Francisco de Avellaneda facts for kids

Francisco Avellaneda was a famous Spanish writer who lived a long time ago, from about 1622 to 1684. He was a playwright, meaning he wrote plays for the theater during a special time in Spain called the Spanish Golden Age. This was a period when Spanish art and literature were really amazing!

About Francisco Avellaneda

We don't know much about Francisco Avellaneda's early life, but he became very well-known for his plays. In 1660, he was in a city called Valladolid for a big celebration. This event was for moving a holy statue called María de la Soledad (which means "Our Lady of Solitude").

A few years later, in 1664, Avellaneda wrote a book about this festival. He also included one of his plays in it, called El divino calabrés. He wrote this play with another writer named Juan de Matos Fragoso. Avellaneda became famous for working with other playwrights on comedies.

What He Wrote

Francisco Avellaneda was known for writing shorter plays and performances. These included funny plays called farces, dances, and special short shows like loas and entremés. He also wrote funny puppet shows called mojigangas.

He often worked with other writers. Juan de Matos Fragoso was a frequent partner. They wrote El divino calabrés and another play called San Francisco de Paula together. In 1661, Avellaneda published Cuantas veo tantas quiero with Sebastián de Villaviciosa.

Working with both Fragoso and Villaviciosa, he published La Corte en el valle. This play was performed for King Philip IV in Valladolid in 1660. They also wrote Solo el piadoso es mi hijo, which came out in Madrid in 1661.

Other Works

Many of Avellaneda's shorter plays have sometimes been mistakenly thought to be written by other authors. For example, Las casas de placer is often said to be by Pedro Calderón de la Barca. Also, La boda de Juan Rana has been linked to Jerónimo de Cáncer.

Some of his other well-known plays that he wrote by himself include Lo que es Madrid, Los gansos, and El niño de la Rollona. His play El plenipapelier was shown in 1667 at the court of Vienna. It was performed alongside a play by Calderón called Amado y aborrecido. Another play, El hidalgo de la Membrilla, was first shown in 1661. It was also performed with a Calderón play, El hijo del Sol. He also wrote a loa called Loa por papeles para palacio.

Dances and Musical Plays

Avellaneda also created dances for performances. These include Las casas y El tabaco, and a special type of song-dance called a jácara titled La Flores y el Zurdillo and La Rabilla. For the 1678 Carnival festival, he wrote a mojiganga called El titeretier.

He also wrote El capuchino escocés and Volverse el rayo en laurel. He created a musical play called El templo de Palas, which was a zarzuela inspired by old myths. Juan Hidalgo de Polanco wrote the music for it. El templo de Palas was performed on July 26, 1675, for Mariana of Austria. This play was about a war between the children of Oedipus, named Eteocles and Polinices.

At the same event, he also presented a loa called La flor del sol. There was also an entremés called El triunfo del vellocino, and a mojiganga called El mundi novi. This collection of plays was later published in Naples in 1675.