[11] The Christian name of the author of the Visión deleitable was Alfonso.
[12] See the second volume (pp. 79-104) of the Discursos leidos en las recepciones públicas que ha celebrado desde 1847 la Real Academia Española (Madrid, 1861).
[13] A very able discussion of these ascriptions is presented by M. Foulché-Delbosc in the Revue hispanique (1895), vol. ii. pp. 120-45.
[14] The question is discussed in the Revue hispanique (1895), vol. ii. pp. 304-11.
[15] See two very able studies in the Revue hispanique (vol. i. pp. 101-65, and vol. ii. pp. 208-303), by M. Foulché-Delbosc, whose edition of the Guerra de Granada is now printing.
CHAPTER IX
THE AGE OF LOPE DE VEGA
1598-1621
The death of Felipe II. in 1598 closes an epoch in the history of Castilian letters. Not merely has the Italian influence triumphed definitively: the chivalresque romance has well-nigh run its course; while mysticism and the pastoral have achieved expression and acceptance. Moreover, the most important of all developments is the establishment of the stage at Madrid in the Teatro de la Cruz and in the Teatro del Príncipe. There is evidence to prove that theatres were also built at Valencia, at Seville, and possibly at Granada. Nor was a foreign impulse lacking. Kyd's Spanish Tragedy records the invasion of England by Italian actors:—
"The Italian tragedians were so sharp of wit,