Sebastián Francisco de Medrano (Madrid, 1590–1653) was a prominent nobleman born into the Medrano family, a poet and playwright of the Baroque period, and the founder and president of the Medrano Academy, located on Leganitos street in Madrid. He was the commissioner of the Spanish Inquisition, acting as the official censor of comedias. He was also chief chaplain, chief almoner, and priest at San Pedro el Real in Madrid. He became the Protonotary Apostolic of the Pope, Apostolic Judge, chaplain and treasurer for Gómez Suárez de Figueroa, III Duke of Feria. Medrano was the author of the celebrated miscellany Favores de las Musas. The Spanish novelist and playwright Alonso de Castillo Solórzano described Medrano as "the prince of the most renowned Academy Madrid ever had."^[1]

Sebastián Francisco de Medrano was a poet of the Spanish Golden Age and a member of the illustrious House of Medrano.^[2][3] He should not be confused with the slightly earlier Sevillian poet, Francisco de Medrano. He became a Doctor of Canon Law, Protonotary Apostolic of His Holiness, Judge, and a commissioner of the Inquisition, acting as the official censor of comedias,^[4] a term largely created and defined by his close friend, Lope de Vega.^[5] There is news of Medrano's activity as a qualifier for a censorship located in the handwritten comedy by Luis Belmonte Bermúdez, called Casarse sin hablarse, which was previously approved by Juan Navarro de Espinosa and later corrected by Sebastián Francisco de Medrano.^[6]

He was also a priest and chief almoner of San Pedro el Real in Madrid. He was the chaplain and treasurer for Gómez Suárez de Figueroa, III Duke of Feria. On 29 June 1622 he joined the priestly congregation of San Pedro el Real in Madrid, eventually becoming its secretary and chief chaplain.^[4]

Alonso de Castillo Solórzano confirmed Medrano's career in the introductory to the Favors of the Muses:

Medrano was a teenager when he founded the Academy. He had been born in Madrid, into an illustrious family at the end of the 16th century; He was a priest and commissioner of the Inquisition, acting as the official censor of comedies. He was also chaplain and treasurer of the Duke of Feria; From 1622 he belonged to the priestly congregation of San Pedro, which made up the natural priests of Madrid, becoming secretary and chief chaplain of this institution.^[7]

Sebastián Francisco de Medrano most notably established the Medrano Academy as a teenager and became its president.^[4] The Medrano Academy was a famous academia literaria hosting key figures in the Spanish Golden Age (1492–1659) of Baroque literature and Spanish Golden Age theatre, including Lope de Vega, Luis de Góngora, Pedro Calderón de la Barca, Francisco de Quevedo and many others.^[8] Solórzano explained in the epistle of Medrano's Favores de las Musas:

... Much paper could be spent praising him, though as his true friend, I must note that he wrote these works in his youth, with a natural spirit that marks him as a born poet. He was the prince of the most renowned Academy Madrid ever had, where he presided over many poetic contests with great elegance and erudition, delivering judgments (a key aspect of such exercises) without offending anyone, and demonstrating immense grace and charm. His works were well-received and applauded by many distinguished audiences, including one session attended publicly by Their Majesties and the most illustrious figures of Spain, both in lineage and intellect. These early achievements prepared him for a literary career, creating works that blend erudition, doctrine, devotion, and example. He knows how to give each stage of life its due, prudently balancing his pursuits unlike others, who disrupt the natural order of life’s stages and in old age are seen with clouded judgment and skewed understanding.^[1]

In addition, manuscript 3,889 (Poesías varias) of the Biblioteca Nacional de España (BNM) contains what appears to be a foundational charter for a "Peregrine Academy," which, however, never became active.^[9] This document was likely authored by Sebastián Francisco de Medrano.^[10]

Like most poets of the time, Medrano participated in the poetic jousts in honour of the beatification of San Isidro and was awarded in the 1622 poetic contest organized by Lope de Vega in honor of San Ignacio de Loyola and San Francisco Javier.^[11]

With a fondness for literature and art, Sebastián Francisco de Medrano created the Medrano Academy that many consider to coincide with the Poetic Academy of Madrid and lent his house in Leganitos between 1616 and 1622 for meetings.^[12] From 1623 onward, the Academy was directed by Francisco de Mendoza, and meetings were held at his residence.^[13] Favors of the Muses was composed for the Academy of Madrid and collected by Alonso de Castillo Solórzano, a friend of Medrano and who joined the group of poets in 1619.^[14]

