Fernando González Fernández ( 1380–1419), called Fernando de Illescas, was a

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...

confessor, reformer and bibliophile, one of the most influential churchmen in Castile during the reigns of

John I John I may refer to: People * John I (bishop of Jerusalem) * John Chrysostom (349 – c. 407), Patriarch of Constantinople * John of Antioch (died 441) * Pope John I, Pope from 523 to 526 * John I (exarch) (died 615), Exarch of Ravenna * John I o ...

and Henry III, whom he served as a diplomat. A partisan of the

Avignon Papacy The Avignon Papacy was the period from 1309 to 1376 during which seven successive popes resided in Avignon – at the time within the Kingdom of Burgundy-Arles, Kingdom of Arles, part of the Holy Roman Empire; now part of France – rather than i ...

at the height of the

Western Schism The Western Schism, also known as the Papal Schism, the Vatican Standoff, the Great Occidental Schism, or the Schism of 1378 (), was a split within the Catholic Church lasting from 1378 to 1417 in which bishops residing in Rome and Avignon bo ...

, he attended the

Council of Perpignan The Council of Perpignan, which was intended to be a general council of the entire Catholic Church, was convened in November 1408, by Pope Benedict XIII of the Avignon Obedience. The site of the council was the city of Perpignan, which belonged to ...

(1408) and the

Council of Constance The Council of Constance was a 15th-century ecumenical council recognized by the Catholic Church, held from 1414 to 1418 in the Bishopric of Constance in present-day Germany. The council ended the Western Schism by deposing or accepting the res ...

(1416), but played only a minor role in trying to end the schism.

Life

Fernando was born in

Illescas Illescas may refer to: Places * Illescas, San Luis Potosí, Mexico * Illescas Peninsula, Peru * Cerro Illescas, Peru * Illescas, Toledo, a municipality in the province of Toledo, Castile-La Mancha, Spain * Illescas, Florida, village in Uruguay * Il ...

in the second half of the 14th century to Alfonso González and Mencía Fernández. He adopted his birthplace as a

toponymic surname A toponymic surname or topographic surname is a surname derived from a place name.

upon entering the Franciscan order. He had two brothers,

Juan ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, t ...

and

Alfonso Alphons (Latinized ''Alphonsus'', ''Adelphonsus'', or ''Adefonsus'') is a male given name recorded from the 8th century (Alfonso I of Asturias, r. 739–757) in the Christian successor states of the Visigothic kingdom in the Iberian peninsula. ...

, who became bishop of Zamora and

bishop of Burgos The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Burgos is one of Spain's Latin Metropolitan sees.
''

Clement VII Pope Clement VII ( la, Clemens VII; it, Clemente VII; born Giulio de' Medici; 26 May 1478 – 25 September 1534) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 November 1523 to his death on 25 September 1534. Deemed "the ...

Avignon Avignon (, ; ; oc, Avinhon, label=Provençal dialect, Provençal or , ; la, Avenio) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region of So ...

and

Urban VI Pope Urban VI ( la, Urbanus VI; it, Urbano VI; c. 1318 – 15 October 1389), born Bartolomeo Prignano (), was head of the Catholic Church from 8 April 1378 to his death in October 1389. He was the most recent pope to be elected from outside the ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. The purpose of the mission was to gather evidence regarding which of the two popes was legitimate and should be recognized by Castile. Fernando travelled first to Avignon early in 1380, where he heard from 32 witnesses, including ten

cardinals Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

. On 26 May, Clement wrote to John to inform him that he had received his ambassadors. Ferdinand and the other two then went to the

Kingdom of Naples The Kingdom of Naples ( la, Regnum Neapolitanum; it, Regno di Napoli; nap, Regno 'e Napule), also known as the Kingdom of Sicily, was a state that ruled the part of the Italian Peninsula south of the Papal States between 1282 and 1816. It was ...

, where he heard from two cardinals before continuing on to Rome in August, where he heard from 29 witnesses. He arrived back in Castile on 27 September. Fernando was not a neutral diplomat. He favoured Clement and opposed Urban. On 16 May 1380, he accepted from Clement an appointment as

papal visitor In the Catholic Church, an apostolic visitor (or ''Apostolic Visitator''; Italian: Visitatore apostolico) is a papal representative with a transient mission to perform a canonical visitation of relatively short duration. The visitor is deputed ...

to the convent of

Poor Clares The Poor Clares, officially the Order of Saint Clare ( la, Ordo sanctae Clarae) – originally referred to as the Order of Poor Ladies, and later the Clarisses, the Minoresses, the Franciscan Clarist Order, and the Second Order of Saint Francis ...

of Santa Clara de Tordesillas with plenary powers to reform it, ratified by the papal bull ''Ex debita'' on 16 November. As a result of these and other diplomatic manoeuvres, by May 1381 John had decided in favour of Clement, who rewarded Fernando by appointing him

papal chaplain The papal household or pontifical household (usually not capitalized in the media and other nonofficial use, ), called until 1968 the Papal Court (''Aula Pontificia''), consists of dignitaries who assist the pope in carrying out particular ceremoni ...

and renewing his rights of visitation in Santa Clara on 3 August 1382. On 13 November, Fernando was in Avignon, where he was given a post in the

Apostolic Penitentiary The Apostolic Penitentiary (), formerly called the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Penitentiary, is a dicastery of the Roman Curia and is one of the three ordinary tribunals of the Apostolic See. The Apostolic Penitentiary is chiefly a tribu ...

