Jorge Manrique (poet)

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Jorge Manrique

Jorge Manrique (* around 1440 in Paredes de Nava , Palencia , or Segura de la Sierra , Jaén , Spain ; † March 27, 1479 in front of Garci Muños Castle near Calatrava ) was an important Spanish poet of the early Renaissance .

Live and act

Jorge Manrique came from a famous family of poets. He was a great-nephew of Iñigo López de Mendoza (Marquis of Santillana), a descendant of Pero López de Ayala , Chancellor of Castile, and a nephew of Gómez Manrique , corregidor of Toledo , all important poets of the late 14th and 15th centuries. Jorge's wife was Doña Guiomar de Castañeda. He lived for a long time at the royal court in Portugal and, in addition to his poetic talent, also had an inclination for the arms trade. He supported the Spanish Queen Isabella I of Castile and was actively involved on her side in the civil war against her half-brother Enrique IV, when he tried to make his daughter Juana Crown Princess. Jorge fell in battle in front of Garci Muños Castle near Calatrava in March 1479 when the Marquis of Villena, a staunch enemy of Isabella, defended this castle after Isabella had gained the crown.

Works and meaning

Gloss to the Coplas by Jorge Manrique, composed in 1501 by Alonso de Cervantes

Jorge Manrique wrote love poems in the courtly tradition of that time and two satires . His poems are called canciones (songs), esparsas (short poems, usually with only one stanza), preguntas y respuestas (questions and answers) and glosas de mote (literary "interpretations of refrains"). The first edition of the Cancionero general by Hernando del Castillo from 1511 contains the most complete selection of Manrique's poems; some of the poems appeared in earlier editions and manuscripts.

Manrique's poem Coplas por la Muerte de su Padre (verses on the death of his father) is of outstanding importance ; it is considered the climax of medieval Spanish poetry. After his father, Don Rodrigo Manrique, Grand Master of the Order of Santiago, died in Ocaña on November 11, 1476, Jorge wrote this elegy in 40 stanzas. In personal dismay, the poet went beyond the usual framework of poetry of that time with an almost barren language. In three parts he first conjures up the power of death and the transience of everything earthly, then takes on the dark tone of fateful submission and finally finds the comforting certainty of Christian overcoming death. Thoughts and images, deep melancholy and restrained resignation flow together in a language of natural and dignified beauty. The secret of Jorge Manrique's work lies in the unity of word, sound and mood, which is seldom found in the art poetry of his time. This poem has been included in a great many poetry collections ( anthologies ) and has been translated into many languages.

Work editions

  • Poemas . Red ediciones, Barcelona 2019, ISBN 978-84-96428-67-6 (Spanish, limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed March 5, 2019]).
  • Coplas por la muerte de su padre (=  Entre eñes . Band 1 ). Biblioteca Cervantes Virtual, 2013 (Spanish, 22 pages, limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed on March 5, 2019]).

Literature (selection)

Web links

Commons : Jorge Manrique  - collection of images, videos and audio files

swell

  1. ^ Raquel Martínez: Historiadores de la Edad Media defienden que Jorge Manrique nació en Jaén. Un profesor de la UNED aporta datos del pasado jiennense del poeta. In: El País . April 5, 2003, Retrieved November 3, 2017 (Spanish).
  2. ^ Heinz Ludwig Arnold (Ed.): Kindlers Literature Lexicon . 3. Edition. Volume 10. JB Metzler, Stuttgart 2009, ISBN 978-3-476-04000-8 .
  3. ^ Gero von Wilpert (Ed.): Lexicon of world literature . 4th edition. Volume 2. Kröner, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-520-83804-4 .
personal data
SURNAME Manrique, Jorge
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Spanish poet
DATE OF BIRTH around 1440
PLACE OF BIRTH Paredes de Nava , Spain
DATE OF DEATH March 27, 1479
Place of death near Calatrava , Spain