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Bernardo de Balbuena
Bernardo de Balbuena | |
|---|---|
 Retratos de españoles ilustres: Con un epítome de sus vidas, 1791. Real Imprenta de Madrid. | |
| Bishop of Puerto Rico | |
| In office December 14, 1620 – October 11, 1627 | |
| Preceded by | Pedro de Solier Vargas O.S.A. |
| Succeeded by | Juan López de Agurto de la Mata |
| Personal details | |
| Born | November 20, 1562 |
| Died | October 11, 1627 (aged 64) |
Consecration | January 27, 1622, by Pedro de Oviedo Falconi |
Bernardo de Balbuena (Valdepeñas, Kingdom of Toledo, November 20, 1562 – San Juan Bautista, Captaincy General of Puerto Rico, October 11, 1627) was a Spanish ecclesiastic and poet, considered one of the most outstanding figures of the literature of the Golden Age in the viceregal sphere.
Settled in New Spain and the Greater Antilles, he is known for his masterpiece Grandeza mexicana, an epic poem that exalts Mexico City, and for his work as Bishop of Puerto Rico, an office he held from 1623 until his death.[1][2]
Birth and origins
Bernardo de Balbuena was possibly born in Valdepeñas (according to others, in Viso del Marqués), as the natural son of Doña Luisa Sánchez de Velasco and Don Bernardo de Balbuena, secretary of the Real Audiencia of New Galicia. His paternal grandparents were Don Rodrigo de Balbuena and Doña Teresa Martínez de Santisteban, important landowners of El Viso closely connected with the Bazán family, Marquises of Santa Cruz.[3] Little is known of Doña Luisa Sánchez de Velasco, despite her evident illustrious origin, perhaps because of Balbuena's own attempts to conceal his illegitimate birth.
He also had a brother named Francisco de Balbuena Estrada, perhaps the same one mentioned by Fray Antonio Tello in his work Libro segundo de la crónica miscelánea (1891, 218).
"Francisco de Balbuena Estrada, Rodrigo de Carbajal Ulloa, Francisco de Torquemada, Marcos de Carcoma, Alonso Perez, Martín de Renteria, Diego Lopez Altopiza, Diego de Villegas, Antonio Díaz Benavente de Brizuela, Alonso de Roa, Pedro Arias de Bustos, Alonso de la Puebla. In this list go all the conquistadors and settlers who founded the city of Compostela, both in Tepic and in the valley of Cactlán, whom I have wished to place here all together, so as not to list them again when I come to treat of how the city of Compostela was moved from Tepic to the said valley of Cactlán."[4]
From his father, Francisco de Balbuena Estrada received important properties in San Pedro de Lagunillas, next to Compostela, then capital of New Galicia. Owing to legal matters, Bernardo de Balbuena the father returned to Spain and, shortly afterward, acknowledged a son named Bernardo de Balbuena.
Journey to America and beginning of his career
It is important to note that, until the 1950s, it was believed that Balbuena left Spain when he was barely two years old and that his education and personality were determined by this fact. However, thanks to Rojas Garcidueñas's biography Bernardo de Balbuena: la vida y la obra (1958), it is known that around the 1580s, when the young poet was barely 20 years old, he requested a license to travel to the New World and join his father, who had returned barely two years after his birth. After 20 years of silence in the documentation on Balbuena's life, references to the young poet are found from his arrival in the territories governed by his father, places where he studied theology and served as a churchman.
Between 1585 and 1590 he won two poetry contests and settled in the city of Guadalajara; in 1592 he was appointed Chaplain of the Real Audiencia of New Galicia and parish priest of the mines of Espíritu Santo, leaving the family home in San Pedro Lagunillas.[5] During those years he began to develop his poetic project El Bernardo, a work consisting of 24 books and 40,000 verses in octavas reales, which he finished ten years later and published in Madrid in 1624. He probably began writing La Grandeza Mexicana around 1593, a work he dedicated in its first edition to Don Fray García de Santa María Mendoza y Zúñiga, Archbishop of Mexico, and in a new printing to Pedro Fernández de Castro, Count of Lemos, President of the Council of the Indies.
