Lope de Vega

Félix Lope de Vega (1562–1635), born in Madrid, was the most prolific playwright of Spain's Golden Age. In 1583 he fought at Ponta Delgada in the Azores. Exiled from Castile for libel, he married Isabel de Urbina in May 1588 and sailed with the Armada, surviving its failure.

In Valencia and later Madrid he forged the comedia nueva that made theatre mass entertainment and defined Spanish Baroque drama. His output includes hundreds of plays, some three thousand sonnets and several novels. Ordained a priest in 1614, he served the Duke of Sessa until his death in Madrid.