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The first records of the origins of the town of Belmonte

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date back to 1184,

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when it is mentioned as a village belonging to the district of Alarcón.

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Centuries later, on 11 March 1968, Belmonte

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was honoured with the declaration of Historic-Artistic Site,

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in recognition of the greatness of its legacy.

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Here we see the Plaza de Correos, which was once

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the cloister of the second Jesuit College, founded in 1640,

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according to the writings of Jesuit priest Pablo Hernández.

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The college

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remained active until the expulsion of the Society of Jesus

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from Spain in 1767.

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I am going to tell you about, with apologies for my lack of modesty,

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an illustrious son of the town of Belmonte:

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myself, Fray Luis de León.

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I was born in Belmonte in the year of our Lord 1527,

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the son of Lope de León, a lawyer, and Inés Varela.

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When I was six years old, my father was appointed to the Court in Madrid,

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and when I turned fourteen, I left

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for Salamanca to continue my studies.

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At a very young age, I entered the Order of Saint Augustine,

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where I took my vows on 29 January 1544.

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There I studied philosophy

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with Fray Juan de Guevara and theology with Melchor Cano, and later

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I had the honour of holding a chair at that same university.

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But not everything in my life was calm.

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I was persecuted by the Inquisition and imprisoned

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between 1572 and 1576,

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accused of having translated the Song of Songs into the Romance language.

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I was considered one of the humanists of my century.

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Although my work

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was brief, thanks to the care of Don Francisco de Quevedo,

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who ordered its printing in 1631 dedicated to the Count-Duke of Olivares,

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it has endured in the memory of the centuries.

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In 1591,

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I gave up my soul in Madrigal de las Altas Torres.

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Today, my remains rest in the Chapel of the University of Salamanca,

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but my spirit still keeps alive the love of knowledge, truth and the word.