Diego Espinosa

Diego de Espinosa Arévalo (Martín Muñoz de las Posadas, September 1513 - Madrid, September 5, 1572) was a Spanish cardinal who held the positions of President of the Council of Castile and General Inquisitor under the reign of Felipe II.

Biography

His parents were Diego González de Espinosa and Catalina de Arévalo, from a noble and wealthy family in Martín Muñoz de las Posadas, which at that time belonged to the diocese of Ávila. He obtained with great brilliance the title of Licentiate in Civil and Canon Law at the University of Salamanca. But he not only obtained those titles throughout his life, but a long list of them: judge of appeal in the archiepiscopal curia of Zaragoza, provider of the diocese of Sigüenza (Guadalajara), judge at the Royal Audience and Chancery of Valladolid, oidor in the House of Contracting of Seville, regent in the Royal Council of Navarre, counselor in the Supreme and Royal Council of Castile (at 49 years of age, in 1562), President of the Supreme and Royal Council of Castile at the wish of Felipe II in 1565 and Inquisitor General in December 1566 (nomination in September).

In the year 1564 he received priestly orders. In the following years he prepared the Pragmatic Sanction of 1567 to suppress the culture and traditions of the Moriscos of Granada. In 1567 the problems of the Spanish Empire became more acute, especially in Flanders, to such an extent that King Felipe II decided to solve them personally in situ. During his absence, he chose Father Espinosa, a man he trusted, as regent, but beforehand he requested the cardinal's hat to give him greater rank and dignity. Pope Pius V granted it to him and the appointment came to him on March 24, 1568 as Cardinal-priest of S. Esteban del Monte Celio.

Facade of the Palace of Cardinal Espinosa in Martín Muñoz de las Posadas.

In 1568, Cardinal Espinosa was appointed Bishop of Sigüenza, one of the most important and richest sees in Spain. Shortly after, he is elected a member of the board that had been constituted for the process of Prince Charles, son of the king. Felipe II held him in such esteem and consideration that a year later he ordered Espinosa to buy some place to establish his house with the title of marquis (at the king's own expense). Cardinal Espinosa did not accept the purchase or the title, but instead made a request that was granted: the establishment of a fair in the town of Martín Muñoz de las Posadas. The concession had a market one day a week, on Mondays, and a fair one week a year, in September. As for the house offered, his answer was that it seemed very bad to him, that exemplary ministers built palaces, that they put all those who passed by into scruples and gave rise to free speeches from the court . But as the king insisted, he agreed to build a modest palace on the condition that the royal coat of arms be placed on the façade, thus demonstrating that the building was erected by order of Felipe II. This building is still preserved in the town's main square and serves as a teaching institute.

When Cardinal Espinosa turned 59, he contracted an illness that led to his death very quickly, on September 5, 1572 at 10 in the morning. He was buried in a chapel, which he himself had founded a year earlier at his own expense, in the town church, in a mausoleum with a magnificent praying cardinal sculpture in marble and alabaster by Pompeo Leoni.

He was a very upright man and for that very reason, throughout his life he created many political enemies. But Felipe II always esteemed him and it is written that he said of him: I have a Minister cut to the measure of my desire and universal benefit of my subjects... and just before dying he said to his children: Here is buried the best of my Ministers...