Rise
Balbuena wished to rise on the social ladder and advance his ecclesiastical career, so at the beginning of 1603 he returned to Mexico City to prepare his return to Spain, a journey he would make in 1606. In Spain he obtained his doctorate in Theology from the University of Sigüenza in 1607; the following year he published his pastoral novel Siglo de Oro en las Selvas de Erífile, which contains a short praise of Mexico City, with laudatory compositions by the famous poets Lope de Vega and Francisco de Quevedo and a prologue by the playwright Antonio Mira de Amescua, who, in addition to praising the work, took the opportunity to make a thorough analysis of the genre. In 1608 he was appointed head of the abbey of Jamaica, a post he reached in 1611 with the intention of turning the island into a bishopric, an unattained goal that led Balbuena to aspire to another office. This would happen in 1620, when he was appointed Bishop of Puerto Rico, where he arrived in 1623. With Balbuena already of advanced age, amid fatigue and the harsh conditions of life in the Caribbean, his situation worsened after the siege by Dutch pirates who destroyed his house and burned his treasured library in 1625, an event of great significance that came to be mentioned in Laurel de Apolo (1630) by Lope de Vega:
And ever sweet your memory,
generous prelate,
most learned Bernardo de Balbuena.
You held the crook
of Puerto Rico, when the fierce Henry,
rebellious Dutchman,
robbed your library,
but not your genius, for he could not,
though he apply the forces of oblivion.
— Silva II, vv. 111–119
Balbuena's spirit did not survive this incursion and his literary presence was never felt again; his flame went out in San Juan de Puerto Rico in 1627.
No portraits of him survive except the engraved effigy included in his Grandeza mexicana, which served as the basis for a drawing by the Valencian José Maea (1760–1826), engraved by Rafael Esteve with the legend "D. Bernardo de Balbuena. Natural de Valdepeñas en la Mancha. Abad de Jamayca Obispo de Puertorico insigne poeta épico y bucólico: nació en 1568 y murió en 1627" ("D. Bernardo de Balbuena. Native of Valdepeñas in La Mancha. Abbot of Jamaica, Bishop of Puerto Rico, distinguished epic and bucolic poet: born in 1568 and died in 1627"). This engraving was included in Retratos de los españoles ilustres (Madrid, Imprenta Real, 1791), an iconographic collection produced at the end of the 18th century that sought to preserve the memory of notable Spaniards, promoted by the Count of Floridablanca and supported by Charles IV.
La Grandeza Mexicana
Content
The work Grandeza mexicana, published in 1604, belongs to the genre of chorography, a type of writing that combines the geographical, historical and cultural description of a place. Divided into nine chapters, the work exalts Mexico City as a center of cultural, political and religious splendor in the context of New Spain. The contents of each chapter are detailed below:
Chapter I. De la famosa México el asiento (The site of famous Mexico). This chapter opens with a dedication to Doña Isabel de Tovar y Guzmán, whom Balbuena praises for her noble lineage and virtues. He then describes the geographical location of Mexico City, situated on a lake surrounded by mountains, highlighting its temperate climate, its imposing buildings, its orchards, gardens and the causeways that connect the city with the surrounding lands. Balbuena marvels at the ingenuity of building a city on water, reflecting on the ambition and mastery of its founders.[6]
Chapter II. Origen y grandeza de edificios (Origin and grandeur of buildings). Balbuena compares Mexico City with the great cities of antiquity, such as Rome, and with the principal cities of Spain, using allegories to emphasize its magnificence. He describes the urban layout, ordered like a chessboard, and devotes verses to the rich architecture of its churches, palaces and squares, highlighting the monumentality of the viceregal capital as a reflection of its cultural greatness.[7]
Chapter III. Caballos, calles, trato y cumplimiento (Horses, streets, dealings and courtesy). In this chapter, Balbuena expresses his admiration for the horses of New Spain, comparing them with celebrated steeds of mythology and history, such as those of Achilles or Alexander the Great. He highlights the skill of the riders who parade through the streets and squares, describing in detail the colors, ornaments and trappings of the horses and their horsemen. He also exalts the city's vibrant commerce, mentioning the exotic goods that reach its markets.[6]: 35–40
Chapter IV. Letras, virtudes, variedad de oficios (Letters, virtues, variety of trades). Balbuena lists the various trades that give life to the city, from craftsmen to artists, praising the quality of their work and the materials they use. He condemns the poverty of other regions and exalts Mexico as a center of virtue, culture and learning, highlighting its schools, the charity of its inhabitants and the presence of illustrious men. This chapter reflects his vision of Mexico as a cosmopolitan and cultured city.[8]
