From this point his history becomes clearer and more connected up to the
time of his death. He lived in the new-built suburb, erected on the site
of the gardens of the Duke of Lerma, first minister and favorite of
Philip III. It was a quarter much affected by artists and men of
letters, and equally so by ecclesiastics. The names of the streets
indicate the traditions of piety and art that still hallow the
neighborhood. Jesus Street leads you into the street of Lope de Vega.
Quevedo and Saint Augustine run side by side. In the same neighborhood
are the streets called Cervantes, Saint Mary, and Saint Joseph, and just
round the corner are the Magdalen and the Love-of-God. The actors and
artists of that day were pious and devout madcaps. They did not abound
in morality, but they had of religion enough and to spare. Many of them
were members of religious orders, and it is this fact which has procured
us such accurate records of their history. All the events in the daily
life of the religious establishments were carefully recorded, and the
manuscript archives of the convents and brotherhoods of that period are
rich in materials for the biographer.
There was a special reason for the sudden rise of religious brotherhoods
among the laity. The great schism of England had been fully completed
under Elizabeth. The devout heart of Spain was bursting under this
wrong, and they could think of no way to avenge it.
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