BERNARDES, Diogo. - Portuguese poet, b. between 1520 and 1530, d. between 1596 and 1608. Initially he treated subjects of profane inspiration (with transparent influences from Italian poets such as Petrarch, Ariosto, and Tasso), later turning to religious themes and celebrating, with moving accents, Jesus, the Virgin, and various saints, principally St Ursula. This change is to be traced to the long imprisonment suffered by B. in Morocco (1578-81), when, accompanying as court poet the African expedition of King Sebastian, he was captured after the disastrous battle of Alcácer-Quibir.
During the period of captivity he in fact composed odes and praises to the Virgin, and subsequently his religious verse continued to draw nourishment from the new spiritual awareness that this event had given him. B. enjoyed the esteem and friendship of illustrious contemporary men of letters, such as Sá de Miranda, António Ferreira, and Camões; Lope de Vega proclaimed him “master of the eclogue.”
The *Varias rimas ao bom Jesus e à Virgen gloriosa* were printed in Lisbon in 1594 and 1608; *O Lima, em o qual se contém as suas églos e cartas e Varias flores do Lima* appeared there in 1596; and the *Historia de s. Ursula* in 1597.