Don Juan Manuel

Don Juan Manuel (Escalona, 1282 - Córdoba, 1348) was a Castilian nobleman and grandson of Ferdinand III, and one of the leading prose writers of the Middle Ages in the Castilian language. He wrote in the vernacular at a time when Latin was still the language of learned culture, which makes his work an important witness to the fiction and instructional prose of his age.

He grew up within the royal family and inherited the lordship of Villena and other lands. His education was thorough: alongside horsemanship, hunting and fencing, he studied Latin, history, law and theology. In some passages he describes himself as unlearned, but this was a conventional pose of modesty; he knew Latin and Italian well and was familiar with the learning of his time. In Castilian politics he was restless, serving as a guardian of Alfonso XI, clashing repeatedly with the king, and even minting his own coins at El Cañavate.

His writing draws on his own life: his passion for hunting, his knowledge of his estates, and a rather gloomy view of the world. El conde Lucanor, a collection of moral tales in which the count consults his adviser Patronio, is his best-known book. The Libro de la caza describes the wildlife of his lands and falconry, while the Libro de los estados reflects on social order and good government.

His legacy lies in shaping Castilian prose fiction with a sparing, pointed style that influenced later writers such as Juan de Valdés and Cervantes. Some of his tales later provided material for plays by Lope de Vega and Calderón. Much of his output has been lost. According to tradition, a volume in which he had gathered his works was destroyed in a fire.