Traidor, inconfeso y mártir

Traidor, inconfeso y mártir (English: Traitor, un-confessed and a martyr) is a Spanish play by José Zorrilla, published in 1849.^[1] The play is a historic drama, loosely based on an incident in which Gabriel de Espinosa was taken to trial for having impersonated King Sebastian of Portugal.^[2]

Plot

Sebastian of Portugal

The play's main character is Gabriel Espinosa, an acclaimed pastry chef from the town of Madrigal, who is accused by King Philip II of Spain of attempting to take the throne by impersonating the late Portuguese monarch, Sebastian of Portugal.^[3] Consequently, the mayor of Madrigal, Don Rodrigo de Santillana, arrests Espinosa. The mayor's son, César, helps Espinosa avoid arrest because César is in love with Espinosa's adopted daughter, Aurora. However, Aurora is in love with her adoptive father and rejects César's advances. César, in response, becomes enraged and orders the arrest of Gabriel and Aurora. The two are imprisoned in Medina del Campo shortly thereafter.

José Zorrilla, author of Traidor, inconfeso y mártir.

Gabriel is tortured in an attempt to force him to confess to impersonating the king, but he persists in claiming that he is an innocent baker. Meanwhile, the Marquis of Tavira in Portugal asserts that Gabriel is indeed the King of Portugal. The Spanish monarch orders the mayor to hang Gabriel, ending Gabriel's pretension to the throne. The mayor releases Aurora, but sends Espinosa (who insists that he is innocent) to the gallows. After Gabriel's death, a note is found that reveals he was, in fact, King Sebastian of Portugal.^[4]

References