[3] Martín de León Cárdenas was born in Archidona, Spain, and ordained a priest in the Order of Saint Augustine.
[3][4] On 20 May 1630, he was consecrated bishop by Laudivio Zacchia, Cardinal-Priest of San Pietro in Vincoli.
[4] On 7 April 1631, he was appointed during the papacy of Pope Urban VIII as Bishop of Pozzuoli.
[1][4] Between 1608 and 1615 Cárdenas wrote a picaresque novel, The Orphan's Story, describing a young boy's travels in the Spanish Empire, with locations including Lima, Potosi, Puerto Rico and Cadiz, and accounts of Sir Francis Drake's attack on Puerto Rico and the sacking of Cádiz.
The Puerto Rico account includes a letter from one of the generals who fought Drake there.