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Garcia de Resende | |
|---|---|
 House of Garcia de Resende, Évora | |
| Born | 1470 |
| Died | 3 February 1536(1536-02-03) (aged 65–66) |
| Occupations | Poet and editor |
Garcia de Resende (1470 – 3 February 1536) was a Portuguese poet and editor. He servedJohn II as a page and private secretary. After John's death, he continued to enjoy the same favour withManuel I, whom he accompanied toCastile in 1498, and from whom he obtained aknighthood in theOrder of Christ.[1]
In 1514, Resende went toRome withTristão da Cunha, as secretary and treasurer of the embassy sent by the king to offer tribute toPope Leo X. In 1516 he was given the rank of a nobleman of the royal household, and becameescrivão de fazenda toPrince John, afterwards King John III, from whom he received further pensions in 1525.[1]
Resende built achapel in themonastery ofEspinheiro nearÉvora, thepantheon of theAlentejonobility, where he was buried.[1]
He began to cultivate the making of verses in the palace of John II, and he reported that how one night when the king was in bed he caused him Resende to repeat some "trovas" (troubador songs) ofJorge Manrique, saying it was as needful for a man to know them as to know thePater Noster. Under these conditions, Resende grew as a poet, and moreover distinguished himself by his skill in drawing and music; while he collected into an album the best court verse of the time. This was theCancioneiro Geral (General Songbook), probably starting in 1483, though not printed until 1516, which includes the compositions of some three hundredfidalgos of the reigns of kingsAfonso V, John II, andManuel I.[1]
The main subjects of its pieces are love,satire andepigram; and most of them are written in the nationalredondilhaverse, but themetre is irregular and therhyming careless. The Spanish language is largely employed, because the literary progenitors of the whole collection wereJuan de Mena,Jorge Manrique,Boscán andGarcilaso. As a rule the compositions were improvised at palace entertainments, at which the poets present divided into two bands, attacking and defending a given theme throughout successive evenings. At other times these poetical soirées took the form of a mock trial at law, in whichEleanor, the queen of John II, acted as judge. Resende was mocked by other rhymesters about his corpulence, but he repaid all their gibes with interest.[1]
The linguist Edgar Prestage gives an assessment of theCancioneiro Geral in theEncyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition.[2]
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Prestage, Edgar (1911). "Resende, Garcia de". InChisholm, Hugh (ed.).Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 23 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 182.