Bernardim Ribeiro

Bernardim Ribeiro (1482 – October 1552) was a Renaissance Portuguese poet and writer.

Early life

Ribeiro was a native of Torrão in the Alentejo. His father, Damião Ribeiro, was implicated in a conspiracy against King John II in 1484, and had to flee to Castile, while young Bernardim and his mother took refuge with their relatives António and Inês Zagalo at Quinta dos Lobos, near Sintra.

When Manuel I came to the Portuguese throne in 1495, he rehabilitated the families persecuted by his predecessor, and Ribeiro was able to leave his retreat and return to Torrão. Meanwhile, Dona Inês had married a rich landowner of Estremoz, and in 1503 she was summoned to court and appointed one of the attendants to the Infanta Beatriz. Ribeiro accompanied her, and through her influence the king took him under his protection and sent him to the University of Lisbon, where he studied from 1506 to 1512. When he obtained his degree in law, the king showed him further favour by appointing him to the post of Escrivão da Câmara, or secretary, and later by bestowing on him the habit of the Military Order of Saint James of the Sword.

Scandal and exile

Ribeiro's poetic career began with his coming to court, and his early verses are to be found in the Cancioneiro Geral of Garcia de Resende. He took part in the historic Serões do Paço, or palace evening entertainments, which largely consisted of poetical improvisations. There he met, and earned the friendship of the poets Sá de Miranda and Cristóvão Falcão, who became his literary comrades and the confidantes of his romance, in which hope deferred and bitter disappointment ended in tragedy.