 In Italy he married a Castilian lady but, having become suspicious of her faithfulness he spies on her and laconically says "their fate was that I found them in bed together and they died".He was present at the eruption of the Vesuvius volcano of 1631 and helped save some lives.He was befriended by the poet Lope de Vega who, having heard his tales, was probably who prompted him to write his autobiography.