Bernat Metge

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Bernat Metge (Catalan pronunciation: [bəɾˈnad ˈmedʒə]; (c. 1350 – 1410) was a Catalan writer and humanist, best known as the author of Lo Somni, which he wrote from prison (c. 1398), in which Metge discusses the immortality of the soul.[1]

He was a courtier and Secretary for Joan I of Aragon, queen Violant of Bar, and following some troubles, once more served Martin the Humane of Aragon from 1403 to 1410.[2][1]

His influences included the literature of Provence, Petrarch, and De vetula, wrongly attributed to Ovid and now sometimes claimed for Richard de Fournival.[3]

He had a profound impact on the Catalan letters and was a catalyst for Italian letters to reach the Iberian Peninsula.[1]

Works

• Llibre de Fortuna e Prudència (1381)
• Ovidi enamorat
• Valter e Griselda (1388)
• Apologia (1395)
• Lo somni (1399)

Notes

1. Sarton, George (1948). Introduction to the history of science. Carnegie institution of Washington publicationno. 376-. Vol. 3. Baltimore. hdl:2027/umn.31951d00027255b.
2. Associació d'Escriptors en Llengua Catalana (n.d.); Molla (n.d.)
3. Gilabert 1993: 1083.

References

• Associació d'Escriptors en Llengua Catalana (n.d.). "Bernat Metge [Biografia]". Autors i autores (in Catalan). Barcelona: AELC. Retrieved 2009-09-28.
• Gilabert, Joan (1993). "Bernat Metge". In Germán Bleiberg; Maureen Ihrie; Janet Pérez (eds.). Dictionary of the Literature of the Iberian Peninsula: volume 2, L-Z. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing. pp. 1082–1083. ISBN 0-313-28732-5. OCLC 20993644.
• Molla, Guillem (n.d.). "Bernat Metge [English biography]". Autors i autores. Barcelona: AELC. Retrieved 2009-09-28.