CESPEDES  'Y MENESES, GONZALO DE (1585 ?—1638),

Spanish novelist, was born at Madrid about 1585 . Nothing positive is known of him before the publication of his celebrated romance, the Poema trdgico del Espanol Gerardo, y desengano del amor lascivo (1615–1617); there is evidence that he had been sentenced to eight years at the galleys previous to the 1st of January 162o, and that the penalty had been remitted; but the nature of his offence is not stated . His treatment of political questions in the Historia apologetica en los sucesos del reyno de Aragon, y su ciudad de Zaragoza, ages de 91 y 92 (1622), having led to the confiscation of the book, Cespedes took up his residence at Saragossa and Lisbon . While in exile he issued a collection of short stories entitled Historias peregrinas y exemplares'(1623), the unfinished romance Varia fortuna del sold ado Pindaro (1626), and the first part of his Historia de Felipe IV . (1631), a fulsome eulogy which was rewarded by the author's appointment as official historiographer to the Spanish king . Cespedes died on the 27th of January 1638 . His novels, though written in a ponderous, affected style, display considerable imagination and insight into character . The Poema trdgico has been utilized by Fletcher in The Spanish Curate and in The Maid of the Mill . The Historias peregrinas has been reprinted (1906) with a valuable introduction by Sr . Cotarelo y Mod .