Francisco Avellaneda (c. 1622 – c. 1684) was a playwright of the

Spanish Golden Age The Spanish Golden Age (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Siglo de Oro'', , "Golden Century"; 1492 – 1681) was a period of literature and the The arts, arts in Spain that coincided with the political rise of the Spanish Empire under the Catholic M ...

Biography

Little record survives of Avellaneda's early life, although he achieved notoriety in his time as a playwright. In 1660, he is known to have been in

Valladolid Valladolid ( ; ) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and ''de facto'' capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the pr ...

for the festivities surrounding the transfer of the holy image of

María de la Soledad Our Lady of Solitude (; ) is a Titles of Mary, title of Mary, mother of Jesus and a special form of Marian devotions, Marian devotion practised in Spanish-speaking countries to commemorate the solitude of Mary on Holy Saturday. Variant names in ...

(English: "Our Lady of Solitude"). In 1664, he published an account of the festival, along with his comedy ''El divino calabrés.'' ''El divino calabrés'' was a collaboration with Juan de Matos Fragoso. Avellaneda later became well known as a specialist in collaborative comedies.

Works

Avellaneda became known for writing smaller pieces, such as short

farce Farce is a comedy that seeks to entertain an audience through situations that are highly exaggerated, extravagant, ridiculous, absurd, and improbable. Farce is also characterized by heavy use of physical comedy, physical humor; the use of delibe ...

s, dances, ''loas'', ''

entremés In 16th- and 17th-century Spanish drama, an entremés (plural entremeses) was a short, comedy, comic theatrical performance of one act (drama), act, usually played during the interlude of a performance of a long dramatic work. The ''entremés'' form ...

'', and the farcical puppet shows known as ''mojigangas''. He also wrote several pieces in collaboration with a number of partners. Juan de Matos Fragoso was a frequent collaborator; they worked together on ''El divino calabrés'' as well as ''San Francisco de Paula.'' In 1661, he published ''Cuantas veo tantas quiero'' with Sebastián de Villaviciosa. Working with Fragoso and Villaviciosa, he published ''La Corte en el valle'', which was performed for King Philip IV in Valladolid in 1660, and ''Solo el piadoso es mi hijo'', released in Madrid in 1661. Many of his shorter theatrical pieces have been at times incorrectly attributed to other authors. ''Las casas de placer'', for example, is often attributed to

Pedro Calderón de la Barca Pedro Calderón de la Barca y Barreda González de Henao Ruiz de Blasco y Riaño (17 January 160025 May 1681) (, ; ) was a Spanish dramatist, poet, and writer. He is known as one of the most distinguished Spanish Baroque literature, poets and ...

, while ''La boda de Juan Rana'' has been ascribed to

Jerónimo de Cáncer Jerónimo de Cáncer y Velasco (c. 1599 – 1655) was a Spanish poet and playwright of the Spanish Golden Age The Spanish Golden Age (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Siglo de Oro'', , "Golden Century"; 1492 – 1681) was a period of literatu ...

. Other, better-remembered solo works include ''Lo que es Madrid'', ''Los gansos'', and ''El niño de la Rollona''. ''El plenipapelier'' was presented in 1667 at the court of

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, accompanied by a Calderón play entitled ''Amado y aborrecido''. ''El hidalgo de la Membrilla'' was first presented in 1661, also accompanied by a work of Calderón, ''El hijo del Sol''. He also wrote the

loa , also called loa, are spirits in the African diaspora religions, African diasporic religion of Haitian Vodou and Dominican Vudú. They have also been incorporated into some revivalist forms of Louisiana Voodoo. Many of the lwa derive their iden ...

''Loa por papeles para palacio''. Dances he is known to have composed include ''Las casas y El tabaco'', the jácara ''La Flores y el Zurdillo'' and ''La Rabilla'', and the mojiganga ''El titeretier'', for the 1678 festival of

Carnival Carnival (known as Shrovetide in certain localities) is a festive season that occurs at the close of the Christian pre-Lenten period, consisting of Quinquagesima or Shrove Sunday, Shrove Monday, and Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras. Carnival typi ...

. He also composed ''El capuchino escocés'', ''Volverse el rayo en laurel'', and the mythologically inspired

zarzuela () is a Spanish lyric-dramatic genre that alternates between spoken and sung scenes, the latter incorporating operatic and popular songs, as well as dance. The etymology of the name is uncertain, but some propose it may derive from the name o ...

''El templo de Palas'', with music by

Juan Hidalgo de Polanco Juan Hidalgo de Polanco (28 September 1614 – 31 March 1685) was a Spanish composer and harpist who became the most influential composer of his time in the Hispanic world writing the music for the first two operas created in Spanish. He is con ...

. ''El templo de palas'' was presented on July 26, 1675, at the court of

Mariana of Austria Mariana or Maria Anna of Austria (24 December 1634 – 16 May 1696), was Queen of Spain from 1649 until the death of her husband Philip IV of Spain in 1665. Appointed regent for their infant son Charles II, she remained an influential figure un ...

. The play deals with a war between the children of

Oedipus Oedipus (, ; "swollen foot") was a mythical Greek king of Thebes. A tragic hero in Greek mythology, Oedipus fulfilled a prophecy that he would end up killing his father and marrying his mother, thereby bringing disaster to his city and family. ...

Eteocles In Greek mythology, Eteocles (; ) was a king of Ancient Thebes (Boeotia), Thebes, the son of Oedipus and either Jocasta or Euryganeia. Oedipus killed his father Laius and married his mother without knowing his relationship to either. When the ...

and Polinices. On the same occasion, he also presented a ''loa'', ''La flor del sol'', an ''entremés'', ''El triunfo del vellocino'', and a ''mojiganga'', ''El mundi novi''. This set was later published in

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

in 1675.

Bibliography

* Javier Huerta, Emilio Peral, Héctor Urzaiz, ''Teatro español de la A a la Z''. Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, 2005, p. 51. * Gema Cienfuegos Antelo, ''El teatro breve de Francisco de Avellaneda: estudio y edición'', Madrid, Fundación Universitaria Española, 2006. * Gema Cienfuegos Antelo, "Francisco de Avellaneda", in ''Historia del Teatro Breve en España'', Madrid, Iberoamericana-Verbuert, 2008, pp. 409–420. * Héctor Urzáiz Tortajada y Gema Cienfuegos Antelo, "Francisco de Avellaneda: entremesista y censor de comedias 'por Su Majestad', Carlos II", in ''Teatro y poder en la época de Carlos II. Fiestas en torno a reyes y virreyes'', Judith Farré ed., Madrid, Universidad de Navarra-Iberoamericana Verbuert, 2007, pp. 305–327. {{DEFAULTSORT:Avellaneda, Francisco 1620s births 1684 deaths Spanish male dramatists and playwrights 17th-century Spanish writers 17th-century Spanish dramatists and playwrights 17th-century male writers