Martín de Gurrea y Aragóna (17 May 1525 - 25 April 1581) was a Spanish nobleman from a royal line descended from
John II of Aragon
John II (Spanish: ''Juan II'', Catalan: ''Joan II'', Aragonese: ''Chuan II'' and eu, Joanes II; 29 June 1398 – 20 January 1479), called the Great (''el Gran'') or the Faithless (''el Sense Fe''), was King of Aragon from 1458 until his death i ...
's son
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. ...
. He was born and died in
Pedrola. He was also notable as a collector and patron of the arts, commissioning artists such as
Pablo Esquert.
He inherited the title of Count of Ribagorza on his father's death in 1550. He also became 4th Duke of Villahermosa in 1558 when the 3rd Duke (Fernando Sanseverino de Aragón, prince of Salerno) forfeited the title for supporting the King of France in Italy against the King of Spain.
Family
The Dukedom of Villahermosa was created by
John II of Aragon
John II (Spanish: ''Juan II'', Catalan: ''Joan II'', Aragonese: ''Chuan II'' and eu, Joanes II; 29 June 1398 – 20 January 1479), called the Great (''el Gran'') or the Faithless (''el Sense Fe''), was King of Aragon from 1458 until his death i ...
to recognise the military achievements of his illegitimate son by Leonor de Escobar, Alonso.: He was also made Count of Ribagorza. Alonso had an illegitimate son called John (1457-1528), who was recognised by John II as his grandson to reward his mother María Junquers, who had governed and defended Ribagorza in the count's absence.
John was Count of Ribagorza,
viceroy of Aragon
This is a list of viceroys (or lieutenants) of the Kingdom of Aragon.
*Alonso de Aragón, bishop of Zaragoza 1517-1520
*Juan de Lanuza y Torrellas 1520-1535
*Beltrán de la Cueva, 3rd Duke of Alburquerque 1535-1539
*Pedro Manrique de Luna y de Ur ...
and then
viceroy of Naples
This is a list of viceroys of the Kingdom of Naples. Following the conquest of Naples by Louis XII of France in 1501, Naples was subject to the rule of the foreign rulers, the Kings of France, Aragon and Spain and the Habsburg Archdukes of Austria ...
(1507-1509, in place of
Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba
Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba (1 September 1453 – 2 December 1515) was a Spanish general and statesman who led successful military campaigns during the Conquest of Granada and the Italian Wars. His military victories and widespread po ...
), but he did not inherit the duchy of Villahermosa, which passed to the legitimate son Alfonso de Aragón. John married the rich
María López de Gurrea, through whom he gained possession of Luna and Pedrola. After the marriage John's descendants placed the surname Gurrea before that of Aragon. The couple had
Alonso Felipe de Gurrea y Aragón (1487-1550), 3rd Count of Ribagorza, who married Isabel de Cardona y Enríquez de Quiñones, from the powerful Catalan Cardona family. After he was widowed, he remarried to Ana de Sarmiento de Ulloa y Castilla, wealthy descendant of the marshals of Castille and holder of the state salt concessions - with her he had Martín de Gurrea y Aragón.
Life
![Felipe II Anthonis Mor](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bb/Felipe_II_Anthonis_Mor.jpg)
Martín spent his early life in
Pedrola, before being sent to
Santiago de Compostela
Santiago de Compostela is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city has its origin in the shrine of Saint James the Great, now the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, as the destination of the Way of St ...
to be educated by his mother's brother cardinal
Pedro Gómez Sarmiento, who educated him in Italian, Latin, ancient Greek and Hebrew. He then moved on to the court, where he served as minstrel to empress
Isabel of Portugal
Isabella of Portugal (24 October 1503 – 1 May 1539) was the empress consort and queen consort of her cousin Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Spain, Archduke of Austria, and Duke of Burgundy. She was Queen of Spain and Germany, and La ...
and then page of the future
Philip II of Spain
Philip II) in Spain, while in Portugal and his Italian kingdoms he ruled as Philip I ( pt, Filipe I). (21 May 152713 September 1598), also known as Philip the Prudent ( es, Felipe el Prudente), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from ...
as well as becoming friends with
cardinal Granvelle
Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle (20 August 151721 September 1586), Comte de La Baume Saint Amour, was a Bisontin (Free Imperial City of Besançon) statesman, made a cardinal, who followed his father as a leading minister of the Spanish Habsburg ...
