Humanism and Spanish Literary Patronage at the Roman Curia: The Role of the Cardinal of Santa Croce, Bernardino López de Carvajal (1456-1523)

Abstract

This article aims to analyze the role of Bernardino Lopez de Carvajal's (1456 Plasencia-1523 Rome) as a literary patron, namely his contributions to humanism in Rome and to Spanish letters, in the period that has been loosely identified as Spanish Rome. Carvajal held the dignities of orator continuus of Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon, titular cardinal of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme , and Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, and was even elected antipope with the name of Martin VI in the conciliabulum of Pisa (1511) against Julius II. A cultivated man and a lover of poets, he belonged to the avant-garde of humanists devoted to create a body of Neolatin and Spanish Literature that would both foster the Spanish presence at Rome and leave a mark in the Spanish literary canon. He sponsored a considerable body of works that celebrated the deeds of the Catholic Kings and those of the Great Captain, Gonzalo Fernandez de Cordoba. He also commissioned literary translations, and was involved in the production of theatrical pieces, such as those of Baltasar Torres Naharro.