Chessays - Dr. Ricardo Calvo

The Origins of Chess

LOVE, CHESS AND LITERATURE IN LUCENA
AN UNNOTICED PRECEDENT OF "LA CELESTINA"

Part I

by Dr. Ricardo Calvo
(Special thanks to Carmen Romeo, who kindly forwarded Goddesschess this remarkable essay.)

Editorial note: The following portion of a longer essay was OCR scanned in prepartion for this html version - a process that causes typographical errors. While the English and Spanish has been proofed, Spanish grammatical accents cannot be reclaimed using OCR techniques. I apologise for any difficulties that may result from this shortcoming.

A second installment of Dr. Calvo's "Lucena" containing all subsequent chapters of his work will be forthcoming at a later date. We thank our readers for their patience and hope to have the remainder of this essay processed in the shortest possbile time. DMc)

The oldest preserved book on modern chess, (i.e. - the game being played with the current rules of movement), was written by a Spaniard named Lucena and printed in Salamanca by Hutz and Sanz. The book was published in 1497 under the following title:

"Arte breve e introduccion muy necesaria para saber jugar al axedres, con ciento y cincuenta juegos de partido; intitulada al serenisimo y muy esclarecido don Johan el tercero, principe de las Spanas. Por Lucena, hijo del muy sapientisimo doctor y reverendo prothonotario don Johan Ramirez de Lucena, embaxador y del consejo de los Reyes nuestros senores, studiando en el preclarisimo studio de la muy noble cibdad de Salamanca".

There are still many points to be researched, and these pages are an account of my personal efforts so far. Lucena himself remains a mystery in most relevant points of his personality, beginning with his name. In the foreword of this facsimile, Cossio calls Lucena "Luis Ramirez de Lucena", quoting the authority of the Spanish 19th century bibliophile Gallardo "who should have good reasons to call him so". In this book, I prefer to call him only Lucena, because it is the way he named himself. Being the first preserved author on modem chess, it is surprising the scarcity of data about Lucena. Really, the efforts to research his personality and his work are not very prolific.

On the other hand, the study of the social and historical landscape surrounding Lucena's work gives us several clues about the author, including his psychology. Some of the obvious conclusions, so far unnoticed by previous studies, are very important, I believe, not only for the history of chess but particularly for the history of Spanish literature of this period. So, it is perhaps the moment to give Lucena part of the attention he deserves. Before deciding to publish my results, I submitted it to prof Peter Russell, from Oxford, who encouraged me to continue. I am also grateful to Victor Keats, from London, for his support and particularly to John Byrne, who polished the English version.

Introduction:

The purpose of these pages is to analyze a precedent which almost certainly inspired Femando de Rojas and decisively influenced the configuration of his perennial book, "La Celestina". A man named Lucena wrote the oldest preserved book on modern chess, i.e., the game being played with the current rules of movement.

This book was printed in Salamanca by Hutz and Sanz in 1497, two years before the first accepted edition of "La Celestina". The first edition of Roja's "La Celestina" appeared in 1499. According to Gilman, who researched its origins in depth, the creation of this famous work must have taken place during the Easter holidays of 1498, or, at the earliest, in 1497, following the appearance of Lucena's book.

Stephen Gilman's "The Spain of Femando de Rojas - The Intellectual and Social Landscape of La Celestina", provides a basic reference to this period in Salamanca. Princeton University Press. 1972. I have used the Spanish version "La Espana de Femando de Rojas". Madrid, Taurus 197S..The entire chapter VI (pp 267-345) is dedicated to Salamanca.

Description of Lucena’s book:
An overview of Lucena’s book in its historical frame

The first odd sounding aspect of Lucena's treatise is the title "Repeticion de amores e Arte de Acedrex". During Lucena’s time, the word "Repeticion" meant an academic dissertation - a university speach. The basic form of teaching at the University of Salamanca where Lucena studied was the "Repeticion". To perform it, a professor read from an initial text, followed by pertinent comments, chains of psilogisms, deductions, inductions, and quotations of other authors related to the subject.

At the end of the 15th century, scarcity of books continued to necessitate a transmission of knowledge that was basically verbal. As a result, the overall pedagogic structure had to be repetitive. According to the statutes of the University of Salamanca, in the annual presentation of a given candidate for the academic degree of licenciado, a "Repetition" in public was mandatory. The ceremony was very formal, with the expenses being paid by the candidate himself. Moreover, it is important to bear in mind that, by its very nature, a "Repetition" was something to be heard, rather than read. (About the importance of oral transmission, see Gilman pp. 307-310).

Upon opening the book, the impression of heterogeneity is unavoidable. The chess treatise, with the 150 diagrams printed as woodcuts, is by far the most significant and voluminous section of the book, but is preceded by other chapters which have little to do with chess.

Lucena's book is a mixture of many components. To analyze it, we encounter a preliminary obstacle. The book is very rare, and comparatively, only a few scholars have paid some attention to it. A second obstacle lies in the heterogeneity of the material. On purpose, scholars have excluded those parts that did not appear relevant to their particular field of interest.

From the historical and literary points of view, the most complete study is the one by Jacob Ornstein, published as an introduction to an edition of Lucena issued in 1954 by the University of HB North Carolina. (Lucena: Repeticion de amores. Edited by Jacob Ornstein. Chapel Hill 1954. North Carolina University. Studies in the Romance Languages and Literature. no. 23.). Basically, this study refers to the importance of the Repetition in the polemic controversies between misogyny and pro feminism so characteristic of the period.

Another American study is the one by Barbara Matulka under the title, "An anti-feminist treatise of fifteenth century Spain: Lucena's Repeticion de amores". (New York 1931. Institute of French Studies. Comparative Literature Studies).

Both studies concentrate on the literary section of the book, excluding from their analysis the chess treatise. On the other hand, chess historians refer only to the chess section.

"The first part of the book is for us indifferent", writes von der Lasa in his "Zur Geschichte und Literatur des Schachspiels". Also, H. J. R. Murray in his monumental, "A History of Chess", states that the first 50 pages of the book deal with a love subject and therefore are irrelevant to his purpose.

Tassilo von der Lasa."Das Werk des Lucena von 1498". Schachzeitung. Berlin .13 Jg. 1858, 443-445, 481-498. 14 Jg, 1859, 9-12, 41-45, 71-74, 104-102, 224-226. "Berlmer Schachennnerungen. Nebst den Spielen des Greco un Lucena vom Herausgeber des von Biguerschen Handbuches". Leipzig Veit. 1859.

Antonius van der Linde. "Quellenstudien zur Geschichte des Schachspiels". Leipzig 1881 (repnnt Osnabrruck 1968). pp. 231-239.