. He also became friends with Philip, who he accompanied to England to marry
Mary I
Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, and as "Bloody Mary" by her Protestant opponents, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain from January 1556 until her death in 1558. Sh ...
and to Brussels in 1555 to witness
Charles V Charles V may refer to:
* Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558)
* Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain
* Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise
* Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690)
* Infan ...
's abdication of his rule over the Low Countries. He divided his time between court and his estates at
Pedrola.
In 1557, Martín distinguished himself in the
battle of St Quentin, gaining him royal favour. His personal fortune enabled him to pay for some of the political and diplomatic posts which followed, though he had to leave court to govern his possessions in Aragon after his wife's death in 1560. Martín remarried around 1542 to
Luisa de Borja y Aragón, from the family of the Dukes of Gandía and great-granddaughter of the Borgia pope
Alexander VI
Pope Alexander VI ( it, Alessandro VI, va, Alexandre VI, es, Alejandro VI; born Rodrigo de Borja; ca-valencia, Roderic Llançol i de Borja ; es, Rodrigo Lanzol y de Borja, lang ; 1431 – 18 August 1503) was head of the Catholic Churc ...
. Luisa died after having eight children: Juan, Fernando, Ana, Martín, Francisco, María, Inés and Juana (who died in infancy). All the children received a careful education, with Martín and Francisco even going to the
University of Salamanca
The University of Salamanca ( es, Universidad de Salamanca) is a Spanish higher education institution, located in the city of Salamanca, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It was founded in 1218 by King Alfonso IX. It is th ...
, which was unusual for major noblemen of the time. The duke married a third time after her death, to
María Pérez de Pomar in 1566, with whom he had one child, Juliana. He also had two illegitimate daughters, María and Gabriela.
Rebellion in the County of Ribagorza faced a delicate situation muddied his relations with the court. On 6 June 1554 a court in
Zamora took rights, rents and castles of the County out of Martín's hands and placed them directly back in royal control Martín then took his case to the Justiciar of Aragon. On 6 May 1565 he passed the County of Ribagorza to his eldest son
Juan de Gurrea y Aragón, who he also betrothed to
Luisa Pacheco Cabrera, daughter to the Count of Villena and Duke of Escalona. However, the wedding was delayed until 1569 by the lawsuit to regain control of the County, which eventually proved successful on 18 May 1567. However, the crown had allowed the County to be misgoverned in the meantime and the damage proved irreversible. Years after Martín's death, the line of the Counts of Ribagorza died out and the territory passed back under direct royal rule.
In 1571 his eldest son John was accused of murdering his wife. He escaped to Italy, but was captured and publicly executed there in 1573 at
Torrejón de Velasco
Torrejón de Velasco is a municipality of the Community of Madrid
The Community of Madrid (; es, Comunidad de Madrid ) is one of the seventeen autonomous communities of Spain. It is located in the centre of the Iberian Peninsula, and of th ...
. This meant Martín re-assumed responsibility for the County of Ribagorza, meaning his courtly aspirations increasingly took a back seat Martín's final years were marked by the loss of several other loved ones - Philip II's sister
Joanna of Austria (who Martín had known as a child), Diego de Arnedo (
bishop of Huesca
The Diocese of Huesca (Latin, ''Oscensis'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church located in north-eastern Spain, in the province of Huesca, part of the autonomous community of Aragón. The Diocese of Huesca ...
),
John of Austria
John of Austria ( es, Juan, link=no, german: Johann; 24 February 1547 – 1 October 1578) was the natural son born to Holy Roman Emperor Charles V late in life when he was a widower. Charles V met his son only once, recognizing him in a secret ...
and Martín's own mother. In 1579 his friend the royal secretary
Antonio Pérez was arrested. With these setbacks, Martín became more and more religiously devout, finally dying in 1581. The Duchy of Villahermosa, County of Ribagorza and his other titles were inherited by his son Fernando, who had married
Juana de Pernstein y Manrique de Lara, lady-in-waiting to
Maria of Austria.