Chapter V. Regalos, ocasiones de contento (Delights, occasions of contentment). The author describes the joy that life in Mexico City gives him, where religious festivities, comedies, music and elegance coexist. He praises the luxurious carriages, the affability of the inhabitants, the refined manners of the ladies and the abundance of delicacies and riches, presenting the capital as a place of pleasure and sophistication.[7]: 70–80
Chapter VI. Primavera inmortal y sus indicios (Immortal spring and its signs). This chapter focuses on the natural beauty of the Valley of Anáhuac, with its mountains, rivers, trees and lush flora. Balbuena builds the image of an earthly paradise, where the city, situated in the middle of a lake, appears as a magical and eternal place, emphasizing the fertility and harmony of its surroundings.[6]: 50–55
Chapter VII. Gobierno ilustre (Illustrious government). Balbuena exalts the authority of the Viceroy, the Archbishop and the secular and ecclesiastical institutions that guarantee the order and greatness of the city. He describes the courts, churches and other institutions as pillars of Mexico's majesty, highlighting good government as the foundation of its prosperity.[7]: 90–100
Chapter VIII. Religión y Estado (Religion and State). In this chapter, the author lists the religious orders present in New Spain, such as the Franciscans, Dominicans and Jesuits, and describes their churches, convents and hospitals, highlighting their role in evangelization and social welfare. He underlines the importance of religion as the basis of viceregal identity.[8]
Chapter IX. Todo en este discurso está cifrado (All is summed up in this discourse). The final chapter, by way of epilogue, summarizes the themes treated, reiterating the praise of the Spanish spoken in Mexico, commerce, the arts and the University. Balbuena reflects on the conquest, Christianization and the transformations of the city, celebrating its greatness as comparable to that of the principal cities of Spain and likening it to an ideal of civilization.[6]: 60–65
Editions of La Grandeza Mexicana
The first work published by Bernardo de Balbuena is not a homogeneous work. The core of the volume is a text titled La Grandeza Mexicana, a poem written in tercetos encadenados about Mexico City. The earliest known edition of the work dates from 1604 and was published by Melchior de Ocharte in Mexico City;[9] from the prose introduction of that edition it is known that Balbuena wrote the book for a lady of Culiacán, Doña Isabel de Tovar y Guzmán, who had decided to enter a convent of nuns in the capital after the death of her husband and the entry of her only son into the Society of Jesus.
In addition to the text of the poem and the dedication, the first edition contains a long letter of 49 folios addressed to the Archdeacon Doctor Don Antonio Ávila de la Cadena, as well as a prologue and a series of sonnets and praises dedicated to him by Don Antonio de Saavedra y Guzmán, author of the Peregrino Indiano; Don Lorenzo de Ugarte de los Ríos, Alguacil Mayor of the Holy Office; Licentiate Miguel de Zaldierma de Maryaca; Doctor Don Antonio Ávila de la Cadena, Archdeacon of New Galicia; Licentiate Sebastián Gutierres Rangel; and Francisco Balbuena Estrada, the author's brother. After the verses of the poem of La Grandeza comes a treatise of 21 folios titled Compendio Apologético en alabanza de la poesía; thus the original edition of La Grandeza consists of three distinct elements: the letter to Doctor Don Antonio Ávila and the laudatory poems, the tercets in praise of the city, and the Compendio Apologético.
It is important to note that there are two 1604 editions of La Grandeza Mexicana, one published by Melchior Ocharte and the other by Diego López Dávalos.[10] The first edition is dedicated to Don Fray García de Mendoza y Zúñiga, Archbishop of Mexico, and the second to Don Pedro Fernández de Castro y Andrade, Count of Lemos. Apart from the title page and the dedication, the only difference is that the Dávalos edition includes a poem in honor of the Count of Lemos, since from folio nine onward the two printings coincide perfectly. Don Joaquín García Icazbalceta supposes that Balbuena had changed the dedication around 1606 (the year of the Archbishop's death), but kept the date of 1604[11] in the printing; whatever the reason, La Grandeza Mexicana was not reprinted until 1821 by the Real Academia, followed by some editions during the 19th century, among them a Mexican one by José María Andrade y Escalante and another from La Mancha by Eusebio Vasco in La Voz de Valdepeñas (1890, not 1881 as Van Horne records); it would not be until the 20th century that the work was recovered, but it would be necessary to wait until the second half of the century for it to begin to be reprinted on a regular basis.