Adriano Chicco. "Lucena". In Contro Mossa. Venetia. Anno 5. n.2. Feb. 1980, 36-37. N.3, 46-47. This can be considered a basic bibliography on Lucena's chess contribution. The authorship of the chess MS. from Gottingen and Paris can also be ascnbed to Lucena.

Victor Place. "Le premier en date des theoriciens dujeu d'echecs". Paris 1992.

See also F.C. Gorschen. "Entstehung und Ursprung des neuen Schachs". Schach Echo 33, Konigsten 1975, 74-76, 91-92, 105-108. "Sprache und Bedeutung des Gottinger Handschnsft". Schachwissentschaftliche Forschungen, Wmsen/Luhe. N.6. Dec. 1975,163-170

But the fact is that both chess historians and literary experts experience common difficulties portraying Lucena's personality as an author. Clues to his character lie mainly in the literary pages of the Repetition, although there are occasions when addtional clues may be found in sentences hidden among chess problems. Despite being a mixture of many things, or perhaps precisely because of this, Lucena’s book should be analyzed as a whole.

The book begins with a Latin epigram ("Lucena in opere suo") composed by Francisco de Quiros as an homage to Lucena. Quiros, most probably one of Lucena’s professor and surely acquainted with him, was considered a Latin prodigy and obtained the chair of Latin poetry from 1496 untill 1503. The opening verse is followed by another more extensive Latin poem written by Lucena himself. In it, the challenges of love are compared to chess battles.

Subsequent parts of the book contain a preamble and an "exordium" dedicated to certain ladies, which can be understood when Lucena tells the following story:

While a student in Salamanca, Lucena fell in love with a girl and sees no other way to approach her except by using the services of a go-between - an old woman who has to transmit letters of amatory content ("uno. madre muy mucho mi amiga'"). However, the entire endeavour went terribly astray, and the old procuress was rejected by the girl in a scene strongly reminiscent of Act IV of "La Celestina". ("? Tu entrar en casas de nobles mugeres y tentar donzellas de tan alta sangre, y consentir que sean violadas, no rescibes verguenza?" and again in a rejecting letter to Lucena where she says "no soy la que tu piensas ni a quien devas enbiar alcagueta").

The mentioned incident gave Lucena a reason (or an invented excuse) to write the "Repeticion" about love and women in a style following the pattern of lessons of the university in which he was a student. "The order of my Repeticion does not differ from the one used in the scientific lessons", states Lucena. Thereafter, Lucena addresses his complaints to an imaginary tribunal presided over by Cupid. After some expressions of injured pride and other considerations about the vanity of love, Lucena launches a direct attack against Cupid himself, accusing him for troubles encounterd by mortal human beings due to the inflammatory and passionate effects of his arrows. Attributes of the powers of this God of Love are described in great detail, fullfilling at least twenty percent of the "Repeticion de amores". A turmoil of quotes from classical authors reinforce Lucena's arguments: Aristotle (37 times), Seneca (12) Cicero (10), Ovid (9) Titus Livius (4) and one quote of Quintus Curtius, Lucanus, Suetonius, Silius, Juvenal, Plato, Terence, Varro, Dionisius, St. Augustin, Macrobius, Caesar, Virgil, Horacius, Apuleius, Tibulus, Lygdamus, Boetius, Raban Maurus, Hugo of St. Victor, Richard of St. Victor and Guido di Colonna.

At the end of the Repetition, we find a "Peroration made by the very discrete and great orator the Bachiller Villoslada, in honour and glory of the man who dictated the present work". Although noone seems to have noticed, this somewhat sarcastic peroration ends with a series of acrostic verses, wherein the first letter of each verse composes "A Villoslada".

Acrosticity is not rare in Hebrew literature, and in Lucena's time it appears in other works originated among circles of converses or converted Jews. The best known example is again "La Celestina", wherein its author, Femando de Rojas, gives information about himself in such way.

Otherwise relatively unknown, Villoslada appears only in this Spanish poem, his character attempting to persuade the lady whom Lucena loves with the recurrent estribillo "No Ie negueys el favor”. ("Don't deny him your favour"). All these literary products form the non-chess sections of Lucena's incunabulum.

The next and largest section of the book is the chess treatise. This is preceded by an extensive dedication to the Prince Don Juan, heir to the Spanish throne. The chess section has the following title: "Arte breve e introduccion muy necesaria para saber jugar al axedres, con ciento y cincuenta juegos de partido: intitulada al serenisimo y muy esclarecido don Johan el tercero, principe de las Spanas. Por Lucena, hijo del muy sapientisimo doctor y reverendo prothonotario don Johan Ramirez de Lucena, embaxador y del consejo de los Reyes nuestros senores, studiando en el preclarisimo studio de la muy noble cihdad de Salamanca".

The importance of the chess treatise was apparently not fully realized by its own author. Significantly, it is no more and no less than the first book on modern chess. Preserved up until the present day, it becomes apparent that the old medieval rules of the game were displaced towards the end of the 15th century by more powerful rules of movement ascribed to the queen and bishop, and that this change made a tremendous impact upon the theory and practice of chess from Lucena's time onward.

When explaining the rules of the game, Lucena makes a careful distinction between the new way of playing chess, called "de la dama", and the ancestral rules, called "el viejo" (the old one). All 150 chess problems are equally classified in either group, 75 belonging to modern chess and 75 to medieval chess. So, both forms of play were, therefore, still coexistent in Salamanca when Lucena wrote his treatise. From that moment onward, however, the new rules of play spread rapidly in Spain and Italy, and in a few decades the old medieval form of play appears to have been completely forgotten in any European country. Even today, chess remains a product of this 15th century revolution for which Lucena's book remains the oldest preserved source.

Chronological Frame:

Since the prince was born in 1478 and died tragically in 1497, this is the general chronological frame. In fact, much informtion focuses upon the lattter period of the life of Pnnce John as being entirely concordant with the period during which Lucena wrote his book. We shall discuss it here, because this information also provides a basic picture of the period and the background of several attitudes expressed by Lucena.

This means that the prince was not a child, because he was old enough to rest from his occupations by playing chess. Other parts of the dedicatory reinforce this impresion, particularly the exaggerated flattery:

"...The prince compares in art of cavalry to Publius Cornelius Scipio, in patience to Mucius Scevola, in constancy to bulvius Flacus, in conimency to Drusus, in liberality to Quintus Fabius Maximus, in modesty to Siphar, king of Numidia. and to Perseus, king of Macedonia, in gratitude to Cayus, Marius and Darius, in pity, to Coriolanus..."

