Ausiàs March
Ausiàs March entered the world around 1400 within a Valencian noble family in Gandia. His father Pere March served as treasurer to the Duke of Gandia and was also a poet himself. An uncle named Jaume March II shared this poetic lineage. March grew up with a younger sister called Peirona after his mother Lionor of Ripoll bore him. The year 1413 marked a sudden shift when he became head of his family following his father's death. This transition placed immense responsibility on a young man who had barely reached adulthood.
King Alfons el Magnànim led Mediterranean campaigns that drew March into active service from a very young age. He participated in these expeditions alongside other nobles before returning home in 1427. Upon his return, March settled permanently in Gandia where he would remain for the rest of his life. He never again left the region where he was born despite opportunities elsewhere. Two marriages defined his personal history: first to Isabel Martorell and later to Joana Escorna. Five illegitimate children were attributed to him though no legitimate heirs survived.
Inheriting an easy fortune allowed March to focus entirely on writing poetry without financial worry. Charles of Viana provided powerful patronage as prince of Aragon during this period. This support enabled his transition from knightly duties to becoming a professional poet. The combination of inherited wealth and royal backing created conditions rare for poets of his era. These resources freed him to compose works that prioritized artistic expression over survival needs. His status among contemporaries grew steadily as he dedicated himself fully to poetic composition.
March became an undisguised follower of Petrarch while addressing love songs to a lady seen in church on Good Friday. He reproduced rhythmical cadences similar to his Italian model yet qualified these imitations through medieval tradition. A key innovation involved using Valencian instead of Occitan which had been standard troubadour language. This choice marked one of the earliest uses of local vernacular by major poets in the region. His verses displayed obscurity alongside monotonous morbidity that reflected internal conflicts between desire and morality. The great Cant Spiritual achieved this conflict at its highest point within his body of work.
The Cants de mort introduced brooding sentiment peculiar to March's own voice rather than mere imitation. He developed Petrarch's rhetoric to explore inner psychological meditations more deeply than previous writers. Other major poets like Camões and Shakespeare would later follow this path of introspection. His poems often contained conflicting battles between moral duty and human longing. These themes reached their apex in works that combined spiritual struggle with personal grief. The result was poetry that felt uniquely intimate despite its formal structure.
His verses circulated through manuscript traditions until appearing in print editions starting in 1543. Spanish translations had already made them known to wider audiences beginning in 1539. March died on the 3rd of March 1459 after moving from Gandia to Valencia in 1450. He was buried in his family chapel located inside the Valencia Cathedral while his wives rest elsewhere. Modern composers including Raimon and Joan Brudieu set his texts to music decades later. Four settings by Brudieu appear on recordings released alongside books about his life. Boscán later introduced Italian metres into Castilian partly inspired by March's success.
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Common questions
When was Ausiàs March born and where did he live?
Ausiàs March entered the world around 1400 within a Valencian noble family in Gandia. He settled permanently in Gandia upon his return from military campaigns in 1427 and remained there for the rest of his life.
Who were the parents of Ausiàs March and what was their profession?
His father Pere March served as treasurer to the Duke of Gandia and was also a poet himself. An uncle named Jaume March II shared this poetic lineage with him.
What year did Ausiàs March die and where is he buried?
March died on the 3rd of March 1459 after moving from Gandia to Valencia in 1450. He was buried in his family chapel located inside the Valencia Cathedral while his wives rest elsewhere.
How did Ausiàs March influence later poets like Shakespeare and Camões?
Other major poets like Camões and Shakespeare would later follow this path of introspection developed by Ausiàs March. His poems often contained conflicting battles between moral duty and human longing that reached their apex in works combining spiritual struggle with personal grief.
When were the first printed editions of Ausiàs March's poetry published?
His verses circulated through manuscript traditions until appearing in print editions starting in 1543. Spanish translations had already made them known to wider audiences beginning in 1539.