 San Pedro's professions as secretary to the Count of Urueña could also indicate that he was a Jewish converso, but there is no extant evidence of this fact.Several scholars point to the tone of some of San Pedro's works in support the theory, and maintain that "Cárcel del amor" is a literary response to the initiation of the Inquisition, but all this is mere speculation.The Spanish sentimental romance is a 15th and early 16th century prose genre that uses courtly love to explore the themes of desire and death.