CESPEDES Y MENESES, GONZALO DE

born 1585?, Madrid, Spain died 1638, Madrid Spanish writer of histories and short stories. Cspedes is best known for his early work, the romance Poema trgico del espaol Gerardo, y desengao del amor lascivo (161517), translated (1622) by Leonard Digges as Gerardo the Unfortunate Spaniard, or a Pattern for Lascivious Lovers. It was drawn upon by John Fletcher for two plays, The Spanish Curate (1622; with Philip Massinger) and The Maid in the Mill (1623; with William Rowley). Cspedes ran into political difficulties upon the publication of his Historia apologtica en los sucessos del reyno de Aragn y su ciudad de Zaragoza, aos de 1591 a 1592 (1622; Apologetic History on the Advent of the Kingdom of Aragon and Its City of Zaragoza, Years from 1591 to 1592); it was confiscated, and Cspedes moved to Zaragoza and later to Lisbon. While in exile, he published Historias peregrinas y ejemplares (1623; Stories Foreign and Exemplary), short stories that, like those of Poema trgico, show considerable imagination and insight into character, despite an affected style; and the first part of an Historia de Felipe III (1631; History of Philip III), a fulsome eulogy for which he was rewarded with the post of official historiographer to the Spanish king.