ons
subsequent to 1501 attributes the book to Juan de Mena or Rodrigo Cota,
but this ascription is universally rejected. The prevailing opinion is
that the author of the twenty-one acts was Fernando de Rojas, apparently
a Spanish Jew resident at the Puebla de Montalban in the province of
Toledo; R. Foulche-Delbose, however, maintains that the original sixteen
acts are by an unknown writer who had no part in the five supplementary
acts. Some scholars give 1483 as the date of composition; others hold
that the book was written in 1497. These questions are still unsettled.
Though profoundly original in treatment, the _Celestina_ has points of
analogy with the work of earlier writers, such as Juan Ruiz (q.v.), the
archpriest of Hita; his rapid sketches of Trota-conventas, Melon and
Endrina no doubt suggested the finished portraits of Celestina, Calisto
and Melibea, and the closing scene in the _Celestina_ recalls the
suicide in Diego Fernandez de San Pedro's _Carcel de Amor_. Allowing for
these and other debts of the same kind, it cannot be denied that the
_Celestina_ excels all earlier Spanish works in tragic force, in
impressive conception, and in the realistic rendering of characters
drawn from all classes of society. It passed through innumerable
editions in Spain, and was the first Spanish book to find acceptance
throughout western Europe. At least twenty works by well-known Spanish
authors are derived from it; it was adapted for the English stage as
early as 1525-1530, and was translated into Italian (1505), French
(1527) and other European languages. A Latin version by Caspar Barth was
issued under the title of _Pornoboscodidascalus latinus_ (1624) with all
the critical apparatus of a recognized classic. James Mabbe's English
rendering (1631) is one of the best translations ever published. The
original edition of 1499 has been reprinted by R. Foulche-Delbose in the
_Bibliotheca Hispanica_ (1902), vol. xii.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.--R. Foulche-Delbose, "Observations sur la Celestine" in
the _Revue hispanique_ (Paris, 1900), vol. vii. pp. 28-80 and (Paris.
1902) vol. ix. pp. 171-199; K. Haebler, "Bemerkungen zur Celestina" in
the _Revue hispanique_ (Paris, 1902), vol. ix. pp. 139-170; and M.
Menendez y Pelayo's introduction to the _Celestina_ (Vigo, 1899-1900)
(J. F.-K.)

CELESTINE (CAELESTINUS), the name of five popes.

CELESTINE I., pope from 422 to 432. At his accession the dissensions
caused by the f