Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
PROVINCES
. Contemporary Navarre is per-
haps best known for the picturesque cele-
bration of the annual feast of San Fermín,
in which celebrants (many of them tourists
from all over the world) run through the
streets of the capital, Pamplona, ahead of a
herd of bulls.
Among Nebrija's major works are
Intro-
ductiones latinae
(1481), the first Latin gram-
mar published in Spain;
Interpretation
dictionum ex sermone latino in hispaniensem
(1492), the first Latin-Spanish dictionary;
Gramática sobre la lengua castellana
(1492),
the first grammar of the Castilian language;
Interpretación de las palabras castellanas en len-
gua latina
(1495), and
Reglas de ortografía en
la lengua castellana
(1517), a Spanish spell-
ing book.
Of his Spanish grammar book Nebrija
proudly declared that he had written it so
that the language would follow the spread
of empire that he foresaw reaching out
across the Old World and the New. Perhaps
demonstrating the persistence of his youth-
ful frustration with his professors, he also
compiled a treatise on the best methods of
teaching drawn from the classical writers
who had clearly understood their business.
Unfortunately this latter work,
De liberis
educandis
(1509), remained in manuscript
and was not published until nearly 400
years after the author's death.
Nebrija, Elio Antonio de
(1441-1522)
Spanish humanist
During his lifetime Nebrija fulfilled the
dreams that many intellectuals have had
throughout the centuries. As a student at
Salamanca he became dissatisfied with the
archaic and imperfect methods of his teach-
ers and went off to Italy to study at the
fountainhead of the “new learning.” When
he returned to Spain after 10 years he
received an appointment at Salamanca,
where he introduced the scholarship and
subject matter of classical studies in the
fields of Latin grammar and rhetoric that he
had experienced in Renaissance Italy. His
reputation led Cardinal F
RANCISCO
J
IMÉNEZ
DE
C
ISNEROS
(with whom he collaborated in
his production of the Complutensian Bible)
to bring him to the new university at Alcalá.
There he was, moreover, given ideal condi-
tions, for he was permitted to teach what
he wished, or not teach at all but to devote
the greater part of his time to writing. At
Alcalá Nebrija pursued his mission of trans-
forming the “backward” and “semi-barba-
rous” state of scholarship in Spain into a
condition that could stand comparison with
that of other countries. Indeed, Nebrija
achieved the ultimate ambition of a learned
man—to shape and direct the scholarly life
and letters of his country as it entered upon
its golden age.
Netherlands, Revolt of the
Variously known as the Netherlands, the
Burgundian provinces, the Low Countries,
the 17 duchies, counties, and lordships in
northwestern Europe that were the inheri-
tance of the Spanish House of H
ABSBURG
became a source of wealth and of prolonged
political turmoil. C
HARLES
I of Spain (Holy
Roman Emperor Charles V) was born in the
city of Ghent (now in Belgium) and main-
tained throughout his life (1500-58) a strong
identification with his Burgundian origins.
Although he spent an increasing amount of
his time in Spain in his later years, he
retained the affection and allegiance of his
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