Francisco Imperial (died between 1403 and 1409) was a Genoese poet who lived in Seville and wrote lyric and allegorical poetry in Spanish around the turn of the 15th century.
Archer Woodford has suggested that Imperial was an ecclesiastic, drawing this conclusion based on his apparent familiarity with and references to the Catholic liturgy.
As noted above, all of these poems appear in the Cancionero de Baena; some are ascribed explicitly to Imperial in the rubrics, while others have been identified as likely his based on their content and diction.
Imperial also wrote numerous love lyrics, among which several in praise of a woman he referred to as “Estrella Diana.” Two poems exist which appear to comment on the arrival in Seville of Angelina de Grecia, a noblewoman, possibly a Hungarian, who had been taken prisoner by Tamerlane and sent to the Spanish as a gift.
However, Imperial is chiefly known for two longer, allegorical works written in arte mayor: The Dezir al nacimiento de Juan II, written in 1405 in celebration of the birth of John II of Castile, the son of Henry III of Castile, and the Dezir a las syete virtudes, Imperial’s longest and most famous work, which recounts a dream-vision of the Seven Virtues and contains many references to the Divine Comedy of Dante.
One of Imperial’s poems (nº 226) features Dante as a principal character, and in large part consists of the imagined words of the Florentine poet.
This is a direct translation of Dante’s description of Aristotle as “il maestro di color che sanno.” (Inferno IV.)
Between verbal echoes, allusions, and translations, at least one direct reference to Dante can be found in almost every stanza of the Dezir a las syete virtudes.
Not surprisingly, Imperial introduces many Italianisms into his poetry (most notably, the word “transumanar,” which Dante had coined in the Paradiso).
But, in addition, the Dezir al nacimiento de Juan II contains lines that attempt to imitate French, Latin, English and Arabic.
Regardless, for its adoption of exotic, foreign elements, and in particular for its significant debt to Dante, Imperial's poetry stands out from that of his Spanish contemporaries.