BERNARDES, DIOGO. — Portuguese poet, born between 1520 and 1530, died between 1596 and 1608. At first 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 Jesus, the Virgin, and various saints, principally s. Orsola, in deeply moving tones. This change is to be sought in the long captivity suffered by B. in Morocco (1578–81), when, accompanying King Sebastiano’s expedition to Africa as court poet, he was captured after the disastrous battle of Alcácer-Quebir.
During his captivity he in fact composed odes and eclogues to the Virgin, and subsequently his religious muse 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, Antonio Ferreira, and Camões; Lope de Vega proclaimed him “master of the eclogue.”
Le 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 églogas e cartas and Varias flores do Lima appeared there in 1596; and the Historia de s. Ursula in 1597.