Origin and history of Spanish (2/4): Antonio de Nebrija.

Fernando III, the Saint, during the first half of the XII^th century as well as his son Alfonso X the Wise during the other half, widened the limits of the Castilla y Leon territory in their offensive against Muslims until the frontiers of the Reign of Granada. It was an important period for the building and consolidation process of Castilian. Fernando III promoted the translation of Fuero Juzgo, legal body of around 500 laws proceeding from an old translation from Latin named Liber luciciorum, from the Visigothic period.

Alfonso X, thanks to a conscientious education, had already written and translated important works, including documents, poems and hymns, before becoming king. During his reign he completed a big work related to science, history and law. The XIII^th century was therefore very important for the refinement of the Castilian language, forming a differential centre with respect to Latin and the Romance language of the peninsula.

In1492, inthe Iberian peninsula many different languages were spoken, such as Asturian, Leonese, Aragonese and Catalan, but in these times, the strongest and most conquering was Castilian, which coincides with the discovery ofAmerica. That same year the first important documents for the establishment and regulation of Spanish were published, thanks to Antonio de Nebrija.

“Gramática Castellana” is considered the first grammatical treaty dedicated to this language, vulgar in those times. That same year, the author Antonio de Nebrija, also elaborated a Latin-Spanish dictionary. Two years later he completed the work with a Spanish-Latin dictionary, and later, already in1517, atreaty of orthography. Nebrija’s work marked a real cultural revolution for Spanish history.

Antonio de Nebrija, or de Lebrija, from the locality where he was born, located between Sevilla and Cadiz, was also a historian, pedagogue, grammarian, astronomer and poet. He previously studied in Salamanca and Bolonia (Italy), and was later, in Seville under the protection of the Sevillian cardinal Juan de Zúñiga, who freed him from his teaching work to dedicate himself to write this grammar piece which definitively consolidated the Castilian language.

Image: Retrato de Antonio de Nebrija, by Antonio del Rincón and Escarlati http://goo.gl/GrqTV

 

Tags: alfonso X, Antonio de Nebrija, history of Spanish

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