Luis Jerónimo Fernández de Cabrera Bobadilla Cerda y Mendoza, 4th Count of Chinchón, also known as Luis Xerónimo Fernandes de Cabrera Bobadilla y Mendoza,
(1589 in
Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
– October 28, 1647 in Madrid) was a Spanish nobleman, Comendador of Criptana, Alcaide of the Alcázar de Segovia, Treasurer of Aragón,
and captain general and
Viceroy of Peru
The viceroys of Peru ruled the Viceroyalty of Peru from 1544 to 1824 in the name of the monarch of Spain. The territories under ''de jure'' rule by the viceroys included in the 16th and 17th century almost all of South America except eastern Bra ...
, from January 14, 1629, to December 18, 1639. His wife, Ana de Osorio (1599–1625), is credited as being one of the first Europeans to be treated with
quinine
Quinine is a medication used to treat malaria and babesiosis. This includes the treatment of malaria due to ''Plasmodium falciparum'' that is resistant to chloroquine when artesunate is not available. While sometimes used for nocturnal leg c ...
, and as the person who introduced that medicine into Europe.
Birth
Fernández de Cabrera Bobadilla was born in Madrid in 1589 (or perhaps 1590), into a family close to the Spanish throne. His parents were Diego Fernández de Cabrera, third Count of Chinchón and Inés Pacheco, the daughter of the marquis of Villena and 3rd
Duke of Escalona
Duke of Escalona ( es, Duque de Escalona) is a hereditary title in the Peerage of Spain, accompanied by the dignity of Grandee and granted in 1472 by Henry IV to Juan Pacheco, 1st Marquess of Villena.
The title refers to the village Escalon ...
, Diego López Pacheco, and Luisa Bernarda de Cabrera Bobadilla, third marquesa of Moya. Don Luis's parents were first cousins.
He was keeper of the
Alcázar of Segovia
The Alcázar of Segovia ("Segovia Castle") is a medieval castle located in the city of Segovia, in Castile and León, Spain. Rising out on a rocky crag at the western end of the old town, above the confluence of rivers Eresma and Clamores at ...
in 1613. During his visit to Spain known as the "
Spanish match
The Spanish match was a proposed marriage between Prince Charles, the son of King James I of Great Britain, and Infanta Maria Anna of Spain, the daughter of Philip III of Spain. Negotiations took place over the period 1614 to 1623, and during th ...
",
Prince Charles
Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to a ...
of England visited Segovia, after dining at
Valsain
Valsaín is a hamlet of Real Sitio de San Ildefonso, which is a town and municipality located within the Province of Segovia in Castile and León. It is located in the foothills of the Sierra de Guadarrama mountains, from Segovia, and north o ...
. Chinchón showed the Prince the Galley Room or "second great hall" with the heraldry of
Catherine of Lancaster
Catherine of Lancaster ( Castilian: ''Catalina''; 31 March 1373 – 2 June 1418) was Queen of Castile by marriage to King Henry III of Castile. She governed Castile as regent from 1406 until 1418 during the minority of her son.
Queen Catherine ...
. At the mint in Segovia, Chinchón had coins minted and gave them to Charles. In the evening there was a torchlit masque involving 32 mounted knights. Prince Charles gave the Count of Chinchón a jewel, and rewarded the poet Don Juan de Torres for his verses and Andrés de Almansa y Mendoza, who wrote an account of the events. The Prince left early in the morning for
Santa María la Real de Nieva.
[John Nichols, ''Progresses of James the First'', vol. 4 (London, 1828), pp. 915-18, quoting ''The Joyfull Returne of Charles, Prince of Great Brittaine'' (London, 1623).]
Viceroy of Peru
He became viceroy of Peru in 1629. During his government, he suppressed an insurrection of the
Uru and
Araucano Indians. He also sent out the third expedition to explore the
Amazon River
The Amazon River (, ; es, Río Amazonas, pt, Rio Amazonas) in South America is the largest river by discharge volume of water in the world, and the disputed longest river system in the world in comparison to the Nile.
