Juan de Cervantes (c. 1380 or 1382 in

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

– 25 November 1453, buried in Seville Cathedral) was a

Cardinal 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 ...

of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. Cervantes studied at the University of Salamanca and obtained a doctorate in civil and canon law and a magister in theology. He was made

Archdeacon An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denominations, above that o ...

of Calatrava by Antipope Benedict XIII on 29 January 1415, Archdeacon of Sevilla in 1419, Papal referandary, Canon of

Burgos Burgos () is a city in Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the province of Burgos. Burgos is situated in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, on the confluence of t ...

and Abbot of Salas in Burgos in 1420. At the Council of Siena (1423–1424), he defended the

Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

. He was chosen as a Cardinal by

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 ...

in May 1426. During the reign of Pope

Eugene IV Pope Eugene IV ( la, Eugenius IV; it, Eugenio IV; 1383 – 23 February 1447), born Gabriele Condulmer, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 3 March 1431 to his death in February 1447. Condulmer was a Venetian, and ...

, Cervantes was active at the Council of Basel, eventually backing the Pope against the majority of the council's fathers. Cervantes is buried in the Sepulcher of Cardinal Juan de Cervantes in the Seville Cathedral. His tomb was sculpted by

Lorenzo Mercadante Lorenzo Mercadante or Lorenzo Mercadante de Bretaña was a Breton sculptor active in the second half of the 15th century. Between 1454 and 1467 he worked in the Cathedral of Seville, where he executed the sepulchre of Cardinal Juan de Cervantes ...

, which was finished around 1458.

References

15th-century Castilian cardinals Cardinal-bishops of Ostia 1453 deaths People from Seville University of Salamanca alumni 1380s births {{spain-RC-cardinal-stub