The Spanish poet and soldier Jorge Manrique (ca. 1440-1478) wrote the Coplas, one of the great elegies of all times, and was the poetic voice of his generation.

Jorge Manrique was probably born in the family fief of Paredes de Nava (Palencia). He belonged to the powerful and warlike clan of the Manriques, was a nephew of Gómez Manrique, another poet-soldier, and a grand-nephew of the Marquis of Santillana, the literary arbiter of Castile. His father was Rodrigo Manrique, Count of Paredes and Grand Master of the Order of Santiago. Arms and letters against an aristocratic background define the personality of Jorge Manrique.

At this time Castile was again in the throes of civil war. King Henry IV was ineffectual to the point of being nick-named the Impotent. The Manrique clan fought him and his presumably bastard daughter Juana. This meant that Manrique fought first for...