What was Nebrija's 1492 grammar of the Castilian language?

Nebrija's Castilian grammar

La Gramática castellana de Nebrija

1492. In 1492, the year Granada fell and Columbus sailed, Elio Antonio de Nebrija published his Gramática de la lengua castellana, the first grammar of Castilian and…

Where: Spain, Salamanca, Castile

What happened

In 1492, the year Granada fell and Columbus sailed, Elio Antonio de Nebrija published his Gramática de la lengua castellana, the first grammar of Castilian and the first of any Romance language. In the same year he printed a Latin-Spanish dictionary, followed around 1495 by a Spanish-Latin one, and in 1517 by rules of spelling. The grammar, dedicated to Queen Isabel, sold poorly and was not reprinted for centuries; its prologue's claim that 'language was always the companion of empire' is now its most quoted line. Nebrija died in Alcalá de Henares in 1522.

Say it

En 1492 Nebrija publicó la primera gramática del castellano.

In 1492 Nebrija published the first grammar of Castilian.

Why it matters

It treated Castilian as a language worth describing and teaching like Latin, the starting point of Spanish grammar, dictionaries and spelling rules.

Connected

• Isabel and Fernando marry (19 October 1469)
• The fall of Granada (2 January 1492)
• Columbus reaches America (12 October 1492)
• Friars write the first grammars of American languages (1555–1571)
• The Real Academia Española is founded (3 August 1713)
• The Real Academia Española is founded (3 August 1713)
• The ñ and the shaping of Spanish spelling (1741–2010)
• The ñ and the shaping of Spanish spelling (1741–2010)

• Before: Isabel and Fernando marry
• After: The fall of Granada

Sources

1. Alcalá de Henares: Elio Antonio de Nebrija (Ciudades Patrimonio) — Centro Virtual Cervantes
2. Elio Antonio de Nebrija: cronología — Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes
3. La ortografía española: perspectivas historiográficas (J. Martínez Marín, Cauce 14-15) — Centro Virtual Cervantes