Key Figures of the Spanish Golden Age Literature
Garcilaso de la Vega (1501–1536)
Garcilaso de la Vega (Toledo, 1501 – Nice, 1536) was a Spanish Renaissance poet. His life was developed within the ambit of the Court, in the service of Emperor Charles V. He performed diplomatic missions and visited Italy multiple times, where he met renowned poets and humanists who introduced him to the new Renaissance sensibility.
Works
He wrote three eclogues, five songs, two elegies, an epistle, and forty sonnets. His success was tremendous, and he became a classic humanist admired and studied in universities. Castilian poets of later centuries have regarded him as a true master.
San Juan de la Cruz (1542–1591)
San Juan de la Cruz was born in Fontiveros (Ávila) in 1542. He joined the Order of Carmel at a young age and studied in Salamanca. In 1577, he was imprisoned for eight months, where he suffered various humiliations. He continued his poetic activity as an expression of his religiosity.
Works
San Juan de la Cruz is one of the greatest poets of the Castilian language. His poetry is considered a prodigious expression of loving feelings, even by those who do not value its religious-mystical content. His work is divided into two groups:
- Adult Poetry: Dark Night of the Soul, Spiritual Canticle, and Living Flame of Love, in which he expresses his sublime mystical experience.
- Childhood Poetry: Nineteen poems that are also a very original manifestation of his spiritual experience.
Francisco de Quevedo (1580–1645)
Francisco de Quevedo was born in Madrid in 1580. His noble birth and courtly education fueled his love of court intrigues, his old Castilian pride, and his air of nobility, which led to the merciless mockery of those who aspired to his status. In 1613, he moved to Italy with the Duke of Osuna. In 1639, accused of espionage and treason, he entered prison for four years. Disillusioned and patient, he died in the Torre de Juan Abad in 1645.
Lope de Vega (1562–1635)
Lope de Vega was born in Madrid in 1562. The son of craftsmen, he had pretensions of nobility that earned him the ridicule of his contemporaries. After participating in an expedition to the Azores, he fell in love with Elena Osorio, a married woman and daughter of a theater manager, whom he sang about as "Filis." When he was dismissed by Elena, he spread defamatory writings against her family, resulting in his banishment. His last years were lonely and sad, until he died in 1635.
Luis de Góngora (1561–1627)
Luis de Góngora was born in Córdoba in 1561. He studied in Salamanca and became a prebendary of the Cathedral of Córdoba. He traveled extensively and settled in Madrid in 1617, where he was appointed chaplain to the king, which led him to become a priest. At the Court, he was devoted to gambling and was a very controversial figure. Finally disillusioned, he returned to Córdoba, where he died in 1627.
Works
- Minor Poetry: Letrillas, ballads, and sonnets, in which he alternates between dedicated lyrical tones and satirical or burlesque approaches.
- Adult Poetry: The largest and most worshiped works of Góngora, characterized as dark and difficult: Fable of Polyphemus and Galatea and Solitudes.