The Labyrinth of Fortune

The Dantesque political allegory The Labyrinth of Fortune, composed in 1444 by Juan de Mena, reflects on Juan II of Castile’s contentious kingship and frames the Reconquest of Moorish territories as a sacred task. This is the first English translation of a Spanish masterpiece that influenced Miguel Cervantes and Luis de Góngora.

A classic, Dantesque political epic from medieval Spain that inspired Cervantes and Góngora, in its first English translation.

Why do the injustices of the past still afflict the present? With this question, Juan de Mena is transported to heaven by a vision in the Dantesque The Labyrinth of Fortune. Composed in 1444 by Mena, a royal chronicler and Latin secretary in the court of Juan II of Castile, El Laberinto de Fortuna became the most important political allegory of medieval Spain. Allegorizing the past, present, and unknowable future through the figure of Providence, the poem reflects on the contentious kingship of Juan II and frames the Reconquest of Moorish territories—the foundational mythos of the emerging nation—as a virtuous, sacred task that would restore justice and the moral order because it fulfills a destiny ordained by God. This is the first English translation of a masterpiece that enriched the Spanish language with a density of learned allusions and a new Latinate humanistic style that deeply influenced subsequent writers such as Miguel Cervantes and Luis de Góngora.

Contributor: Frank A. Domínguez (Edited and translated by), Ryan D. Giles (Edited and translated by)

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