The Life and Times of Balagtas

Who exactly is Francisco Balagtas? That is what we're here to answer today.

Francisco Balagtas y de la Cruz is a prominent Filipino poet. In fact, he is so prominent that he is often considered one of the greatest Filipino literary laureates. This is because of his impact on Filipino literature. Florante at Laura is regarded to be his greatest masterpiece and is thus the work that he is most known for.

Sometimes, people see the last name Baltazar instead of Balagtas when looking at his records and his works. That is because 'Baltazar' is a surname that Balagtas adopted after Governor-Genernal Narciso Claveria y Zaldua made the use of standard Spanish surnames mandatory in an edict during the year 1849.

Fracisco Balagtas was born on April 2, 1788 to Juana dela Cruz and Juan Baltazar in Panginay, Bigaa, Bulacan. He first studied in a parochial school in Bigaa before enrolling at Colegio de San Jose years later while working as a helper in Tondo. While there, he took up philosophy, theology, canon law, and humanities.

He then continued his studies in Colegio de San Juan de Letran. This is where he became known as a popular poet.

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http://bsehistory.blogspot.com/2012/04/francisco-balagtas-first-nationalist.html