So, Lucena gives us here a cavalcade of characters, perhaps just to show his erudition, perhaps to flatter in an exaggerated manner, almost as a mockery, the heir of the crown. For our purposes, we may note that the prince is already an adult. Otherwise, continency could not be adscnbed as a virtue. The Drusus to whom Lucena was referring, is probably Marcus Livius Drusus, famous in Rome in the first century B.C. for his austerity. Veleius Paterculus reveals that the architect who was building his house promised to make it opaque to all glances. "On the contrary," said Drusus, "build it in such a way that everyone can look inside". (See for instance Enciclopedia Espasa. "Druso").

In any case, even if they don't appear to be very reliable, historical depictions of Lucena resonate with the period marking the last years of Prince John's short life. As we shall see, the chess treatise seems to have been written in a hurry, and probably, the same happened with the dedicatory, because many of the comparisons are not particularly matching.

For instance, Mucios Scevola is a mythical character of old Rome. During a siege of the city, he tried to kill the enemy king, but was captured and brought before him. Scevola (which means "the left-handed") then put his right hand into a brazier untill it was completely burned out, and told the king that in Rome, another 300 men were prepared to do the same in turn. The king gave up the siege of Rome. Mucius Scevola can be a model of several virtues, but not particularly of patience. The same applies to Coriolanus, who excelled in many aspects, but not particularly in pity (Any reader of Shakespeare or Plutarch should agree with this, I think). Taken together, these quotations, though suggestive, have little probatory value.

The dating of Lucena's book can be done much more exactly by other methods, and the history of German printers in Spain proves especially informative. The book was printed in Salamanca by Lope Sanz de Navarra, a priest and book merchant, and by Leonardus Hutz*, a German printer. Typographical research has established these facts are beyond all doubt. even if the book bears no mention of its printer or printers. (Konrad Haebler. "Geschichte des spanischen Fruhdruckes in Stammbaumen". Leipzig, Hiersemann. 1923. "Deutsche Drucker in Spanien und Portugal", in Zentralblatt Bibliothekwesen, XI, 1894, pp. 529-564. "Die deutschen Buchdrucker des Xv. Jahrhunderts im Auslande". Munchen 1924).

Copies of Lucena's Book

The book of Lucena, an incunabulum, is quite rare."Rarisimo...sobre todo encarecimiento" says Menendez y Pelayo ("Origenes de la novela" Edicion nacional. Santander 1943 II, p.55. Edicion original 1905)

In Spain, there exist nowadays only eight copies. One is preserved in the library of the University of Salamanca, with the first 37 pages destroyed. Another, also incomplete, resides in the library of El |Esconal. The National Library of Madrid has three complete copies. The "Catalogo general de incunables de las bibliotecas espanolas" Madrid 1989 mentions preserved copies at the Library of Royal Academy of History, Library of Cataluna and the private library of Bartolome March.

There are six further copies in the USA. The ones at the Library of the Congress, the Huntington Library and the Pierpont Morgan Librerv are complete. The Cleveland Chess Library, the Harvard College Library and the University of Princeton have only the chess part of Lucena's book. (Frederick R. Goff "Incunabula in American Libranes. A third census". Millwood. N.Y 1973 p. 387)

For his study on Lucena, the German bibliophile Antonius van der Linde worked with a copy preserved in the National Library of Brussels, bearing the code 11.13790. There are originals in the British Library (complete, except the first two pages) and in the Bibliotheque Nationale of Paris (only the chess section). The best Lucena incunabulum I have seen is in a private German collection belonging to Lothar Schmid in Bamberg. Van der Linde (Geschichte I, p.239) mentioned a SB handwritten copy with the signature LXXIII-K40 in Siena (Librena Communale). As described by Von der Lasa, although in poor condition, a copy of Lucena’s treatise resides in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil).

The King of Portugal, Joao VI, sent the book to Brazil during the Napoleonic invasion. This copy was used for a Brazilian edition of Lucena’s chess text (Altair da Souza. Rio de Janeiro 1974).

In Spain, a copy of the Biblioteca Nacional was employed in 1953 for a facsimile edition of 250 copies. These copies were , numbered and sealed by a public notary. In 1975, I obtained copy n. 185 and have been working with it since then. However, recently (1997), J. Perez de Amaga has produced a much better facsimile edition. ("El mcunable de Lucena. Primer Arte de ajedrez modemo". Ed. Polifemo. Madrid 1997).

Considering that Lucena is the first author whose preserved work deals with the subject of modern chess, scarcity of information about him is rather surprising. In fact, efforts to research his personality and his work are not very prolific. Most relevant points of his personality remain a mystery, beginning with his name. [n the foreword of this facsimile. Cossio calls Lucena "Luis Ramirez de Lucena", quoting the authority of the Spanish 19th century bibliophile Gallardo "who should have good reasons to call him so". In these pages, I prefer to call him only Lucena, because it is the way he named himself.

An uncommon mixture:

"Repeticion de amores y arte de axedres."
(Title of Lucena's book)

Scarcity of books and instructional texts still prevailed at the end of the 15th century. As a result, transmission of knowledge was basically verbal, and the pedagogic structure had to be, of necessity, repetitive. Therefore, it is important to keep in mind that, by its very nature, a "Repetition" was something to be heard, rather than merely read (1).

A second odd thing is the subject: To unite amatory literature with chess in the same book is, to say the least, unusual, (2) and upon examining Lucena’s text, the impression of heterogeneity is striking. The chess treatise, with 150 diagrams printed from woodcuts, is by far the most significant and voluminous section of the book, despite that it is preceded by other chapters which apparently have little to do with chess. Summarily, the overall content of Lucena’s book begins with a Latin epigram composed by a certain Francisco de Quiros as an homage to Lucena. This is, followed by another Latin poem, more extensive, written by Lucena himself to compare love battles with chess battles (3).

The next parts are a preamble and an "exordium" dedicated to certain ladies, which can be understood when Lucena tells the following story:

While a student in Salamanca, Lucena fell in love with a girl. Seeing no other way to approach her except through the services of a go-between, Lucena enlists an old woman to transmit letters of amatory content. Hoewver, the whole scheme goes astray, and the old procuress is rejected by the girl in a scene strongly reminiscent of Act IV of "La Celestina (4). The mentioned incident gives Lucena a reason (or an excuse, if it was invented) to write the "Repeticion" about love and women following the pattern of the lessons of the university in which he was a student. "The order of my Repeticion does not differ from the one used in the scientific lessons", states Lucena.

At the end of the Repetition, we find a "Peroration made by the very discrete and great orator the Bachiller Villoslada, in honour and glory of the man who dictated the present work". This somehow sarcastic peroration ends with a series of acrostic verses, wherein the first letter of each verse combines to read "A Villoslada". All these literary products form the non-chess sections of Lucena's incunabulum.

