Fray Luis de León: A Biographical FragmentFitzmaurice-Kelly, James
History
Fray Luis de León: A Biographical Fragment
Fitzmaurice-Kelly, James
León, Luis de, 1527-1591
[Footnote 263: They must have been known to the dedicatee of the
_Noche serena_, whom I am inclined to identify with Diego de Olarte
who appeared before the Valladolid tribunal (_Documentos inéditos_,
vol. XI, pp. 301-302). But the only positive evidence on this head is
given by Francisco de Salinas who testified 'que era amigo del dicho
fray Luis de Leon, el cual venia muchas veces á casa deste testigo, y
oyó deste testigo la especulativa, y comunicaba con este testigo cosas
de poesía y otras cosas del arte' (_Documentos inéditos_, vol. XI, pp.
302-303).]
[Footnote 264: In the early editions--those of 1583, 1585, 1587, 1595,
and 1603--_De los nombres de Cristo_ and _La Perfecta Casada_ are
bound up together. Each treatise has a separate pagination in all five
cases.]
[Footnote 265: Luis de Leon's mother was 'Inés de Valera, hija de Juan
de Valera, vecino que fué de la villa de Belmente, escudero, que vivia
de su hacienda' (_Documentos inéditos_, vol. X, pp. 170-171). The
substitution of Varela for Valera, or vice versa, is easy in Spanish.
An example of such a substitution in the case of Luis de Leon's mother
is given by Blanco García, _Fr. Luis de León_, p. 24, _n._ 1. Blanco
García mentions a tombstone in the monastery of San Jerónimo at
Granada with the following inscription:
'_En esta capilla está enterrado el noble hidalgo el Lic. Lope de Leon
del Cº del Rey nuestro Señor, Oidor que fué de Granada, y Asistente de
Sevilla: falleció á 24 de Julio de 1562 años: y Doña Inés Barela_
(sic), _y Alarcon, su mujer, dotó esta capilla para entierro suyo y de
sus descendientes._'
The name of Luis de Leon's maternal grandmother was Mencía Alvarez
Osorio. From these circumstances, it appears possible that some
relationship existed between the dedicatee of _La Perfecta Casada_ and
the author of that treatise. Luis de Leon had four maternal uncles,
three of whom were laymen--Francisco de Valera, Bernardino de Valera,
and Cristóbal de Alarcon, 'capitan que fué en Italia'. All three had
died before April 15, 1572 (_Documentos inéditos_, vol. X, p. 181).
It is also possible that Isabel Osorio (_Documentos inéditos_, vol.
XI, p. 271), to whom the manuscript of the vernacular version of the
_Song of Songs_ was lent, may likewise have been related to Luis de
Leon.]
[Footnote 266: Orozco's treatise was printed in _La Ciudad de Dios_
(1888), vol. XXI, pp. 393-401, and vol. XXII, pp. 543-550. It is
reproduced by Sr. D. Federico de Onís in his edition of _De los
nombres de Cristo_ in the series of _Clásicos Castellanos_ (1914),
vol. XXVIII, pp. 261-281, and (1917), vol. XXXIII, pp. 257-271.]
[Footnote 267: Nowhere have I found an indication of Portocarrero's
birth-date. He became Bishop of Calahorra in 1587, and was translated
to Córdoba in 1594; he died on September 20, 1600.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account