El concejo, instancia del gobierno urbano.

Gómez Manrique composed two consolation poems for female members of his family in 1458 and 1480. Despite the fact that “No pocas vezes” and the “Consolatoria” are

separated by a quarter of a century, they share key similarities: each work begins with an epistolary introduction directed to the women, and in both texts the author adapts the

163 _{See, for example, Humberto C. Márquez (1971), Antonio Serrano de Haro (1975), José B. Monleón (1983),} David H. Darst (1985), Julio Rodríguez Puértolas (1985, 1986), Domínguez (1988), Carl Atlee (2010), and Vicente Beltrán Pepió (2016). Scholars have also analyzed the political overtones of Gómez Manrique’s satirical and moral poetry, such as “A Diego Arias de Áuila” (1459-1462) and the Esclamaçión e querella de la gouernaçión (1461-1462). For example, see Marino (2003), José María Rodríguez García (2005), Atlee (2007), and Round (2013). For additional information on Gómez’s textual production, see Scholberg (1994), Francisco Vidal González (2003), Eloy Recio Ferreras (2005), and Gisèle Earle (2018).

164 _{This section is adapted from my article, “Family Matters: Textual Memory and the Politics of Loss in Gómez} Manrique’s Consolatorias,” published in Bulletin of Hispanic Studies 95.2 (2018).

Boethian paradigm of the classical consolatio to address the recipients’ personal and

historical contexts. Together, the consolation poems also make a broader statement about the fortunes of the Manrique clan based on the virtue of its lineage. In this way, these texts are comparable in purpose to the convent in Calabazanos, of which Gómez and his wife were devoted patrons.

The author states the commemorative purpose of each work in the prologue. For example, Gómez explains, “No pocas vezes, muy noble e virtuosa señora, yo he seýdo por la señoría vuestra rogado e mandado e avn molestado, que sobre el caso d’esta aduersa fortuna vuestra alguna obra conpussiese…” (Manrique, “No pocas” 419-20).165 In the “Consolatoria hordenada,” Gómez tells his wife, “…yo, señora amada de mí quanto tu meresçimiento lo meresçe, que no se puede más encaresçer, quisiera vsar d’estos dos remedios juntamente después de los grandes ynfortunios e casos fuertes, avnque naturales, que nuestro señor Dios por deméritos permitió que sobreviniesen en la casa nuestra” (Manrique, “Consolatoria” 449). The author represents his relatives’ losses of property and descendants as unpredictable misfortunes that had the potential to affect the Manrique clan’s sociopolitical standing. These losses were of particular concern for noblewomen such as Juana Manrique and Juana de Mendoza because their standing in society and their roles as Christian wives and mothers depended on their husbands’ political fortunes.

For Juana Manrique, the loss of her husband’s inheritance was the “aduersa fortuna” to which Gómez refers in the prologue of “No pocas vezes” (419). Juana Manrique’s

husband was Fernando de Sandoval y Rojas, whose family supported the infantes of Aragón during the reign of Juan II of Castile. This alliance allowed Fernando’s father, the adelantado

165 _{When citing both consolation poems, page numbers are used in reference to the prose prologues, while verse} numbers are used in reference to the poems.

of Castile Diego Gómez de Sandoval, to amass a substantial patrimony derived from his service to the infantes of Aragón, especially in their efforts to thwart Luna’s rise to power.166

In 1412, Fernando I of Aragón granted Diego Gómez de Sandoval the hereditary señorío of Lerma to reward him for his assistance in quelling a revolt (García Rámila 19). In 1420, the infantes of Aragón granted Sandoval the señorío of Maderuelo, which was part of the dowry of the infante Juan’s wife, Blanca of Navarre (Calderón Ortega 166). Following the infante Juan’s ascension to the throne of Navarre in 1425, Sandoval returned the señorío of Maderuelo to royal control in exchange for the title conde of Castro and the associated landholdings of Castrojeriz, Portillo, Osorno, and Saldaña in Castile (Suárez Fernández, Historia 19). Juan II of Navarre also helped him acquire the surrounding townships of Cea, Villadiego, San Andrés, San Pedro, Renedo, Castrillo, Velilla y Carvajal, Ampudia, and Gumiel de Izán (Suárez Fernández, Historia 19).167 Sandoval incorporated these properties

