Vicente Gómez Martínez-Espinel (; 28 December 15504 February 1624) was a Spanish writer and musician of the Siglo de Oro. He is credited with the creation of the modern poetic form of the '' décima'', composed of ten octameters, named '' espinela'' in Spanish after him.

Biography

Espinel was born in Ronda. He studied at the

University of Salamanca The University of Salamanca () is a public university, public research university in Salamanca, Spain. Founded in 1218 by Alfonso IX of León, King Alfonso IX, it is the oldest university in the Hispanic world and the fourth oldest in the ...

, where he adopted as his own his father's second surname, and later on at the universities of Granada and Alcalá. As a latinist, he translated to Spanish

Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 BC – 27 November 8 BC), Suetonius, Life of Horace commonly known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). Th ...

's ''Epistola ad Pisones''. After leaving university, he had an adventurous life as a soldier, serving in

Flanders Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...

and elsewhere. He was a prisoner of pirates at Argel and a soldier in Italy after being liberated, and returned to Spain about 1584. Afterwards, he moved to

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

and took

holy orders In certain Christian denominations, holy orders are the ordination, ordained ministries of bishop, priest (presbyter), and deacon, and the sacrament or rite by which candidates are ordained to those orders. Churches recognizing these orders inclu ...

in 1589. Four years later he became chaplain at Ronda, but absented himself from his living. Still, his musical skill obtained for him the post of choirmaster at Plasencia. His (''Assorted Rhymes''), produced in 1591, showed a caustic wit. Later, in 1618, the printer Juan de la Cuesta published Espinel's

picaresque novel The picaresque novel ( Spanish: ''picaresca'', from ''pícaro'', for ' rogue' or 'rascal') is a genre of prose fiction. It depicts the adventures of a roguish but appealing hero, usually of low social class, who lives by his wits in a corrup ...

, for which he is best known. This book, with several autobiographical details, was printed in France the same year and inspired later Lesage's ''Gil Blas de Santillana''. Espinel also revived the measure known as ''décimas'' or ''espinelas'', consisting of a stanza of ten octosyllabic lines.

Lope de Vega Félix Lope de Vega y Carpio (; 25 November 156227 August 1635) was a Spanish playwright, poet, and novelist who was a key figure in the Spanish Golden Age (1492–1659) of Spanish Baroque literature, Baroque literature. In the literature of ...

, who referred to Espinel as his teacher, dedicated ''El caballero de Illescas'' (1602) to Espinel. Espinel also befriended

Cervantes Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra ( ; ; 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616 NS) was a Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-eminent novelists. He is best known for his no ...

, Góngora (whose poetry he helped to publish) and Quevedo. Like his friends, he was a member of the congregation ''Esclavos del Santísimo Sacramento''. At the time of his death, he was the chaplain at Madrid, and also the music teacher of the Plasencia bishop. His bust can be found in Ronda, the city of his birth, in the small Plaza de los Gigantes. His head is decorated with a

laurel wreath A laurel wreath is a symbol of triumph, a wreath (attire), wreath made of connected branches and leaves of the bay laurel (), an aromatic broadleaf evergreen. It was also later made from spineless butcher's broom (''Ruscus hypoglossum'') or cher ...

Bibliography

* ''Obras completas'', critical ed. by Gaspar Garrote Bernal. Málaga: Diputación Provincial, 2001-2002, 2 vols. * ''Relaciones de la vida del escudero Marcos de Obregón'', Madrid: Juan de la Cuesta, 1618, but also Barcelona: Sebastián de Cormellas, 1618 and Barcelona: Gerónimo Margarit, 1618. It was reprinted in the same century (Seville: Pedro Gómez de Pastrana y a su costa, 1641 and Madrid: Gregorio Rodríguez y a su costa, 1657). Also in the 18th century (Madrid, 1744) and the 19th century (1804, 1851, 1863, 1864, 1868, 1881). In the 20th century, the editions of Ignacio Bauer (1901 and 1928); Samuel Gili Gaya (1922 and 1940), José Mallorquí Figuerola (1940) etc. stand out. * ''Diversas Rimas de Vicente Espinel, beneficiado de las iglesias de Ronda, con el Arte poética y algunas Odas de Oracio, traduzidas en verso castellano'', Madrid: Luis Sánchez, 1591 (there are three different issues by the same printer and year). * Translation of

, ''Arte poetica'', included in his ''Diversas rimas'' (1591). * ''Eclogue of Liseo, Silvio and Castor.'' * ''Song to my homeland''

References

Enciclopedia Libre Universal – Vicente Espinel (in Spanish)

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Espinel, Vicente 1550 births 1624 deaths People from Ronda Spanish Renaissance composers Spanish male writers University of Salamanca alumni Spanish male classical composers