Lucas Fernández

Lucas Fernández ( – 1542) was a Spanish dramatist, musician, and writer. He wrote in the Leonese language.

Biography Son of Alfonso de Cantalapiedra and María Sánchez, he was born and educated at Salamanca.

In 1498, he became cantor of Salamanca Cathedral, defeating candidate Juan del Encina. In 1520 he was the priest of . He was professor of music in the University of Salamanca (1522) and appeared in 1533 in the commission of reform of the statutes of the same.

Works The surviving work of Lucas Fernández consists of six plays. Although showing the influence of his rival Juan del Encina, they are notable for their dialogue, humor, and the effective interleaving of song and music with the action of play. The best of the works is an Easter play Auto de la Pasión, while his Dialogo para cantar is an early example of the zarzuela.

Lucas Fernández wrote with a great influence of Leonese language, like (feminine for "in the"), (masculine for "in the"), (let), (says), (wants), (goes out), and many others.

Editions Françoise Maurizi, ed. Lucas Fernández: Farsas y Églogas. Boydell & Brewer, 2015.