The first 20th-century edition is the facsimile reproduction by the Sociedad de Bibliófilos Mexicanos, which in 1927 printed the complete work of the Ocharte edition and included the comments that Icazbalceta made on the work in Memorias de la Academia Mexicana Correspondiente a la Real Española,[12] as well as a reproduction of the title page of the Dávalos edition and the poem to the Count of Lemos; the work was edited again in 1930 by John Van Horne and the University of Illinois;[13] that printing contains an adequate introductory study, modernizes the spelling of the work and omits the poem to Don Fray García de Mendoza y Zúñiga, Archbishop of Mexico City, and the Compendio Apologético.
The third edition was produced by the National University in 1941, with a prologue by Francisco Monterde and illustrations by Julio Prieto Posadas; this edition contains only the dedication to the Count of Lemos, the poem of La Grandeza Mexicana and the complete Bernardo. In 1954 the work was reissued once more by the National University, with the addition of a cover designed by Francisco Moreno de Capdevila. Since the 1954 edition the work has been reissued countless times; however, the edition of the Sociedad de Bibliófilos Mexicanos is the last one to contain the complete content of the 1604 edition, since from Van Horne's edition onward the spelling has been modernized and all texts other than the main poem have been excluded, with the exception of the dedication to the Count of Lemos.
In 2011 a new edition appeared, this time a critical one, prepared by the scholar Asima Saad Maura. Under the imprint of the Madrid publisher Cátedra (Madrid: Cátedra), her edition includes a meticulous introduction, footnotes and a solid bibliography that serves as a reference for those interested in analyzing Balbuena's work. As a critical edition, Saad Maura uses the first editions of "Grandeza mexicana" published in 1604 (Dávalos and Ocharte) together with several later ones, detailing the changes made by the different editors. Saad Maura's critical edition also contains the prose treatise that Balbuena composed in praise of poetry.
El Bernardo o Victoria de Roncesvalles (1624)
The epic poem El Bernardo o Victoria de Roncesvalles [1], critically edited for the first time in 2017,[14] is a lengthy poem that narrates the story of its protagonist, the traditional Castilian hero Bernardo del Carpio, in relation to other characters typical of Renaissance epic, such as Orlando or Angelica from the Orlando furioso of the Italian poet Ludovico Ariosto or from the Orlando innamorato of Matteo Maria Boiardo. The poem follows the central plot of the confrontation between the court of the Astur-Leonese King Alfonso the Chaste and the court of Charlemagne, having as its main source the famous chanson de geste El Cantar de Roldán. In his text Balbuena employs elements characteristic of the fantastic epic, so that it is not unusual to find in the reading magicians, fairies, mythical creatures, journeys through the air, apparitions, visions, etc.
Literary context
The production of the Bernardo comes at a moment of glory and bellicosity of the Hispanic Monarchy. Already under Charles V, but with greater incentive during the reign of Philip II, many poets took advantage of their experience as knights of the realm, as was the case of Miguel de Cervantes or Alonso de Ercilla, to compose poems in honor of the monarchy and thereby, consequently, forge a future for themselves and gain greater influence. Historical subject matter is the most widely used by these poets, who drew inspiration from glorious moments of Spain's past to justify the moment they were living; an example of this would be La Jerusalén conquistada (1609) by the Phoenix Lope de Vega or La Carolea by Jerónimo Sempere.
In turn, these poets drew inspiration from the great Renaissance epic poems, recovering the Virgilian topos of the translatio imperii and the imperium sine fine in order to equate the reign of the Habsburgs with that of the Emperor Augustus.
Plot
It is divided into 24 books, each summarized in an introductory argument and closed by an allegory that conveys some sapiential content deduced from the argument.
Book I: description of the conflict between Spain and France, journey of the fairy Alcina to the palaces of Morgana, situation of the Count of Saldaña — father of Bernardo del Carpio —, negotiations of Charlemagne.
Book II: Alcina explains to Morgana how they will take revenge on Orlando, and describes the lineage of Bernardo del Carpio, a descendant of the Gothic kings. Morgana, pleased by the hero's noble origin, promises to grant him the arms of Achilles.
Book III: Ferraguto, envious of Bernardo's glory, sets out to find him to confront him. Elsewhere, the Council of War held at Charlemagne's court is described.
Book IV: Orontes hangs the magician Malgesí from a tree; a book falls from him, out of which comes a demon who promises to destroy Spain, but its guardian angel does not allow it, promising the discovery of a New World. Bernardo finds Angelica on a galleon, where he is knighted.
