Gil Vicente

Gil Vicente (1470-1540) was a Portuguese poet and playwright.

Biography
Gil Vicente was born in 1470 in the town of Guimarães. He came to Lisbon as a boy. He studied law but did not take any scholarly degree. In 1493 he was prince Manoel's teacher of rhetorics. Some of his poems were included into Cancioneiro Geral by Garcia de Resende. He wrote plays. He was an actor, too. He was married to Branca Bezerra and had four children. His daughter Paula was known a learned woman at the court.

Works
Gil Vicente wrote poetry and plays. He wrote both in Portuguese and in Spanish. He is called the father of Portuguese drama. His works were translated into English by Aubrey F. G. Bell. Among his poems there are vilancetes, pastoral poems. A famous example is Adorae montanhas.