ALCÁZAR, BALTASAR del. — Satirical poet, b. in Seville in 1530, d. in Ronda in 1606. As a young man he served on the galleys of the Marquis of Santa Cruz; after leaving the military life, he held political and administrative positions, but his preferred occupation was literature. Formed on Latin and Italian classics, he was naturally inclined toward epigrammatic poetry with a satirical and playful tone, so much so that he could be called the Martial of Seville; Martial was indeed among his favorite and most imitated poets, though he generally softened the tone and almost made it bourgeois.
Among his most successful compositions in this genre are the *Cena jocosa* and *Modo de vivir en la vejez*. A Petrarchist, and a representative—alongside other literati who gathered around Count Don Álvaro Colón y Portugal and his wife Eleonora of Milan—of the Seville school influenced by Italy, he also cultivated amorous poetry with felicitous inspiration and expression. Worthy of special mention are also some moving religious lyrics, such as the sonnet to Jesus and the *Glosa a un Crucifijo*.