When and why was the Real Academia Española founded?
The Real Academia Española is founded
La fundación de la Real Academia Española
3 August 1713. In 1713 Juan Manuel Fernández Pacheco, marquis of Villena, gathered a group of scholars in his Madrid house to found an academy for the Spanish language on the…
Where: Spain, Madrid
What happened
In 1713 Juan Manuel Fernández Pacheco, marquis of Villena, gathered a group of scholars in his Madrid house to found an academy for the Spanish language on the model of the Académie Française (1635) and Italy's Accademia della Crusca; the minutes of its first meeting, on 3 August 1713, say so explicitly. Philip V, the first Bourbon king, approved its constitution by royal decree on 3 October 1714 after overcoming resistance from the Council of Castile. The members chose as their emblem a crucible in the fire with the motto 'Limpia, fija y da esplendor' (it cleans, fixes and gives splendour). Its first great task was a dictionary, the Diccionario de autoridades (1726-1739); then came the Orthographía of 1741 and the Gramática of 1771, the official school text from 1780.
Say it
La Real Academia Española se fundó en Madrid en 1713.
The Real Academia Española was founded in Madrid in 1713.
Why it matters
For three centuries the RAE's dictionary, spelling and grammar have been the reference for the whole Spanish-speaking world, which is why Spanish spelling is almost the same from Madrid to Mexico City.
Connected
- Nebrija's Castilian grammar (1492)
- Nebrija's Castilian grammar (1492)
- Philip II moves the court to Madrid (May 1561)
- Don Quixote is published (January 1605)
- The War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714)
- The Diccionario de autoridades (1726–1739)
- The Diccionario de autoridades (1726–1739)
- The Association of Academies of the Spanish Language (1951)
- The Association of Academies of the Spanish Language (1951)
Sources
- Real Academia Española: Historia — Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (ASALE)
- La Real Academia Española: trescientos años de vida al servicio de nuestra lengua (Anuario 2013) — Centro Virtual Cervantes