Published during the reign of Philip III of Spain, it is a tragicomedy about a peasant named Peribáñez, and a Comendador (Spanish article) (knight commander) who falls in love with the former's wife Casilda.
Peribáñez and Casilda are celebrating their wedding when they learn that the Comendador of Ocaña has fallen while trying to control a raging bull.
The married couple decides to travel to Toledo for the Feast Day of the Assumption of Mary, and the Comendador gives them some tapestries to decorate their cart with.
He secretly follows them to Toledo, where he pays a painter to sketch a picture of Casilda without her knowing, to be turned into a full-sized portrait later.
Meanwhile, Peribáñez visits the same artist who the Comendador had ordered the portrait from and commissions him to repair the icon of Saint Roch.
He claims that he wishes to give the tapestries as an offering of thanks, so that he can remove them from the bedroom, as they now remind him of the man who is lusting after his wife.
The men leave for war, and Leonardo meets with Inés to make arrangements for her to let the Comendador into Casilda's house later.
Meanwhile, Peribáñez secretly returns, having doubled back from leading his troops, and walks down the street to his house, soliloquizing about the delicate nature of honor.
The king pardons him and grants him the title of Captain, the reward money posted for the capture of himself and his wife, and the right to bear arms.