JUAN PÉREZ DE MONTALBÁN. — Spanish poet and playwright, born in Madrid in 1602, died there on 25 June 1638. He studied theology at Alcalá and was ordained priest in 1625.
A friend and imitator of Lope de Vega, to whom was attributed his poem *El Orfeo en lengua castellana* (1624), he incurred Quevedo’s enmity with the famous miscellany *Para todos. Exemplos morales, humanos y divinos* (1633). He wrote 58 dramatic works of uneven quality. Some, such as *No hay vida como la honra*, *La más constante mujer* and *Un castigo en dos venganzas*, enjoyed extraordinary success. Among his sacred dramas are remembered: *S. Maria Epigetica*; *El divino portugués*; *S. Antonio de Padua*; *El hijo del Serafín*; *S. Pedro de Alcántara*. Modern criticism considers him one of the best minor dramatists of Spain’s Golden Age.