The next section, and the biggest one, is the chess treatise. This is preceded by an extensive dedication to the Prince Don Juan, heir to the Spanish throne. Since the prince died in 1497, the dedication is relevant to the chronology of the book, which lacks any mention of the date of printing or the names of the printers. The ultimate "terminus ante quern" is, therefore, 1497.

As we shall see, Lucena's book is a mixture of many components. To analyze it, we encounter a primary obstacle for, in fact,the book is very rare, and comparatively few scholars have paid attention to it. Moreover, a second obstacle lies in the heterogeneity of the material. Scholars have purposely excluded those parts not relevant to their particular field of interest.

From historical and literary points of view. the most complete study is one by Jacob Omstein (5). This analysis was published as an introduction to an edition of Lucena issued in 1954 by the University of North Carolina, and refers to the importance of the Repetition in polemic controversies between misogyny and profeminism so characteristic of the period. Another American study is the one by Barbara Matulka (6) under the title "An antiferninist treatise of fifteenth century Spain: Lucena's Repeticion de amores". Both studies concentrate on the literary section of the book, thereby excluding the chess treatise from their analysis.

On the other hand, chess historians refer only to the chess section. "The first part of the book is for us indifferent", writes von der Lasa in his "Zur Geschichte und Literatur des Schachspiels" (7). Also, H. J. R. Murray (8) in his monumental "A History of Chess", states that the first 50 pages of Lucena’s work deal with a love subject and are, therefore, irrelevant to his purpose.

But the fact is that both chess historians and literary experts have common difficulties portraying Lucena's personality as an author. Clues to his character lie mainly in the literary pages of the Repetition, but sometimes are to be found in sentences hidden among the chess problems. Despite being a mixture of many things, or perhaps precisely because of this, Lucena’s work should be analyzed as a whole. At the very least, a holistic approach to Lucena gives justification for the production of these pages.

And indeed, most of the relevant points (date of publication, influences, intellectual atmosphere, intention of the book etc) can only be deduced through interdisciplinary inquiries, a factor that will become evident in our next considerations.

Chronological Frame:

"Dedicated to the most serene prince John."
(Foreword of Lucena's chess treatise)

Lucena's book bears no date, but it is dedicated to Prince John. "Intitulada al serenisimo y muy sclarecido don Johan el tercero, principe de las Spanas". Since the prince was born in 1478 and died tragically in 1497, this is the general chronological frame. In fact, much informtion focuses upon the lattter period of Pnnce John’s life and demonstrates that it is entirely concordant with the period during which Lucena wrote his book. I shall discuss these circumstances in the following paragraphs, since this information also provides a basic picture of the period and historical background important to our understanding of the cultural dynamics that gave rise to several attitudes expressed by Lucena.

For instance, in his chess dedication, Lucena says: "I intended to carefully produce this book, because I desired that the prince might find rest from his noble thoughts and holy occupations, and alleviate his fatigue with the enjoyment"'. This means that the prince was not a child, because he was old enough to rest from his occupations by playing chess. Other parts of the dedication reinforce this impresion, particularly the exaggerated flattery: "...The prince compares in art of cavalry to Puhlius Cornelius Scipio, in patience to Mucius Scevola, in constancy to Fulvius Flacus, in continency to Drusus, in liberality to Quintus Fabius Maximus, in modesty to Siphar, king of Numidia, and to Perseus, king of Macedonia, in gratitude to Cayus, Marius and Darius, in pity, to Coriolanus..."

So, Lucena delivers a cavalcade of characters, perhaps as a display of erudition, or perhaps to flatter the heir to the crown in an exaggerated manner. Either way, certain elements of his dedication come close to mockery, a factor that does not establish itself very clearly until the full tale of the Prince’s life and death beomes known.

For our purposes, we may note that the prince is already an adult. Otherwise, continency could not be ascnbed as a virtue. Additionally, the Drusus to whom Lucena was referring, is probably Marcus Livius Drusus, famous in Rome of the first century B.C. for his austerity. (9)

For instance, Mucios Scevola is a mythical character of old Rome. During a siege of the city, he tried to kill the enemy king, but was captured and brought before him. Scevola (which means "the left-handed") then put his right hand into a brazier untill it was completely burned, and told the king that in Rome, another 300 men were prepared to do the very same thing in order to protect the city. As a result, the king gave up the siege of Rome. (10) Although Mucius Scevola can be the model of several virtues, patience was not one of them. The same applies to Coriolanus, who excelled in many aspects, but not particularly in pity. (11) Taken together, these quotations, though suggestive, have little probatory value.

The dating of Lucena's book can be done much more exactly by other methods. Evidence shows that it was printed in Salamanca by Lope Sanz de Navarra, a priest and book merchant, and by Leonardus Hutz, a German printer. Typographical research has established this beyond all doubt (12). However, the important fact is that Leonard Hutz had been working actively in Valencia, printing books untill early 1496 (13). He went thereafter, to Salamanca, where he printed several books together with Lope Sanz during the entire year of 1496 (14). After 1497 he proceded to Zaragoza, were he appears printing books with other associates (Jorge Cocci and Lupus Appentegger in 1499 and 1500). Later in his life. Hutz returned to Valencia (15). In any case, linking this together with the biography of Prince John provides the only possible dating for Lucena's book, which would be the year 1496 or, more likely, 1497.

The political background:

"I kiss the delphinic hands of your Highness, hailed as a king by the voices of the peoples."
(Lucena’s dedication to Prince John)

Because his period was dominated by major conflicts, historical references to Prince John appear in a rather isolated and marginal manner. To summarize: Prince John was born in Seville, on the 30th of June, 1478. As a result, popular celebrations of his birth were overshadowed by Spain’s war against Portugal.

His childhood runs relatively unnoticed, occasionally appearing in bnef snapshots. Among these vignettes,we find him riding side by side with Queen Isabella, his mother, for the triumphal entry into Granada in 1492. The next year, he rides with King Ferdinand, his father, in the magnificent reception given in honour of Columbus at Barcelona following his return from the first New World expedition. These instances perhaps refer to the "arte de caballeria" mentioned by Lucena in his flattering dedicatory.

The prince was the only son of Ferdinand and Isabella. The oldest daughter, also named Isabel, was born in 1470. After Prince John, came the "infantas" Juana (Cordoba 1480) and Catalina (Alcala 1485). Being the only male, John was proclaimed heir of the crown, and was expected to one day become "King John III".

