death all the domains of Ferdinand and Isabella passed to
their Hapsburg grandson, Charles I of Spain (also Em-
peror CHARLES V).
Further reading: Felipe Fernández-Arnesto, Ferdi-
nand and Isabella (London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson and
New York: Taplinger, 1975); H. A. F. Kamen, Spain 1469–
1714: Society of Conflict (Reading, Mass.: Addison–Wesley,
rev. ed., 1995).
Fernández, Gregório (Gregório Hernández) (c. 1576–
1636) Spanish sculptor
Active chiefly in Valladolid, Fernández produced numer-
ous painted sculptures with a religious theme, many of
which were intended for use in religious processions. His
best pieces included dramatic figures of the dead Christ,
such as that in the San Cristo monastery at El Pardo near
Madrid (1605), which bore the influence of classical
works as well as the Gothic tradition. Other works, which
marked Fernández out as a master of baroque naturalism,
include St. Veronica (1614), a Pietà (1617; Valladolid mu-
seum), and the high altar for Plasencia cathedral
(1624–34).
Fernández, Lucas (c. 1474–1542) Spanish dramatist and
composer
Fernández was born and educated in Salamanca, where he
was professor of music from 1522. His six plays (three re-
ligious and three secular) survive in a unique copy of a
single volume entitled the Farsas y éclogas (1514). Also in
this volume, the Diálogo para cantar (a dialogue sung be-
tween two shepherds) is the earliest example of the
zarzuela, a type of musical play that became popular at the
Spanish court in the 17th century. His best-known work is
an Easter Week play Auto de la Pasión, written in the style
of his more famous rival Juan del ENCINA.
Fernández de Lucena, Vasco (Valesco di Portogallo)
(c. 1410–1495) Portuguese statesman and humanist
Lucena was born of a noble Portuguese family and went to
Bologna, Italy, to study civil and canon law. He worked for
Pope Eugenius IV who appointed him advocate to the
consistory and he took part in the church councils of Basle
and Florence. He also served three Portuguese monarchs.
He corresponded in the 1430s with Poggio BRACCIOLINI,
and in the anecdotal Vite of Vespasiano da BISTICCIhe is
portrayed as a quarrelsome but learned man.
Fernández de Navarrete, Juan (El Mudo) (c. 1526–
1579) Spanish painter
His nickname, “El Mudo,” arose from the fact that he was
a deaf-mute. Fernández was born in Logroño, studied in
Italy under TITIAN, and became painter to King Philip II in
- Philip prized him highly for the gravity and deco-
rum of his religious paintings, exemplified in such works
as his 1574 Baptism of Christ (Prado, Madrid). From 1576
he also helped in the decoration of the Escorial near
Madrid, producing a series of altarpieces for the church
there, among them a striking Burial of St. Lawrence
(1579). He died in Toledo.Fernel, Jean François (1497–1558) French physician
An innkeeper’s son, Fernel studied medicine at the uni-
versity of Paris where, in 1534, he was appointed profes-
sor of medicine. Soon afterwards he became physician to
HENRY IIafter successfully treating his mistress, DIANE DE
POITIERS. He was also responsible with his Medicina
(1554), a work known in some 30 editions, for one of the
leading medical textbooks of his day. In a more controver-
sial work, De abditis rerum causis (On the hidden causes of
things; 1548), he sought to develop a more rational sys-
tem of medicine by denying the relevance of astrology and
other occult sciences to his profession. Much earlier Fer-
nel had published a work of geodesy, Cosmotheoria
(1528), in which he measured the length of a degree of
meridian with notable accuracy.Ferrabosco, Alfonso (1543–1588) Italian composer
Born at Bologna into a family of musicians (his father,
Domenico Ferrabosco (1513–74), was a well-known com-
poser in Italy), Ferrabosco was first active as a musician in
Rome, but by 1562 was in England in the employ of
Queen Elizabeth. He traveled abroad many times, and by
1582 had entered the service of the duke of Savoy in
Turin, thus breaking his promise of lifelong service to Eliz-
abeth. Ferrabosco did much to interest English composers
in Italian music; his madrigals were particularly influen-
tial, 16 of them being included in the anthology Musica
transalpina (1588). His son, Alfonso II (c. 1575–1628),
was born in Greenwich and became a violinist, teacher,
and composer at the courts of James I and Charles I. He
collaborated with Inigo JONESand Ben JONSONin the pro-
duction of court masques and composed fantasias for viol
consort.Ferrante See FERDINAND I, King of NaplesFerrara A northern Italian city state on a branch of the
River Po. A Lombard town in the eighth century, Ferrara
became an independent commune under the papacy in
the 10th century. Ferrara, with its population of about
30,000 in 1500, was too small to compete politically with
the larger Italian city states, but it was an important re-
gional power and a prosperous focus of agriculture and
trade.
Under ESTErule (1264–1597), Ferrara was an impor-
tant center of letters and the arts. Its university was
founded in 1391. In the 15th and 16th centuries it was the
home of distinguished literary figures (BOIARDO, ARIOSTO,
TASSO) and artists (TURA, the DOSSI, COSSA). The 16th-
century Este court was also renowned for its music, par-117788 FFeerrnnaa ́ ́ nnddeezz,, GGrreeggoo ́ ́ rriioo