Enrique de Villena

Enrique de Villena (incorrectly called Marqués de Villena ; * 1384 in Cuenca ; † December 15, 1434 in Madrid ) was a Spanish writer and scholar of the late Middle Ages . He was a descendant of the royal houses of Aragon and Castile . As one of the leading intellectuals of Castile at the beginning of the 15th century, he had extensive knowledge in numerous fields of knowledge. But he soon got a reputation for being a sorcerer and magician. In this way he became a figure entwined with legends, which Spanish poets worked on in literary terms over the next centuries. He was the first to translate Dante's Divine Comedy and Virgil's Aeneid into Spanish.

Life

Enrique de Villena, whose real name was Enrique de Aragón , was the second son of Pedro de Aragón y Villena and Juana of Castile , an illegitimate daughter of King Henry II of Castile . The paternal grandfather was Alfonso de Aragón , who was descended directly from King Peter IV of Aragón and, among many other titles, also had that of Marqués de Villena. Alfonso received this title from Henry II of the Trastámara dynasty as a thank you for his support in the fight against Henry's half-brother and predecessor on the Castilian throne, Peter I the Cruel . Since Pedro de Aragón fell in the Battle of Aljubarrota in 1385 , little Enrique grew up at the court of Alfonso in Valencia . Outstanding intellectuals and writers of their time, who strongly influenced the adolescent, made guest appearances there. He acquired a good knowledge of chemistry , mathematics and philosophy, among others . At the invitation of the Aragonese Queen Violante von Bar , he stayed for some time at the court in Barcelona , where he met important Catalan writers.

Alfonso lost his previously important influence at the Castilian court at the end of the 14th century. In 1398 he was deprived of the title of Marquis de Villena and all Castilian goods. Responsible for the loss was u. a. Catherine of Lancaster , wife of King Henry III. : especially after the death of her husband (1406) in Castile, she pursued a policy directed against members of the Trastámara dynasty and against Aragonese nobles, including Alfonso and Enrique. Enrique, who should have inherited the title and the goods, and Alfonso tried in vain to get the title back. Enrique later illegally called himself Marquis of Villena in all official documents.

Villena was probably in Castile at the beginning of the 15th century. He married María de Albornoz , a wealthy heiress from Cuenca. His cousin King Henry III. appointed him Count of Cangas and Tineo . In 1404 Villena renounced the title of Count and divorced on the pretext of being impotent in order to be able to keep the vacant post of Grand Master in the powerful Calatrava Order . The order members elected him under pressure from Heinrich III. in the office. According to contemporary chroniclers, Heinrich is said to have stood up for Villena because he had a relationship with his wife María; It is more likely that the king believed that he could better control the influential orders by filling important offices with relatives. Villasa's appointment, however, divided the Order of Calatrava, and in 1407, after Henry's death, the members of the order in Castile, who were dissatisfied with Villena's administration, elected a new Grand Master.

In 1412 Ferdinand de Antequera, a brother of Henry III, became King of Aragón as Ferdinand I. Villena spent a few peaceful years at his court, took part in the coronation of the king in Saragossa and served him a. a. as a carver and butler. He received a modest pension for his services. In 1416 his election as Grand Master of the Calatrava Order was declared invalid. In the same year King Ferdinand I died and Villena returned to Castile. In Cuenca he lived on the property of his wife, to whom he had previously sent a letter asking for reconciliation. Pope Benedict XIII had the divorce annulled. Villena also had affairs with some noble ladies. One of his two illegitimate daughters, baptized Elionor Manuel , entered a Poor Clare monastery in Valencia under the name Isabel de Villena (* 1430, † 1490) , became abbess there in 1463 and wrote a Vita Christi , posthumously in 1497 by her successor was published in the monastery management. All that is known about Villena's life in the years 1425–1429 is that he wrote Arte cisoria and u. a. wrote three Bible treatises addressed to members of the royal court.