Patronage and cultural life
Thanks to his education, position and travels, Martín formed part of the humanist and artistic circles of his era. His tutor cardinal Sarmiento taught him to love classical antiquity. He became a good friend of cardinal Granvelle, who he met at court early in his life as well as in Flanders and Aragon. Granvelle introduced him to artistic circles in Flanders and there he met painters such as
Roland de Mois, who worked for the duke. He also shared his passion for coin-collecting with
Antonio Agustín
Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan language, Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language-speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 40 ...
. He also joined the circle of the major Aragonese art-patron don
Hernando de Aragón
Hernando de Aragón y de Gurrea, Cistercians, OCist (25 July 1498 – 29 January 1575), Archbishop of Zaragoza and Lieutenants of the Kingdom of Aragon, Lieutenant General of Aragon, was an Aragonese humanist and historian.
Family
Born in ...
,
archbishop of Zaragoza
The Archdiocese of Saragossa ( la, Archidioecesis Caesaraugustana) is a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory located in north-eastern Spain, in the province of Zaragoza (Saragossa in English), part of the autonomous community of Aragón. The a ...
, regent of Aragón and (like the Duke) a grandson of Ferdinand the Catholic. He was also a friend of church humanists like Diego de Arnedo and
Pedro Cerbuna.
Martin also gathered a large art collection. Highlights included the set of portraits of the House of Villahermosa by Roland de Mois and the portrait of Martín himself by the royal portraitist
Antonio Moro. He was also given a painting entitled ''The Rape of Europa'' by its artist
Titian
Tiziano Vecelli or Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italians, Italian (Republic of Venice, Venetian) painter of the Renaissance, considered the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school (art), ...
. The collection also included works by
Michelangelo
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (; 6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564), known as Michelangelo (), was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was insp ...
,
Hieronymus Bosch
Hieronymus Bosch (, ; born Jheronimus van Aken ; – 9 August 1516) was a Dutch/Netherlandish painter from Brabant. He is one of the most notable representatives of the Early Netherlandish painting school. His work, generally oil on oa ...
,
Peter Brueghel the Elder
Pieter Bruegel (also Brueghel or Breughel) the Elder (, ; ; – 9 September 1569) was the most significant artist of Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting, a painter and printmaker, known for his landscapes and peasant scenes (so-called genr ...
and others. He left his collection to Pedrola and to the Monastery of Veruela, for which he felt a special affection. His collection of coins and medals was one of the first such collections in Spain and he wrote on them in his work ''Discursos sobre medallas y antigüedades''.
Marriages and issue
In 1542 married
Luisa de Borja y Aragón, with whom he had
*
Juan de Gurrea y Aragón, 5th Count of Ribagorza.
*
Fernando de Gurrea y Aragón, 5th Duke of Villahermosa.
*
Francisco de Gurrea y Aragón, 6th Duke of Villahermosa.
* Martín de Gurrea y Aragón,
baron of Entenza and Capella.
* Ana de Gurrea y Aragón, married Felipe Galcerán de Castro de So y Pinós, 10th Viscount of Ebol
* María de Gurrea y Aragón, became a nun.
* Inés de Gurrea y Aragón, became a nun.
* Juana de Gurrea y Aragón, died in infancy.
After his wife's death in 1560, he remarried to María Pérez de Pomar, with whom he had one child Juliana, who married Juan de Aragón, lord of
Ballobar and
Las Casetas.
Martín de Gurrea also had two illegitimate children, María and Gabriela.
References
Bibliography
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*
External links
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gurrea y Aragon, Martin
Spanish art collectors
1525 births
1581 deaths
Spanish art patrons
16th-century Spanish military personnel
People from the Kingdom of Aragon
Dukes of Spain
Counts of Ribagorza