The Licentiate Vidriera (Doctor Glass-Case). "Exemplary Novels"

He was originally known as Thomas Rodaja, and then as the Licentiate Rueda. An unfortunate encounter changes his life and his name: a grand lady – a high-class courtier – falls in love with him. As Thomas takes no notice of him, she resorts to an aphrodisiac made of quince, which takes him to death’s door. The poor student awakes with a madness never before written of: “The wretched man imagined himself to be entirely of glass.” He didn’t want anyone to come near him lest he should break, for he was made of glass from head to foot! He dressed in drab clothes, a roomy shirt tied with a cotton rope. In the summer he slept out of doors; and in winter in a hayloft, up to his neck in straw. In his madness he roamed the streets, speaking his mind. A couple of years later, a Hieronymite friar managed to cure him and Thomas, by then sane, became the Licentiate Rueda. He ended up enrolling in the army in Flanders, where he earned a reputation as a sensible and brave soldier.