Lope de Vega

Lope de Vega (b 1562) was a Spanish soldier and playwright who took part in the Spanish occupation of England in the late sixteenth century.

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 to 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 Spanish Armada was about to sail against England.

Following the conquest of England, he remained in that country as part of Don Diego Flores de Valdes's occupation force. He was stationed in London and served under the command of Captain Baltasar Guzman. He wrote two plays: La Dama Boba, a comedy, and El Mejor Mozo de Espana, a play written as a tribute to Queen Isabella of Castille, namesake of the Queen of England, and her husband King Ferdinand II of Aragon. A famous womanizer, he also had a number of affairs during his tour of duty, having relationships with, among others, Maude Fuller, Nell Lumley, Martha Brock, Lucy Watkins, Catalina Ibanez, and Cicily Sellis. Some of these caused scandals, and others put him in personal danger.

Fluent in the English language, de Vega was a patron of English theater and a friend of its greatest contemporary playwright, William Shakespeare. He frequented the Globe Theater and occasionally acted as an extra in productions by Lord Westmoreland's Men. In 1597 de Vega was assigned by Cardinal Robert Parsons, the Archbishop of Canterbury, to observe Shakespeare, whose loyalties were considered suspect by the cardinal. De Vega did not believe Shakespeare was at all unreliable and relished the opportunity for an easy assignment which would give him the opportunity to patronize the English theater frequently.

In fact, de Vega's assignment came just as Shakespeare became involved in William Cecil's plot to overthrow the Hapsburg monarchs. Though Lord Westmoreland's Men only narrowly managed to conceal evidence of their work on the English nationalistic play Boudicca, de Vega never became suspicious, partly because they were able to placate him by promising him a role in King Philip, to which de Vega contributed one line.

When Boudicca was performed in 1598 and the Spanish were driven out of England, de Vega was captured by English forces. Shakespeare obtained parole for his friend and colleague from the newly restored Queen Elizabeth, and he returned to Spain.