Guevara, Antonio de

GUEVARA, ANTONIO de. - Spanish ecclesiastic and writer, b. at Treceño in 1480 (?), d. at Valladolid in 1545. He was a page of the infante Don Juan and, on the death of Isabella the Catholic, took the Franciscan habit, holding the highest offices in his Order. Appointed preacher and chronicler of the Emperor, he accompanied Charles V on the Tunis expedition and on the journey to Italy. He was also inquisitor at Toledo and Valencia and labored greatly for the conversion of the "moriscos." In 1528 he was created bishop of Guadix and, in 1537, of Mondoñedo.

Of vast but not profound culture, he left in the Libro llamado Relox de Principes or Libro durero del emperador Marco Aurelio (Valladolid 1529) a manual intended for the moral and political formation of the prince, by whose conduct, as by a clock, that of the Christian people must be regulated. G. pretends to translate from a Florentine manuscript, but in reality draws on Xenophon, Plutarch, Valerius Maximus, Diogenes Laertius, and, above all, on his own experience of the court. Into the work, inspired by a lofty social and moral conception, are inserted imaginary letters of Marcus Aurelius, of whom a fictionalized biography is sketched. The Relox enjoyed enormous success and was immediately translated into various languages, influencing in particular the rise of euphuism in England. In the Menosprecio de corte y alabanza de aldea (ibid. 1539) G. contrasts country life with court life, assigning preeminence to the former. The 85 Epistolas familiares (ibid. 1539-41) are interesting, suggestively portraying the author and his milieu. For his concettismo and expressive exuberance, lavish with parallelisms, antitheses and assonances, G. belongs to the Spanish pre-baroque current. Of ascetic subject matter are the Monte Calvario (Salamanca 1542) and the Oratorio de religiosos y exercicio de virtuosos (Valladolid 1542).