Lope De Vega

Lope de Vega was born in 1562 to Felices de Vega Carpio and his wife, Francisca. It is said that de Vega dictated verses before the age of 5 and wrote plays by 12. He was educated at a Jesuit school in Madrid and later at the University of Alcalá de Henares. Around 1583, after graduating and serving a year in the Spanish Navy, de Vega began writing plays. He also fell in love with Elena Osorio, and the pair were in a relationship until 1587, when she fell in love with someone else. De Vega responded to this betrayal by publishing libellous attacks against Elena and her family. He was tried for libel in 1588 and banished from Madrid for eight years. Defying the sentence, de Vega returned to elope with Isabel de Urbina Alderete y Cortinas. He later moved to Valencia, Toledo, and then later moved near Salamanca, where he entered the service of the Duke of Alba. After his wife died in childbirth in 1594, de Vega began relationships with numerous women, and in 1598 he married Juana De Guarda, the daughter of a wealthy Madrid butcher, while beginning an affair with a well-known actress. Around that time, de Vega published several poems and poetic narratives, and by 1604 he had written around 230 three-act plays. In the early 17th century, de Vega was employed as a secretary by the Duke of Sessa. Carlos Felix, de Vega’s favorite son, died around this time, followed soon after by Juana’s death in 1612. Two years later, de Vega joined the priesthood, but he still kept up his romantic affairs and playwriting. De Vega lived until 1635, when he died of scarlet fever. De Vega is regarded as one of the most important writers in Spanish literature. Estimates suggest that de Vega wrote 1500 plays over his lifetime, the most famous of which was Fuente Ovejuna, written in 1619.