Because of this, particular care was given to his education and the Queen adopted a method that combined all the advantages of domestic teaching with a collegial atmosphere. In the prince's entourage were always ten pupil companions from noble families, five of the same age as the prince, and five a little bit older. This form of classroom was chosen in order to stimulate rivalry among equals and emulation of the better ones. Moreover, a council of men with experience in State affairs met regularly with the prince to initiate him in the political arts. This was done according to a pattern already known to the caliphs. Also, artistic education composed part of the programme, and it was said that the prince showed an especially good aptitude for music. According to Lucena’s dedication, Prince John (called by the queen "my angel"), grew and excelled "...in goodness, justice, liberality, meekness, facility, prudence, insight, magnanimity and power, (that) surpasses all other sacred princes".

There are no explicit references to chess as having been a part of the prince's curriculum, but it is well known that King Ferdinand was very fond of the game. In the words of the royal chronicler Hemando de Pulgar, "King Ferdinand devoted more time to chess than he should". Apparenty, the prince must have been influenced, since in his privete room he used to keep a chess set (15).

Chess enjoyed a grand tradition in Spain, where it was regarded as a subject important to the education of noblemen. As early as the XI century, Moses Sephardi, the author of the "Disciplma Clericalis", mentions chess among desirable subjects for the education of noble youth: "Probitates vero haec sunt: equitare, natare, sagittare, cestibus certare, aucupare, scacis ludere...".

In many ways, chess was a defining characteristic of the court of Ferdinand and Isabella. For instance, Lucena's father, the roval ambassador D. Juan de Lucena, wrote in a letter to a nobleman in the court Alvarez de Zapata: "Whatever the king and queen are doing, good or bad, is done by us all. If it is good, to please ourselves. If it is bad, to please them. The King plays: we all are gamblers. The queen studies: we all are now students".

To highlight the picture, during the siege of Malaga, in 1487, a certain Ibrahim Algervi tried to kill the royal couple in their tent. However, he failed because he mistakenly attacked another couple, Beatriz of Bobadilla and Alvaro de Portugal, who happened at that moment to be playing chess. The couple’s attention to chess helped mislead the dagger of this Islamic Mucius Scevola.

So, Lucena was surely well aware of this peculiarity of the court, which permits us to speculate about the possible intentions of the author. Clearly, Lucena’s dedication flatters the prince, drawing royal attention towards his skills in chess in a manner that makes it appear as though he aspired to be included in the select group of noble youth sharing the educational programme of the prince.

Whatever his purpose, Lucena’s choice of vehicle could not fail to draw attention, since, during those times, a printed book was still something relatively new, attractive and noteworthy. Another interpretation for Lucena's purpose relates to his belonging to a well-known clan of "conversos", a factor we shall detail later. Inasmuch as Lucena’s exaggerated flattery sounds almost ironic, this may help explain certain ambivalences appearing in the dedication. In addition, curious mention of Mucius Scevola, poses questions about possible betrayal of Lucena's secret feelings as they come to be expressed in a somewhat Freudian manner.

To understand several hidden forces involved in the tragic fate of Prince John, who died at the age of nineteen in Salamanca, an overview of general political aspects seems relevant. Thus, it should be carefully noted that the "Reyes Catolicos", Ferdinad of Aragon and Isabella of Castile, suceeded in creating a unitarian state, the first in Europe. Subsequent to their initial political battles against the competing power of noble families and the war against the Portuguese, they consolidated the "Reconquista" in 1942 following the conquest of Granada and pushed towards a religious unification with the notorious expulsion of the Jews in 1492.

Also forthcoming via the overall framework of international political purposes, marriage policy proposes an additional factor. Within the compass of these intrigues, the first daughter, Isabella, was already a widow of D. Alfonso, heir to the Portuguese crown. Thereafter, in 1495, the new heir, D. Manuel, sent an embassy to seek the hand in marriage of his cousin’s widow. However, despite that secunty on the Portuguese flank was a major political priority, the Spanish royal couple were reluctant to accept this new marriage proposal because of the Jewish question and due to the fact that Portugal had absorbed a significant flow of expelled Spanish Jews, a situation Spain regarded as a potential danger.

Another project was to marry Prince John to Catalina of Navarra or the Duchess of Bretagne. But according to the historians, the Italian wars and particularly the conquest of Naples by the French king, inspired a strategy of political marriages with neighbours of France. In the description of this policy, one of its active ambassadors was Lucena's father.

Thus, in 1495, a double wedding was agreed upon between Spain and the Hapsburg Emperor. This marital alliance reccommended that Prince John marry Margaret of Austria, daughter of the Emperor Maximilian and the "infanta " Juana should wed the son and heir of the emperor, the Archduke Philip, heir of the Low Countries via his mother Mana Caroline, duchess of Bourgogne. In 1496, shortly after this agreement, the youngest daughter of the Spanish monarchy, Catalina, was promised to the Pnnce of Wales. Years later, she became the first wife of Henry VIII.

On October 20, 1496, there took place in Flanders the wedding ceremony between Juana and Philip. After this, Margaret, sister of Philip, travelled to Spain to marry Prince John, brother of Juana. Margaret sailed in the same fleet of 20 vessels and 3000 men which had previously taken Juana to Flanders. The voyage was tempestuous, as Columbus, already returned from his second expedition overseas, had predicted. But the biggest political tempest was yet to come.

Prince John appears suddenly at the forefront of this story in 1497, when he receives his fiance in Santander. With unprecedented splendour, the wedding ceremony took place on April 3, 1497 in Burgos. Almost in a fairy tale fashion, everything seemed promising to the couple. Among many other presents, Prince John received as dowry the university city of Salamanca, the very place Lucena wrote his book praising love, chess and Prince John.

Meanwhile, Prince Manuel of Portugal remained hesitant to fulfill Isabella’s request regarding the expulsion of all Jews from Portugal. Finally, however, he surrendered to political pressure and accepted this condition. Afterward, in a quiet and discrete ceremony, the marriage took place at the end of September 1497, in Valencia de Alcantara, near the border.

By contrast, during those same days, Salamanca exultantly celebrated the arrival of Prince John, who received the city as his dowry on September 28, 1497, for which there exists an impressive description of the atmosphere penned by a direct witness, the Italian Pedro Martir de Anglena (16).

However, as fate would have it, Prince John suddenly fell ill of a mysterious disease and, after three days of agony, died in Salamanca on October 4, 1497. There is no clear explanation for this illness and the official version of several historians is rather absurd. Their explanation offers how the lovemaking between John and Margaret was so passionate and intense that most of the court physicians became alarmed, and suggested a temporary separation of the couple. In contrary fashion, theologians rejected this idea with the sentence "Quos Deus coniuxit homo non separet". As the story goes, the result was the physical exhaustion of the prince and his death.

