Famous Portuguese People: Gil Vicente
Gil Vicente (1465-1537) is considered the father of Portuguese drama and was also a major lyrical poet. Vicente wrote, directed and acted in dramas written for the Portuguese court of the kings Manuel I and John III.
Vicente was probably born in 1465, though his actual birth date and birthplace remains unknown, although Guimaraes is the most likely. The dramatist's place of death is also unknown, though some people claim it was in Evora. Vicente was twice married and fathered seven children - two with his first wife, Branca Bezerra, and five with his second wife, Milícia Rodrigues (Roiz).
Vicente wrote in both Spanish and Portuguese and his first drama O Monólogo do vaqueiro ("Monologue of the Cowherd") was performed for Maria of Aragon, wife of King Manuel I, to celebrate the birth of the couple's son Prince John (later John III of Portugal).
Vincente's major patron at court was the Queen Dowager Leonor, the sister of King Manuel I. It was Leonor who first noticed Vicente's talents and commissioned his early works.
Vincente's plays included devotional plays, satirical comedies, farces and tragicomedies and were often written in verse form with musical accompaniment composed by the author himself. The dramatist's satires critiqued Portuguese society of the day especially a corrupt and venal clergy. Many of the playwright's characters include peasants, sailors and gypsies as well as an array of fantastical creations such as fairies and demons. Vicente's many religious plays celebrate Portugal's festivals and were based on popular morality plays of the age. Vincente's most famous devotional drama is the Triologia das Barcas ("Trilogy of the Ships"), consisting of of the three plays Auto da Barca do Inferno ("Act of the Ship of Hell"), Auto da Barca do Purgatório ("Act of the Ship of Purgatory"), and Auto da Barca da Glória ("Auto of the Ship of Heaven"), written between 1516-1519.
Vicente's work, like Shakespeare's in England, was to influence the future development and direction of the theatre in Portugal. The dramatist's complete works were published after his death in 1562 by two of his children from his second marriage, Paula and Luís.
An interesting sideline to the life of Gil Vincente is the debate over whether he was the one and same Gil Vincente, who was also a famous goldsmith at the time in Portugal and responsible for the golden monstrance (church vessel) of Belém made in 1506 for the Jerónimos Monastery from gold exported from Mozambique.
The Portuguese football club Gil Vicente is named after the great man.