Lucas Fernández was a Spanish

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 dramatist and musician

Musician

A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....

, writer in Leonese language

Leonese language

The Leonese language is the endonym term used to refer to all vernacular Romance dialects of the Astur-Leonese linguistic group in the Spanish provinces of León and Zamora; Astur-Leonese also includes the dialects...

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He was born and educated at Salamanca

Salamanca

Salamanca is a city in western Spain, in the community of Castile and León. Because it is known for its beautiful buildings and urban environment, the Old City was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988. It is the most important university city in Spain and is known for its contributions to...

, and was a professor of music there from 1522.

Lucas Fernández surviving work consists of six plays. Although showing the influence of his rival Juan del Encina

Juan del Encina

Juan del Enzina – the spelling he used – or Juan del Encina – modern Spanish spelling – was a composer, poet and playwright, often called the founder of Spanish drama...

, they are notable for their dialogue, humor, and the effective interleaving of song and music with the action of play. The best of the works is an Easter

Easter

Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...

 play Auto de la Pasión, while his Dialogo para cantar is an early example of the zarzuela

Zarzuela

Zarzuela is a Spanish lyric-dramatic genre that alternates between spoken and sung scenes, the latter incorporating operatic and popular song, as well as dance...

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Leonesisms

Lucas Fernández writes with a great influence of Leonese language

Leonese language

The Leonese language is the endonym term used to refer to all vernacular Romance dialects of the Astur-Leonese linguistic group in the Spanish provinces of León and Zamora; Astur-Leonese also includes the dialects...

, like na (feminine for "in the"), nel (masculine for "in the"), dexay (let), diz (says), quier (wants), sal (goes out)... and so many others.

Biography

Son of Alfonso de Cantalapiedra and María Sánchez, he was at the service of the cathedral; he defeated his admired Juan del Encina in the oppositions to singer of the Cathedral of Salamanca (1498); to it alluded Encina in his Égloga of the great rains. In 1520 he was Abbot of the Church of Santo Tomás in Salamanca. He was professor of music in the University of this city (1522) and appeared in 1533 in the commission of reform of the statutes of the same.