Book V: Council of War of King Alfonso the Chaste. Parallel stories of love and war of Ferraguto, Yucef and Argina.
Book VI: Orlando tells a fable to consider which is the greatest gift that Fortuna can grant. Bernardo finds an island where he meets a physician who manages to cure Orimandro.
Book VII: The story of Ferraguto and Gundemaro continues.
Book VIII: It is described who Arleta is and why she wants to take revenge on Ferraguto. Other stories of love and conflict are narrated.
Book IX: Bernardo finds Angelica trapped in the claws of a dragon and meets Proteus, from whom he learns who his parents were.
Book X: Ferraguto gets lost in a forest and comes upon a castle. What happened there is described.
Book XI: Angelica is captured by some corsairs; Bernardo and Orimandro go to rescue her. Orlando tells a fable.
Book XII: Orlando and his companions are turned into golden statues. Garilo meets the warden of Sansueña, who tells him how the Gothic King Rodrigo lost Spain.
Book XIII: Celebrations at the court of Charlemagne are described. Orimandro describes the monsters that live in Crete. Bernardo tries to free Angelica from her abduction by the corsairs.
Book XIV: Bernardo continues his journey and enters the cave of Themis, where she reveals to him stories of humankind and, through an allegorical discourse, shows him the origin of falsehood and ignorance.
Book XV: Orlando confronts Garilo; the latter hides in the house of an alchemist and steals Angelica's ring from him. Malgesí makes a ship fly and describes Europe.
Book XVI: Geographical description of Italy and France and of the greatness of Spain.
Book XVII: The description of Europe continues. Bernardo confronts falsehood and ignorance, a victory praised by Apollo and the Muses.
Book XVIII: Bernardo refuses to marry Crisalva because he is in love with Angelica. They return to Spain.
Book XIX: The story of Hernán Cortés in the conquest of the New World is described, as well as the royal line of descent from King Alfonso the Chaste to Charles V.
Book XX: Bernardo arrives at the Castle of El Carpio, which is enchanted. Beforehand he frees Garilo and meets Teudonio, who informs him of the imprisonment of his parents.
Book XXI: Bernardo overcomes the enchantment of the Castle of El Carpio and returns to the King's court with a group of knights. Morgante and Orimandro make a journey to Africa.
Book XXII: Charlemagne has an ominous dream in which the defeat of France at the hands of Bernardo is foretold to him.
Book XXIII: The fantastic origin of the city of Granada is told. Spain and France prepare for war.
Book XXIV: Clash between the two armies. Bernardo del Carpio and his Leonese knights kill Orlando and the Twelve Peers. Spain emerges victorious from the Battle of Roncesvalles.
Poetics
Through his Compendio apologético en alabanza de la poesía (1604), Balbuena, together with the enigmatic Peruvian Clarinda of the Discurso en loor de la poesía (1608), reaches in the study of poetics a level similar to the highest among the other scholars of the Old World. The ideas he held on the subject often reappear in his other works. His idea of poetry is just that, an idea of Platonic rank, inimitable and beyond criticism, since it is not susceptible to criticism as a genre — only the poets who try to approach it without merit are; it cannot be taught, only discovered and set free through study and rhetorical work in pursuit of ultimate beauty. If poetry has defects, "it is not the fault of the art... but of those who, with feeble talent and resources, defame and discredit it by throwing themselves into it without learning, experience and spirit."
In the end, poetry has been and is, since the beginning of the world, its joy and solace, so pleasant and sweet that with its harmonious delight it attunes the soul and entertains it, composes the spirit, mitigates anger, relieves toils, accompanies solitude [...] awakens virtue, refreshes the human limbs [...] It delights and pleases all [...] it regales and consoles all, it pleases all and lifts up the spirit (136–137)[15]
To achieve this end, the poet must possess not only Platonic divine inspiration, but also know the rules of the art. Balbuena criticizes Spanish poetry for being "pure force of imagination, without being restrained and set in measure and rule with those that the art of its faculty requires" (130).[16] He thus combines the Platonic conception of poetry of the Renaissance with the conception of it as scientia scientiarum characteristic of the "learned poet" of Mannerism.
