Calderon was born in Madrid. His mother, who was of Flemish descent, died in 1610; his father, an hidalgo of Cantabrian origins who was secretary to the treasury, died in 1615. Calderon was educated at the Jesuit College in Madrid, the Colegio Imperial, with a view to taking orders; but instead, he studied law at Salamanca. Between 1620 and 1622 Calderon won several poetry contests in honor of St Isidore at Madrid. Calderon's debut as a playwright was Amor, honor y poder, performed at the Royal Palace on 29 June 1623. This was followed by two other plays that same year: La selva confusa and Los Macabeos. Over the next two decades, Calderon wrote more than 70 plays, the majority of which were secular dramas written for the commercial theatres. Calderon served with the Spanish army in Italy and Flanders between 1625 and 1635. By the time Lope de Vega died in 1635, Calderon was recognized as the foremost Spanish dramatist of the age. Calderon had also gained considerable favour in the court, and in 1636-1637 he was made a knight of the order of Santiago by Philip IV, who had already commissioned from him a series of spectacular plays for the royal theatre in the newly built Buen Retiro palace. On 28 May 1640 he joined a company of mounted cuirassiers recently raised by Gaspar de Guzman, Count-Duke of Olivares, took part in the Catalonian campaign, and distinguished himself by his gallantry at Tarragona. His health failing, he retired from the army in November 1642, and three years later was awarded a special military pension in recognition of his services in the field. His biography during the next few years is obscure. His brother, Diego Calderon, died in 1647. A son, Pedro Jose, was born to Calderon and an unknown woman between 1647 and 1649; the mother died soon after. Calderon committed his son to the care of his nephew, Jose, son of his brother Diego. Perhaps for reasons relating to these personal trials, Calderon became a tertiary of the order of St Francis in 1650, and then finally joined the priesthood. He was ordained in 1651, and became a priest at San Salvador church, in Madrid. According to a statement he made a year or two later, he decided to give up writing secular dramas for the commercial theatres. Though he did not adhere strictly to this resolution, he now wrote mostly mythological plays for the palace theatres, and autos sacramentales-one-act allegories illustrating the mystery of the Eucharist-for performance during the feast of Corpus Christi. In 1662, two of Calderon's autos, Las ordenes militares and Mistica y real Babilonia, were the subjects of an inquiry by the Inquisition; the former was censured, its manuscript copies confiscated, and remained condemned until 1671. Calderon was appointed honorary chaplain to Philip IV in 1663, and continued as chaplain to his successor. In his eighty-first year he wrote his last secular play, Hado y Divisa de Leonido y Marfisa, in honor of Charles II's marriage to Maria Luisa of Orleans. Notwithstanding his position at court and his popularity throughout Spain, his closing years seem to have been passed in relative poverty.