Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. II.djvu/220

196 196 CASTILIAN LITERATURE. PART 1. Accomplish- ed ^vomeii. turned of sixty, made amends for the sins of his youth, by learning the elements of the Latin tongue, at this late period. In short, as Giovio remarks in his eulogium on Lebrija, "No Spaniard was ac- counted noble who held science in indifference." From a very early period, a courtly stamp was im- pressed on the poetic literature of Spain. A similar character was now imparted to its erudition ; and men of the most illustrious birth seemed eager to lead the way in the difficult career of science, which was thrown open to the nation. ^"^ In this brilliant exhibition, those of the other sex must not be omitted, who contributed by their in- tellectual endowments to the general illumination of the period. Among them, the writers of that day lavish their panegyrics on the marchioness of Monteagudo, and Dona Maria Pacheco, of the an- cient house of Mendoza, sisters of the historian, Don Diego Hurtado, ^^ and daughters of the ac- complished count of Tendilla, ^^ who, while ambas- 17 Salazar de Mendoza, Digni- dades, cap. 21. Lucio Marineo Siculo,inhis dis- course above alluded to, in which he exhibits the condition of letters under the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, enumerates the names of the nobility most conspicuous for their scholarship. This valuable document was to be found only in the edition of Marineo's work, " De Rebus Hispaniee Memorabihbus," printed at Alcala, in 1630, whence it has been transferred by Clcmencin to the sixth volume of the Me- moirs of the Royal Academy of History. 18 His work " Guerra de Grana- da," was first published at Madrid, in 1610, and " may be compared," says Nic. Antonio, in a judgment which has been ratified by the general consent of his countrymen, " with the compositions of Sallust, or any other ancient historian." His poetry and his celebrated pica- resco novel "Lazarillode Tormes," have made an epoch in the orna- mental literature of Spain. 19 Oviedo has devoted one of his dialogues to this nobleman, equal- ly distinguished by his successes in arms, letters, and love ; the last of which, according to that writer, ho had not entirely resigned at the age of seventy. — Quincuao^enas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 1, dial 28.