He Golden age, also called the Spanish Golden Age, is described as the period of flourishing of literature and arts in Spain belonging to the Habsburg and Austrian dynasties. It is a period that does not have defined dates, more than a century, but its beginnings would occur after the Spanish Reconquest, more or less in 1492 and ends in 1681 when Pedro Calderón de la Barca died.
This historical period is characterized by having a relative strength in the politics of Spain, dominated by the Holy Inquisition of the Spanish Church and the spirit of the counter-reformation, so it was a basically Catholic period but one that gave the country admiration and international recognition.
Characteristics of the Golden Age
Beginning and End of the Golden Age
It is usually considered that the publication of the grammar Castilian in Nebrija in 1492, together with the completion of the Spanish Reconquista and the arrival of Columbus to America are the events that begin the period of the Golden Age. On the other hand, the death of the writer Pedro Calderón de la Barca in 1681 and the signing of the Treaty of the Pyrenees between France and Spain in 1659 are the events that finalize it.
Trends that characterized the Golden Age
This century was characterized by the tendency to vulgarize humanistic knowledge, which increased the genres of popular comedy and satire which were corresponded in the picaresque novel, mainly in the polyphonic novel represented in Don Quixote by Cervantes.
Painting, music and sculpture were important trends fostered by mannerist taste, by the abundance of content and by the exaggeration of forms together with anti-classicist architectural styles.
Aesthetic Periods
The Golden Age is divided into two different aesthetic periods, which are:
The Hispanic Baroque: It occurs in the 17th century while the reign of the Catholic Monarchs Felipe IV, Felipe III and Carlos II was developing. In this period, a great explosion of literature and plastic arts occurred in its own style with an abundance of themes and daring social forms.
The Spanish Renaissance: It occurs in the 16th century while the Catholic Monarchs Philip II and Charles I reigned, characterized by a quite particular interpretation of Italian Renaissance influences that converged in basically Iberian aesthetic forms as a result of syncretism with the Moors.
Paint
Painters such as Doménikos Theotokópoulos, who belonged to Mannerism, and Diego Velázquez, who was part of the Baroque style, were the leaders of the pictorial movement that was very important in Spain belonging to the Golden Age.
Sciences
The area of science was also relevant during this time, although the strong inquisitorial and Catholic tradition of Spanish culture almost always reflected a conservative backwardness compared to the rest of the European countries.
Taking advantage of the knowledge inherited from the Arabs along with the exchange of goods carried out with the New World, resulted in an interest in chemistry, physics, medicine and pharmacology.
Literature
The literature of this time came to have a unique splendor in the history of universal literature due to different trends:
Mystical and ascetic poetry: This had Catholic roots in which poets poetically explored their call to religion.
The picaresque novel: The protagonists were the rogues, devious and poor young people who lived by taking advantage of other people and their ingenuity. It is an archetypal model of importance in universal literature.
The comedy: One of the great winners of this century was the theater, having more than 400 works performed by highly renowned authors who are currently part of the universal history of letters.
The satire: In narrative, poetry and dramaturgy, mockery and satire of solemn classicism was a central theme in the literary imagination of this time.
Legacy of the Golden Age
Along with the great works of art that this period left in history, there is also the founding of the Royal Spanish Academy, the dispute related to the events that were committed during the conquest of America and the founding of Universities.