Works
- Balbuena, Bernardo de, Grandeza mexicana del bachiller Bernardo de Balbuena, dirigida al ilustrísimo Y Reverenisimo Don Fr. García de Mendoza y Zuñiga, Arzobispo de México. Del Colegio de su Magestad, Mexico, Melchior Ocharte, 1604, [140 numbered folios][2]
- Balbuena, Bernardo de, Grandeza Mexicana del Bachiller Bernardo de Balbuena, dirigida al excelentísimo don Pedro Fernández de Castro, Conde de Lemos, y Andrade, Marques de Sarria, y Presidente del Real Consejo de Indias, Mexico, Diego López Dávalos, 1604, [141 numbered folios].[17][3]
- Balbuena, Bernardo de, Siglo de oro en las selvas de Erífile; del dotor Bernardo de Balbuena...; en que se describe una agradable y rigurosa imitación del estilo pastoril de Teócrito, Virgilio y Sanazaro..., Madrid, Alonso Martín at the expense of Alonso Pérez, 1608.
- Balbuena, Bernardo de, El Bernardo o Victoria de Roncesvalles : poema heroyco del doctor don Bernardo de Balbuena abad maior de la isla de Iamayca ..., Madrid, Diego Flamenco, 1624.
- Balbuena, Bernardo de, Grandeza mexicana y fragmentos del Siglo de oro y El Bernardo, edited with a prologue by Francisco Monterde, Mexico, Ediciones de la Universidad Nacional, 1941, 207 pp.
- Balbuena, Bernardo de, Grandeza mexicana y fragmentos del Siglo de oro y El Bernardo, 2nd edition, prologue by Francisco Monterde, Mexico, Ediciones de la Universidad Nacional, 1954, 207 pp.
- Balbuena, Bernardo de, Grandeza Mexicana, facsimile reproduction of the first edition, Mexico, Sociedad de Bibliófilos Mexicanos, 1927 (MCMXXVII), 140 pp.[4]
- Balbuena, Bernardo de, La grandeza mexicana de Bernardo de Balbuena, edited according to the original editions of 1604, with an introduction and notes on the works and authors cited by Balbuena, by John Van Horne, Urbana, University of Illinois, 1930, 176 pp.
- Balbuena, Bernardo de, La grandeza mexicana, preliminary study by Luis Adolfo Domínguez, Mexico, Editorial Porrúa, 1985.
- Balbuena, Bernardo de, Grandeza mexicana, edited by José Carlos González Boixo, Rome, Bulzoni, 1988.
- Balbuena, Bernardo de, Siglo de Oro en las selvas de Enfile, edited by José Carlos González Boixo, Xalapa, Universidad Veracruzana, 1989.
- Balbuena, Bernardo de, Poesía lírica, edited by Matías Barchino, Ciudad Real, Biblioteca de Temas y Estudios Manchegos-Diputación de Ciudad Real, 2000.
- Balbuena, Bernardo de, Grandeza mexicana, edited by Asima F. X. Saad Maura, Madrid, Cátedra, 2011.
- Bernardo de Balbuena, El Bernardo, o victoria de Roncesvalles, ed. Martín Zulaica López, pref. Alberto Montaner Frutos, Siero, Ars Poetica, 2017, 2 vols, ISBN 978-84-946787-6-9
Bibliography
- Van Horne, John, Bernardo de Balbuena. Biografía y crítica, Guadalajara, Imprenta Font, 1941.
- Rojas Garcidueñas, José, Bernardo de Balbuena: la vida y la obra, México, Instituto de Investigaciones Estéticas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 1958.
- Lara Vila. 2011. Estudios sobre tradición épica occidental (Edad Media y Renacimiento). Edited by Lara Vila. Madrid: Editorial Caronte.
- Lara Vila. 2014. «'Han escrito cosas prodigiosas fuera de toda verdad' Magia y maravilla en la épica española del Renacimiento.» In Magia y maravilla en la épica española del Renacimiento, edited by Alberto Montaner and Eva Lara Alberola. Salamanca: SEMYR.
- Tello, Antonio. 1891. Crónica miscelánea, en que se trata de la conquista espiritual y temporal de la santa provincia de Xalisco en el nuevo reino de la Galicia y la nueva Vizcaya y descubrimiento del Nuevo México. . Guadalajara: Imprenta de la 'República Literaria' de Ciro L. de Guevara y Ca.
- Geoffrey Parker. 2015. El rey imprudente: la biografía esencial de Felipe II. Barcelona: Planeta.
- Bernardo de Balbuena. 2011. Grandeza Mexicana. Edited by Asima F.X. Saad Maura. Madrid: Cátedra.
