Olivares, Gaspard de Guzmán

Born in Rome in the family of the Spanish envoy at the papal court , the second Earl of Olivares. His father, Enrique de Guzmán and Ribera ( 1540 - 1607 ), 2nd Earl of Olivares ( 1569 - 1607 ), came from the Guzman clan, whose head belonged to the title of Duke of Medina Sidonia . His mother, Maria Pimentel de Fonseca, was the sister of the Count of Monterrey , after whom one of the largest cities in Mexico was named.

He lived in Italy until the age of 12, since his father was subsequently appointed vice-king of Sicily and Naples . Being the third oldest offspring of the noble house of Medina Sidonia , preparing for a church career, fourteen years was sent to the University of Salamanca to study canon law .

After the sudden death of the elder brothers, he became the heir to the title, left the teaching and went to the court of Philip III ( 1604 ), where his father by that time had become a member of the Council of State and the chief treasurer . After his death in 1607, he inherited the count's title and possessions, and, marrying his cousin, daughter of the Earl of Monterrey , tried to achieve the title of grand . Having failed, he retired to Seville , where for eight years he lived almost without a break, managing his estates.

In 1615, Olivares, thanks to the patronage of the royal favorite of the Duke of Lerma, was appointed chamber junker of the infant (future Philip IV) and returned to the court. Using his influence on the crown prince, he takes part in the ongoing court intrigues , after the fall of Lerma in 1618 he calls for his uncle Baltasar de Zoonig to the court, who was appointed first minister three years later. The influence of the Olivares clique on the affairs of the state is growing rapidly, and in 1622 he first receives the coveted grand title, and then, after the death of his uncle, becomes valido (the official royal favorite) and leads the government. At the same time, he receives more and more new posts: from the personal chamberlain of the king to the master of the Order of Alcantara . At that time, the double title “Earl of the Duke”, unusual for Spain, appeared: having received the title of the Duke of Sanlúcar la Mayor from the king, he, contrary to tradition, combined the count and ducal title.

Having concentrated the power in his hands, Olivares launched a stormy activity. In domestic politics, he tried to launch extensive reforms; in the outside, he encountered a series of military setbacks caused by the renewed war with the Netherlands, military support for the Austrian Habsburgs and hostility of France, where the actual power belonged to Cardinal Richelieu .

Olivares campaigned against rampant corruption that had flourished in the previous reign, removed the Lerma and Wced families, as well as their adherents, from the court, initiated a number of economic reforms of a mercantilist orientation, encouraging national industry, reorganized the management of the kingdom's economy, and was able to stop inflation growth. In 1624, he submitted to the king a note with a draft of administrative reforms: the unification of legislation and management systems in various Spanish possessions, the consolidation of central authority, the creation of a single army reserve of 140 thousand people, proportionally distributed between parts of the kingdom (which was perceived as an encroachment on traditional local liberties ) These plans were only partially realized. Desiring to improve the educational and moral level of the Spanish nobility, he organized a court service for the supervision of morality, created the Royal College of Madrid - a higher educational institution under the direction of the Jesuits ( 1629 ); at his request, by decree of Philip IV, prostitution was banned in Spain.

In foreign policy, Olivares sought to regain possession lost by Spain in the previous century, mainly in Germany and the Netherlands . In 1618, Spain supported the Austrian Habsburgs in the Thirty Years War ; without directly entering the war, Olivares ordered the sending of money and reinforcements. In 1620, Spain sent to help the emperor 25 thousandth army under the command of Ambrosio Spinola ; Spanish soldiers participated in the suppression of the uprising in the Czech Republic , the invasion of the Palatinate , entered the northern Italian border of Valtelina with Switzerland to help the local Catholics who rebelled against the Protestant nobility. The war with the United Provinces was unleashed again, even before the expiration of the 12-year Antwerp Armistice . At first, victory was won at Fleurus ( 1622 ), forced to surrender Breda ( 1625 ).

