Language and Orthodoxy in La Farsa del sacramento llamada de los lenguajes

One indicator of the ascendancy of the prestige form of Castilian in the sixteenth century is the anonymous Farsa del sacramento llamada de los lenguajes, which was published in Rouanet's four-volume collection of religious plays dated 1550-75. In this short piece, a bobo, a moro, a viscayno, a françes, a luterano, and a portugues come before Divino amor for questioning on doctrine and Christian attitudes in order to be admitted to paradise. All fail because of some sort of fault, but mainly because they do not speak "standard" Castilian. Although all are forgiven in the end, the farsa points up the ascendancy of Toledan Castilian, spoken by Divino amor, Justiçia, and Misericordia.