Diego de San Pedro
Diego de San Pedro was a Spanish author from the 15th century, best known for his contributions to the genre of sentimental romance through his notable works, "Tractado de amores de Arnalte y Lucenda" (1491) and "Cárcel de amor" (1492). These narratives are characterized by their exploration of sentimental love, featuring protagonists whose unselfish and often irrational devotion serves as a means of personal improvement. San Pedro's writing reflects the literary conventions of his time, notably through the limited use of dialogue, which aligns with the dramatic styles prevalent in his era. His works gained substantial popularity, leading to numerous reprints and translations into various languages, affirming their impact on the development of the Spanish novel. In addition to his prose, San Pedro also wrote poetry, with his devotional piece "La pasión trobada" achieving acclaim for its vivid portrayal of Jesus' suffering, enhancing readers' emotional connection to the narrative. His other devotional work, "Las siete angustias de Nuestra Señora," also garnered significant attention. Though little is known about his life, he is thought to have been born around 1456 and possibly belonged to a converso family. San Pedro's focus on the demands of his readers, particularly the ladies-in-waiting of Queen Isabella, shaped his literary output. He passed away sometime after the late 1490s, with the details of his death remaining largely undocumented.
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Subject Terms
Diego de San Pedro
Fiction Writer
- Born: c. 1456
- Died: c. 1500
Biography
Fifteenth century Spanish author Diego de San Pedro is remembered for two works: Tractado de amores de Arnalte y Lucenda (the story of the loves of Arnalte and Lucenda, 1491) and Cárcel de amor (1492; The Castell of Love, c. 1549). Both stories were influential to the development of the Spanish novel and contain an analysis of sentimental love. The immense popularity of each work is evident by the numerous reprints of the works in San Pedro’s native Castilian as well as in subsequent translations into seven other languages.
San Pedro’s novels are considered classics of the genre known as sentimental romances, which refers to stories that are characterized by short narratives and the extensive use of letters, poems, dialogues, and monologues to reveal the plot. Heroes in the novels consider love a means to improve themselves. They are unselfish and irrational in their love. One feature of the writing, the lack of dialogue, might frustrate modern readers, but de San Pedro was following the literary convention of his day of using dialogue only for drama.
In the centuries following his death, San Pedro was also appreciated for his poetry. His La pasión trobada (the [lord’s] passion in verse) printed around 1480, enjoyed wide popularity in Spain through the end of the eighteenth century and was printed as late as 1850 as a devotional pamphlet and later made into a play. The work recreates the human suffering of Jesus by explicit description of the tortures inflicted upon Jesus to intensify the reader’s relationship to Jesus as a fellow human. A second devotional writing, Las siete angustias de Nuestra Señora (the seven sorrows of Our Lady) was equally popular since San Pedro was one of the first Spanish writers to write on the topic of the seven sorrows.
Virtually nothing is known of San Pedro’s life. Scholars have determined that he could not have written before 1470 and place his birth around 1456. Some scholars believe that his family name suggests a possible converso (convert) status from a Jewish ancestry to Christianity. His profession, as secretary to the Count of Urueña, Don Juan Téllez- Girón, also may support this theory of his ethnicity.
San Pedro did not involve himself with the literati of his day, focusing on his courtly clique and tailoring his writing to the immediate demands of his readers, primarily those ladies-in- waiting of Queen Isabella who were of the Téllez- Girón house. San Pedro died sometime after the late 1490’s, but the precise date and circumstances of his death were unrecorded.