Antonio de Guevara (c. 1481 – 3 April 1545) was a Spanish bishop and author. In 1527, he was named royal chronicler to

Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain (as Charles I) from 1516 to 1556, and Lord of the Netherlands as titular Duke of Burgundy (as Charles II) ...

. His first book ''Libro áureo'' first appeared in pirated editions the following year. This pseudo-historical book of incidents and letters from the life of

Marcus Aurelius Marcus Aurelius Antoninus ( ; ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 and a Stoicism, Stoic philosopher. He was a member of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty, the last of the rulers later known as the Five Good Emperors ...

(known in a later expanded edition as ''Relox des principes'') was translated into nearly every language of Europe, including Russian, Swedish, Hungarian, Polish, Armenian, and Romanian. The popularity of Guevara's book led scholar and translator Méric Casaubon to remark that no book besides the Bible was so often translated as Guevara's ''Relox de principes'', or ''Dial of Princes''. Besides his book of Marcus Aurelius, Guevara wrote eight other books, some of which continued to be translated and republished in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

Biography

Born in Treceño in the province of

Cantabria Cantabria (, ; ) is an autonomous community and Provinces of Spain, province in northern Spain with Santander, Cantabria, Santander as its capital city. It is called a , a Nationalities and regions of Spain, historic community, in its current ...

, he spent some of his youth at the court of

Isabella I of Castile Isabella I (; 22 April 1451 – 26 November 1504), also called Isabella the Catholic (Spanish: ''Isabel la Católica''), was Queen of Castile and List of Leonese monarchs, León from 1474 until her death in 1504. She was also Queen of Aragon ...

. In 1505 he entered the

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

order. He successively held the offices of

's court preacher, court historiographer, Bishop of

Guadix Guadix (, ) is a city and municipalities of Spain, municipality in southern Spain, in the Granada (province), province of Granada. The city lies at an altitude of 913 metres, in the centre of the Hoya of Guadix, a high plain at the northern footh ...

, Bishop of Mondoñedo and counselor to Charles V. He travelled in the royal entourage during Charles V's journeys to

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and other parts of

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. His most well-known work, entitled ''The Dial of Princes'' (''Reloj de príncipes'' in its original Spanish), was published at

Valladolid Valladolid ( ; ) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and ''de facto'' capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the pr ...

in 1529, and, according to its author, the fruit of eleven years' labour, is a mirror for princes in the form of a didactic

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

, designed after the manner of

Xenophon Xenophon of Athens (; ; 355/354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian. At the age of 30, he was elected as one of the leaders of the retreating Ancient Greek mercenaries, Greek mercenaries, the Ten Thousand, who had been ...

's ''

Cyropaedia The ''Cyropaedia'', sometimes spelled ''Cyropedia'', is a partly fictional biography of Cyrus the Great, the founder of Persia's Achaemenid Empire. It was written around 370 BC by Xenophon, the Athens, Athenian-born soldier, historian, and studen ...

'', to delineate in a somewhat ideal way, for the benefit of modern sovereigns, the life, and character of an ancient prince,

, distinguished for wisdom and virtue. It was often reprinted in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

; it so speedily attained fame that before the close of the century, there were published several translations in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

, French,

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, Dutch and English. The two earliest English translations are by Lord Berners (London, 1534) and later by Thomas North. This book appeared in an earlier form in 1528 in pirated editions as Libro Aureo. The pseudo-historical nature of the book gave rise to a literary controversy, the author having claimed in his prologue that the book was drawn from an imaginary manuscript in a library belonging to the Medicis in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

. Other works of Guevara include the four works published in a single volume in Valladolid in 1539: ''Década de los Césares'', or ''Lives of the Ten Roman Emperors'' in imitation of the manner of

Plutarch Plutarch (; , ''Ploútarchos'', ; – 120s) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo (Delphi), Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''Parallel Lives'', ...

and

Suetonius Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (), commonly referred to as Suetonius ( ; – after AD 122), was a Roman historian who wrote during the early Imperial era of the Roman Empire. His most important surviving work is ''De vita Caesarum'', common ...

; the ''Epístolas familiares'', or ''The Familiar Epistles''; ''Libro de los inventores del arte de marear'', on the art of navigation; and ''Aviso de privados y doctrina de cortesanos''. In this last-mentioned work, known in the English translation of Edward Hellowes as ''The Favored Courtier'', Guevara anatomized the concept of the courtier and, thus, the society of the royal court. Guevara, who most certainly had read ''Il Cortegiano'' (1518) by

Baldassare Castiglione Baldassare Castiglione, Count of Casatico (; 6 December 1478 – 2 February 1529),Dates of birth and death, and cause of the latter, fro, ''Italica'', Rai International online. was an Italian courtier, diplomat, soldier and a prominent Renaissan ...

—whom Charles V called the greatest courtier of his age—brought a different aspect to the figure of the courtier: while the latter's work was a 'behavioral' guide, Guevara described the practical aspects of men surrounding a monarch and differentiated their duties from those who were part of religious orders in a famous passage in Chapter 1:

''En la Religión si se levanta a media noche, es por loar al Señor en el culto Divino; mas en la Corte infinitas veces trasnochan, no por más de cumplir con el mundo.''

"As far as religion is concerned, if one wakes up in the middle of night, it is to laud the Lord in the Divine worship. But at the court, they stay awake all night infinite times, for no other reason than to keep up with the world."

Besides the controversy mentioned above, there was another regarding the two chapters on the Danubian Farmer, which appeared in different versions both in the ''Libro áureo'' and the ''Reloj de príncipes'' in which it has been argued the Farmer is a metaphor for the New World Indigenous peoples and the Roman Empire is nothing less than the Spanish Empire. Guevara died in Mondoñedo. He was the cousin of Diego de Guevara.