The most illustrious names in the Spanish Golden Age were part of his Academy, as Medrano himself pointed out in the introductory letter to the volume of the Favors of the Muses, an incomplete list of the participants and in many cases coinciding with the Saldaña Academy.^[15] Among them were Lope de Vega, Francisco de Quevedo, Luis de Góngora, Juan Ruiz de Alarcón, Luis Vélez de Guevara, Antonio Mira de Amescua, Juan Pérez de Montalbán, Pedro Calderón de la Barca, Alonso de Castillo Solórzano, and others less known, such as Jerónimo de Villaizán, José Pellicer de Tovar, Gabriel Bocángel, Guillén de Castro, Jiménez de Enciso, Gaspar del Ávila, Diego de Villegas, López de Zárate, the Prince of Esquilache, Valdivieso, Salas Barbadillo, Cristóbal de Mesa, Gabriel del Corral, and A. Hurtado de Mendoza.^[8] In 1620, Tirso de Molina is also noted for participating at the gatherings of Medrano's Poetic Academy in Madrid.^[16]

Among his relationships with the court poets, the friendship he apparently had with Lope de Vega stands out. Although he was not a distinguished playwright, his life coincided with the splendor of the new comedy and the vicissitudes of the theatrical revolution, with which he did not always agree. However, his defense of classical precepts did not prevent him from coexisting and friendship with Lope de Vega. As La Barrera pointed out:

He had very intimate relations with Lope de Vega, and chance caused that great man to be taken to his room, located in the Scottish seminary, when he fainted, which preceded his death by three days.^[17]

Lope de Vega referred to him, praising him in El Laurel de Apolo (1630) in silva VII:

Don Sebastián Francisco de Medrano, illustrious in birth and in genius, with a different spirit, devoutly leaves behind profane writing.^[18]

Sebastián Francisco de Medrano knew how to respond to Lope de Vega in the Fama póstuma a la vida y muerte del doctor frey Lope Félix de Vega Carpio with a brief evangelical and moral discourse, based on chapter 26 of Matthew, where "the polemical target was the envious". Medrano further delves into this exposition on the close relationship he had with Lope:

The world knows well how much I loved him and how I defended him, and so silence will speak about what the eyes weep.

Although Medrano took part in numerous panegyric speeches, where praise was filtered through the evangelical reflection demonstrating his deep understanding of biblical scripture due to his religious upbringing, the epigram dedicated to Lope has stood out for its dissemination:

Lope is here, sepulcher, in you, for it finds its place inscribed in you, for if what is good is of Lope, Lope, for being good, is of God.^[19]

Medrano's relationship with Juan Pérez de Montalbán was also noteworthy and had probably developed in the Medrano Academy and during the jousts. Montalbán himself pointed this out in Para todos entre los ingenios, praising him for his verses and his works:

Don Sebastián Francisco de Medrano, of sweet, sharp, and clear intellect. He has written with a great display of his wisdom many verses on various subjects and some plays, not for them to be performed, but to let it be known that he can create them. Above all, he had some soliloquies of the Ave María published, which, along with devotion, provide evidence of his good studies.^[20]

Speaking about the attendance of King Philip IV at one of Medrano's academy sessions, Luis Velez de Guevara wrote:

On that beautiful spring night in the year 1622... the Academy of that night came to an end.^[21][22]

Solórzano remembered in his verses:

To an academy which was founded in Leganitos, I came to become a poet, although by novice layman.

The friendship most supported by the literary sources is the one he had with Alonso de Castillo Solórzano, who gathered his poems and theatrical works in the volume Favores de las musas. In fact, it was possibly "Solórzano [who] made his first trip to Italy in 1631, accompanying his friend, Don Francisco de Medrano, the assistant of the Duke of Feria, for the publication of Favores de las musas." Not all critics accept this first trip to Italy. Juliá Martínez believes that Solórzano's involvement in the publication of Favores de las musas was limited to preserving and collecting the works that Medrano had read in the Academy of Madrid, of which he was the president, so it was not necessary for him to travel to Milan for the publication of the work. On the other hand, Pablo Jauralde Pou believes that Solórzano could have indeed accompanied his friend to the Lombard capital, a reason that would justify the author's absence at the burial of his lord, Pedro III Fajardo, 5th Marquis of Los Vélez, in late 1631.^[23]

The prologue of Favores de las musas makes their mutual friendship evident, both in the letter that Medrano dedicates to Solórzano and in Solórzano's response in his "Epistle to the Reader," with the intention of showing to the world the same as Montalbán had affirmed in his Para todos.

