ABSTRACT
After the momentous crowning of Alfonso V the Magnanimous in Naples in 1442, the international prominence of Spain had experienced an unprecedented boost thanks to the administrative union of the kingdoms of Castile and Aragon in 1469, cemented by the marriage between Ferdinand and Isabella, the Catholic Monarchs. The massive possession of land across the globe was the touchstone of Spanish political and economic power and constituted an enduring source of pride for early-modern Spaniards, who remarked time and again on their achievements and how these surpassed those of other great empires of the past, especially Rome. The cultural bridge between ancient Rome and modern Iberia was Italy, where the Spanish Crown controlled large parts of the territory. After Garcilaso de la Vega, Spain seemed to have found its new poetic Messiah in Luis de Gongora, the author of elegant Petrarchan poems, as well as witty autochthonous traditional compositions, such as ballads and letrillas.