Be this as it may, a much more credibile theory of poisoning as revenge against the crown for its policy of prosecuting the Jews is possible to discern from the overall scenario. Caro Baroja ("Los judios en la Espana Modemay Contemporanea", Madrid 1978. II. page 181) relates that the archives of Navarra and in the Cathedral of Toledo have documents supporting the theory of poisoning. As a matter of fact, the Jewish physician of the prince, a Portuguese named Ribas Altas, was sentenced to death and burned a few days after. Also to be remembered is the prediction of Rodngo de Basurto, a "converso" and professor of astrology in Salamanca, who made statements about the prince's death before the royal visit. (J. E. Gillet "Propalladia" Filadelfia, 1961.Ill, p. 630. Ruiz de Vergara, "Historia" I, 229-30 Cfr. Gilman, note 9, p. 273)

This gives grounds for speculation, the primary question being whether Lucena was as aware of the murder conspiricy as Basurto seems to have been. Certainly, Lucena knew Basurto, who was one of his professors. Moreover, on March 8, 1497, the same printers of Lucena's book also pnnted Basurto's "Praxis prognosticandi", which suggests probable connections among this group of conversos. Furthermore, Lucena was well informed about the political background of royal marriages due to his father’s active participation in their negotiation. If so, the sarcastic "Repeticion de amores" might have been conceived as an oblique mockery of the marriage of the prince, and the dedication of the chessbook, replete with exaggerated flattery and 150 chess problems, a symbolic checkmate against a crown that Jews like Lucena had no reason to love.

Notes and complementary bibliography:

(1) A basic reference to this period in Salamanca is Stephen Gilman's "The Spain of Fernando de Rojas. The intellectual and social Landscape of I.a Celestina". Princeton University Press, 1972. I have used the Spanish version "La Espana de Femando de Rojas. Madrid, Taurus 1978. Referred from now on as GILMAN. The entire chapter VI (pp 267-345) is dedicated to Salamanca. About the importance of oral transmission, see pp. 307(c)310

(2) There are, however, precedents in the late Middle Ages. In France, "Les echecs amoureux" with no less than six MS still preserved today, (listed in van der Linde "Geschichte und Literatur des Schachspiels" Berlin 1874, band I, Beilage, p 149-150), deals with love and chess in poetic fashion. This precious French MS apparently had only a limited geographical influence. Around 1495 a copy was jewelled with 24 beautiful miniatures by Maitre Antoine Rolm, a bibliophile and painter, son of a chancellor in Bourgogne, who lived in Hainaut. This particular MS is kept at the Bihliothcque Nationale in Paris (Manuscrit Francais 9192) and has been re-edited recently ( "Les echoes amoureux" Editions du Chene. Pans 1991) with a critical analysis by several experts. It is a long comment with allegoric and didactic purposes inspired by the Roman de la Rose, taken from an anonymous poem finished around 1370 and polished in verse in 1400 descnbing a literary battle between the Love and the Lady. Its author was Hvrard de Couty, a physician and courtier who was fascinated by myths, images and symbols. The text alludes frequently to other subjects such as cosmology, astronomy, heraldry or classical stories.

Several "Chansons de Geste" had already paved the way with referances to amatory bets upon the chess board. Garin the Monglane

In particular, the poem "Scachs d'amor", written in Valencia around 1470-1490, depicts Venus and Mars playing chess according to modern rules. This work may also have been inspired by Lucena’s mixture of chess and romance. The links between Lucena and the literary circle of Valencia where modem chess seems to have been born are solid. The Renaissance chess literature shows a penchant for mythological correlations in the origin of the game. Particularly, the gods of classical times (Jupiter, Apollo and Mercury) were included in a fabulous chess game described in another famous chess poem, the "Scacchia Ludus" by Vida*, from the middle of the 16th. century. The legend finishes with a love story between Mercury, the winner of the chess game, and a nymph named Scacchis. Some 200 years later she inspired the literary creation of a chess goddess ("Caissa") in a famous poem by Sir William Jones.

(3) Texto latino del poema. Traduccion. comentarios sobre el latin en Salamanca

(4) Breve resumen sobre La Celestina

(5) Lucena: Repeticion de amores. Edited by Jacob Omstein. Chapel Hill 1954. North Carolina University, Studies in the Romance Languages and Literature, n 23.

(6) Matulka Barbara."An antifeminist treatise of fifteenth century Spain: Lucena's Repetician de amores". New York 1931. Institute of French Studies. Comparative Literature Studies.

(7) Von der Lasa, Tassilo

(8) Murray

(9) Veleius Paterculus tells about him that the architect who was building his house promised to make it opaque to all glances."On the contrary," said Drusus, "build it in a way that everyone can look inside". See for instance Enciclopedia Espasa. "Druso".

(10) Cita sobre Scevola

(11) Plutarco. Vidas paralelas.

(12) IIaebler, Konrad. "Geschichte des spanischen Fruhdruckes". Leipzig. IIiersemann 1923.

(13) "IIistona de la imprenta Hispana" gives the following list of books printed in Valencia by Petrus IIagenbach and Leonard IIutz:

1. Imitatio Christi "Del menyspreu del mon". 16th February 1491
2. Fenollar, Bemat. "Istona de la Passio del N. S. Jesu- Christ". 11th January 1493.
3. Confessionale. "Breu tractatde confessio". 25th February 1493.
4. Furs fets en les corts de Oriola. 6th September 1493
5. Hores de la setmana sancta segon lo us del archibisbat de Valencia. 21st February 1494.
6. Miravet. Joan de. "Opus artis grammaticae". 8th January 1495.
7. Ludolphus de Saxonia, "Lo quart del cartoxa a". 6th November 1495.
8. Despuig, Guillermus. "Commentaria arsmusicorum". llth April 1495.
9. "Libre de les quatre ultimes i mes darreres coses". 8th June 1495.
10. "La revelacio de Sant Pau". 3rd August 1495.
11. Ludolphus de Saxonia. "Lo premier del cartoxa a". 13th April 1496

(14) "Historia de la imprenta Hispana" . Following books were printed by Leonard Hut/, in Salamanca, in association with Lope Sanz:

1. Bricot. "Textus abbreviatus logicem Aristoteles". 1496.
2. Villadiego. "Contra hereticam pravitatem". 8th January 1496.
3. Tomas de Aquino."Commenta m libros Aristoteles de generatione et corruptione". 26th February 1496.
4. "Leyes del estilo o Declaraciones sobre las leves del fuero ". 10 February 1497.
5. Lucena, Luis de. "Repeticion de amores y arte de Accdrex". No date. 1496 or 1497.

