Luis Ponce de León (1527-1591)

Fray Luis Ponce de León was a Spanish lyric poet and an Augustinian canon, of the Spanish Golden Age. Fray Luis entered the University of Salamanca at the age of fourteen and in 1544 joined the Augustinian order. Luis de León was born Luis Ponce de León in Belmonte, Cuenca, Spain, in 1527 or 1528. In 1541, he was sent to Salamanca to study canon law under the care of his uncle Francisco and professed as an Augustinian monk at the convent of San Pedro in 1543. In 1552, Fray Luis graduated with a bachelor’s degree in theology from the University of Toledo and continued his education as a student of Hebrew and biblical interpretation at the University of Alcalá de Henares. In 1560 he graduated from Salamanca as a licentiate and master of theology. In 1566 he was named administrator of the Augustinian College of San Guillermo in Salamanca, and in 1567 he took on the position of vice rector of the University. In 1571 Dominican professors Bartolomé de Medina and Castro put forth seventeen propositions to the Spanish Inquisition documenting Luis’ allegedly heretical opinions. His translation and commentary of Song of Songs was the biggest evidence presented for their case against Fray Luis. As a result, in 1572 he was imprisoned in Valladolid, fell ill and remained in bad health throughout his imprisonment. During his confinement, Fray Luis continued to actively write and study, though he suffered greatly from his isolation and less than desirable conditions. In 1576, the tables turned, and Fray Luis was cleared of all charges and released from prison with an admonishment to be more careful and reserved in his publications and speech. He returned to the academic environment of the University of Salamanca as a professor. (Upon returning after his years of imprisonment, he is said to have begun his first lecture Dicebamus hesterna die, “As we were saying yesterday…”) He was elected to the chair of Holy Scripture at the University of Salamanca in 1579, and went on to earn a master of the arts degree from the University of Sahagún. Fray Luis did not pay heed to the cautionary admonishments of the Inquisitorial committee after his earlier imprisonment. In 1582, he had another Inquisitional run-in, but was not imprisoned. He was absolved two years later. He died at the age of 64 in 1591, in Madrigal de las Altas Torres, Ávila, and is buried in Salamanca in the convent of San Agustín.
(From Wikipedia)