Due to the rapid growth of military spending and the lack of financial reserves, the state quickly went into debt and in 1627 declared itself bankrupt . This was followed by military defeats in the Netherlands, an aggravation of relations with the Stuart England (due to the breakdown of the engagement of the Infanta Maria to the Prince of Wales ). In Italy , the war for the Mantuan inheritance was lost, culminating in the annexation of Monferrato to France ( 1631 ), and finally lost Valtelina ( 1639 ). The defeat by the Spanish-Austrian forces of the Swedish army of Gustav Adolf near Nerdlingen in 1634 led to the entry of France supporting Sweden into the Thirty Years War, with grave consequences for Spain.

In the years 1627-1635, Olivares began to rule more and more authoritarian, increasing pressure on the provinces and trends towards unification. The first manifestation of dissatisfaction with his policies was the salt revolt in Biscay (1630-1631). The invasion of French troops in Roussillon forced Olivares to announce the mobilization carried out in accordance with a project involving the equal participation of all provinces. The authorities of Catalonia refused to obey the decree, considering it to be contrary to local liberties, and to host the Spanish troops, which resulted in bloody suppression of riots and a declaration on the separation of Catalonia from Spain ( 1640 ). The Catalan revolution broke out , relying on the help of the French and suppressed only in 1652 . For similar reasons, a rebellion erupted in Portugal (see the Portuguese War of Independence ), which led to the dissolution of the Iberian Union and the restoration of the country's independence ( 1641 ). Against Olivares, a conspiracy of the courtiers matured, leading to the loss of confidence in them, the deprivation of all posts and exile ( 1643 ). At first, the displaced favorite lived in his possession of Loeches near Madrid, then, at the insistence of the court-enemies of Olivares, Philip IV exiled him to the small town of Toro and subjected the Inquisition to court. Olivares passed away in 1645 and was buried in the monastery he founded in Loeches. In the 18th century, all the titles and estates were inherited by the Dukes of Alba .

The news of the death of Olivares was joyfully received by both the courtiers and the ordinary subjects of the king, tired of his autocratic rule. The disgrace of the Earl-Duke did not become a disaster for Philip IV: he ruled for 22 years together with the favorite and about the same amount without him. Nevertheless, the fall of Olivares clearly demonstrated two things: Spain’s loss of hegemony in Europe and the transition of the leading European power to France and the collapse of the economic and political reforms undertaken by the Habsburg court. Before the advent of the Bourbon dynasty , not a single Spanish minister could or did not dare to undertake such a vast transformation. The failure of Olivares greatly discredited the notion of reform. Nevertheless, many of Olivares' undertakings were continued by 18th-century Spanish statesmen.

In September 1607, Madrid married his cousin Ines de Zuniga and Velasco ( 1584 - 1647 ), daughter of Gaspard de Zunigi Acevedo i Fonseca ( 1560 - 1606 ), 5th Earl of Monterrey (1563-1606), Viceroy New Spain ( 1595 - 1603 ) and Peru ( 1604 - 1606 ), and Ines de Velasco and Aragon. Their only daughter was born:

• Maria de Guzmán and Zúñiga ( 1609 - 1626 ), 2nd Marquise Helique, husband - Ramiro Núñez de Guzmán ( 1612 - 1668 ), Duke of Medina de las Torres ( 1626 - 1668 )

From an extramarital affair with Isabelle de Anvers , his illegitimate son was born to him:

• Felipe Enrique de Guzmán ( 1613 - 1646 ), 2nd Earl of the Duke of Olivares ( 1645 - 1646 ), was married to Juan de Velasco and Commodity (d. 1687 )

In 1626, Gaspard de Guzmán and María de Guzmán, the nephew-heir and the only daughter of Count Duke Olivares , died. His nephew, Louis Mendes de Haro and Guzmán ( 1598 - 1661 ), 6th Marquis of Carpio, began to claim the inheritance of the Count Duke. In 1642, Gaspard de Guzmán legalized his illegitimate son Julian, who received the name Felipe Enrique. The latter after the death of his father and inherited his titles and possessions.

• Portraits of the Count-Duke, considered masterpieces of Spanish painting, were made by the court painter Diego Velazquez .
• Olivares was portrayed as a character in the novel " Gilles Blaz " by Alain-Rene Lesage and in the cycle of Arturo Perez-Reverte about Captain Alatrist .

• Olivares, Gasparo de Guzmán // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.

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