the sixth book and fifth novel published in the 1632 series by Eric Flint and Andrew Dennis. It is the second novel in the French-Italian plot thread, which began with 1634: The Galileo Affair and was published by Baen Books in 2006...
by Eric Flint
Eric Flint
Eric Flint is an American author, editor, and e-publisher. The majority of his main works are alternate history science fiction, but he also writes humorous fantasy adventures.- Career :...
and Andrew Dennis.
See also
- Spanish LiteratureSpanish literatureSpanish literature generally refers to literature written in the Spanish language within the territory that presently constitutes the state of Spain...
- Siglo de Oro
- Spanish poetrySpanish poetrySpanish poetry is the poetic tradition of Spain. It may include elements of Spanish literature, and literatures written in languages of Spain other than Castilian, such as Catalan literature....
Sources
- Crosby, James O., The sources of the text of Quevedo's Política de Dios. Millwood, New York: Kraus Reprint Co., 1975 (first edited, 1959). ISBN 0-527-20680-6.
- Ettinghausen, Henry, Francisco de Quevedo and the Neostoic movement. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1972. ISBN 0-19-815521-2.
- Ariadna García-Bryce, Transcending Textuality: Quevedo and Political Authority in the Age of Print (University Park, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania State University Press, 2011).
External links
- English translations of some of Quevedo’s sonnets
- English translation of Quevedo's Miré los muros de la patria mía
- English translation of Quevedo's Cerrar podrá mis ojos la postrera Fundación Francisco de Quevedo Author's page on the Miguel de Cervantes Virtual Library Portal dedicated to the author on the Universidad de Santiago de Compostela website Quevedo y la crítica on the Centro Virtual Cervantes Works by the author El Colegio Imperial y el Instituto de San Isidro, Quevedo's high school Analysis of Francisco de Quevedo: Life and Works Biography and short analysis of his works by Paul Bitternut