Pedro Calderon de la Barca was born in Madrid January 17,1600 of good family. He was educated at the Jesuit Collage in Madrid and the University of Salamanca; and a doubtful tradition says that he began to write plays at the age of thirteen. His literary acivity was interrupted for ten years 1625 1635 by military service in Italy and the Low Countries, and again for a year or more in Catalonia. In 1637 he became a Knight of the Order of Santiago and in 1651 he entered the priesthood rising to the disnity of Superior of the Brotherhood of San Pedro in Madrid. He held various offices in the court of Philip IV. who rewarded his services with pensions, and had his plays produced with great splendor. He died May 5 1681.