[201] Jerónimo Vaca y de Quiñones contributed a sonnet to Pedro de Escobar Cabeza de Vaca's Luzero de la tierra sancta, y grandezas de Egypto, y monte Sinay (Valladolid, 1587): see note 77.
[202] Lupercio Leonardo de Argensola was born in 1559, and died in 1613 at Naples, whither he had accompanied the Conde de Lemos three years earlier. His admirable poems, and those of his brother, were issued posthumously in 1634: see note 86. His Isabela, Fílis and Alejandra are praised in Don Quixote as "three tragedies acted in Spain, written by a famous poet of these kingdoms, which were such that they filled all who heard them with admiration, delight, and interest, the ignorant as well as the wise, the masses as well as the higher orders, and brought in more money to the performers, these three alone, than thirty of the best that have since been produced": see vol. iv. of the present edition (Glasgow, 1901), p. 214. The Fílis seems to be lost. The Isabela and Alejandra, neither of them very interesting, were first published in 1772 by Juan José López de Sedano in El Parnaso Español (Madrid, 1768-1778), vol. vi., pp. 312-524. There may be a touch of friendly exaggeration in Cervantes's account of their success on the boards. At all events, the author of these pieces soon abandoned the stage, and, when the theatres were closed on the death of the Queen of Piedmont, he was prominent among those who petitioned that the closure might be made permanent. A Royal decree in that sense was issued on May 2, 1598. In the following year Lupercio Leonardo de Argensola was appointed chief chronicler of Aragón. The Isabela and Alejandra are reprinted in the first volume of the Conde de la Viñaza's edition of the Argensolas' Poesías sueltas (Madrid, 1889).
[203] Bartolomé Leonardo de Argensola was born in 1562 and died in 1631. He took orders, became Rector of Villahermosa, and succeeded his brother as official chronicler of Aragón. He published the Conquista de las Islas Malacas (Madrid, 1609), and the Anales de Aragón (Zaragoza, 1631)—the latter being a continuation of Jerónimo de Zurita's Anales de la Corona de Aragón (1562-1580). The poems of both brothers were issued by Lupercio's son, Gabriel Leonardo de Albión, in a volume entitled Las Rimas que se han podido recoger de Lupercio, y del Doctor Bartolomé Leonardo de Argensola (Zaragoza, 1634). Lope de Vega had a great esteem for the Argensolas whose polished diction, rare in men of Aragonese birth, he regarded as an antidote to the extravagances—the frases horribles, as he says—of culteranismo. The very considerable merits of the Argensolas were likewise appreciated by Cervantes who, however, seems to have cooled somewhat towards the brothers when the Conde de Lemos, on his appointment as Viceroy of Naples, attached them to his household. It is said that Cervantes himself hoped to form part of Lemos's suite, and that he was annoyed with the Argensolas for not pushing his claims as vigorously as he expected of them. At this distance of time, it is impossible for us to know what really happened; but a passage in the Viaje del Parnaso (cap. iii.) does appear to imply that Cervantes had a grievance of some kind against the Argensolas:—
Que no sé quien me dice, y quien me exhorta,
Que tienen para mi, á lo que imagino,
La voluntad, como la vista corta.
[204] The writings of Cosme Pariente are unknown to Barrera, and to later bibliographers.
[205] Diego Murillo was born at Zaragoza about 1555, joined the Franciscans, and became a popular preacher. He is the author of the Instruccion para enseñar la virtud á los principiantes (Zaragoza, 1598), the Escala espiritual para la perfección evangélica (Zaragoza, 1598), the Vida y excelencias de la Madre de Dios (Zaragoza, 1610), and six volumes of Discursos predicables, published at Zaragoza and Lisbon between 1602 and 1611. The most accessible of Murillo's works are the Fundación milagrosa de la capilla angélica y apostólica de la Madre de Dios del Pilar (Barcelona, 1616), and a volume entitled Divina, dulce y provechosa poesía (Zaragoza, 1616). His verse (some specimens of which are given in Böhl de Faber's Floresta de rimas antiguas castellanas) is better than his prose, but in neither does he fulfil the expectations raised by Cervantes's compliments.
[206] Juan Coloma, Conde de Elda, is responsible for a Década de la Pasión de Jesu Christo (Cádiz, 1575).
[207] Pedro Luis Garcerán de Borja is also introduced by Gil Polo in the Canto del Turia: see note 94. He held the appointment of Captain-General of Oran, where Cervantes may have met him: at the time of his death in 1592 he was Captain-General of Catalonia.
[208] Alonso Girón y de Rebolledo is likewise introduced by Gil Polo in the Canto del Turia: see note 94. His Pasión de nuestro Señor Jesu Christo según Sanct Joan (Valencia, 1563) met with considerable success. It contains a complimentary sonnet by Gil Polo: in the following year Girón y de Rebolledo repaid the attention by contributing a sonnet to Gil Polo's Diana enamorada.
[209] Jaime Juan de Falcon, like Garcerán de Borja and Girón y de Rebolledo, figures in Gil Polo's Canto del Turia: see note 94. He was born in 1522 and died in 1594, having (as he believed) squared the circle. Amongst other works he published the Quadratura circuli (Valencia, 1587): his Obras poéticas latinas (Madrid, 1600) appeared posthumously.