Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. III.djvu/522

494 FERDINAND AND ISABELLA. PART II. 1520, 1518. Garcilasso, Mendoza, and the other master-spirits were trained, who moulded Castilian literature into the new and more classical forms of later times. ^^^ It was under Gonsalvo de Cordova, that Leyva, Pescara, and those great captains with their in- vincible legions were formed, who enabled Charles the Fifth to dictate laws to Europe for half a cen- tury. And it was Columbus, who not only led the way, but animated the Spanish navigator with the spirit of discovery. Scarcely was Ferdinand's reign brought to a close, before Magellan completed, what that monarch had projected, the circumnavigation of the southern continent ; the victorious banners 156 In the two closing Chapters of Part I. of this History, I have noticed the progress of letters in this reign ; the last which display- ed the antique coloring and truly national characteristics of Castilian poetry. There were many circum- stances, which operated, at this period, to work an important revo- lution, and subject the poetry of the Peninsula to a foreign influence. The Italian Muse, after her long silence, since the age of the trecen- tisti, had again revived, and poured forth such ravishing strains, as made themselves heard and felt in every corner of Europe. Spain, in particular, was open to their influ- ence. Her language had an inti- mate affinity with the Italian. The improved taste and culture of the period led to a diligent study of foreign models. Many Spaniards, as we have seen, went abroad to perfect themselves in the schools of Italy ; while Italian teachers filled some of the principal chairs in the Spanish universities. Last- ly, the acquisition of Naples, the land of Sannazaro and of a host of kindred spirits, opened an obvious communication with the literature of that country. With the nation thus prepared, it was not ditficult for a genius like that of Boscan, supported by the tender and polish- ed Garcilasso, and by Mendoza, whose stern spirit found relief in images of pastoral tranquillity and ease, to recommend the more fin- ished forms of Italian versification to their countrymen. These poets were all born in Isabella's reign. The first of them, the principal means of effecting this literary rev- olution, singularly enough, was a Catalan ; whose compositions in the Castihan prove the ascendency, which this dialect had already ob- tained, as the language of litera- ture. The second, Garcilasso de la Vega, was son of the distinguished statesman and diplomatist of that name, so often noticed in our Histo- ry ; and Mendoza was a younger son of the amiable count of Tendilla, the governor of Granada, whom he resembled in nothing but his gen- ius. Both the elder Garcilasso and Tendilla had represented their sov- ereigns at the papal court, where they doubtless became tinctured