ALMOGAYER, JUAN, a Spanish poet, born of a good family at Barcelona about A.D. 1500. He was the intimate friend of Garcilaso de la Vega, and with him contributed essentially to the improvement of Spanish poetry. He was the first who introduced endecasyllable verse into Spanish poetry; and he translated into the Castilian tongue the sonnets and other poetical forms consecrated by the usage of the best Italian authors. His poetry is divided into three books, the first of which contains only redondillas, while the two others are filled with the pieces which he composed after he adopted his new method, namely canciones, sonnets, tercets, compositions in the ottava rima, and in blank verse. Boscan was tutor to the celebrated Ferdinand of Toledo, Duke of Alba, and appears to have died about the year 1544. His works were printed in conjunction with those of his friend Garcilaso, at Lisbon in 1543; at Leon in 1549; and at Venice in 1553. (Bouterwek, i. 232.)