King Alfonso V , who had ruled Aragón since 1416, withdrew from Villena between 1425 and 1429 under a pretext the Duchy of Gandía in eastern Spain , which he should have inherited after the death of his uncle Alfonso II. Villena also feared separation from his wealthy wife. His nephew King John II of Castile then gave him the small rule of Iniesta . Villena spent his final years there in seclusion. He died on December 15, 1434 in Madrid of gout that had been exacerbated by a severe fever. The king arranged for him to have a splendid funeral at the San Francisco Convent. The influential Dominican and inquisitor Lope de Barrientos then examined Villena's library on Johann's behalf and had some of the works classified as “magic books” burned; the remaining volumes mainly came into the possession of the king.

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Los doce trabajos de Hércules

The didactic work Los doce trabajos de Hércules , the example of early humanism, tells and interprets the twelve works of the Greek legendary Hercules . Villena wrote this book in Catalan in 1417 shortly before his departure from the Aragonese court ( Dotze treballs de Hercules , now lost) and a few months later created a slightly revised Castilian translation, which was printed in Zamora in 1483 . According to the statements of ancient authors, each work of the hero is presented in a separate chapter, which then contains an allegorical interpretation, an examination of the truthfulness and a moral application to the twelve Spanish estates of the time, according to medieval biblical exegesis. Hercules is the allegorical embodiment of the wise man and his work represents the acquisition of knowledge. The work was intended to serve as a guide for the nobles and clergy in the task of helping the divine laws to break through. The victory of the legendary hero over the Centaurs is intended, for example, as a teaching example for the rulers on how to acquire courage, justice and other virtues, and the conquest of the Nemean lion , who embodies sinful behavior, is interpreted as the strength of the church, the people to direct the right path. The knights in particular should feel encouraged by the work to emulate Hercules in his heroic deeds for the social good. The reading of numerous ancient authors such as Virgils , Caesars , Senecas , Plato and Aristotle flowed into the scholarly work , but Villena lacked an understanding of the ancient living conditions and the historical context.

Arte de trovar

Villena's work on verse art ( Arte de trovar or Libro de la sciença gaya ), which is only available in fragments, cannot be dated more precisely and is roughly estimated between 1417 and 1428. It is particularly recognizable by the preserved fragments in a manuscript by the humanist Alvar Gómez de Castro . This manuscript is now in the Escorial library . The Arte de trovar was first printed in Gregorio Mayans y Siscars Orígenes de la lengua española (Madrid 1737). Villena dedicated his work to the Castilian nobleman Iñigo López de Mendoza , Marqués de Santillana, who was not only a brave warrior, but also a gifted poet and patron of the arts.

For his textbook on the complex laws of verse art, Villena took among other things the didactic works of Catalan troubadours ( Ramon Vidal de Besalú , Razos de trobar , around 1210; Berenguer d'Anoia , Mirall de trobar , around 1350) or the Doctrinal de trobar (around 1324) by the Toulouse poet Raimon de Cornet as a model. Villena wrote his work for the participants in poetry contests ( Consistorio de la gaya ciència ), which he had donated in Barcelona in 1413 on behalf of Ferdinand I of Aragón - based on the model of the poetic Jeux floraux (flower games) in Toulouse . Accordingly, Arte de trovar testifies to the cultural exchange between Catalonia and the Provencal region of southern France, the home of troubadour poetry. The book contains notes on grammar, rhyme and stanza forms . The history, organization and course of the poetry competitions in Toulouse and Barcelona are also presented. This account is historically imprecise and gives an idealized picture of the character and development of Catalan poetics. Villena viewed verse as a difficult science, the complex set of rules of which many poets are not really familiar with. A good poet, however, has to adhere to these "true and unchangeable" rules. Verskunst is a pedagogical means with the help of which an intellectual elite should be created. The folk poetry, however, valued Villena little. His work had a strong influence on the training of the court poetry school in the 15th century.

Arte cisoria

In the work Arte cisoria , written in 1423 and first printed in Madrid in 1766 , Villena gives instructions on the art of carving and the etiquette of dining at the royal court. For example, he recommends the use of silver or gold instead of iron cutlery for dividing fish . One should not chew pieces of meat that are too large, but cut them beforehand and not gnaw off the bones of birds. The preparation of partridges is also described in detail.

