| 1454 |
Actors paid to perform in Corpus Christi festival performances |
| 1469 |
Spain united under marriage of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella |
| 1473 |
Printing introduced to Spain |
| 1481 |
Spanish Inquisition established by Catholic Church to punish heretics |
| 1492 |
Jews expelled from Spain; Columbus reaches North America; conquest of Granada and most of the Moors (Muslims) expelled, putting Spain 100% under Christian control |
| 1500 |
The Comedy of Calisto and Melibea, first secular comedy published in Spain; attributed to Fernando de Rojas |
| 1513 |
Juan del Encina: The Eclogue of Placida and Victoriana, key secular play |
| 1519 |
Cortez conquers the Aztecs |
| 1530 |
Pizzaro colonizes Peru |
| 1538 |
Roman comedies by Plautus and Terence were required curriculum at Salamanca University in Spain |
| 1549 |
Jesuits begin missionary work in South America |
| 1542 |
Lope de Rueda first appears in documentation as actor in Seville |
| c. 1550 |
Auto sacramentales (one-act plays with religious subject matter)appear for the annual festival of Corpus Christi; production of autos taken over by city guilds; professional troupes now hired as performers; three autos presented annually |
| 1551 |
Lope de Rueda begins writing auto sacramentales; he remains an actor and autor (manager of theatrical troupe) |
| 1556-98 |
Philip II becomes king: period of greatest influence and power |
| 1561 |
Madrid becomes capital of Spain |
| 1565 |
Death of Lope de Rueda, first popular playwright of era; Cofradía de la Pasión de Jesucristo is the first religious confraternity to be granted the right/privilege to operate a theatre to raise monies for the poor |
| 1570-80 |
Italian commedia dell’arte troupes tour Spain |
| 1575 |
El Greco arrives in Spain from Greece |
| 1579 |
Corral de la Cruz: first permanent theatre built in Spain |
| 1583 |
Corral de la Principe: second permanent theatre, also built in Madrid |
| 1587 |
Women licensed to appear onstage as actresses |
| 1588 |
Defeat of Spanish Armada by English Navy of Elizabeth I |
| 1592 |
The number of autos performed during Corpus Christi increased to four |
| 1599 |
Spanish law requires female performers to be wives or daughters of company members and bans cross-dressing |
| 1605 |
Miguel de Cervantes: Don Quixote, Part I; also wrote plays and entermeses (interludes) between 1580-87 |
| 1609 |
Spain expels “Moriscos,” Muslims still living in Spain |
| 1609 |
Lope de Vega (Lope Félix de Vega Carpio) writes “The New Art of Playwriting” and claims to have written 483 comedias (full-length plays) |
| 1612-18 |
Guillén de Castro writes Las Mocedades del Cid (The Youthful Adventures of Le Cid), about the expulsion of the Moors in 1492 |
| 1614 |
Lope de Vega: Fuente Ovejuna (The Sheep Well); Calderón (Pedro Calderón de la Barca) writes his first play |
| 1616-30 |
Tirso de Molina writes El Burlador de Sevilla (The Trickster of Seville), the first Don Juan play |
| 1623 |
Calderón writes plays for the Spanish court |
| 1631 |
Cofradía de la Novena established: actors’ guild (still exists today) |
| 1635 |
Death of Lope de la Vega; Calderón becomes director of the court theatre in Madrid |
| 1636 |
Calderón: Life is A Dream |
| 1647-1681 |
Calderón writes all autos performed in Madrid |
| 1647 |
The number of autos performed during Corpus Christi reduced to two |
| 1653 |
Actresses forbidden by law to wear strange headdresses, décolleté necklines, wide hooped skirts, or skirts not touching the floor; actresses could only wear one costume per play |
| 1660 |
Celos Aun del Air Matan, the most famous zarzuela (stylized music drama), performed |
| 1681 |
Death of Calderón |
| 1659 |
Peace of the Pyrenees; Spain’s power begins decline |
| 1765 |
Auto sacramentales prohibited by law |