Lope de Rueda (c.1510-1565): An actor, manager, and playwright, Rueda was very popular in Spain.  The first records of him appear in 1542, listing him as a performer in religious plays in Seville.  Eventually he was summoned to Valladolid (capital of Spain) to supervise the Corpus Christi festivals where he remained until 1558.  He wrote autos sacramentales for the festivals and continued to tour, performing anywhere from courts and palaces to city squares.  Rueda enjoyed playing fools and simpletons and so he also wrote short sketches which revolved around these types of characters.  These pasos were written in prose and poked fun at Spanish society.  He wrote five full-length secular plays (later called comedias).  His troupe was very popular in Spain, which was difficult during a time with no permanent theatres.  Rueda was at the forefront of the development of Spanish drama.

Lope de Vega (1562-1635): Lope popularized the episodic structure and theme of love and honor in his plays.  His goal was to please the audience, writing hundreds of plays in every genre.  Lope led a very busy life studying for the priesthood, joining the navy, sailing with the Spanish armada and complicating things even further with multiple love affairs.  He eventually did become a priest and later in life was appointed by Felipe III to direct the court theatre which he did until his death in 1635.  Lope de Vega is often compared to Shakespeare because they were alive and writing at the same time, but their styles were very different.

Pedro Calderón de la Barca (1600-1681): Calderón wrote in many different styles but many of his plays involve the theme of love and honor in family situations.  Like Lope de Vega, he studied to be a priest but ended up joining the army.  Calderón wrote for the court, taking over as director of the court theatre after Lope de Vega's death.  Because of wars with Catalonia and Portugal the public theatres in Spain were closed and he was forced to find other work.  He did become a priest eventually and he wrote autos sacramentales for Corpus Christi.

Guillén de Castro (1569-1631): Wrote around forty plays, but is most popular for Las Mocedades del Cid (The Youthful Adventures of the Cid) which was the basis for The Cid, Corneille's French "neoclassical" play.

Tirso de Molina (c. 1584-1648): Said to have written 400 plays (85 survive), the most famous being El Burlador de Sevilla (The Trickster of Seville) which is the first play about Don Juan.

Juan Ruiz de Alarcón (c.1580-1693): Born in Mexico, but educated in Spain, Alarcón worked for the government and wrote about 25 plays.  The Suspicious Truth is about a man who isn't able to tell the truth; his plays often had subtle moral messages.

Francisco de Rojas Zorilla (1607-1648): Wrote for the royal theatre in Madrid.  He wrote 70 plays, many dealing with nobility and court life.  He was not very popular in Spain but he did have influence in France with playwrites like Corneille.

Augustin Moreto (1618-1669): Wrote for courts in Madrid and was mostly popular with aristocratic audiences, although he also influenced French writers such as Moliere.