Luis de León (Belmonte, Cuenca, 1527 – Madrigal de las Altas Torres, Castile, Spain, 23 August 1591), was a Spanish lyric poet, Augustinian friar, theologian and academic, active during the Spanish Golden Age. Early life Luis de León was born in Belmonte, in the Province of Cuenca, in 1527 or 1528. His parents were Lope de León and Inés de Varela, and they had five children. His father practiced law, and it was due to his profession that the family moved to Madrid in 1534, and later to Valladolid. Luis obtained a very thorough and extensive education, and was devoted to the interpretation and translation of religious texts and ideas. He was proficient in Greek, Hebrew, and Latin. He entered the University of Salamanca at the age of fourteen, in 1541, to study Canon Law under the care of his uncle Francisco. At some point between 1541 and 1543 (Thompson states that it was about 5–6 months after beginning his studies, while other authors often claim it was 1543), Luis abandoned his studies and instead entered the Order of the Hermits of St. Augustine. After a novitiate of uncertain duration he joined the Priory of San Pedro on 29 January 1544. The first record of León as a student of theology is in the matriculation book at the University of Salamanca for 1546-7. 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. Academic career Having returned to Salamanca the previous year, in 1560 he graduated from the University of Salamanca as a licentiate (7 May) and Master of Theology (30 June), and in the following year he won the election to the Chair of St Thomas, a chair in Theology, at the same university (Salamanca was unusual in that all Chairs were subject to an election for the position). This was a minor Chair, with a limited four-year tenure. In 1565, he won the Chair of St Durandus, to which he was re-elected in 1569 (he lost it in 1573 because he was in prison while the elections took place). 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 he attained the