Courtier’s Classroom

Cristóbal de Castillejo is one of the greatest exponents of anti-palace satire with two of his compositions:

• the Couplets to the Courtesy
• and his most important dialogue and finishing touch of his production, the Aula de cortesanos.

Castillejo uses the same satirical code to refer to the personification of a broken court, whether Castilian or Portuguese. Thus the dialogue structure of the Aula de cortesanos lends itself considerably to dramatization and perhaps was a work performed before a courtly reserved audience, so it approaches the dramatic virtuosity of anti-court literature very popular during the Golden Age. A literature that portrays the court as a place of misery, suffering and vice.
In Aula de cortesanos Cristóbal de Castillejo shows a dialogue between two characters:

• Lucretius, a young man eager for money, profit and profit who believes he can satisfy his ambitions in court life;
• and Prudentius, a wise man disillusioned with that life.

Chapter I

Lucretius: I don’t know which way I find
to have to eat,
and convert me buscalle,
for at last it is necessary,
in spite of such; 5
that I see that each one
puts all your care
for being rich and, principally,
and not living in front of each other
with poverty; 10
which, though not vileness,
According to the vulgar saying,
eslo in short if by laziness
Let the man arrive
to be something. 15
I, poor gentle gentleman,
of unguarded goods,
if by myself I am not worthy,
I will always live running
no rest; 20
and to the virtuous bait,
forced to be more valuable,
to live desirously,
better not be
between people. 25
Well, trust relatives
he who has no of his own,
closer you have your teeth,
And it is, big deal, your bird.
No brother 30
nor so close relative,
nor such a true friend,
Like money in hand
in any need.
Anything, 35
easy or difficult,
it is achieved with money,
and we are shown funny
where he goes by messenger
of desire. 40

Fragment of the work