Sebastián Francisco de Medrano addressed Alonso de Castillo Solorzano in his Favors of the Muses, reproduced here in part:

"I beseech you, from Barcelona, not to burden yourself with such a great commitment as bringing my scribbles to light, which are so deserving of being buried in oblivion, not only out of modesty and humility but also for reason and propriety. Because when I was writing in my early years, things that even then seemed to be the passions of some, to my fortunate ignorance, were applauded by many others. And when I summoned so many flourishing minds to the academies, the glory of my house and the honor of my modest wealth, I thought (without having opened my eyes to deception) that with those youthful works, poorly or weakly founded, I would find a place among the famous, both due to the natural talent bestowed upon me by heaven and because fortune granted me some reputation through my youthfulness, allowing me to be considered knowledgeable, and even strong, as most of the elders favored me with the title of Master."

"Therefore, I thought I could boast and presume. But as I gradually became wiser, I recognized the prudence in Lope de Vega, the honor of my homeland, a miracle of our nation, and a prodigy for foreigners, to whom all who wish to acknowledge the truth know how much they owe. I also saw doctor Juan de Amescua, Don Guillén de Castro y Bellvis, Luis Velez de Guevara, Don Juan de Alarcon, Don Diego Jimenez de Enciso, Tirso de Molina, Gaspar de Avila, Don Diego de Villegas y Quevedo, Don Rodrigo de Gerera, and Licentiate Luis Quiñones de Benavente. These were so marvellous in comedy and elegant in other sciences. Then I turned my attention to Francisco de Borja y Aragón, prince of Squillace, for whom heaven not only made him illustrious in blood but also equaled his genius, which was outstanding in all sciences and faculties..."

"individuals are famous in all poems and celebrated in all sciences, subjects, and faculties, and are supreme objects of admiration. Seeing them, as I said, recognizing them, as I confess, and reverencing them, as I should, they have clipped the wings of my aspirations, and I have been cowed and hidden in the shadow of theirs. I praise them while studying them and remain silent while imitating them. Therefore, I implore Your Grace, since you have honoured me by presenting these works of mine to the public, to show these to those I acknowledge as my superiors, and ask forgiveness from those whom I have not named. This letter is for Your Grace, not a eulogy for others, and is written more out of humility and as an excuse for myself than for flattery or to praise others. Besides, most of the better-known individuals can be found among the lyricists in a composition if Your Grace remembers to have it printed. Do not blame these remarks, as I am so far from such matters that I am content to dabble in my limited writing, and in this, as in everything else, I am more inclined to silence in admiration and to feeling overawed. May God protect Your Grace as I desire." - Dr. D. Sebastian Francisco de Medrano. 1631.^[24]

• "Favors of the Muses bestowed on Don Sebastián Francisco de Medrano in various rhymes and plays composed in the most celebrated Academy of Madrid where he was a highly deserving president..." (Milan: Juan Baptista Malatesta, 1631).
• "Evangelical and Moral Dictionary."
• "Soliloquies of the Ave Maria" (Madrid, 1629).
• "The Name for the Earth and Life for Heaven. Triumph of Justice. Great Device. Mysterious Emblem. Pilgrim Inscription. Clear Hieroglyph. Heroic Subject..." (Madrid: Catalina del Barrio, 1645).
• "Charity and Mercy, which the faithful must provide for the extreme need suffered by the blessed Souls of Purgatory: with all the jubilees earned in Madrid throughout the year on specific days, festivities, and churches... so that they may be applied to them as a form of suffrage..." (Madrid: Domingo García y Morrás, 1651).

Two eclogues by Sebastian Francisco de Medrano were printed separately:

• Égloga de Sebastián Francisco de Medrano. Dirigida a Doña Ana de Andino, y Luçuriaga... (1621)
• Égloga... a la señora doña Isabel de Andrade (1623)

His Evangelical and Moral Dictionary was dedicated to Lope de Vega.^[25] In 1645, the separate publication El Nombre para la Tierra y la Vida para el Cielo. Triunfo de la Justicia. Empressa Grande. Emblema Misterioso. Inscripción Peregrina. Geroglífico Claro. Asumpto Heroico... was released, a dramatic panegyric on the death of Queen Isabel de Borbón.

Favores de las Musas (Favors of the Muses) is a miscellany by Sebastián Francisco de Medrano, dedicated to the 3rd Duke of Feria and published in Milan in 1631 by Juan Bautista Malatesta, as indicated in the description on its cover: "Favors of the muses, made by Don Sebastian Francisco de Medrano,^[26] in several Rhymes, and Comedies, which he composed at the most famous Academy of Madrid where he was Most deserving President,^[27] compiled by Don Alonso de Castillo Solorzano, close friend of the Author. Milan, Juan Baptista Malatesta, at the expense of Carlo Ferranti, 1631".^[24]

• ALONSO, D. Vida y obra de Medrano. Madrid: Ediciones Académicas, 1948-1958.