Historia General y Natural de las Indias Vol. 1

his father. His status as a hidalgo nobleman, of which he was very proud and frequently boasts in his writings, has nevertheless been cause for suspicion that it could have been either Fernando de Oviedo, councilor of Madrid, or Juan de Oviedo, secretary in 1466 to Don Enrique IV 5. This well-founded conjecture is given greater consistency by the circumstance of Gonzalo Fernandez citing in some passages of his works the authority of his father as an eyewitness to various events that occurred at the court and palace of Don Enrique, where he apparently attended more out of obligation than devotion 6. But one cannot help but notice the silence that Oviedo maintains regarding his family, when we see him so solicitous in instructing his readers regarding his status and services. Be that as it may, it is an ascertained fact that he entered into service from his childhood in the house of Don Alfonso de Aragon, second Duke of Villahermosa, nephew of the Catholic King and brother of Don Juan de Aragon, Duke of Luna. The Duke of Villahermosa was one of the magnates who had shown the greatest commitment to the cultivation of letters, as has been noted; and captivated by the good nature and intelligent liveliness of Oviedo, he raised him with special affection, trying to initiate him in studies, and awakening in his heart that inextinguishable love for great deeds that is vividly reflected in all his writings 7. Gonzalo had not yet turned thirteen when Don Alfonso himself, wishing to build his fortune, took him from that school of Minerva and Mars, for this is the name Oviedo gives to the house of both dukes, and presented him at the court of the Catholic Monarchs, where he obtained the appointment as a page mozo de cámara chamber boy to Prince Don Juan, with a salary or stipend of 8,000 maravedíes Spanish currency unit annually and a title signed by the Queen herself 8.

5 The secretary Juan de Oviedo was Lord of Casasrubios del Monte, and having declared himself for "la Beltraneja" [Juana la Beltraneja], his goods were confiscated by the Catholic Monarchs once they defeated the King of Portugal and the partisans of Doña Juana. The lordship of Oviedo was donated to Gonzalo de Chacon, a favorite of the Kings, from whom his heirs later received it, thus passing from its original possessors. Perhaps not to awaken these unpleasant

memories, Gonzalo constantly kept silent about the kinship he had with Juan de Oviedo, showing himself, on the contrary, very devoted to the Catholic Monarchs.
6 Oviedo writes: "I heard my father say that he had been in Segovia at that time, where King Don Enrique IV was and Queen Doña Johana, his wife, etc." (Bat. y Quing., III Bat., dial. 28). And in another lunar: "I heard my father say that he saw it (being at court) and knew Barrasa" (Quing., 1st Part, Est. 12, fol. 204. Original Cod. of the National Library, Ff. 104).
7 Narrating the famous challenge of Captain Benavides and Commander Urquillas, which occurred in Zaragoza, Oviedo writes: "I knew it so minutely because the town of Cortes in Navarre was at that time owned by Doña Leonor de Soto, Duchess of Villahermosa, my lady, mother of Don Alonso de Aragon, Duke of Villahermosa, my lord, who raised me, whom I served before I served Prince Don Juan." (Bat. y Quing., Y. 59, folio 457.) Elsewhere he said: "Because the Duke of Villahermosa, the second duke, was his brother (of Don Juan de Aragon, Duke of Luna) and he had raised me" (Bat. y Quing. 187 vto.).
8 Speaking of the chamber boys of Prince Don Juan, and noting the names of all, Oviedo places himself in the last number, saying: