Lope de Vega: Encyclopedia II - Lope de Vega - Life

Lope de Vega - Life

Lope de Vega was born in Madrid to a family of undistinguished origins, recent arrivals in the capital from Santander, whose breadwinner, Félix de Vega, was an embroiderer. The first indications of young Lope's genius became apparent in his earliest years. At the age of five he was already reading Spanish and Latin, by his tenth birthday he was translating Latin verse, and he wrote his first play when he was 12. His fourteenth year found him enrolled in the Colegio Imperial, a Jesuit school in Madrid, from which he absconded to take part in a military expedition in Portugal. Following that escapade, he had the good fortune of being taken into the protection of the Bishop of Ávila, who recognized the lad's talent and saw him enrolled in the University of Alcalá de Henares. Following graduation Lope was planning to follow in his patron's footsteps and join the priesthood, but those plans were dashed by his falling in love and realizing that celibacy was not for him.

In 1583 Lope enlisted in the army, and he saw action with the Spanish navy in the Azores. Following this he returned to Madrid and began his career as a playwright in earnest. He also began a love affair with Elena Osorio, an actress and the daughter of a leading theater owner. When, after some five years of this torrid affair, Elena spurned Lope in favor of another suitor, his vitriolic attacks on her and his family landed him in jail for libel and, ultimately, earned him the punishment of eight years' banishment from Castile.

He went into exile undaunted, in the company of the 16-year-old Isabel de Urbina, the daughter of a prominent advisor the court of Philip II, whom he was subsequently forced to marry. A few weeks after their marriage, however, Lope signed up for another tour of duty with the Spanish navy: this was the summer of 1588, and the Invincible Armada was about to sail against England. Lope's luck again served him well, and his ship, the San Juan, was one of the few vessels to make it home to Spanish harbors in the aftermath of that failed expedition. Back in Spain, he settled in the city of Valencia to live out the remainder of his exile and to recommence, as prolifically as ever, his career as a dramatist. In 1590 he was appointed to serve as the secretary to the Duke of Alba, which required him to relocate to Toledo and the ducal estate at Alba de Tormes.

In 1595, following Isabel's death, he left the Duke's service and – eight years having passed – returned to Madrid. There were other love affairs and other scandals: Antonia Trillo de Armenta, who earned him with another lawsuit, and Micaela de Luxán, who inspired a rich series of sonnets and rewarded him with four children.

In 1598 he married Juana de Guardo, the daughter of a wealthy butcher. Nevertheless, his trysts with others – including Micaela – continued. The 1600s were the years when Lope's literary output reached it peak. He was also employed, as a secretary but not without various additional duties, by the Duke of Sessa. Once that decade was over, however, his personal situation took a turn for the worse. His favorite son, Carlos Félix (by Juana), died and, in 1612, Juana herself died in childbirth. Micaela also disappears from the history around this point. Deeply affected, Lope gathered his surviving children from both unions together under one roof. His writing in the early 1610s also assumed heavier religious influences and, in 1614, he joined the priesthood. The taking of holy orders did not, however, impede his romantic dalliances, although it is somewhat unclear what role his employeer the duke, fearful of losing his secretary, played in this by supplying him with various female companions. The most notable and lasting of his relationships during this time was with Marta de Nevares, who would remain with him until her death in 1632.

Further tragedies followed in 1635, with the loss of Lope, his son by Micaela and a worthy poet in his own right, in a shipwreck off the coast of Venezuela, and the abduction and subsequent abandonment of his beloved youngest daughter Antonia. Lope de Vega took to his bed and died, in Madrid, on 27 August of that year.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Life", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki