Biography
Juan del Encina (born July 12, 1468 – died late 1529 or early 1530). His actual name was Juan de Fermoselle, and was one of at least 7 known children. Fermoselle was a composer, poet and playwright often called the founder of Spanish drama.
He was born in 1468 near Salamanca, probably at Encina de San Silvestre. He was of Jewish converso descent. After leaving Salamanca University sometime in 1492 he became a member of the household of Don Fadrique de Toledo, the second Duke of Alba, although some sources believe that he did not work for the Duke of Alba until 1495. A plausible argument is that his first post was as a Corregidor in northern Spain.
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Fermoselle was a Chaplain at the Salamanca Cathedral in the early 1490s. It was here that he adopted the name Enzina, or Encina during his stay as Chaplain. He was later forced to resign as Chaplain because he was not ordained.
Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.