La Celestina - Historical and Social Context

Historical and Social Context

La Celestina was written during the reign of Ferdinand and Isabelle, whose marriage takes place in 1469 and lasts until 1504, the year of Isabelle's death, which occupies the last phase of Pre-Renaissance for Spain. Three major events in the history of Spain took place during the union of the Castilla and Aragón kingdoms in 1492. These events were the discovery of the Americas, the conquering of Granada and the expulsion of the Jews. It is also the year that Antonio of Nebrija published the first grammar of the Spanish language, together with Nebrija's own teachings at the University of Salamanca, where Fernando de Rojas studied, favoring the emergence of Renaissance humanism in Spain. Thus, 1492 began the transition between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. It is precisely in the 1490s when the first editions of Comedy of Calisto and Melibea began to appear.

The unification of all the territories on the Iberian peninsula, except Portugal, under one king and one religion, Christianity, took place in this period. Claudio Sánchez Albornoz highlighted the importance of being Christian in a society that has warned against members of other religions, such as Jews and Muslims, and even came to outright rejection. Society was suspicious of converts, such as Christians who were Jews before or had Jewish ancestry, and those who had to hide their conditions. Finally, those of other religions were expelled from the kingdom and the Inquisition would enforce orthodoxy among those who professed the Catholic faith.