- Francisco de Sá de Miranda
Francisco de Sá de Miranda (1481? – 1558), pron. IPA2|fɾɐ̃'siʃku dɨ sa dɨ mi'ɾɐ̃ðɐ, was a Portuguese
poet of theRenaissance .Life
Sá de Miranda was the son of a canon of
Coimbra belonging to the ancient and noble family ofSa . His brother,Mem de Sá , was the third governor ofcolonial Brazil .Sá de Miranda passed his early years by the banks of the river
Mondego , considered a source of inspiration to many other poets. He made his first studies of Greek, Latin andphilosophy in thecollege of theSanta Cruz Monastery , and in 1505 went to University of Lisbon (theUniversity of Coimbra had moved to Lisbon in 1380) to study law, beginning at the same time to attend the Portuguese court and write poems in the mediaeval style still dominant in Portugal.He travelled to
Italy in 1521, were he was able to make contact with many writers and artists of theRenaissance , includingVittoria Colonna (who was his relative),Pietro Bembo ,Sannazzaro andAriosto . On his way home, in 1526, he visitedSpain , meeting classical writersJuan Boscan andGarcilaso de la Vega .Back in Portugal in 1526 or 1527, he was again received in the court, where he became a friend to King John III and other nobles. Four years after his return he decided to move to the
Minho province, in the North of the country, were he purchased land. Around 1530 he married Briolanja de Azevedo, a lady of noble birth.In 1552 he moved to the Quinta da Tapada, near
Amares , where he died around 1558.Work
Like many Portuguese writers of his time, Sá de Miranda often wrote in Spanish apart from Portuguese. His early work is all in the form of the typical 15th century Portuguese poetry (the "vilancete", the "cantiga", the "esparsa" and the "trova"). Influenced by his travels in Italy and Spain, Sá de Miranda introduced a new aesthetics in Portugal. He introduced the
sonnet , theelegy , theeclogue and other classical poetic forms, adapting thePortuguese language to thedecasyllable verse.Apart from poems, Sá de Miranda wrote two theatrical comedies following classical forms: "Estrangeiros" (staged in Coimbra in 1528 and published in 1559) and "Vilhalpandos" (written around 1530 and published in 1560). His tragedy "Cleópatra" has only survived in fragments.
He also left several letters in verse, addressed to people like King John III and his brother Mem de Sá.
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