“ VEGA, GARCILASO DE LA (1503–1536) , Spanish soldier and poet, was born at Toledo on the 6th of February 1503. His father, Garcilaso (Garcias Laso or Garcilasso) de la Vega, was counsellor of state to Ferdinand and Isabella, and, for some time their ambassador at the, court of Rome; by his mother he was descended from the illustrious house of Guzman. At the age of seventeen he was attached to the bodyguard of Charles V., and fought against the insurgent comuneros, being wounded at the battle of Olias near Toledo. ”

“ He afterwards served in the north of Italy, and gained great distinction by his bravery at the battle of Pavia in 1525. In the following year he married a lady-in-waiting to Queen Eleanor. He took part, in the repulse of the Turks from Vienna in 1529, was present at the coronation of the emperor at Bologna in 1530, and was charged with a secret mission to Paris in the autumn of the same year. ”