Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Fernando VI
drew upon his fertile imagination and cre-
ative energy to produce some 300 novels,
in approximately 500 volumes, thus recall-
ing the literary fecundity of L
OPE
DE
V
EGA
during the S
IGLO
DE
O
RO
(Golden Age).
Much of his work was originally distributed
in the form of installments following the
contemporary practice of French and Brit-
ish authors (including Alexandre Dumas
and Charles Dickens). His output was aided
by his use of secretaries who went on to
become writers themselves, notably V
ICENTE
B
LASCO
I
BAÑEZ
.
Fernández y González specialized in the
romantic-historical style of Sir Walter
Scott. His novels were largely the product
of his vivid imagination rather than his-
torical research. They were full of sharply
contrasting heroes and villains in a pictur-
esque world of castles and pageantry that
left little room for plot or character devel-
opment. After launching his career at the
age of 16 he went from success to success,
becoming legendary for his egotism and
extravagant lifestyle. Although he became
extremely wealthy from his writings, his
lavish taste eventually reduced him to
poverty.
Among the best-known novels of
Fernández y González are
Rodríguez de
Sanabria
(1851),
El condestable don Álvaro
de Luna
(1851),
El pastelero de Madrigal
(The pastry maker from Madrigal, 1862),
El cocinero de su majestad
(His majesty's
cook, 1857),
El Conde Duque de Olivares
(1870), and
Don Miguel de Mañara. Memo-
rias del tiempo de Carlos V
(Don Miguel de
Mañara. Memoirs from the time of Charles
V, 1877).
Fernando VII
Fernando de Noronha (Fernão de
Noronha)
Discovered in 1503 by the navigator whose
name it bears, this island of 10 square miles
was one of a number of landfalls made by
the Portuguese during their 16th-century
voyages between their dominions in Africa
and America. Unlike Tristão da Cunha,
which was annexed by the British in 1816,
this island and its smaller dependencies
remained under Portuguese rule until B
RA
-
ZIL
proclaimed her independence. Located
some 225 miles northeast of the Brazilian
port in Natal, it has variously served as a
penal colony and a military base. With
somewhat more than 1,000 inhabitants, it
acquired the status of a Brazilian federal
territory in 1942. During the height of the
cold war, from 1950 to 1962, it served as a
missile tracking base.
Ferrer, Francisco
(1859-1909)
Spanish educator
Born of a prosperous Catalan farming fam-
ily, Ferrer was the product of a conventional
upbringing and schooling. By the time he
was in his 20s, he had come under the
influence of radicalized coworkers, and as a
clerical employee of a railroad company, he
became a courier for anarchist groups. In
1886 unwelcome attention from the police
forced him to settle in France. In Paris he
earned his living by teaching Spanish and
extended his circle of radical contacts. The
ineffectuality of anarchism led him to
Fernando V
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