Fernando de Rojas - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Fernando de Rojas was a Spanish author about whom little information is known. He possibly attended the University of Salamanca

University of Salamanca

The University of Salamanca is a Spanish higher education institution, located in the town of Salamanca, west of Madrid. It was founded in 1134 and given the Royal charter of foundation by King Alfonso IX in 1218. It is the oldest founded university in Spain and the third oldest European...

. Although his family was of Jewish ancestry, they were conversos, or Jews

Jews

The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...

who had converted to Christianity

Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

under pressure from the Spanish crown. Nevertheless, his family was suspected of continuing to practice Judaism in secret, and Rojas appears as a defendant in the Inquisition

Inquisition

The Inquisition, Inquisitio Haereticae Pravitatis , was the "fight against heretics" by several institutions within the justice-system of the Roman Catholic Church. It started in the 12th century, with the introduction of torture in the persecution of heresy...

, as do other members of his family.

Fernando de Rojas is known for writing La Celestina
La Celestina
La Celestina , actually called Tragicomedia de Calisto y Melibea or Comedia de Calisto y Melibea, in English Tragicomedy of Calisto and Melibea), is a work composed entirely in dialogue published by Fernando de Rojas in 1499...

(originally titled Tragicomedia de Calisto y Melibea) in 1499.