University of Virginia Library

V. Conclusion

The poem of 1521, written almost certainly after May of that year, the publishing of the Trivagia in Rome also in 1521, and the ongoing project for a new edition of his complete works all show that Encina, only six or seven years before his death in 1529, was far from written out. By his own admission on folio ii of his 1496 Cancionero, Encina began writing at age fourteen. He tells of "obras . . . hechas por Juã del enzina desde q̃ huvo catorze años hasta los veynte y cinco primeramente." Since on the best evidence Encina was born on July 12, 1468, his poetic activity began therefore in 1482-83 and extended to at least 1521-22, a period of some forty years. Contrary to the impression created by Cotarelo, this activity

was continuous, not violently truncated after the age of thirty. Encina wrote drama steadily after 1496 and miraculously improved his own prototypes. Throughout the 1520's it doubtless remained his intention to leave a complete edition of his works, but old age, palsy and death claimed him first. If all our suggested revisions to the chronology of the Encinian canon proved correct, then, the accompanying table would more accurately portray the writer's career than does Cotarelo's standard account of 1928. We would be forced to assign works such as Fernández's Farsa del soldado a date after 1511, suggesting that Encina was a pioneer in the 1490's, as tradition insists, rather than one of a numerous Castilian "school" (Lucas Fernández, Gil Vicente, Torres Naharro, Garci Sánchez de Badajoz, etc.). We would see him as a man who followed his artistic star resolutely, learning from the Italians and attempting dramas on an ever larger scale. He did not become a mindless orgiast after 1500, but studied avidly, tending the flowers that he himself had planted.

                                     

Title of Play or Poem	No. of López Mor.	Revised Date of Composition and/or Performance	Cotarelo's No. and Date	First Published
0 First poems	--	1482-1493	--	Salamanca, 1496
1 Egloga en reqüesta de unos amores	VII	Early summer, 1495	7 Christmas, 1494	Salamanca, 1496
2 Egloga representada en la noche de la Natividad	I	December 24, 1495	1 Dec. 24, 1492	"
3 Egloga representada en la mesma noche de Navidad	II	December 24, 1495	2 Dec. 24, 1492	"
4 Egloga representada en la noche postrera de Carnal	V	Tuesday, Febr. 16, 1496	5 Shrovetide, 1494	"
5 Egloga representada en la mesma noche de Antruejo	VI	Tuesday, Febr. 16, 1496	6 Shrovetide, 1494	"
6 Representación a la muy bendita pasión	III	Friday, April 1, 1496	3 Holy Week, 1493	"
7 Representación a la santíssima resurrección	IV	Sunday, April 3, 1496	4 Holy Week, 1493	"
8 Egloga representada por las mesmas personas	VIII	Early summer, 1496	8 Christmas, 1495	"
9 El triunfo del Amor	X	April 2-Oct. 4, 1497	11 Summer, 1497	Salamanca, 1507
10 Egloga de las grandes lluvias	IX	December 24, 1498	12 Dec. 24, 1498	Salamanca, 1507
11 Egloga interlocutoria	--	Early summer, 1499	9 Christmas, 1496	Revue Hispanique, 1916 (By Cronan)
12 Egloga de los tres pastores	XII	1508-1509	13 1496	Salamanca, 1509
13 Aucto del repelón	XIII	1507-1509	10 Before 1492	Salamanca, 1509
14 Egloga de Cristino y Febea	XI	Around July, 1511	14 1497	Madrid, 1893 (By Cañete)
15 Farsa de Plácida y Victoriano	XIV	Jun.-Dec., 1512 Perf. Jan. 6, 1513	15 1513	Rome, 1514
16 Trivagia o viage a Jerusalem	--	Late in 1519	-- 1519	Rome, 1521
17 Coplas sobre el año 1521	--	After May, 1521	-- --	Bull. Hisp. Studies 1961 (By Jones)

Fig. 1. Comparative Chronology of Encina's Works