ARHIVELE OLTENIEI - Universitatea din Craiova

History, literature and art in the Spanish Golden Century 37The verses were sent by Howell in a letter delivered to captain ThomasPorter, on the 10 th of July 1623. The Spanish society of that time thought thatCharles came to Spain to become a Christian, and, on the other hand, the peopleat court, evaluated the benefits that a personal union between Spain and Englandcould bring to them.Through this virtual marriage, Charles I was trying to become amediator for the conflicts between Catholics and Protestants, whosemisunderstandings devastated Europe at the time. The Spanish were extremelyrefractory to the idea of giving their infant in marriage to a heretic, and that iswhy they postponed the offer for some years, managing to maintain Charles’hopes and to keep away from an English military offensive. The heir toEngland’s throne remained in Spain till September 1623, but he will not receivea positive answer from the Spanish authorities, that would lead to hostilities in1625, when the English attacked Cádiz. Lope alluded to this event with a seriesof allegoric elements, comparing Charles to a rainbow which left London toarrive in Spain:“Iris del cielo de la Gran BretañaDespués de tanta tempestad, EspañaTe mira en breve esfera luminosa”) 13 .(“Rainbow of the sky from Great BritainAfter this great storm, SpainSees you in a big bright sphere”).As for Lope’s historic plays, there sometimes came up the questionwhether they were based on real facts or not. For many historians who studiedLope’s works, the most real from the historic point of view, seems to be“Fuenteovejuna”, which narrates the collective vengeance of the villagers ofFuenteovejuna against the abuses of their comendador. The event is mentionedin the “Chronicle of Rades”, and the comendador is historically attested.Lope is the author of many plays with universal history events orcharacters, such as “The slave of Rome”, “The great feats of Alexander”, “Romein flames”, “The great duke of Moscow”, “The famous Transilvanian prince”,which evocates the figure of Sigismund Báthory.Lope de Vega is the typical example of the genius, of the man whosurpassed his contemporaries in order to observe and to surprise better their dayto day life. Lope fought and created. He fought for the ideal of a great Spain andhe created an impressive work. Lope de Vega is, for sure, the spirit of a historicperiod, his life being a lived and assumed history.But not only Lope was a warrior and untamed spirit. Hiscontemporaneous, Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, fought and lost the use of onearm during the battle of Lepanto, wrote two Odes dedicated to the Invincible13 Lope de Vega, En la entrada del Serenísimo Príncipe de Gales, in „Lope de Vega.Edición crítica de Rafael Iglesias”, Brnedictine University, Lisle, Illinois, 2001, p. 95-96.