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470 Miguel José Deyá Bauzá

The author, the play and the edition used

José de Cañizares was born in Madrid in 1676 and died there in
1750 . He carried out his profession as playwright long after the
1
historical episode he writes about. Throughout his life, which
encompassed part of the reigns of Charles II and Philip V, and hence
the War of Spanish Succession, Spanish foreign policy was not much
concerned with North Africa, with the notable exception of the re-
conquest of Oran in 1732. It is therefore not very likely that the
political events that unfolded while he was alive had much influence
on his choice of topic for the play. The rekindling of interest in North
Africa at the end of the eighteenth century and beginning of the
nineteenth century is a different matter. Cañizares was undoubtedly
among the major exponents of baroque theatre when attempts at
introducing French and neoclassical culture into Spain were being
made under the new regime of Phillip V, despite the fact that the elites
as well as the masses preferred more traditional and dynamic plays
along the lines of those written by Calderón and Lope de Vega .
2
According to theatre experts, Cañizares’s plays are related to those of
Calderon. However, the play we are concerned with here has more to
do with Lope de Vega’s plays, and specifically with El cerco de Viena y
socorro de Carlos Quinto [Charles V comes to the aid of the besieged
city of Vienna]. Although there is no evidence that El cerco de Viena y
socorro de Carlos Quinto was performed in Madrid between 1661 and
1819, this does not mean that he was unfamiliar with it . From 1702
3
until his death, Cañizares held the position of Fiscal de Comedias de
Madrid – that is he was a member of the Board of Theatrical Censors
– and as a result of this he made enemies. He combined that role with
another, as composer of Sacred Letters (mostly carols in the
vernacular) for the Royal Chapel which he obtained in 1700 or 1701,
although his official appointment to that position did not occur until
1736. Cañizares also held a military position as a Lieutenant in the
cavalry, although this appears not to have lasted very long, but it could
well have contributed to his interest in military topics .
4

1 A.V. Ebersole, José de Cañizares, dramaturgo olvidado del siglo XVIII, Editorial
Ínsula, Madrid, 1975, p. 7.
2 Ivi, pp. 8, 11.
3 A.M. Coe, Catálogo bibliográfico y crítico de las comedias anunciadas en los
periódicos de Madrid desde 1661 hasta 1819, John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore,
1935; R. Andioc, M. Coulon, Cartelera teatral madrileña del siglo XVIII (1708-1808),
Presses Universitaires du Mirail, Toulouse, 1996.
4 J. Herrera Navarro, Catálogo de autores teatrales del siglo XVIII, Fundación
Universitaria Española, Madrid, 1993, p. 76.

Mediterranea - ricerche storiche - Anno XVII - Agosto 2020
ISSN 1824-3010 (stampa) ISSN 1828-230X (online)