166 _{This alliance with the infantes of Aragón originated with Diego Gómez de Sandoval’s service to their father,} Fernando de Antequera. Sandoval received the position of adelantado of Castile as a reward for fighting with Fernando de Antequera’s forces in the Battle of Antequera (García Rámila 18). When Juan II of Castile assumed the throne in his own right, Sandoval supported the interests of the infantes of Aragón and opposed their enemy, Luna. In 1419, Sandoval moved to check Luna’s increasing power in Castile by collaborating with fourteen other nobles and prelates to alternate their presence at court as a means to constantly monitor Luna’s influence on Juan II (García Rámila 21). In this arrangement, the fifteen elites formed three groups of five, and each group spent four months at court (García Rámila 21). Sandoval belonged to a group with Pedro de Stúñiga, Pero Ponce de León, Perafán de Ribera, and the Archdeacon of Guadalajara (García Rámila 21). However, another key member of Sandoval’s network was his uncle, Sancho de Rojas, who was a loyal supporter of Fernando de Antequera and became Archbishop of Toledo in 1415 (Franco Silva, “El linaje” 98). Three years later, Sandoval adopted the Rojas heraldry and surname as a means to further elevate his status at court (Franco Silva, “El linaje” 98). That same year, the infante Juan appointed Sandoval as a member of the Consejo Real (Franco Silva, “El linaje” 98). From this position, he rose to the offices of canciller mayor del sello de la poridad and mayordomo mayor to the Castilian queen, María of Aragón (Franco Silva, “El linaje” 99). Following the infante Enrique’s defeat at Tordesillas in 1422, Sandoval was a key member of an oligarchy that governed Castile for two years (Suárez Fernández, Nobleza y monarquía: Puntos 126-27). The other leaders were all members of Sandoval’s elite network at court: his uncle, Sancho de Rojas, the Trastámara count Fadrique Enríquez, Pedro de Stúñiga, who was Sandoval’s ally, the conde of Benavente Rodrigo Pimentel, the

contador mayor Fernán Alfonso de Robles, and Luna (Suárez Fernández, Nobleza y monarquía: Puntos 126- 27).

167 _{Of these properties, the township of Cea was a particularly significant acquisition in 1418, the same year in} which Sandoval was named to the Consejo Real (Franco Silva, “El linaje” 98). Sandoval purchased Cea for 30,000 florines from Ramiro Núñez de Guzmán, whose family had controlled this property for three generations (Franco Silva, “El linaje” 98). However, the queen of Aragón, Leonor de Albuquerque, also had a claim to Cea,

into a mayorazgo for his son, Fernando de Sandoval y Rojas, in 1427 (Franco Silva, “El linaje” 100). Four years later, Juan II of Navarre granted Sandoval a second condado that consisted of the townships of Denia, Ayora, and Jávea (García Rámila 32).

However, the expulsion of the infantes of Aragón from Castile in 1429 changed Sandoval’s fortunes. Juan II of Castile revoked Sandoval’s extensive patrimony in the condado of Castro and re-granted Castrojeriz, Portillo, Lerma, Saldaña, and Gumiel de Izán to other nobles in 1432 (Paz y Mélia 354).168 Although Sandoval was pardoned in 1439, he later forfeited his landholdings a second time after fighting on behalf of the infantes of Aragón in the Battle of Olmedo in 1445 (Beltrán Pepió, Conflictos 61). Following Luna’s victory in this battle, Sandoval was imprisoned, although he was exonerated upon his release in 1446 (Beltrán Pepió, Conflictos 61). He recovered the señoríos of Lerma and Ayora, as well as the condado of Denia, but retained only the title—not the landholdings—associated with the condado of Castro (Beltrán Pepió, Conflictos 61). The loss of this estate would have particularly infuriated Sandoval and his descendants because a key property, Portillo, passed into the hands of their enemy, Luna.169

