by María de Zayas y Sotomayor

María de Zayas y Sotomayor is thought to have been born in Madrid on September 12, 1590, at the end of the reign of Phillip II (1555-98) when Spain, once the most powerful country in the world, began its decline. Her parents, Doña María de Barasa and Don Fernando de Zayas y Sotomayor belonged to the middle nobility. Don Fernando received the honor of “Caballero del Hábito de Santiago” (Order of Knights of Santiago—patron saint of Spain) in 1628. He served under the famous Count Lemos, viceroy to Naples from 1610 to 1616 and protector of writers such as Lope de Vega, Francisco de Quevedo, and Miguel de Cervantes. It is believed that Zayas’s family traveled around Spain and Italy with the viceroy and his entourage. There is little information about Zayas; it is...