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This thesis studies the first part of De Cortés valeroso, y Mexicana, an epic poem written by the Spanish author Gabriel Lobo Lasso de la Vega (1559?–1615). The poem narrates in twelve Cantos, the events that led to the conquest of Mexico by Hernán Cortés and a group of soldiers, from the moment of departure from Cuba till their arrival in the Yucatán peninsula. It narrates the battles with the Indians, the peace treaties with the Tlaxcaltecs, the encounter of Cortés with the emperor Moctezuma and the siege of Tenochtitlán. There are no modern editions of this first version of the poem. There exists, however, a second version titled Mexicana (1594), comprised of twenty five Cantos, which has been edited and studied by José Amor y Vázquez (BAE, 1970).
The epic was one of the most prolific literary forms in Spain during the XVI and XVII centuries and has its roots in ancient and classical epic poetry. The topic of Cortés and the Conquest of Mexico appeared in various romances and plays during the period. De Cortés valeroso, y Mexicana (1586) and Mexicana (1594) are considered the most complete poems that develop this topic in what is known as the Cortesian or Mexican Epic Cycle.
This critical and annotated edition dwells on the philological, historical and literary aspects of the poem in the context of Renaissance Spanish Literature. It traces the development of Epic poetry in Spanish America and the impact of Ercilla's La Araucana in writers of the period. Recurrent topics such as the initial purpose of the poem, the relationship between history and literature, the figure of the heroe, the vision of the American Indian and the Messianic aspects of the Conquest are studied and analyzed. A comparison of the First and Second versions of the poems is made as well as a study of the other four complete poems that conform the Mexican Epic Cycle: “Nuevo Mundo y Conquista” (¿1601?) by Francisco de Terrazas (1524–?), “El peregrino indiano” (1599) by Antonio de Saavedra Guzmán (c. 1555–?), “Canto titulado Mercurio” (1623) by Arias de Villalobos (¿–?) and “Las Cortesiadas” (1665?) by Juan Cortés Ossorio (1623–1688).