Bible treatises

In the Tratado de lepra , written about 1421–1422 , Villena wanted to prove the reliability of Leviticus' statements about leprosy outside the human body, while the personal physician of John II of Castile , Alfonso Chirino, to whom the work was dedicated, did not believe in the correctness of a literal interpretation believed in the Bible text but advocated a spiritual interpretation.

As a reply to Juan Fernández de Valera's question, why the fourth line of the eighth psalm only mentions the moon and the stars but not the sun , Villena wrote the Exposición del Salmo Quoniam videbo around 1423–1424 . In an introduction to the explanation of sacred works that was common in biblical studies at the time, he describes the author, the effective cause and the ultimate cause . Using the learned method for answering a quaestio , he then analyzes the Psalm word for word for its interpretation. Using various areas of knowledge known to him - such as the Kabbalah - Villena seeks to uncover the secrets behind the words of the prophet.

Villena also wrote a treatise on the evil eye that was widespread in the 15th century, the Tratado de fascinación o de aojamiento (originated around 1422–1425). As in his treatise on leprosy, he reveals extensive medical knowledge in the one on the evil eye. He gives a description of the phenomenon, a three-stage therapy (prevention, diagnosis, treatment) and its methods, which he got to know from Arabic and Jewish sources, but also from the works of Aristotle.

Because Fernández de Valera had lost his entire family to the plague , his friend Villena dedicated a learned consolation to him in 1424, Tratado de consolación , for which he had studied ancient and medieval models.

Translations

Villena created the first Spanish translation of the Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri and the epic Aeneid by the Roman poet Virgil in 1427/28 . Other translations made by him since 1427, such as the fragments of the Roman historian Titus Livius , have been lost (apart from those of a sonnet by the Italian poet and humanist Petrarch ). The Libro de la guerra ascribed to him , a translation of De rei militari by the Roman war theorist Vegetius , is spurious.

Villena was able to complete the translation of the Aeneid on behalf of John II of Navarre in November 1428. But when in 1429 his hope of getting the county of Gandía back in return through the efforts of John was not fulfilled, he did not send his work to the King of Navarre. He corrected his first version and provided it with a very extensive commentary that went up to the third of a total of twelve books. This served as an aid to readers who did not speak Latin and who were not familiar with ancient literature, as did the division of the Aeneid into 366 chapters, which Villena provided with titles, summaries and glosses. He wanted to use his marginal notes to shed light on the often difficult to understand epic for beginners and laypeople and to reveal the “ocean of knowledge” hidden under Virgil’s verses (so called by Villena). In the introduction he brings among other things a vita of the poet taken from the ancient Roman grammarian and Virgil biographer Aelius Donatus , the accompanying commentary by the ancient Virgil scholiast Servius , the intentions that the poet had pursued with his work and finally reflections on the usefulness of the Knowledge of the epic. This lies in the ethical value of the work, which calls for virtuous action and criticizes vicious life. The first Roman emperor Augustus is presented as the ideal ruler, Virgil as the epitome of a poet. The actions and speeches of Aeneas are models for noble behavior and rhetorical ideals. In his comment on this, Villena gives the courtier recommendations on how to behave in the most varied of situations. He also believes that secret knowledge of astrology and astronomy is hidden in the verses of the Aeneid .

In general, Villena considers the reading of Virgil's epic and other suitable literature to be a cornerstone in the formation of an intelligent aristocratic elite. Only those who are ethically and intellectually educated can control their passions and are therefore suitable for governing. For Villena, the ideal nobleman is a learned man and brave warrior who stands above the ignorant common people. By adapting and interpreting the content of the epic for the contemporary cultural understanding of his noble friends and the attempt to formulate his political goals independently through his commentary, Villena did not create a pure translation, but a new Aeneid written in his national language , so that he himself became a new Virgil.

Epístola a Suero de Quiñones

In his last work, Epístola a Suero de Quiñones , perhaps not written as late as 1434 and rediscovered in 1895, Villena replicated at the request of a lovesick knight.

