Galicia in the time of Gregorio Fernández

Abstract

The great sculptor Gregorio Fernández was born in Galicia; that territory was very different from the city of Valladolid, where he worked and died. Fhe changes caused by the Catholici Reformation progressed slowly and with difficulty en the old Galician Kingdom. The absence of towns prevailed in that period, and most of Glaician people lived in small villages that were far from urban civilization. They were not instructed in Christian doctrine and besides they had their peculiar customs, such as feeding on brown bread and bacon. This cultural and social context generated a negative opinion about Galicia and Galician people in the middle of the XVIth century. Don Diego Samiento de Acuña, first earl of Gondomar, and Don Pedro Fernández de Castro, seventh earl of Lemos, were opposed to this negative opinion, although they had an unfortunate outcome. First, Gondomar -who owned an important library in his house in Valladolid- and his circle wrote spirited chorographical and historiographical works. On the other hand, Gondomar and Lemos presented several claims in the Royal Court from Galician nobility and clergy al the end of XVIth century and at the beginning of the XVIIth century.