III. THE AGE OF ALFONSO THE LEARNED, AND OF SANCHO (1220-1300) 57 IV. THE DIDACTIC AGE (1301-1400) 74 V. THE AGE OF JUAN II. (1419-1454) 93 VI. THE AGE OF ENRIQUE IV. AND THE CATHOLIC KINGS (1454-1516) 109 VII. THE AGE OF CARLOS QUINTO (1516-1556) 129 VIII. THE AGE OF FELIPE II. (1556-1598) 165 IX. THE AGE OF LOPE DE VEGA (1598-1621) 211 X. THE AGE OF FELIPE IV. AND CARLOS THE BEWITCHED (1621-1700) 275 XI. THE AGE OF THE BOURBONS (1700-1808) 343 XII. THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 363 XIII. CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE 383 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE 399 INDEX 413 A HISTORY OF SPANISH LITERATURE CHAPTER I INTRODUCTORY The most ancient monuments of Castilian literature can be referred to no time later than the twelfth century, and they have been dated earlier with some plausibility. As with men of Spanish stock, so with their letters: the national idiosyncrasy is emphatic—almost violent. French literature is certainly more exquisite, more brilliant; English is loftier and more varied; but in the capital qualities of originality, force, truth, and humour, the Castilian finds no superior. The Basques, who have survived innumerable onsets (among them, the ridicule of Rabelais and the irony of Cervantes), are held by some to be representatives of the Stone-age folk who peopled the east, north-east, and south of Spain. This notion is based mainly upon the fact that all true Basque names for cutting instruments are derived from the word _aitz_ (flint). Howbeit, the Basques vaunt no literary history in the true sense. The _Leloaren Cantua_ (_Song of Lelo_) has been accepted as a contemporary hymn written in celebration of a Basque triumph over Augustus. Its date is uncertain, and its refrain of "_Lelo_" seems a distorted reminiscence of the Arabic catchword _Lā ilāh illā 'llāh_; but the _Leloaren Cantua_ is assuredly no older than the sixteenth century.