Luis Vélez de Guevara

Luis Vélez de Guevara (born Luis Vélez de Santander) (1 August 1579 – 10 November 1644) was a Spanish dramatist and novelist. He was born at Écija and was of Jewish converso descent. After graduating as a sizar at the University of Osuna in 1596, he joined the household of Rodrigo de Castro, Cardinal-Archbishop of Seville, and celebrated the marriage of Philip III in a poem signed Vélez de Santander, a name which he continued to use until some years later.

It seems he served as a soldier in Italy and Algiers, returning to Spain in 1602 when he entered the service of the count de Saldaña, and dedicated himself to writing for the stage. He died at Madrid on 10 November 1644.

Velez de Guevara was the author of over four hundred plays, of which the best are ''Reinar despues de morir'', ''La Luna de la Sierra'', and ''El Diablo está en Cantillana''. The play ''Más pesa el rey que la sangre'', which translates into "The King weighs more than blood (kinship)" is based on the episode of the Reconquista in which the nobleman Alonso Pérez de Guzmán allows his son to be sacrificed, rather than surrender his King's possession of Tarifa. However, Vélez de Guevara is most widely known as the author of ''El diablo cojuelo'' (1641, "The Lame Devil" or "The Crippled Devil"), a fantastic novel which suggested to Alain-René Lesage the idea for ''Le Diable boiteux'' (1707). The plot presents a rascal student that hides in an astrologer's mansard. He frees a devil from a bottle. As an acknowledgement the devil shows him the apartments of Madrid and the tricks, miseries and mischiefs of their inhabitants. A similar theme was suggested by the magic lenses in ''Los anteojos de mejor vista'' (1620–1625) by Rodrigo Fernández de Ribera. Charles Dickens refers to ''El Diablo cojuelo'' in The Old Curiosity Shop, chapter thirty-three. Provided by Wikipedia
Showing 1 - 10 results of 10 for search 'Vélez de Guevara, Luis 1579-1644', query time: 0.02s Refine Results
  1. 1

    Reinar después de morir, o, El diablo esta en Cantillana / by Vélez de Guevara, Luis, 1579-1644

    Published 1948
    Book
  2. 2

    Reinar después de morir, o, Doña Inés de Castro / by Vélez de Guevara, Luis, 1579-1644

    Published 1940
    Book
  3. 3

    El diablo cojuelo ; Sobremesa y alivio de caminantes / by Vélez de Guevara, Luis, 1579-1644

    Published 1930
    Book
  4. 4

    Reinar después de morir ; y El diablo está en Cantillana / by Vélez de Guevara, Luis 1579-1644

    Published 1948
    Book
  5. 5

    Reinar después de morir y ; El diablo está en Cantillana / by Vélez de Guevara, Luis, 1579-1644

    Published 1948
    Book
  6. 6

    El diablo cojuelo / by Vélez de Guevara, Luis, 1579-1644

    Published 1950
    Book
  7. 7
  8. 8

    El Lazarillo de Tormes ; El diablo cojuelo /

    Published 1912
    Other Authors:
    Texto completo [Consulta: 2020/07/08].
    Book
  9. 9

    Poetas dramáticos españoles /

    Published 1956
    Other Authors:
    Book
  10. 10

    La novela picaresca española / by Valbuena Prat, Angel, 1900-1977

    Published 1974
    Other Authors:
    Book