and she approved Sandoval’s purchase, which was financed by the queen’s brother-in-law, the infante Juan (Franco Silva, “El linaje” 98). Cea was Sandoval’s second territorial acquisition after Lerma, and these two properties formed the basis of his estate, which he strategically increased with the support of the infante Juan. In addition, Sandoval controlled Gumiel de Mercado, which was part the dowry of his wife, Beatriz de Avellaneda (Franco Silva, “El linaje” 99). Upon her death in 1436, Sandoval retained this property, although two years later he married Isabel de Ladrón. The territory that Sandoval controlled outside the condado of Castro—Cea, Lerma, and Gumiel de Mercado—was important for its proximity to Burgos and its strategic location between the estates of the Velasco and Manrique clans (Franco Silva, “El linaje” 99).

168 _{Castrojeriz went to Pedro Manrique, Portillo to Ruiz Díaz de Mendoza, Lerma to Íñigo de Estúñiga, Saldaña} to Fernando López de Saldaña, and Gumiel to “otro caballero” (Paz y Mélia 354). Pedro Manrique thus benefitted from the misfortune of his extended relative through the marriage of his daughter, Juana, to Sandoval’s son, Fernando. Vicente Beltrán Pepió explains this dynamic in terms of a clan’s primary loyalty to members of its own lineage: “No había solidaridad entre los nobles de cada bando, y la caída del uno implicaba el reparto de sus bienes entre los que sobrevivían, le hubieran sido antes aliados o contrarios…” (Conflictos 84). However, Sandoval retained control of the condado of Denia, which, as Beltrán Pepió argues, Juan II of Navarre granted him as reparation following Sandoval’s loss of the condado of Castro because he supported the

Upon Sandoval’s death in 1455, his son Fernando—Juana Manrique’s husband— aspired to reclaim the properties of the condado of Castro. He was able to recover the township of Cea in 1456170 and also received property as the II conde of Denia (Beltrán Pepió, Conflictos 85). However, this inheritance was not immediately recognized for several reasons: Fernando’s father died intestate, his stepmother also claimed the property, and the inhabitants of Denia preferred a return to royal patronage (Beltrán Pepió, Conflictos 86). Fernando’s claim to the condado of Denia was not settled in his favor until 1458,171 the same year in which Gómez composed “No pocas vezes” for Juana Manrique.

169 _{Following Sandoval’s initial disgrace in 1432, he briefly recovered Portillo from 1444 to 1448 (Calderón} Ortega, Álvaro 229). However, Luna’s victory over Sandoval’s allies, the infantes of Aragón, in the first Battle of Olmedo set in motion a chain of events that resulted in Sandoval’s forfeiture of Portillo. Upon his victory, Luna forged a new alliance with the future Enrique IV, who had fought against him with the backing of Castilian nobles, many of whom also supported the infantes of Aragón (Calderón Ortega, Álvaro 230).

Following their defeat, many nobles were imprisoned, including Sandoval (Beltrán Pepió, Conflictos 61). When he was released in 1446, Sandoval escaped to Aragón, but Juan II of Castile retained control of Sandoval’s properties, many of which the king granted to his own supporters, including Luna. He briefly acquired the township of Cea but granted it to Juan Pacheco in an effort to win his support in 1448 (Franco Silva, “El linaje” 101). That same year, Juan II of Castile granted Portillo to Luna, who retained control of the property until his execution in 1453 (Calderón Ortega, Álvaro 230). Portillo was used as a prison for the king’s enemies, and Luna became a prisoner in his own property upon his arrest on Good Friday (Calderón Ortega, Álvaro 230). Previously, Luna had acquired another señorío that had belonged to Sandoval—Maderuelo—until he traded it to Juan II of Navarre in exchange for the condado of Castro in 1426. Luna obtained Maderuelo from the estate of the infantes of Aragón in 1430, following their exile from Castile (Calderón Ortega, Álvaro 166). This event also instigated Sandoval’s forfeiture of the condado of Castro.