Further service to John I and Henry III

In 1383, John I sent Fernando on an embassy to

Navarre Navarre (; es, Navarra ; eu, Nafarroa ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre ( es, Comunidad Foral de Navarra, links=no ; eu, Nafarroako Foru Komunitatea, links=no ), is a foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, ...

. The purpose of this mission is unknown. Fernando received a gift of four silver cups from the royal

almoner An almoner (} ' (alms), via the popular Latin '. History Christians have historically been encouraged to donate one-tenth of their income as a tithe to their church and additional offerings as needed for the poor. The first deacons, mentioned ...

of Navarre. In 1385, he received further pieces of silver from Navarre. John I relied on Fernando's advice, based on his travels in 1380, when in 1383 he assembled the ''

Cortes Cortes, Cortés, Cortês, Corts, or Cortès may refer to: People * Cortes (surname), including a list of people with the name ** Hernán Cortés (1485–1547), a Spanish conquistador Places * Cortes, Navarre, a village in the South border of N ...

'' at

Segovia Segovia ( , , ) is a city in the autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the Province of Segovia. Segovia is in the Inner Plateau (''Meseta central''), near the northern slopes of th ...

to switch the calendar from the Hispanic era to the era of the Incarnation. Following the defeat of his forces at the

battle of Aljubarrota The Battle of Aljubarrota (; see Aljubarrota) was fought between the Kingdom of Portugal and the Crown of Castile on 14 August 1385. Forces commanded by King John I of Portugal and his general Nuno Álvares Pereira, with the support of English ...

in 1385, he sent Fernando to negotiate a truce with

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

(February 1389). Fernando was part of the delegation that then negotiated a six-year extension to the truce (29 November 1389).The dates are from . In 1390, Fernando was one of the six executors of the will of John I. He served John's young successor, Henry III, as tutor and confessor. In 1394, he was sent on to Avignon with

Pedro López de Ayala Pedro is a masculine given name. Pedro is the Spanish, Portuguese, and Galician name for ''Peter''. Its French equivalent is Pierre while its English and Germanic form is Peter. The counterpart patronymic surname of the name Pedro, meaning ...

and Juan Rodríguez to greet the new pope, Benedict XIII. On this mission, Fernando requested a canonry in Toledo for Diego Díaz. In 1406, Fernando was one of Henry III's four executors.

Service of Avignon

On 10 March 1404, Benedict XIII appointed Fernando and the prior of

Santa María de Guadalupe The Royal Monastery of Saint Mary of Guadalupe ( es, Real Monasterio de Santa María de Guadalupe) is a Roman Catholic monastic establishment built during the 14th century located in Guadalupe, in Extremadura, Spain. It is located at the foot of ...

to examine the regulations of the

Hieronymites The Hieronymites, also formally known as the Order of Saint Jerome ( la, Ordo Sancti Hieronymi; abbreviated OSH), is a Catholic cloistered religious order and a common name for several congregations of hermit monks living according to the Rule o ...

of so that they could receive papal confirmation. On 21 March 1404, Benedict renewed Fernando's powers in Santa Clara and extended them to Frechos in the diocese of León, while also granting Fernando the right to name his successor. On 17 August 1408, Benedict wrote to Bishop asking him to send Fernando de Illescas to Avignon and to provide him with whatever escort or money he needed. Fernando arrived in Avignon that year and attended the

. Although he left Avignon after that, he had returned by 19 October 1411. On 19 September 1410, Fernando was appointed visitor of the Poor Clares of

Santander Santander may refer to: Places * Santander, Spain, a port city and capital of the autonomous community of Cantabria, Spain * Santander Department, a department of Colombia * Santander State, former state of Colombia * Santander de Quilichao, a m ...

. For the next four years, Fernando was attached to the

Apostolic Camera The Apostolic Camera ( la, Camera Apostolica), formerly known as the was an office in the Roman Curia. It was the central board of finance in the papal administrative system and at one time was of great importance in the government of the Stat ...

in Avignon. He attended the

as a delegate of Castile. In March 1316, he travelled to

Peniscola Peníscola () or Peñíscola (), anglicised as Peniscola, is a municipality in the Province of Castellón, Valencian Community, Spain. The town is located on the Costa del Azahar, north of the Serra d'Irta along the Mediterranean coast. It is a p ...

to convince Benedict XIII to resign and end the schism. He failed in this and his other actions at the council seem to have borne little fruit. He continued to work at Avignon until at least 17 October 1415.

Death

Fernando's date of death is unknown. He collected an expansive theological library during his travels through Spain, Portugal, Italy and France. Towards the end of his life, he donated it to the Franciscan convent in San Juan de Toledo. The last record of him is dated 16 August 1419, when Pope

Martin V Pope Martin V ( la, Martinus V; it, Martino V; January/February 1369 – 20 February 1431), born Otto (or Oddone) Colonna, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 11 November 1417 to his death in February 1431. Hi ...

ordered the convent not to disperse the books. Fernando probably died not long after. Much of the collection was lost to fire in 1755.

Notes

Bibliography

* * * * * {{refend 14th-century births 1419 deaths Spanish Franciscans 14th-century diplomats 14th-century Castilians 15th-century Castilians