Andreu Febrer i Callís

Andreu Febrer i Callís (1370×1374 – 1437×1444) was a Catalan soldier, courtier and poet.

Life Andreu was born at Vic between 1370 and 1374 to a family of artisans. His father, Andreu Febrer, was born at Vic in 1352. His mother was Francisca Callís, probably a granddaughter of Barchinona Calis. Her family was associated with the estate of . Through their mothers, Andreu and the jurist Jaume Callís were second cousins.

Andreu is first attested in the service of King John I of Aragon in 1393. After John's death, he served his widow, Queen Yolanda, for a time. In 1398, he was a scribe in the court of King Martin the Humane. In 1398, he took part in the king's crusade in Barbary. He later served Martin I of Sicily as a chamberlain and served in the process against the rebel Artale Alagona. In 1418, Alfonso the Magnanimous appointed him castellan of Castello Ursino in Sicily. In 1419, he made him an algutzir (bailiff). In 1420, he took part in the invasion of Sardinia and Corsica. He subsequently served Alfonso as a diplomat. Between 1429 and 1437, Andreu was in Barcelona. In 1437, he left for Naples at the head of a company of 100 crossbowmen. These are a sirventes, a Crusade song about the 1398 expedition, two praise poems addressed to the ladies of the court of the and the queen of Sicily (probably Maria) and eleven love poems addressed to an unidentified Na Beatriu ('Lady Beatrice'). He refers to Beatriu under the senhals Loindan' Amor and Passabeutats. He imitates the style of the troubadours Arnaut Daniel, Jaufre Rudel and Cerverí de Girona and his Catalan is somewhat artificial and archaizing, full of Occitanisms.

The greatest Italian influence on Andreu was Dante Alighieri. He and his younger contemporary were the Catalan poets most influenced by Dante. Andreu's translation was praised by the Marqués de Santillana, who had commissioned Villena. Andreu dedicated his work to Alfonso the Magnanimous. It is preserved in a single manuscript of the late 15th century formerly owned by the Conde-Duque de Olivares, now El Escorial, L.II.18.

Editions Martí de Riquer, ed. Poesies. Barcelona: Barcino, 1951. Raquel Parera, ed. La versió d'Andreu Febrer de la Commedia de Dante: estudi del manuscrit i edició de l'Infern, I–XI. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Facultat de Filosofia i Lletres, 2006.