Re: Bit Che V1 0 Build 60 Guevara Edition
Leana Eckes
Born in Treceo in the province of Cantabria, he spent some of his youth at the court of Isabella I of Castile. In 1505 he entered the Franciscan order. He successively held the offices of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor's court preacher, court historiographer, Bishop of Guadix, Bishop of Mondoedo and counselor to Charles V. He travelled in the royal entourage during Charles V's journeys to Italy and other parts of Europe. His most well-known work, entitled The Dial of Princes (Reloj de prncipes in its original Spanish), published at Valladolid in 1529, and, according to its author, the fruit of eleven years' labour, is a mirror for princes in the form of a didactic novel, designed after the manner of Xenophon's Cyropaedia, to delineate in a somewhat ideal way, for the benefit of modern sovereigns, the life and character of an ancient prince, Marcus Aurelius, distinguished for wisdom and virtue. It was often reprinted in Spanish; and it so speedily attained fame that before the close of the century there were published several translations in Latin, Italian, French, German, Dutch and English. The two earliest English translations are by Lord Berners (London, 1534) and later by Thomas North. This book appeared in an earlier form in 1528 in pirated editions as Libro Aureo. The pseudo-historical nature of the book gave rise to a literary controversy, the author having claimed in his prologue that the book was drawn from an imaginary manuscript in a library belonging to the Medicis in Florence.
"As far as religion is concerned, if one wakes up in the middle of night, it is to laud the Lord in the Divine worship. But at the court, they stay awake all night infinite times, for no other reason than to keep up with the world."
Besides the above-mentioned controversy, there was another regarding the two chapters on the Danubian Farmer, which appeared in different versions both in the Libro ureo and the Reloj de prncipes in which, it has been argued, the Farmer is a metaphor for the New World indigenous peoples and the Roman Empire is nothing less than the Spanish Empire.
Guevara, (Antony de), preacher and historiographer to the emperor Charles V, was born in the province of Alaba in Spain. He was brought up at court; but after the death of queen Isabella of Castile, he turned a Franciscan friar, and very honourable employments in his order. Afterwards, having made himself known at court, he was made a preacher to Charles V, and was much esteemed for his politeness, eloquence, and great parts. He ought to have been contented with the glory he got by his tongue; for, pretending to write books, he made himself ridiculous to good judges. His high-flown and figurative style, full of antitheses, is not the greatest fault of his works. An ill taste, and a wrong notion of eloquence, put him upon such a way of writing; which was an inconsiderable thing, if compared with his extravagant way of handling history. He broke the most sacred and essential laws of it, with a boldness that cannot be sufficiently detested; and he shewed that no man was ever so unworthy of the character of Chronicler to Charles V, which was given him. He alleged a very bad excuse, when he was censured for it: he pretended, that, excepting the holy scripture, all other histories are too uncertain to be credited.[6]