[442]. Señor Peña, himself a professor (catedrático) of Valladolid in Rhetoric and Poetry, explains that this surname was taken by distinguished alumni of that University, and derived from the Roman city (Pincia) supposed to have existed on the site. Few definite dates or facts seem to be known about Alfonso Lopez, except that he was physician to Mary of Austria, daughter of Charles V. and widow of Maximilian II. during her life at Madrid from 1576 to 1603, and that he wrote, besides the Filosofía and other things, a poem on Pelayo, languide nec eleganter, one regrets to hear.
[443]. As where Fadrique substitutes, for the stately old image of the honey on the edge of a bitter cup, the familiar come quien dora una píldora, “as one who gilds a pill,” ed. cit., p. 120.
[444]. Ejemplar Poético, first printed, and, I think, still only to be found, in the Parnaso Español, Madrid, 1774, vol. viii.
[445]. See Spingarn, p. 146, who gives the passage.
[446]. The Later Renaissance, p. 39.
[447]. Cf. Spingarn, p. 233.
[448]. (With a much longer title), Medina del Campo, 1602. The quaint title is connected with a quainter fancy, that the poet is noble as such—a “Knight of the Swan.” Señor Menéndez makes some use of Carvallo, but admits that he is pedagogo adocenado, “a common dominie.”
[449]. Nueva Idea de la Tragedia Antigua, &c. Madrid, 1633.
[450]. La misma lobreguez y el mismo desconsuelo, M. y P., iii. 364.
[451]. In the passage quoted by M. y P., iii. 366, 367.