(15) Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo in his "Libro de la Camara Real del Principe Don Juan" (Sociedad de bibliofilos espanoles. Madrid 1870) mentions among the stored items in the private rooms of the prince: "E en una mesica con su banco e una silla de espaldas e dos o tres escabelos o bancos pequenos bien pintados. Un tablero de aiedrez con sus trebejos e tablas" (Cfr. Perc/, de Arriaga p. 35)

(16) "Ast pues, el dia 28 de septiembre entro el principe en Salamanca; y fue tanto el aplauso de trompetas y atabales que parecia rasgarse el aire de jubilo. !Oh, que melodias de citaras, que diversidad de cantos, que himnos nupciales prepare el clero!... Bien merecia contemplar en el campo las formaciones de la caballeria ligera; era no solo hermoso, sine admirable ver los jaeces de los caballos, los adomos de los jinetes. Creerias que aquel dla se dieron alii cita todas las requezas de Espana. Los coros de ninos y ninas, desde los tablados construidos en las plazas y desde las ventanas de las casas, imitando celestes armonias, recreaban en extremo los animos de los transeuntes. Con juncias, perfumados tomillos y demas hierbas olorosas estaban alfombradas las calles por donde habia de pasar la comitiva. Todas las portadas estaban adomadas de ramas verdes y las paredes de las casas cubicrtas de artisticos tapices admirablemente fabricados por artesanos flamencos. Con mas esmero y largueza se dispusieron estas solemnidades en honor del Principe, en razon de que siendo esta ciudad-en la cual tu, purpurado principe, desde tu juventud te dedicaste al estudio de las letras-la fuente literaria de toda Espana, esperaban de su futuro rey-porque amaba y cultivaba las letras-un patrocinio mas eficaz que el dispensado a las demas ciudades" (Epistolario de Pedro Martir de Angleria en "Documentos meditos para la histona de Espana", vols IX-XII, publicados por J. Lopez de Toro. Madrid, 1955-57 . Clr. Gilman, p. 20)

Facts and Speculations about Lucena’s Biography:

"In pay of good services, always a bad reward. Such is the Aragonese law."
(Juan de Lucena. in his letter to King Ferdinand)

Lucena was assuredly not from Salamanca, because he stated so himslef. Almost certainly he came from someplace in the kingdom ofAragon, probably the area close to Medmaceli and Almazan. In 1503 he was in Zaragoza, together with his father and his brother Jeronimo.

To ascertain the date of birth, we must begin wit the fact that Lucena wrote his book in 1496 or 1497 while a student in Salamanca. In those times, the common age to begin studies at the University was between 14 and 16 years (1).

When Lucena wrote his book he was certainly older. It will suffice to quote his sense of superiority when describing the girl he loved "...she was so young that she had not reached the age of 16." In addition, Lucena provides the picture of a man experienced in love affairs, offering us evidence of a go between who is his friend and prostitutes whom he declares he no longer chases. We note that he claims to have been in Salamanca long enough to "hear praise of his beloved girl as the most accomplished woman in the world". Declaring that he has already traveled in France and Italy, Lucena can omit his Christian name since he is sure of being identified by his readers.

As mentioned by Gilman, on average, ten years were needed to complete one's studies, although a "licenciado" required about twenty five years in order to receive this academic degree. A previous degree was that of "bachiller", which required an average of six years of study. Thus, a Bachiller, like Femando de Rojas, was someone between twenty and twenty five years old.

Lucena didn't have the title of Bachiller, because otherwise he would mention it in a work so obviosly intended to show his own merits. He mentions, on the other hand, the degree of bachiller posessed by his friend and companion Villoslada. Moreover, the Bachiller Villoslada, when praising the work of Lucena in his peroration, includes himself in the same age group: "You have obliged to emulation all of us who have the same age as you...".

So, the author of the "Repeticion" was between twenty and twenty five years old, and should have been born between 1470 and 1475. Lucena’s lack of academic degree could be due to his previous travels in France and Italy, probably done while following his father in some embassy. Or, perhaps he negelected part of his studies due to his devotion to chess. There is some hidden complaint in the words of Lucena when he says in his advice to chess players: "...and those who are students, believe me, play not too much if you want to obtain profit for yourselves..."

The next clue after Salamanca appears, as we have seen, in Zaragoza in 1503. After this, evidence is much feebler (2). The last traces point to France and Bourgogne, as if Lucena had emigrated or decided to escape from Spain. This is suggested by findings in chess literature, the first by the named "Manuscript of Paris" (3).

Also ascribed to Lucena is the better known "Goettingen Manuscript", from around 1500, coming from the area of Bourgogne and written in Latin wiith strong influence of Spanish chess terms (4).

So. all three chess works from Lucena represent a chain. First link, the book in Salamanca, 1496-1497. Second link, the Goettingen Manuscript, around 1500, written in Latin by Lucena with no signature and winding up in Bourgogne, probably via the well established contacts of the Lucena clan and the royal connections. Third link, around 1530-1550, the Paris Manuscript, signed by Lucena but written in primitive French, which probably indicates an exile of our chess author. The figure of Lucena, apart from these facts and documented speculations, vanishes completely.

The Literary Style as Psychological Clue:

"Humorism suits well the converseds, because the humorist laughs at others, but begins by laughing at himself." (Caro Baroja. Op. cit. I. p. 302)

There is a striking difference in literary style between the two main parts of Lucena's book. In the chess treatise, excepting the dedicatory to Prince John, the language is plain, clear, and almost colloquial, with no pomposity at all, as the reader has been used to in the previous chapters of the book. The man who is explaining the chess rules, analyzing a dozen openings and commenting the chess problems, has a straightforward way of thinking and speaking.

On the contrary, in the "Repeticion de Amores", sentences are finedrawn, long, pedantic and baroque. Verbs sometimes comes at the end of a long sentence, as in the Latin construction. (Ornstein has analyzed the influence of other authors in the Repetition, and its significance in the polemic between misogyny and pro-feminism so characteristic of the literature of the XVth century.)

But, excepting Gilman (op. cit. note on page 293), no one seems to have noticed the clearlv burlesque intention of the Repetition. Gilman thinks that it was composed to be read at one of the BMS student feasts which intermittently enlivened the rigid academic calender. Perhaps, at the end of the course 1496-1497, before the summer holidays. In every university, such closing ceremonies are characteristically concluded with student feasts where, almost inevitably, mockery against the HSS professors is a part of the speeches. The "Repeticion de amores", ironical even in its title, seems to be along this line.

Several of the allusions have double meanings, as for instance the long description of Cupid's attributes. It is also a pattern of student jokes that the content relates to sex. The praise of chastity, a significant part of the Repetition, must be also ironical, when its author has introduced himself as a friend of procuresses and "malas muxeres". A chess player and gambler like Lucena had to lead a roaring nocturnal life, since gambling in any form, including chess, was strictly forbidden. To this nocturnal escapades the Bachiller Villoslada must refer ironically when, in his chant to Lucena he states:

"...you have obliged to emulation all of us who have the same age as you. so that we must never sleep, and follow your steps very awake..."