- Bernardo de Balbuena, El Bernardo, o victoria de Roncesvalles, ed. Martín Zulaica López, pref. Alberto Montaner Frutos, Siero, Ars Poetica, 2017, 2 vols, ISBN 978-84-946787-6-9
References
- ↑ Van Horne, John (1971). Introducción a Grandeza mexicana (in español). University of Illinois Press. pp. 1–15. ISBN 978-0252002328.
- ↑ "Bernardo de Balbuena". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved October 11, 2025.
- ↑ Muñoz del Campo, José (2017). "Bernardo de Balbuena, entre España y México, El Viso y Valdepeñas" (PDF). El Viso Único. (in español). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 23, 2018. Retrieved February 25, 2019.
- ↑ Tello, Antonio (1891). Libro segundo de la crónica miscelánea (in español). Guadalajara (México): Imprenta de la 'República literaria'. p. 218.
- ↑ Balbuena, Bernardo de (1940). "Cap. II: La Nueva España". In John Van Horne (ed.). Bernardo de Balbuena: biografía y crítica (in español). Guadalajara (México): Universidad de Illinois.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Van Horne, John (1971). Introducción a Grandeza mexicana (in español). University of Illinois Press. pp. 25–30. ISBN 978-0252002328.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Merrim, Stephanie (1994). The Spectacular City: Mexico in the Colonial Imagination. Stanford University Press. pp. 45–60. ISBN 978-0804722872.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Bernardo de Balbuena". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved October 11, 2025.
- ↑ Balbuena, Bernardo de (1604). Grandeza mexicana del bachiller Bernardo de Balbuena, dirigido al ilvstrisimo y Reverendisimo Don Fr. García de Mendoza y Zuñiga, Arzobispo de Mexico. Del Colegio de su Magestad (in español). México: Melchior Ocharte. Retrieved June 10, 2016.
- ↑ Balbuena, Bernanrdo de (1604). Grandeza Mexicana del Bachiller Bernardo de Balbuena, dirigida al excelentisimo Don Pedro Fernandez de Castro, Conde de Lemos, y Andrade, Marques de Sarria, y Presidente del Real Consejo de Indias (in español). México: Diego López Dávalos.
- ↑ García Icazbalceta, Joaquín (1898). Obras (in español). Vol. VIII. México: Imprenta de V. Agüeros. pp. 14–15.
- ↑ Balbuena, Bernardo de (1927 (MCMXXVII)). Grandeza Mexicana (in español). México: Sociedad de Bibliófilos Mexicanos. pp. V–VII. Retrieved June 10, 2016.
{{cite book}}: Check date values in:|year=(help)CS1 maint: year (link) - ↑ Balbuena, Bernardo de (1930). John Van Horne (ed.). La grandeza mexicana de Bernardo de Balbuena (in español). Universidad de Illinois.
- ↑ The first critical edition of El Bernardo, almost four hundred years after the first edition, was published by the Spanish publisher Ars Poetica in 2017 and prepared by the philologist Martín Zulaica.
- ↑ Cf. F. J. Cevallos, op. cit., p. 505.
- ↑ Cevallos, Francisco Javier (July–December 1995). "Imitatio, aemulatio, elocutio. Hacia una tipología de las poéticas de la época colonial". Revista Iberoamericana , vol. LXI, núm. 172-173 (in español). Retrieved January 5, 2022.
- ↑ This is basically the same edition as Mexico, Melchior Ocharte, 1604, with changes to the title page, preliminary pages and the dedication. Cf. José Rojas Garcidueñas, Bernardo de Balbuena: la vida y la obra, México, Instituto de Investigaciones Estéticas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 1958.
External links
- Works by Bernardo de Balbuena on Spanish Wikisource
- Personal profile at Catholic Hierarchy
- Portrait of Bernardo de Balbuena with an epitome of his life included in the book Retratos de Españoles ilustres, published in 1791.
- Biography of Bernardo de Balbuena by Fernández Juncos
- Royal Spanish Academy edition of Siglo de Oro en las Selvas de Erifile
- Facsimile edition of the illustrated Bernardo del Carpio published in 1852 by Gaspar y Roig
- Anthology of the Bernardo del Carpio selected by Manuel José Quintana
- Fragment of the Grandeza mexicana
- Digitized works of Bernardo de Balbuena in the Biblioteca Digital Hispánica of the National Library of Spain
