Fernand-Cort�s

When Alexis Piron embarked on his third tragedy Fernand-Cortés (1744) he was able to build on the experience of his second work in the genre, one of the most successful of its time, written eleven years before, Gustave-Wasa. However, his confidence in the play was shaken by a rowdy first night which led to an unsatisfactory first run, and he effectively withdrew it. Until, that is, he published a collection of what he thought were his most important works in 1758, when he wrote for it a new...