ABSTRACT
In the Cancioneros aristocratic names stand beside those of poets risen from the lowest social strata. But, literarily speaking, they all belong to the same circle. There was ample room for political satire in times like those of Juan II and Enrique IV. Despite traditional loyalty to the rulers, anonymous poets sharpened their arrows against all the mighty, whether princes or favorites. Hernando del or de Pulgar was the secretary and official chronicler of Ferdinand and Isabella. His Claros varones de Castilla is a Spanish De viris illustribus, on the order of Fernan Perez de Guzman's Generaciones y semblanzas. In the history of Spanish humanism Palencia deserves a special niche, which he might share with Juan de Lucena. During the 16th century sentimental literature brought forth many another work popular then, but forgotten.
