Short answers, pulled from the story.
Pedro Mexía was a Spanish Renaissance writer, humanist, and historian born in Seville between the 17th of January and the 6th of September 1497. He is best known for Silva de varia lección (1540), one of the earliest European bestsellers, which influenced authors including Cervantes, Montaigne, and Shakespeare.
Silva de varia lección is an encyclopedic miscellany published in 1540 that draws on classical authors including Pliny the Elder, Plutarch, and Erasmus of Rotterdam. It was reprinted 17 times in the sixteenth century and reached 31 editions in Spanish and 75 in foreign languages within a century.
Silva de varia lección was translated into Italian in 1542, French in 1552, and English in 1571. These translations helped make it one of the most widely read books in sixteenth-century Europe.
Traces of Mexía's Silva de varia lección can be found in works by Mateo Alemán, Miguel de Cervantes, Shakespeare, and Montaigne. These authors span multiple countries and literary traditions.
In 1548, Pedro Mexía was appointed official chronicler of the court of Emperor Charles V. He later began a biography of the emperor, Historia del Emperador Carlos V, which remained unfinished and unpublished at his death.
Mexía maintained correspondence with Erasmus of Rotterdam, Luis Vives, and Juan Gines de Sepulveda. These exchanges placed him within the wider pan-European humanist network of the sixteenth century.