The phrase—monstruo de naturaleza—applied by Lope to Vivar was applied by Cervantes to Lope in the preface to his Ocho Comedias y ocho entremeses nuevos (Madrid, 1615). It occurs also in Lope's Hermosa Ester, the autograph of which, dated April 5, 1610, is in the British Museum Library, Egerton MSS. 547. Mr. Henry Edward Watts (Miguel de Cervantes, his life & works, London, 1895, p. 109) contends that Cervantes uses the expression "in bad part" (i.e. in a sense derogatory to Lope), and cites as a parallel case the employment of it in Don Quixote (Part I. chap. xlvi) where Sancho Panza is described as "monstruo de naturaleza, almario de embustes, silo de bellaquerías, inventor de maldades, publicador de sandeces," and so forth. The words monstruo de naturaleza are, no doubt, open to two interpretations. It is, however, inconceivable that Cervantes would offer so gross an insult to his successful rival as is thus imputed to him. In his bickerings with Lope, Cervantes may sometimes forget himself, as will happen to the best of men at times; but such vulgarity as this is absolutely unlike him. It may be as well to note that the expression—monstruo de naturaleza—was current as a compliment long before either Cervantes or Lope used it; it will be found in Pedro de Cáceres y Espinosa's preliminary Discurso to the poems of Gregorio Silvestre published in 1582.
Students of Spanish literary history will remember that Vivar's name was introduced by one of the witnesses who appeared against Lope de Vega when the latter was prosecuted for criminal libel at the beginning of 1588. Luis Vargas de Manrique (mentioned in note 8) was reported by this witness as saying that, on the internal evidence, one of the scandalous ballads which formed the basis of the charge might be attributed to four or five different persons: "it may be by Liñán (mentioned in note 25) who is not here, or by Cervantes, and he is not here, and, since it is not mine, it may be by Vivar, or by Lope de Vega, though Lope de Vega, if he had written it, would not so malign himself." See the Proceso de Lope de Vega por libelo contra unos cómicos (Madrid, 1901) by the Sres. Tomillo and Pérez Pastor.
[153] Baltasar de Toledo's writings have not been traced.
[154] Lope Félix de Vega Carpio was born at Madrid on November 25, 1562, and died there on August 27, 1635. A soldier, a poet, a novelist, a dramatist, and a priest, he ranks next to Cervantes in the history of Spanish literature. It is impossible to give any notion of his powers within the compass of a note. According to Pérez de Montalbán, Lope was the author of 1800 plays and 400 autos: some 400 plays and some 50 autos survive, apart from innumerable miscellaneous works. Lope's Obras completas are now being issued by the Royal Spanish Academy under the editorship of Sr. D. Marcelino Menéndez y Pelayo, and each succeeding volume—thirteen quarto volumes have already been issued to subscribers—goes to justify his immense reputation. A short summary of his dramatic achievement is given in my lecture on Lope de Vega and the Spanish Drama (Glasgow and London, 1902); for fuller details of this amazing genius and his work see Professor Hugo Albert Rennert's admirable biography (Glasgow, 1903).
[155] Francisco Pacheco, uncle of the author of the Arte de la pintura, was born in 1535 and died in 1599. Some specimens of his skill in writing occasional Latin verses are extant in Seville Cathedral—of which he was a canon. A Latin composition from the same pen will be found in Herrera's edition of Garcilaso, for which see note 39.
[156] Fernando de Herrera, the chief of the Seville school of poets, was born in 1534 and died in 1597. Herrera, who was a cleric but not a priest, dedicated many of his poems (1582) to the Condesa de Gelves, and there is interminable discussion as to whether these verses are to be taken in a Platonic sense, or not. Besides being a distinguished lyrical poet, Herrera proved himself an excellent critic in the Anotaciones in his edition of Garcilaso de la Vega (1580). This commentary was the occasion of a clever, scurrilous attack, circulated under the pseudonym of Prete Jacopín, by Juan Fernández de Velasco, Conde de Haro, who resented the audacity of an Andaluz in presuming to edit a Castilian poet. Haro evidently thought that invective was an ornament of debate, for in Observación XI. he calls his opponent ydiotíssimo, and in Observación XXVII. he calls Herrera an ass: "sois Asno y no León."
Cervantes was a great admirer of Herrera whose death he commemorated in a sonnet. Moreover, he wove into the short dedication of the First Part of Don Quixote (to the Duque de Béjar) phrases borrowed from the dedication in Herrera's edition of Garcilaso: see vol. iii. of the present edition (Glasgow, 1901), pp. 3-4.
[157] That el culto Cangas had a high reputation appears from the allusion in the Restauración de España (lib. x. est. 108) of Cristóbal de Mesa who also dedicated a sonnet to him in the Rimas (Madrid, 1611), f. 230.
[158] Two sonnets by Cristóbal de Villaroel are given in Espinosa's Flores de poetas ilustres de España (1605). This extremely rare work, together with the supplementary Flores (1611) gathered by Juan Antonio Calderón, has been edited with great skill by Sr. D. Francisco Rodríguez Marín who, fortunately for students, undertook to finish the work begun by Sr. D. Juan Quirós de los Ríos. Two additional sonnets by Villaroel precede Enrique Garcés's rendering of Petrarch: see note 68.
[159] Francisco de Medina was born at Seville about 1550 and died there in 1615. This pleasing poet was of great assistance to Herrera in the work of editing Garcilaso. Herrera's edition, which includes examples of Medina's verse, also contains a preface by Medina which was utilized by Cervantes in the dedication of the First Part of Don Quixote: see note 39 and vol. iii. of the present edition (Glasgow, 1901), pp. 3-4.