garcilaso de la vega (toledo, c. 1501– le muy, nice, france, october 14, 1536), was a spanish soldier and poet. the prototypical "renaissance man", he was the most influential (though not the first or the only) poet to introduce italian renaissance verse forms, poetic techniques and themes to spain. his exact birth date is unknown, but estimations by scholars put his year of birth between 1498 and 1503.