his reputation is based on a prose work, the "diana", a pastoral romance published about 1559. shortly afterwards montemor was killed in piedmont, apparently in a love affair; a late edition of the "diana" gives the exact date of his death. the "diana" is generally stated to have been printed at valencia in 1542; but, as the "canto de orfeo" refers to the widowhood of the infanta juana in 1554, the book must be of later date.