Encina, Juan Del

(both: hwän dĕl ānthē´nä), 1469?–c.1530, Spanish dramatist, musician, and poet, b. Encino. He served as court musician to the duke of Alba in Italy, and in 1513 his play Plácida y Victoriano was presented in Rome. His Cancionero (1496) contains several plays as well as musical compositions and a treatise on poetry. His best-known works, the Églogas, are pastoral religious plays in imitation of Vergil. Encina was ordained a priest in 1519. His works followed Italian influence in combining humanist culture with popular drama.