Note 639 — Chapter XIX

I do not account him learned, because he had not the accomplishment common to all learned men of his time,—that of speaking Latin. This appears from the very quaint and rare treatise of the “Vita Beata,” by Juan de Lucena, his contemporary and friend, where (ed. 1483, fol., f. ii. b) the Marquis is made to say, “Me veo defetuoso de letras Latinas,” and adds, that the Bishop of Burgos and Juan de Mena would have carried on in Latin the discussion recorded in that treatise, instead of carrying it on in Spanish, if he had been able to join them in that learned language. That the Marquis could read Latin, however, is probable from his works, which are full of allusions to Latin authors, and sometimes contain imitations of them.