Criticism and legacy

Critical attitudes toward Guevara's literary works may be roughly grouped into three phases: first, a period of great popularity throughout Europe peaking in the mid- to late-sixteenth century; second, a period during which Guevara's works were censured on stylistic grounds and using spurious citations and historical references, and consequently devalued; and, thirdly, in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, a rediscovery and more positive reassessment of his work. The attitude of censure towards Guevara's work first arose against the liberties he took in his pseudo-histories. Pedro de Rhúa, in his ''Cartas censorias'', wrote three letters to Guevara expressing indignation that Guevara had written 'fábulas por historias'.

Pierre Bayle Pierre Bayle (; 18 November 1647 – 28 December 1706) was a French philosopher, author, and lexicographer. He is best known for his '' Historical and Critical Dictionary'', whose publication began in 1697. Many of the more controversial ideas ...

's judgment in his ''Dictionary Historical and Critical'' is in many ways representative of a negative view of Guevara's work prevailing during the late Renaissance and Enlightenment periods:

Guevara, (Antony de), preacher and historiographer to the emperor Charles V, was born in the province of Alaba in Spain. He was brought up at court; but after the death of queen Isabella of Castile, he turned a Franciscan friar, and very honourable employments in his order. Afterwards, having made himself known at court, he was made a preacher to Charles V, and was much esteemed for his politeness, eloquence, and great parts. He ought to have been contented with the glory he got by his tongue; for, pretending to write books, he made himself ridiculous to good judges. His high-flown and figurative style, full of antitheses, is not the greatest fault of his works. An ill taste, and a wrong notion of eloquence, put him upon such a way of writing; which was an inconsiderable thing, if compared with his extravagant way of handling history. He broke the most sacred and essential laws of it, with a boldness that cannot be sufficiently detested; and he shewed that no man was ever so unworthy of the character of Chronicler to Charles V, which was given him. He alleged a very bad excuse, when he was censured for it: he pretended, that, excepting the holy scripture, all other histories are too uncertain to be credited.

Bayle concludes his entry on Guevara by stating of ''The Dial of Princes'' that "if the French are to blame for having highly valued such a book, the Spaniards who have esteemed it still more, deserve more to be laughed at". In the twentieth century, scholarship on Guevara grew considerably. Book-length studies by Redondo, Ernest Grey, Joseph R. Jones, and Horacio Chiong Rivero have recounted Guevara's harsh critical reception and made strong cases for his importance. Presently Guevara's complete works are freely available in accurate HTML editions at Filosofia. The scholar and editor Emilio Blanco has edited works by and about Guevara and in 2018 delivered public lectures on the life and works of Guevara at the Fundación Juan March in Madrid.

Works

*''Libro áureo de Marco Aurelio'' (Sevilla, 1528) *''Reloj de príncipes'' (Valladolid, 1529) *''Las obras del illustre señor don Antonio de gueuara'' (Valladolid, 1539) **''Una década de Césares, es a saber: Las vidas de diez emperadores romanos que imperaron en los tiempos del buen Marco Aurelio'' **''Aviso de privados y doctrina de cortesanos'' **''Menosprecio de corte y alabanza de aldea'' **''Arte del Marear y de los inventores de ella: con muchos avisos para los que navegan en ellas'' *''Epístolas familiares'' (1539, 1541) *''Oratorio de religiosos y ejercicio de virtuosos'' (Valladolid, 1542) *''Monte Calvario'', parts 1 and 2 (1545, 1549)

English translations

*''The Golden Boke of Marcus Aurelius Emperour'', trans. John Bourchier, Lord Berners (London: Thomas Berthelet, 1534). 1559, 1566, 1586 *''A dispraise of the life of a courtier, and a commendacion of the life of the labouryng man'', trans. Sir Francis Bryan (1548) *''The Diall of Princes'', trans. Thomas North (London: John Waylande, 1557; republished as ''The Dial of Princes'', London: Richarde Tottill and Thomas Marshe, 1568) *''The Favored Courtier'', trans. Edward Hellowes (1563) *''A Looking Glasse for the Court'', trans. Sir Francis Bryan and Thomas Tymme (London: William Norton, 1575) *''The familiar epistles of Sir Anthony of Gueuara, preacher, chronicler, and counceller to the Emperour Charles the fifth'', trans. Edward Hellowes (London: Ralph Newberry, 1575?) *''A chronicle, conteyning the liues of tenne emperours of Rome'', trans. Edward Hellowes (London: Ralph Newberrie, 1577) *''A booke of the inuention of the art of nauigation and of the greate trauelles whiche they passe that saile in Gallies'', trans. Edward Hellowes (London: Ralph Newberry, 1578) *''The Mount of Caluarie'', (London: Printed by A. Islip for E. White, 1595) *''Mount Caluarie, the Second Part'', (London: Printed by A. Islip for E. White, 1597) *''Archontorologion : Or The diall of princes: containing the golden and famovs booke of Marcvs Avrelivs, sometime emperour of Rome'', trans. Sir Thomas North (London: B. Alsop, 1619) *''Spanish Letters: Historical, Satyrical, and Moral'', trans. John Savage (London, 1697) *''The mysteries of mount Calvary'', trans. Rev. Orbley Shipley (London: Ribingtons, 1868) *''A Looking Glasse for the Court'', trans. Sir Francis Bryan and Jessica Sequeira. Seattle, WA: Sublunary Editions, 2021.

References

External links