Juan Manuel, Duke of Peñafiel

Don Juan Manuel (Escalona, 5 May 1282 - Peñafiel, 13 June 1348) is one of the most important Spanish medieval writers, nephew of Alfonso X el Sabio, son of Infante Don Manuel de Castilla (Lord of Escalona and Peñafiel) and Lady Beatrice of Savoy.

Biography

Don Juan Manuel (1282-1348) was born in the Castle of Escalona in the province of Toledo and was a politician and very active soldier. He was son of Juan Manuel of Villena (the son of Fernando III Santo) and his second wife Beatrice of Savoy. With the death of his mother Beatriz in 1292, Juan Manuel became duke of Peñafiel. Don Juan Manuel was trained in arts such as equestrianism, hunting, and fencing, and in addition learned Latin, history, law, and theology. At the age of twelve, he fought to repel the attack of the Moors from Granada to Murcia. He married three times, choosing his wives for political and economic convenience, and worked to match his children with partners associated with royalty. Don Juan Manuel became one of the richest and powerful men of his time, coining his own currency as the kings did. During his life, he was criticized for choosing literature as his vocation, an activity thought below a nobleman of such prestige.

Don Juan Manuel had constant confrontations with his king. At the time, the throne of Castile was occupied by two monarchs, Fernando IV and Alfonso XI. Juan Manuel's loyalty was with Alfonso, to whom Juan Manuel gave hand of his daughter Constanza. The wedding was postponed several times, until finally Alfonso XI jailed Constanza in the Castle of Toro for unclear reasons. This incident angered Juan Manuel, who decided to turn against Alfonso. He declared war on Alfonso, beginning a confrontation that lasted five years.

Finally the Pope brought about reconciliation between Juan Manuel and Alfonso XI. This reconciliation was not complete until 1340, when Juan Manuel and Alfonso allied against the Muslims in the Battle of Río Salado, taking the city of Algeciras. After these events, Juan Manuel left political life and retired to Murcia, where he spent his last years focused on literature. Proud of his works, he decided to compile them all in a single volume. This compilation was destroyed in a fire, with no known copy preserved.

In 1348, Juan Manuel died at the age of sixty-six years old. Throughout his life, he wrote approximately thirteen books, of which only eight are preserved today. These works are predominantly didactic.

Literature

Following the path of his uncle, Alfonso X of Castile, Juan Manuel wrote in Castilian, a peculiarity in times when Latin was the 'official' language for educated writing. Juan Manuel wrote in the vulgar to facilitate access to literature for a greater number of readers.

However, his writings were almost exclusively written for people of the nobility. His works reflect his character, ambitions, and beliefs. This is seen particularly in his "Treaty of Asunción" in which he defends the dogma of the Immaculate Conception.

Works

Juan Manuel's work is marked by a great preoccupation with the body, soul, and intelligence of an ideal medieval horseman. Generally it is classified as material for education of princes.

The structure of stories in "El Conde Lucanor" reflects the ordinances and hierarchical structuring of the medieval world. In the first parts a young nobleman, Lucanor, proposes an abstract problem to Patronio; later, he gives an apologue which extracts the solution from Patronio's tale, applying it to himself. Juan Manuel concludes the story with a short verse, condensing the moral of the story into short, concrete statements.

Children

By Constanza of Aragon:
* Constanza Manuel (c 1323-1345), who married Pedro I of Portugal.
* Beatrice, died young

By Blanca Núñez de Lara:
* Fernando Manuel (d c 1350), Lord of Escalona, Penafiel and Villena, who married 1346 Joana of Ampurias, a daughter of Ramón Berenguer, Count of Ampurias, himself a younger son of James II of Aragón. The couple had a daughter, Blanca Manuel (c 1348-1361), heiress of Villena, Escalona and Penafiel until 1361.
* Juana Manuel (1339-1381), who married 1350 Enrique II of Castile (1333-79) and became Queen of Castile.

Illegitimate by Inés de Castañeda:
* Sancho Manuel (1320-1347)
* Enrique Manuel (1340-1390)

Illegitimate by unknown woman [http://www.bisabuelos.com/bio/castilla_juanm.html] :
* Guiomar Manuel de Villena (who married Juan Martínez de Leiva, Señor de Baños, Merino Mayor de Castilla)
* Juana Manuel de Villena (who married Juan Galíndez de Avendaño, Señor de Mújica)

Bibliography

* Ayerbe-Chaux, Reinaldo. ' ' Count Lucanor: Traditional matter and originality creadorá'. Madrid: J. Porrúa Turanzas, 1975. * Biglieri, Aníbal A. ' ' Towards a poetic one of the didactic story: Eight studies on count Lucanor". Chapel Hill: UNC Dept. of Romance Languages, 1989.
* Flory, David. ' ' Count Lucanor: Don Juan Manuel in its context históricó'. Madrid: Sheets, 1995. * Giménez Soler, Andrés. ' ' Don Juan Manuel. Biography and study críticó'. Zaragoza: F. Martinez, 1932.
* Hammer, Michael Floyd. "Framing the Reader: Exemplarity and Ethics in the Manuscripts of the ' Count Lucanor'." Ph.D. University of Californian AT Los Angeles, 2004.
* Lida de Malkiel, Maria Rosa. "Three notes on Don Juan Manuel." ' ' Romance Philology' ' 4,2-3 (1950): 155-94. * Wacks, David A. "Don Yllán and the Egyptian Sorcerer: Vernacular commonality and literary diversity in medieval Castile." ' ' Sefarad' ' 65,2 (2005): 413-33.
* MacPherson, Ian. ed. "Juan Manuel: A Selection". London: Tamesis Texts Limited, 1980.

ee also

* Spanish Literature.

External links

* [http://www.gibralfaro.net/biografias/pag_1238.htm Infante Don Juan Manuel (Biografía)]