Society for Neo-Latin Studies, Annual Lecture

November 28th 5 p.m.

‘Warwick in London’ premises, The Shard (32 London Bridge St, London SE1 9SG)

Dr Catarina Fouto (KCL)
‘Horace, Prudentius and Buchanan in Jacobus Tevius’s Epodon libri tres (1565): Classical and Christian Letters in Counter-Reformation Portugal’

Diogo de Teive (Jacobus Tevius) is often remembered as Buchanan’s friend and companion in misfortune when he was convicted in 1551 at the hands of the Portuguese Inquisition. However, after his conviction Teive went on to become one of the most successful Portuguese court poets of his time, boasting the patronage of Cardinal Henrique, the regent and Portuguese General Inquisitor.

While the expurgated reading of Horace’s Epodon and the deliberate imitation of Prudentius’s Peristephanon in Teive’s Epodon libri tres are in tune with the orthodoxy which prevailed at that time at the Portuguese court, there are also subtle examples of ambiguity towards it in this work. In Book II, which contains hymns to patron saints of Portugal, Teive celebrates the work of Prudentius and George Buchanan, establishing a genealogy of literary prestige which effaces the religious divide between Protestantism and Catholicism.

Due to security policy at The Shard, all visitors need to sign in: please contact Dr. Andrew Taylor (awt24@cam.ac.uk) before November 20th if you would like to attend the lecture.