GABRIEL ÁLVAREZ DE TOLEDO. — Spanish writer, born in Seville in 1662 into a noble family of Portuguese origin, and died in 1714. He was among the founders of the Royal Spanish Academy and held the position of chief librarian to the king. At the age of thirty, he abandoned court life for an ascetic existence, devoting himself to penance, prayer, and charity.
He wrote mystical poetry, collected in vol. LXI (pp. 1-18) of the *Biblioteca de Autores Españoles*, as well as historical works (*Historia de la Iglesia y del mundo antes del Diluvio*), a burlesque poem (*La Burromachia*), and a romance in hendecasyllables on the martyrdom of St. Lawrence. Also noteworthy, from a religious perspective, is his paraphrase of Psalm *Miserere*.
A skilled prose writer of broad culture, knowledgeable in classical and modern languages, he was not infrequently inspired in his religious lyrics, though inclined toward a form of sacred rhetoric in which erudite and humanistic effort is evident. Yet in his best moments, he recalls Luis de León.