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ing that satisfied his readers. Unfortunately
the income he was able to command from
the endless task he had accepted became
not so much a mark of success but a form of
enslavement.
territory has, after 500 years, failed to
completely overawe the other regions of
the country.
Castro, Eugénio de
(1869-1944)
Portuguese poet
Like so many Portuguese men of letters
before him, Castro sought to reanimate
what he considered the uninspired and
archaic poetry of his nation by introducing
new ideas and new forms from abroad. He
returned from a visit to Paris in 1889 full of
enthusiasm for the Symbolist movement
that was then flourishing in France. Portu-
guese poetry was, he told all who would
listen to him, little more than vapid nation-
alism. What was needed was a bold and
emotional outpouring of deep thoughts and
profound realities. He provided inspiration
for the rising generation in Portugal and
offered them a series of examples in the
collections of poetry that he published at
regular intervals for several decades. These
included
Horas
(1891),
Belkiss
(1894),
Sagramor
(1895),
Salomé
(1896),
Saudades do
Ceú
(1899)
Constança
(1900),
Depois da Ceifa
(1901), and
Camafeus Romanos
(1921).
Castro's standing as Portugal's preemi-
nent poet was recognized by his appoint-
ment as director of the Faculty of Letters at
the University of Coimbra and by his elec-
tion to membership in the academies of
Portugal, Spain, and Brazil.
Castile (Castilla)
As the petty kingdoms of northern Spain
began their struggle against the Muslim
invasion during the early Middle Ages that
would grow into the R
ECONQUISTA
, Castile
emerged to a position of leadership. Her
aggressive sovereigns and warrior lords
would gradually elbow aside rivals such as
A
STURIAS
, L
EÓN
, and N
AVARRE
. They would
overrun moorish territory to the east and
the south, finally capturing G
RANADA
in
1492. In the course of this great enterprise
Castile not only became the political unifier
of Spain but absorbed much of the ever-
expanding frontiers. In time it became nec-
essary to distinguish between Castilla la
Vieja (Old Castile), the original kingdom,
and Castilla la Nueva (New Castile), which
included the later acquisitions. This distinc-
tion between Old and New Castile was pre-
served in the regional reorganization of
Spain during the 1970s: The region known
as Old Castile—including the provinces of
Ávila, Burgos, Logroño, Palencia, Santander,
Segovia, Soria, and V
ALLADOLID
with a total
area of 25,523 square miles and its capital
at Burgos—was set apart from the region of
Castile-La Mancha—including the prov-
inces of Ciudad Real, Cuenca, Guadalajara,
M
ADRID
, and T
OLEDO
with an area of 28,010
square miles and its capital at Toledo.
Although Castilians still regard them-
selves as the most authentic Spaniards and
their Castilian language as the purest form
of Spanish, the size and centrality of their
Castro y Bellvís, Guillén de
(1569-1631)
Spanish dramatist
Born to a family of Valencian gentry, Cas-
tro served as an army officer, attained the
rank of knight of Santiago, and through
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