Jorge Manrique, Lord of Belmontejo and commander of Montizón for the Order of Santiago, is one of the three great fifteenth-century Castilian poets, along with Juan de Mena and Iñigo López de Mendoza, Marqués de Santillana. Although Manrique's poetic production was not as extensive as that of the other two, it was larger than that of most poets included in the cancioneros (lyric anthologies or songbooks) of the period. It consists of some forty-eight short poems and the Coplas a la muerte de su padre (Stanzas on the Death of His Father, 1476-1479). Yet, in terms of popularity, the Coplas a la muerte de su padre is by far the most enduring text of fifteenth-century Castilian letters. Not only has it been glossed and commented on from its first appearance, it has remained in print ever since and has been translated into many languages. Only one or two of the serranillas (songs of mountain girls) of Santillana are as popular as the Coplas a la muerte de su padre, although they were largely unknown until the nineteenth century.
