Nevertheless, the net result of the period was a marked advance in material wealth,—in part, perhaps, because the false economic ideas of the Catholic Kings were shared by them with the other rulers of Europe, wherefore they did not prove so great a handicap to Spain, and, in part, because some of their measures were well calculated to prove beneficial. At this time, too, the wealth of the Americas began to pour in, although the future was to hold far more in store.
Extension of intellectual culture and the triumph of Humanism.
Brief as was the span of years embraced by the reign of the Catholic Kings it was as notable a period in intellectual progress as in other respects, bringing Spain into the current of modern life. This was due primarily to the rapid extension of printing, which had appeared in the peninsula in the closing years of the preceding period, and which now came into such general use that the works of Spanish and classical writers became available to all. Through private initiative many schools were founded which later became universities, although this activity was limited to Castile. Most notable of these institutions was that of Alcalá founded by Ximénez. This undertaking was due to the great cardinal’s desire to establish a Humanist centre of learning, where Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and philology could be studied to the best advantage. The most learned Spanish Humanists assembled there, together with many foreigners, and works of note were produced, such as the famous polyglot Bible in Hebrew, Greek, Chaldean, and Latin, with accompanying grammars and vocabularies. Not a little of the advancement in intellectual manifestations was due to the encouragement of the Catholic Kings, especially Isabella. Books coming into Spain were exempted from duty; ordinances were made regulating university life, and ridding it of much of its turbulence and abuses; and the court set an example in showing favor to distinguished scholars, who were engaged as teachers of the royal children. The great nobles imitated royalty, and invited foreign savants to Spain, among whom was the Italian, Peter Martyr of Anghiera, celebrated as the author of the first history of the Americas, the De orbe novo (Concerning the new world). The most marked impulse to the spread of Humanist ideals came through Spaniards studying abroad, and these men returned to give Spain her leading names in intellectual production for the period. The greatest of them was Antonio de Nebrija, educated in Italy, a man of such encyclopedic attainments that he left works on theology, law, archæology, history, natural science, geography, and geodesy, although particularly noteworthy as a Latin scholar. Cardinal Ximénez is deserving of a high place in the achievements of the era for his patronage of letters, for it was through his aid that some of the most valuable work of the period was accomplished. Education was a matter for the higher classes only; people had not even begun to think, yet, of popular education.
Progress in the sciences.
Although the extension of intellectual culture and the triumph of Humanism were outstanding facts of the period, there were notable cultivators, too, of the sciences, moral, social, and natural, especially the last-named. Studies in geography, cosmography, and cartography received a great impulse through the discovery of America, and many scientific works along these lines were due to the scholars connected with the Casa de Contratación (House of Trade), or India House. Medical works were even more prominent, not a few of them on the subject of venereal disease. A number of these works were mutilated or condemned altogether by the Inquisition, in part because of their doctrines, but also because of the anatomical details which they contained, for they were considered immoral.
Polite literature.
La Celestina.
History.
The theatre.
In polite literature the leading characteristics were the complete victory of the Italian influence, the predominance of Castilian, the popularity of the romances, and the beginning of the Castilian theatre. The Italian influence manifested itself both in the translation of Classical and Italian Renaissance works and in an imitation of their models and forms. Castilian was employed, not only in Castile and Aragon proper, but even in the literary works of Portuguese, Catalans, Valencians, and not a few individuals (Spaniards in the main) at the court of Naples, although Catalan and Valencian poetry still had a vogue. The poetry of the era often exhibited tendencies of a medieval character,—for example, in its use of allegory. It is curious to note also the prevalence of two somewhat opposed types of subject-matter, religious and erotic; in the latter there was a vigorous school which often went to the extreme of license. The romances of love and chivalry gained even greater favor than in the preceding period. The Amadís de Gaula (Amadis of Gaul) of Vasco de Lobeira was translated from the Portuguese by Garcí Ordóñez de Montalvo, and many other novels on the same model were written. One of these was Las sergas de Esplandián (The deeds of Esplandián) by Ordóñez de Montalvo himself, references in which to an “island California” as a land of fabulous wealth were to result in the naming of the present-day California, once believed to be just such an island. Much superior to the amatory or chivalric novels was a remarkable book which stood alone in its time, the Tragicomedia de Calixto y Melibea (The tragi-comedy of Calixtus and Melibea), better known as La Celestina (1499), from the name of one of the characters, believed to have been the work of Fernando de Rojas. In eloquent Spanish and with intense realism La Celestina dealt with people in what might be called “the under-world.” This was the first of the picaresque novels (so-called because they dealt with the life of pícaros, or rogues), out of which was to develop the true Spanish novel. History, too, had a notable growth. The outstanding name was that of Hernando del Pulgar. His Crónica (Chronicle) and his Claros varones de España (Illustrious men of Spain), besides being well written, noteworthy for their characterizations of individuals, and influenced by classical Latin authors, showed a distinct historical sense. The already mentioned De orbe novo of Peter Martyr and the letters of Columbus were the chief contributions to the history of the new world. As to the theatre, while the religious mysteries continued to be played, popular representations in dialogue, some of them religious and others profane in subject-matter, began to be written and staged. The most notable writer was Juan del Enzina (1468-1534), who has been called the “father of Spanish comedy.” His compositions were not represented publicly in a theatre, but only in private houses or on the occasions of royal or aristocratic feasts.