Lucena in its book includes some versed acrostics, in those that we can reads, "A VILLOSLADA". it proves of its good relationship with this high school

Acrostic verses to Villoslada:

A quien siemprc per serviros
nunca vive sin dolor
'no 1c negueis el favor".

Vive siempre padeciendo
de no veros con temor;
esta en pena, aunquc viviendo,
pues os llama ya muriendo,
"no 1o negueis el favor".

Jamas cesan sus sospiros
que le causa vuestro amor;
per quereros y scguiros
nunca cesa de pediros,
"no 1e negueis el favor"

La menor de sus pasiones
le pone tanto pavor,
que e causa mil prisiones
'y pues hay diez mil razones,
''no 1e negueis el favor"

La tristeza de sus males
no sabe pena mayor;
que sus angustias finales
os suplican ya mortales,
"no ;e negueis el favor".

Otro bien si a vos no tiene,
sois su luz y su claror,
pues quien tanta le sostiene
y es contento aunque mas pene,
"no 1e negueis el favor"

Solo fue causa escribir
publicar vuestro loor,
pues que no basta sofrir
a sin vos poder vivir.
"no le negueis el favor"

La virtud y la nobleza
nunca mucstra desamor;
pues porque mostrais crueza
a tan crescida pobreza,
"no le negueis el favor".

A la fe de bien serviros.
que famas sufrio error,
va no basta consentiros.
mas suplicar y deciros,
"no le negueis el favor"

Despues que per fuerte ser
y no oisteis su clamor,
distes causa a padecer
y no queriendo valer,
le negastes el favor,

Ansi que pues hizo veros
fuese vuestro servidor,
pues es sicrvo por quereros
de la vida conoceros,
"no 1e negueis el favor".

It should be borne in mind that the condition of converseds and the social pressure under which they lived, implied a tacit understanding among them, and also a common sense of humor. The scholars who have studied this period agree that one of the constant topics in their jokes was the contrast between the joys of this life and the supposed heavenly delights in the other life, or as M. Rosa Lida put it: "the questionability of any ultraterrenal rewarding".

Such jokes were very dangerous; as proved by the frequency with which they appear in the inquisitorial documents as a reason, sometimes the only one, for accusation. In the "Libro del Alboraique", a famous anti Jewish pamphlet of this period, is stated as a Jewish characteristic that "they consider there is nothing else except to be born and to die". According to Caro Baroja (op. cit, I, p 512), the Inquisition sentenced because of this single accusation Alonso de Peralta in 1526: in 1494 the father of the theologian Juan Hurtado de Salamanca, Rodrigue de Sesena, and the father in law of Fernando de Rojas, Alvaro de Montalban, suffered a similar trial in 1525.

Francisco de Madrid was accused because of his statement: "Yo despues de muerto, ni vina ni huerto" ("After my death, neither vinyard, nor garden"). In the proceedings against Isabel, wife of Francisco Perez, she was accused for having said: "En este mundo no me veas mal pasar, que en el otro no me veras penar". ("In this world, don't see me needy. So in the other world, you won't see me suffering"). Gilman notices that such sayings had already reached the category of proverbs, as shown by its rhymed structure.

These precedents are necessary to understand that when Lucena says, for example: "The beauty we must search for is in Heaven", it is by no means a "pious comment", as Ornstein naively supposes. It was, most certainly, a frequent irony in a circle of converseds, such as the student chorus which surrounded Lucena's hearing at his Repeticion.

As we have seen, in the University of Salamanca the prevalence of converseds was overwhelming. Caro Baroja (op. cit. II. pag 228) mentions that the Colegio Viejo de San Bartoloma was so full of converseds that the daily coexistence with the "old Christians" was terribly conflictive. The Christians appealed to Queen Isabella, who ordered the expulsion of converseds, but they refused to obey the order, which proves a conjunctural situation of prevalence, a "reversal" of power relations. Gilman (op. cit. page 274) quotes another similar incident with an unnamed student of Jewish descent who irritated his fellow colleages due to his arrogance. The Colegio de San Bartoloma, a decreed his expulsion, on the basis of the statute of "cleanness of blood" (of problematic application, as we have seen). The student refused to obey. The Colegio appealed again to the queen, who answered: "Throw him out of the window if he doesn't want to go out through the door".

All these incidents prove a very important point. The conflictive social relations of everyday life between converseds and old Christians, darkened by the sinister inquisitorial burnings, were softened, and even reversed, in the intellectual atmosphere of the University. It gave a stimulus to creative literature or artistic productions, and so must be understood the novel of Rojas or in our case, the work of Lucena. On the other hand, it is not a surprise that the style and the intention of such works emerging during a short period of liberation, have a caustic and ironical content. Many converseds could say in this way, once and for all, everything they had to say.

The irony of Lucena was deeply rooted. Even in his chess treatise, the figure of 150 chess problems inspires him to immediatly comment: "150, like a complete rosary". The rosary is a daily prayer consisting of 50 "Ave Marias" repeated in five groups of ten, each part of the group contemplating one of the "mysteries of Jesus Christ". After this, a long Latin litany recalling all the Virgin's names and most of the names of the saints followed. According to the day of the week, the mysteries were "sorrowful" or painful (Tuesday and Friday), "gozosos" or enjoyable (Monday and Thursday), or "glorious" (Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday). This form of praying, often mechanical and boring, is one of the liturgical aspects Juan de Lucena had in mind in his criticism. On certain occasions, the whole block of mysteries with a long series of 150 Ave Marias had to be followed. This "rosano cumplido" is the object of Lucena's sarcastic comment "en passant".

Lucena was very careful in his wording, and as Ornstein's naive misinterpretation proves, not even the sharpest Inquisitor could take his words as a formal attack against the Faith, even if the converseds as well as the old Christians were, in all probability, perfectly aware of the hidden intention. It explains the elaborate style. The malabarisms in the sentences about God being born from a virgin, or the frequent quotation of Saint Paul, such as the paragraph where the apostle wishes that all men in the world were chaste (with the obvious demographic danger left implicit by Lucena in the air of his speech), are a constant "tour de force" with the words and the quotations. Probably, the only non ironical comment is the one of Francisco de Quiros when he calls Lucena "maxime vatum."

(Editor's note: A second installment of Dr. Calvo's "Lucena" containing all subsequent chapters of his work will be forthcoming at a later date. We thank our readers for their patience and hope to have the remainder of this essay processed in the shortest possbile time. DMc)