170 _{While Pacheco controlled Cea since 1448, he entered into negotiations with Juan II of Navarre in 1456} (Franco Silva, “El linaje” 101). In exchange for reconciliation with Juan II of Navarre, Pacheco returned Cea to Sandoval’s son, Fernando de Sandoval y Rojas (Franco Silva, “El linaje” 101).

171 _{Of the territories associated with this condado, Fernando recovered Denia and Jávea by purchasing the} shares that belonged to his sisters Inés and María (Franco Silva, “El linaje” 102). He ultimately did not retain control of Ayora, which eventually became part of Cardinal Pedro González de Mendoza’s possessions (Franco Silva, “El linaje” 102). However, Fernando and Juana Manrique continued to lobby for the return of the

condado of Castro by supporting the claim of Enrique IV’s half brother, Alfonso, during the Farce of Ávila. Alfonso promised to restore Fernando’s patrimony, and following Alfonso’s death, in 1469 Isabel I

compensated Fernando and Juana Manrique (Beltrán Pepió, Conflictos 85). Their son, Diego de Sandoval, became conde of Lerma in 1484 as a concession for the Catholic Monarchs’ inability to grant the condado of Castro, which was controlled by Ruy Díaz de Mendoza (Beltrán Pepió, Conflictos 85). In 1493, Diego de Sandoval became marqués of Denia in recognition of his support of the Catholic Monarchs during the war in Portugal (Franco Silva, “El linaje” 103). Despite the increased prestige that these titles conferred to Diego de Sandoval, he and his descendants continued to lobby for the condado of Castro until 1537, when his grandson, Luis de Sandoval y Rojas, renounced his lineage’s claim in exchange for Carlos V’s approval to establish a

She likely requested a work of consolation during the uncertain period between 1455 and 1458, when her husband’s control of the condados of Castro and Denia was in jeopardy (Beltrán Pepió, Conflictos 86).172 Gómez obliged with a prosimetrum and, in the prologue, alludes to Juana Manrique’s request over an extended period of time: “No pocas vezes, muy noble e virtuosa señora, yo he seýdo por la señoría vuestra rogado e mandado e avn

molestado, que sobre el caso d’esta aduersa fortuna vuestra alguna obra conpusiesse…” (Manrique, “No pocas” 419-20). Gómez refers to the circumstances of Juana Manrique’s misfortune by mentioning her titles when he apostrophizes her as “condesa de Castro, de Denia, d’Ayora” (Manrique, “No pocas” 12). He then indirectly refers to her husband’s potential losses by declaring the intended purpose of the text:

a vos consolar en vuestras agora, estremas pasiones, grandes agonías, las quales no menos, mas más que las mías

mi alma, sintiendo, las plane e las llora.” (Manrique, “No pocas” 13-16)

The personal, emotional overtones of “No pocas vezes” suggest that this text’s words of comfort were intended for family consumption. In addition to addressing Juana Manrique and her husband’s loss of property, Gómez also speaks more broadly to the fortunes of his entire lineage by employing the Manrique clan’s fame to console his sister at a moment when her sociopolitical status was threatened and make a statement about their family’s prestige. He suggests that Juana Manrique’s misfortune is an opportunity to demonstrate the virtue of her lineage.

172 _{However, Beltrán Pepió also suggests that “…es radicalmente falso que en 1456-57 la Condesa de Castro} necesitara ser consolada: por vez primera, el linaje de su marido veía la devolución de los estados castellanos al alcance de la mano, habiéndose de sumar éstos a las concesiones compensatorias recibidas en Valencia; era precisamente entonces cuando la fortuna les sonreía como no lo había hecho desde la aciaga derrota de 1429” (“Poesía” 165).

To accomplish this purpose, the author strategically breaks with the tradition of the classical consolatio in Boethius’ De Consolatione Philosophiae.173 During the Middle Ages, this text enjoyed widespread diffusion in both Latin and vernacular translations174 and was used to “…give moral advice as well as answers to such important questions as the nature of evil and divine providence” (Ziino 84).

