2023 Author: Jake Johnson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-24 23:11
It is believed thatHernando de Pulgarwas born in Toledo, since he is the son of a scribe from this city, around the year 1420 or 1430.
he was a man who had his place in the politics of the fifteenth century, since he waschroniclerof Henry IV and later of the Catholic Monarchs; In addition, he served as secretary of the latter and was actively involved in political and administrative reforms.
Hernando de Pulgar is an important writer in the historiography of fifteenth-century Spain. In addition to his chronicles, he wrote a series of biographies of the most outstanding men of the moment that he collected under the title Claros hombres de Castilla. But the work that makes him shine above the rest is the one en titled Letras, a epistolary-type work that deals with various subjects in different tones. The letters collected in them are destined on some occasions to well-known characters and, on others, to undercover interlocutors. In addition to the variety it offers, this work is valuable for being one of the first expressions belonging to the epistolary genre to be written in Romance language. In this book, Hernando de thumb goes deep into the country's problems and reveals a clear awareness of equality among all men.
A defender of justice and with a somewhat anti-aristocratic attitude, Hernando del Pulgar states in some of his writings that man does nothe can choose the lineage or the social class in which he is born, but he does own his actions and the path he takes in his life, and, therefore, he can choose. This idea had its importance in the reign of the Catholic Kings, in which they enjoyed a certain mobility and it was possible to promote themselves in that society. In the text that we have been talking about, Hernando del Pulgar intends to make it clear what his style is; for example, a characteristic feature that provides a new tone to the writings is the use of ironic mockery towards some classical writers, especially Cicero. In the first letter that appears in Letters, the writer reproaches Cicero for not clearly exposing the troubles of old age in his compositions.
Del Pulgar sets himself the objective of transmitting the life of man in a realistic way in his writings and, for this, he uses the first person singular and presents himself as a witness of what has been told; although we still do not see a true autobiographical work. What does attract attention during the reading of Lyrics is the tenderness and human warmth that the author transmits; an example of this is the passage in which Hernando del Pulgar addresses her daughter from whom he has to separate since she has entered a convent. It has been said that the Letters of Hernando del Pulgar represent the beginning of the Renaissance in Castile.
The writer is aware that he is addressing an audience that welcomes his personal experiences and becomes a writer who shows his individualitypersonal without being buffoonish, or at least initially.
