Note 202 — BOOK VI.

Lupercio Leonardo de Argensola was born in 1559, and died in 1613 at Naples, whither he had accompanied the Conde de Lemos three years earlier. His admirable poems, and those of his brother, were issued posthumously in 1634: see note 86. His Isabela, Fílis and Alejandra are praised in Don Quixote as "three tragedies acted in Spain, written by a famous poet of these kingdoms, which were such that they filled all who heard them with admiration, delight, and interest, the ignorant as well as the wise, the masses as well as the higher orders, and brought in more money to the performers, these three alone, than thirty of the best that have since been produced": see vol. iv. of the present edition (Glasgow, 1901), p. 214. The Fílis seems to be lost. The Isabela and Alejandra, neither of them very interesting, were first published in 1772 by Juan José López de Sedano in El Parnaso Español (Madrid, 1768-1778), vol. vi., pp. 312-524. There may be a touch of friendly exaggeration in Cervantes's account of their success on the boards. At all events, the author of these pieces soon abandoned the stage, and, when the theatres were closed on the death of the Queen of Piedmont, he was prominent among those who petitioned that the closure might be made permanent. A Royal decree in that sense was issued on May 2, 1598. In the following year Lupercio Leonardo de Argensola was appointed chief chronicler of Aragón. The Isabela and Alejandra are reprinted in the first volume of the Conde de la Viñaza's edition of the Argensolas' Poesías sueltas (Madrid, 1889).