R. Cota the elder) likewise composed the first act of a
story of intrigue and character, purely dramatic but not intended for
representation. This tragic comedy of _Calisto and Meliboea_, which was
completed (in 21 acts) by 1499, afterwards became famous under the name
of _Celestina_; it was frequently imitated and translated, and was
adapted for the Spanish stage by R. de Zepeda in 1582. But the father of
the Spanish drama was J. de la Enzina, whose _representaciones_ under
the name of "eclogues" were dramatic dialogues of a religious or
pastoral character. His attempts were imitated more especially by the
Portuguese Gil Vicente, whose writings for the stage appear to be
included in the period 1502-1536, and who wrote both in Spanish and in
his native tongue. A further impulse came, as was natural, from
Spaniards resident in Italy, and especially from B. de Torres Naharro,
who in 1517 published, as the chief among the "firstlings of his genius"
(_Propaladia_), a series of eight _comedias_--a term generally applied
in Spanish literature to any kind of drama. He claimed some knowledge of
the theory of the ancient drama, divided his plays into _jornadas_[45]
(to correspond to acts), and opened them with an _introyto_ (prologue).
Very various in their subjects, and occasionally odd in form,[46] they
were gross as well as audacious in tone, and were soon prohibited by the
Inquisition. The church remained unwilling to renounce her control over
such dramatic exhibitions as she permitted, and sought to suppress the
few plays on not strictly religious subjects which appeared in the early
part of the reign of Charles I. Though the universities produced both
translations from the classical drama and modern Latin plays, these
exercised very little general effect. Juan Perez' (Petreius') posthumous
Latin comedies were mainly versions of Ariosto.[47]

Lope de Rueda and his followers.

Classical dramas.

Thus the foundation of the Spanish national theatre was reserved for a
man of the people. Cervantes has vividly sketched the humble resources
which were at the command of Lope de Rueda, a mechanic of Seville, who
with his friend the bookseller Timoneda, and two brother authors and
actors in his strolling company, succeeded in bringing dramatic
entertainments out of the churches and palaces into the public places of
the towns, where they were produced on temporary scaffolds. The manager
carried about his properties in a corn-s