Esteban Manuel de Villegas

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Esteban Manuel de Villegas

Esteban Manuel de Villegas (* 1589 in Matute , La Rioja , † September 3, 1669 in Nájera ) was a Spanish poet .

life and work

Esteban Manuel de Villegas, not much is known about his life, received his first education in Madrid and studied ancient Greek and Roman authors with particular zeal. At the early age of about 14 he translated Anacreon and several Odes by Horace into Spanish verses and wrote a large part of his own poems in their spirit. He later studied law at the University of Salamanca , where he matriculated on November 20, 1610, successfully.

Villegas had his idylls , odes , elegies , epigrams as well as translations and imitations of Anacreon and Horace appear at his own expense under the title Eróticas o amatorias 1618 in Nájera (new edition in 2 volumes in Madrid 1774, with an excellent biography and reprinted in 1797, as well as by Narciso Alonso Cortés 1913). The author dedicated the various parts of this collection of poems, which was initially only moderately successful, to several patrons, including King Philip III. and the Connetable of Castile, to whom one of Villegas' finest cantilenas is addressed. On the cover of the book was a rising sun, darkening the stars, as a symbol for the author and the other contemporary poets, as well as the provocative motto Sicut sol matutinus, me surgente, quid istae? This damaged the success of his work and drew him the hostility of important Spanish authors of the time. Lope de Vega alluded to this in his Laurel de Apolo .

Villegas went to the royal court to present his work, but did not receive the lucrative posts he wanted, such as that of a librarian from Luis de Haro , but had to be content with the post of royal treasurer in Nájera. Although the poet, described as vain and lavish, came from a wealthy family, he struggled with financial difficulties throughout his life. Around 1625 he married Antonia de Leiva y Villodas, only 15 years old, who belonged to a respected family, with whom he had seven children, of whom only two daughters survived. He now occupied himself with, among other things, scholarly philological studies.

In 1659 Villegas was involved in an inquisition trial. He was accused, among other things, of expressing unorthodox views on free will and of having expressed the opinion that he understood some religious matters better than the Church Fathers . The inquisitors also found a book of satires among his papers, which they confiscated; one of the satires contained therein was directed against religious communities. He was to be exiled to Santa María Ribarredonda for four years , but was allowed to return to Nájera for three months in March 1660. He was likely released from the rest of the sentence.

The translation of Boethius ' Consolatio philosophiae , completed in 1665 by Villegas at an advanced age, was printed in Madrid in 1680. At the beginning of this work, the author begins a long, well-versed treatise on the merits of philosophy. After his experiences with the Inquisition, Villegas published the last book of the Consolatio philosophiae , in which the problem of free will is discussed, only in the original Latin text and without commentary. Despite his great fame as a scholar and poet, he remained poor and died holding a small office in 1669 at the age of 80.

Villegas' poems, especially the erotic ones, are, in the opinion of some critics, among the most beautiful in Spanish literature. He was also the first to successfully attempt to imitate ancient meters in Spanish, and as an ardent admirer of ancient writers, a staunch opponent of Lope de Vegas and his school, which he fiercely opposed. His poems were particularly valued by poets of the 18th century, such as Juan Meléndez Valdés and José Iglesias de la Casa .

Villegas' tragedy El Hipólito, based on the model of Euripides , and two volumes of critical studies on ancient poetry, completed in 1650 and entitled Variae Philologiae, sive dissertationum criticarum, quas inter amicos disserebat and owned in the 18th century, remained unprinted of the Spanish scholar and Benedictine monk Martín Sarmiento . They were lost but were later rediscovered in the Spanish National Library.

literature

personal data
SURNAME Villegas, Esteban Manuel de
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Spanish poet
DATE OF BIRTH 1589
PLACE OF BIRTH Matute , La Rioja
DATE OF DEATH September 3, 1669
Place of death Nájera