The headwaters of ...
, under
Cristóbal de Acuña. (It was part of the return leg of the expedition of
Pedro Teixeira
Pedro Teixeira (b.1570-1585 - d.4 July 1641), occasionally referred to as the Conqueror of the Amazon, was a Portugal, Portuguese Exploration, explorer and military officer, who became, in 1637, the first European to travel up and down the entire ...
.) He expanded the colonial navy and fortified the port of
Callao
Callao () is a Peruvian seaside city and region on the Pacific Ocean in the Lima metropolitan area. Callao is Peru's chief seaport and home to its main airport, Jorge Chávez International Airport. Callao municipality consists of the whole Cal ...
.
Among his other official acts were the prohibition of direct trade between Peru and
New Spain (Mexico) and the persecution of Portuguese Jews, the principal traders in
Lima
Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of the central coastal part of th ...
.
He also founded two chairs of medicine in the
University of San Marcos
The National University of San Marcos ( es, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, link=no, UNMSM) is a public research university located in Lima, the capital of Peru. It is considered the most important, recognized and representative educ ...
.
Quinine
In an account published in 1663 by
Sebastiano Bado, an Italian, the following claim was made: In 1638, the Countess of Chinchon became severely ill with tertian fever (
malaria
Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, fatigue (medical), tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In se ...
). Juan López de Canizares, governor of Loxa, wrote the viceroy, explaining that he had recently been cured by the bark of the ''quinaquina'' tree, and recommending the same remedy to the vicereine. The governor was summoned to Lima, the medicine was administered, and the countess was cured. In 1639, according to Bado, the countess returned to Spain, bringing a large quantity of the bark with her. This was the first introduction of quinine into Europe.
However, the official diary of Viceroy Fernández de Cabrera was discovered in 1930. This diary contradicts many of the claims made by Bado. It states that Ana de Osorio, his first countess of Chinchón, died in Spain at least three years before her husband was named viceroy of Peru. It was his second countess, Francisca Henríquez de Ribera, who accompanied the Count to South America, where she enjoyed excellent health. The count himself had several episodes of fever, but was never treated with bark. The second countess never returned to Spain; she died in the port of
Cartagena, Colombia
Cartagena ( , also ), known since the colonial era as Cartagena de Indias (), is a city and one of the major ports on the northern coast of Colombia in the Caribbean Coast Region, bordering the Caribbean sea. Cartagena's past role as a lin ...
during the return voyage.
In light of these much later revelations, Bado's account is now discredited among historians. Jesuit
Barnabé de Cobo (1582–1657), who explored Mexico and Peru, is now credited with taking cinchona bark to Europe. He brought the bark from Lima to Spain, and afterwards to Rome and other parts of Italy, in 1632.
Carl Linnaeus called the genus of quinine-producing trees Cinchona in honor of the countess.
''See also''
Jesuit's bark
Jesuit's bark, also known as cinchona bark, Peruvian bark or China bark, is a former remedy for malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include f ...
.
Return to Spain
At the conclusion of his term as viceroy in 1639, Fernández de Cabrera returned to Spain, where he became a counselor of state and accompanied King
Philip IV of Spain
Philip IV ( es, Felipe, pt, Filipe; 8 April 160517 September 1665), also called the Planet King (Spanish: ''Rey Planeta''), was King of Spain from 1621 to his death and (as Philip III) King of Portugal from 1621 to 1640. Philip is remembered f ...
on campaign in
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, ...
,
Aragon
Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to sou ...
and
Valencia
Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area also ...
. He died in 1647 in Madrid.
References
External links
His articlein ''The Columbia Encyclopedia'', Sixth Edition. Copyright © 2001-05 Columbia University Press.
Microsoft EncartaArchived2009-11-01) encyclopedia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fernandez de Cabrera, Luis 04
Viceroys of Peru
1589 births
1647 deaths
Luis 04
Knights of Santiago
17th-century Peruvian people
1620s in Peru
1630s in Peru