When and where was Pedro Mexía born?
Pedro Mexía entered the world between the 17th of January and the 6th of September 1497 in Seville. He spent most of his life within that city walls before dying there on the 17th of January 1551.
Questions about Pedro Mexía
Short answers, pulled from the story.
What major work did Pedro Mexía publish in 1540?
His major work Silva de varia lección appeared in 1540 as an encyclopedic miscellany. The text drew heavily from classical sources like Pliny the Elder's Natural History and incorporated material from Aulus Gellius' Attic Nights and Athenaeus' Banquet of the Sophists.
Who appointed Pedro Mexía as official chronicler to the imperial court?
Emperor Charles V appointed him as official chronicler to the imperial court in the year 1548. This role required close contact with other leading intellectuals of the era including Erasmus of Rotterdam, Luis Vives, and Juan Gines de Sepulveda.
How many editions of Silva de varia lección existed by the end of the sixteenth century?
Seventeen reprints occurred during the sixteenth century alone for this early best seller across Europe. Within a single century, the work reached thirty-one editions in Spanish and seventy-five foreign language versions.
Which famous authors were influenced by the works of Pedro Mexía?
Traces of Mexía's miscellary appear in works by Mateo Alemán and Miguel de Cervantes while Shakespeare and Montaigne also show signs of his influence on their writing. These connections prove that Silva de varia lección functioned as a bridge between classical learning and modern literature.