born 1569, Valencia, Spain
died 1631, Madrid
Spanish playwright.
Of his approximately 50 plays, the best-remembered is The Youth of the Cid ( 0441; 1599), on which Pierre Corneille based his Le Cid (1637). Castro's play is notable for its naturalistic dialogue. He was one of the earliest playwrights to deal with the difficulties of marriage, as in The Unhappy Marriages of Valencia . He drew heavily on traditional Castilian ballads and based three of his plays on novels by Miguel de Cervantes .