Don Juan Manuel (Escalona, May 5, 1282 - Córdoba? 1348), a member of the royal house and a writer in the Spanish language, was one of the main representatives of fictional medieval prose, especially thanks to his work Count Lucanor , A set of moralizing stories (exempla) that intermingle with various forms of wisdom literature.

He held the simultaneous titles of lord, duke and prince of Villena, being lord of Escalona, Peñafiel, Cuéllar, Elche, Cartagena, Lorca, Cifuentes, Alcocer, Salmerón, Valdeolivas and Almenara. He was also major steward of the kings Fernando IV and Alfonso XI, major advance of Andalusia and major advance of Murcia.

During the last stage of the minority of his nephew, Alfonso XI de Castilla, he was tutor to the king along with the infant Felipe de Castilla and Juan el Tuerto.