Jose de Canizares

José de Cañizares y Suárez (4 July 1676 – 4 September 1750) was a Spanish playwright. Cavalry officer, public official, and author of around one hundred works, he was one of the most important dramatists of the early 18th century.

Born in Madrid on 4 July 1676, and baptized ten days later in the church of San Martín, Cañizares had his roots in the countryside south of the capital. His parents were by birth manchegos, from Almagro, Ciudad Real, in the region known as La Mancha. Don José was named after his father. His mother was Doña Jerónima Suárez de Toledo y la Caballería. Both parents belonged to the minor nobility or hidalgo class, which their son later portrayed with humor in many of his plays.

Sometime in his late teens or early twenties, Cañizares entered the military service. In the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714) he served with a unit of heavily armored cavalry, fighting on the side of Felipe V. By 1711, he had attained the rank of Lieutenant Captain, and also, due to his family background, the patronage of the Duke of Osuna, and his own growing fame as author of comedias in the Golden Age tradition, enjoyed a place at Felipe's court.

In 1702 Cañizares found himself appointed by the Magistrate of Madrid as fiscal de comedias, a member of the Board of Theatrical Censors, an office which he exercised in the intervals between combat when the king and his armies returned to the capital. This five-member committee included the Magistrate and his appointee (Cañizares), plus the Vicar of Madrid and his two appointees.

Every play proposed for public performance in Madrid had to be submitted to this committee. Each of the officials in turn must approve the play or it would be banned from the stage. As the years went by, Cañizares submitted many of his own plays for approval. As he gained experience in his craft, the board occasionally called upon him to revise a classic Golden Age play so that it would comply with the moral and political views of early 18th century Spain.

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