De Consolatione is an allegorical dialogue between the author’s poetic voice and Philosophy, who visits the narrator in prison and speaks to him about the inconstancy of Fortune and the nature of human happiness.175 For example, Philosophy reminds Boethius that Fortune “enganna a los omnes. E, fasta conplir en esto todas sus artes, muéstrales que ha con ellos grand familiaridat muy blanda e muy lisonjera, fasta que los desanpara en un dolor

173 _{Michael Means defines the genre of consolatio as “1) the gathering together of commonplace philosophical} themes (topoi) of a consolatory nature; (2) combining them into a framework based primarily on rhetorical considerations; (3) citing examples of historical or mythological characters who have endured severe misfortunes courageously; and (4) applying and addressing the whole to an individual who has suffered a particular misfortune—usually though not always the death of a near relative or friend” (8). Beltrán Pepió also recognizes Gómez’s inspiration in the consolatio “…para dar un marco intemporal y moralmente enaltecedor a los altibajos de fortuna de la familia política de su hermana: al presentar el caso de los Sandoval como un ejemplo ético se justificaban sus reclamaciones materiales como un acto de reparación justa no sólo desde el punto de vista político, sino también desde una perspectiva moral y social” (“Poesía” 165).

174 _{In medieval Iberia, the most commonly used vernacular version was a Castilian translation of Nicholas} Trevet’s 1307 Latin commentary on De Consolatione (Briesemeister 63). This Castilian translation survives in three manuscripts of the fifteenth century (Keightley 171). In addition to the Spanish translations of Trevet’s commentary, there are also three existing manuscripts of the Consolaçion natural, a Spanish translation of De Consolatione made for the Constable of Castile Ruy López Dávalos in the late fourteenth or early fifteenth century (Keightley 185). Furthermore, one manuscript remains of a Spanish translation that Pedro de Valladolid, servant to the King of Navarre, undertook in 1436 (Briesemeister 66). Finally, an anonymous interpolated translation of Boethius’ consolatio into Spanish also exists in two fifteenth-century manuscripts (Keightley 173). Outside Castile, there were also three Catalan versions of De Consolatione produced between 1358 and 1390, and one of them, prepared by the Dominican Friar Antoni Ginebreda, was subsequently translated into Castilian Spanish, Hebrew, and Latin in the fifteenth century (Doñas 491). For more information on the vernacular translations of Boethius’ consolatio in medieval Iberia, see Tomás González Rolán and Pilar Saquero Suárez-Somonte (1992) and Miguel Pérez Rosado (1993).

175 _{Boethius was from an aristocratic Roman family, and after becoming a ceremonial consul in 510, he was} promoted to Master of Offices at the court of the Emperor Theodoric in 522 (Lerer xii). However, one year later, he was accused of betraying the emperor and placed under house arrest (Lerer xii). Notwithstanding the allegorical nature of De Consolatione Philosophiae, there may be a strong autobiographical component to the text because Boethius wrote it while he was imprisoned from 523-524 C.E. It is not known whether or not the accusation against him was just, but he was executed for his alleged crime in 524 (Lerer xiii).

tan grande que se non pueda sofrir con toda desesperaçion” (Trevet 56).176 After chastising Boethius for falling for Fortune’s wiles, Philosophy urges him to temper his despondency with the knowledge that God “es criador de todas las cossas; enderescándolos al bien las ordena” (Trevet 211). These lessons allow the narrator to come to terms with the past injustice committed against him, as well as his present imprisonment.

Gómez Manrique was certainly familiar with Boethius’ De Consolatione. A 1492 inventory of his property indicates that he owned a book referred to as “Boecio Severino,” which was most likely a vernacular translation of this work (Paz y Mélia 333).177 Gómez uses Boethian themes in “No pocas vezes” to respond to his sister’s forfeiture of property. Gómez assuages his sister’s fear and defends the integrity of their family by reminding his intended