Born into an aristocratic family, he was linked to the court and the highest echelons of power throughout his life. He was educated at the Imperial College of the Jesuits, and later at the Universities of Alcalá de Henares and Valladolid, focusing on theology and languages.
Faced with his satirical and mocking texts, from his letrillas and sonnets, through his picaresque prose, as can be seen in his best-known work History of the life of the Buscón called Don Pablos, his most serious poetry that reflects his recidivist theme stands out, focused on time and death. He also dealt with the political and philosophical essay ("The cradle and the grave") and was a well-to-do translator and literary critic.
Aside from writing poetry, in a much less known side of his, Quevedo also wrote about Christian mysticism and philosophy. He was part of the resurgent Hellenistic movement of the Golden Age, translating texts of Epictetus and Seneca to Spanish, as well as publishing treatises on Stoicism and Epicureanism.
Quevedo was also a famous Warrior Poet, an avid and incredibly talented duelist. According to a legend, he faced one of the greatest exponents of the Spanish fencing style known as Verdadera Destreza, Luis Pacheco de Narváez, and humiliated him instantly, taking Narváez's hat off his head with a precise sword thrust. Quevedo and Pacheco were bitter enemies, although it is unknown if this duel, in case it every happened, was the cause or the consequence of their enmity.
His friendship with the Duke of Osuna, and later with the Count-Duke of Olivares fostered his prestige, becoming a Knight of the Order of Santiago, although he had several falls from grace that pushed him into exile on several occasions. Finally, due to the cases of corruption surrounding the Count-Duke and his suspicions of the author, he was locked in a small cell in the convent of San Marcos, from which he left with very poor health, retiring definitively to the Torre de Juan Abad, from where he moved to Villanueva de los Infantes, where he died.
Tropes asociated to Francisco de Quevedo
- The Alcoholic
- Arch-Enemy: to Góngora
- Awful Wedded Life: His marriage failed.
- Badass Bookworm
- Battle of Wits: with Góngora
- The Cynic
- Deadpan Snarker: Possibly one of the most prominent examples in Spanish Literature
- Foil: To Góngora
- The Gadfly
- Refuge in Audacity
- Sad Clown: Although he was funny as hell, he was a sad man.
- Too Clever by Half
- Took a Level in Jerkass
- Troll