Reception and meaning

Contemporary poets such as Iñigo López de Mendoza and Juan de Mena saw in Villena's death a great loss for poetry and science. For the next few centuries he was a well-known figure shrouded in legend because, according to some stories circulated about him, he was supposedly a magician and sorcerer. Accordingly, he is said to have dealt intensively with astrology and alchemy. This topic was also processed literarily, among others by the Spanish writers Juan Ruiz de Alarcón , Francisco de Rojas Zorrilla and Francisco de Quevedo , who lived in the 16th and 17th centuries . He was wrongly ascribed to a treatise on astrology ( Tratado de astrología ).

The Spanish humanist and philologist Antonio de Nebrija criticized Villena's heavily Latinized syntax, and the Jesuit and historian Juan de Mariana did not like Villena's style, which he regarded as a terrible mixture of Latin and Spanish. The bibliographer Nicolás Antonio († 1684) was the first to give Villena a fairer and more objective assessment in his Spanish literary history, Bibliotheca hispana vetus (printed in 1788), which lasted until around 1500 . In the last few decades Derek C. Carr and Pedro M. Cátedra in particular have tried quite successfully to answer many questions relating to Villena's biography; they also hosted a modern edition of all of his works.

Through his works Villena tried to prepare the nobles for their social role. Standing on the threshold between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance , he paved the way for philological humanism in Spain by opening up ancient classics to a wider readership of aristocrats.

expenditure

• Los doze trabajos de Hércules (1417), ed. by Margherita Morreale (Madrid 1958).
• Arte de trovar (between 1417 and 1428), ed. by FJ Sánchez-Cantón (Madrid 1923; reprint 1993).
• Tratado de lepra (around 1421–22), ed. by J. Soler (pseudonym of R. Foulché-Delbosc), RHi 41, 1917, 198-214.
• Arte cisoria (1423), ed. by Felipe Benicio Navarro (Madrid 1879); ed. by Russell V. Brown (Barcelona 1984).
• Tratado del aojamiento or Tratado de la fascinación (around 1422-25), ed. by Anna Maria Gallina (Bari 1978).
• Exposición del Salmo Quoniam videbo (1424), ed. by Pedro M. Cátedra (Madrid 1985).
• Tratado de la consolación (1424), ed. by Derek C. Carr (Madrid 1976).
• Traducción de la Divina comedia (1427–28), ed. by José A. Pascual (Salamanca 1974).
• Traducción y glossa a la Eneida (1427-28), ed. by Pedro M. Cátedra (2 vols., Salamanca 1989).
• Complete edition: Obras Completas , ed. by Pedro M. Cátedra (3 vols., Madrid 1994-2000).

literature

• Elvira de Aguirre: The Arte de Trovar by Enrique de Villena . Diss. Cologne 1968. 137 S., OBr.
• Th. Brückner: Review of “Enrique de Villena, Traducción y glosas de la Eneida. Edición de Pedro M. Cátedra. Salamanca 1989 », in: Vox romanica 56 (1997) pp. 391-394.
• Th. Brückner: Double review of “Bargetto-Andrés, Teresa Marie: Transcription and Study of Enrique de Villena's Translation of“ Infierno ”and“ Purgatorio ”of Dante's“ Divine Comedy ”. Dissertation. University of Wisconsin-Madison 1997 (also Ann Arbor [Mich.], University Microfilms International 1997) "and" Enrique de Villena, Obras Completas. Edición y prólogo de Pedro M. Cátedra. Vol. III. Traducción y glosas [sic] de la "Eneida", libros IV-XII. Traducción de la "Divina Commedia". Madrid, Fundación José Antonio de Castro 2000 », in: Deutsches Dante Jahrbuch 78 (2003) pp. 198–203.
• W. Mettmann: Villena, Enrique de . In: Lexicon of the Middle Ages . Vol. 8 (1997), col. 1689.
• Sol Miguel-Prendes: Enrique de Villena , in: Dictionary of Literary Biography (DLB). Vol. 286 (2004) pp. 266-276.
• Juan Miguel Valero Moreno: Villena (o de Aragón), Enrique de , in: Diccionario biográfico español , Madrid 2009–2013, online version

Web links

• Literature by and about Enrique de Villena in the catalog of the German National Library