Pedro Calderón de la Barca: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 17:16, 10 May 2006

Revision as of 17:17, 10 May 2006

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'''Pedro Calderón de la Barca''' ([[January 17]], [[1600]] – [[May 25]], [[1681]]), [[Spain|Spanish]] [[dramatist]] and [[poet]], was born in [[Madrid]]. His mother, who was of [[Flemish]] descent, died in 1610; his father, who was secretary to the treasury, died in 1615. Calderón was educated at the [[Society of Jesus|Jesuit]] College in [[Madrid]], the [[Colegio Imperial de Madrid|Colegio Imperial]], with a view to taking orders and accepting a family living; abandoning this project, he studied [[law]] at [[university of Salamanca|Salamanca]].

Between 1620 and 1622 Calderón competed with success in a series of poetry competitions held in honour of [[St Isidore]] at Madrid. Calderón´s debut as a playwright was with ''Amor, honor y poder'', performed on the 29th of June, 1623. This was followed by two other plays that same year: ''La selva confusa'' and ''Los Macabeos''. Over the next two decades, Calderón wrote more than 70 plays, the majority of which were secular dramas written for the commercial theatres.

According to one of his biographers, Vera Tassis, Calderón served with the Spanish army in [[Italy]] and [[Flanders]] between 1625 and 1635; but this statement is contradicted by numerous legal documents indicating that Calderón resided at Madrid during these years. Early in 1629 his brother Diego was stabbed by an actor who took sanctuary in the convent of the Trinitarian nuns; Calderón and, his friends broke into the cloister and attempted to seize the offender. This violation was denounced by the fashionable preacher, [[Hortensio Félix Paravicino]], in a sermon preached before [[Philip IV of Spain|Philip IV]]; Calderón retorted by introducing into ''El príncipe constante'' a mocking reference (afterwards cancelled) to Paravicino's florid oratory style. Calderón was punished for his impertinence with three days of house arrest.