Rodrigo de Castro Osorio, (Valladolid, March 5, 1523 – Seville, 1600) was

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 ...

-Bishop of Zamora (1574–1578) and

Diocese of Cuenca The Roman Catholic Diocese of Cuenca ( la, Conchen(sis)) is a diocese located in the city of Cuenca in the Ecclesiastical province of Toledo in Spain.

(1578–1581),

Archbishop of Seville The Archdiocese of Seville is part 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 ol ...

, (1581–1600), a member of the

Council of State of Spain The Council of State ( es, Consejo de Estado), is the supreme consultative council of the Spanish Government. The current Council of State was established in 1980 according to the article 107 of the Constitution of 1978. The institution of the ...

and the Supreme Council of the Spanish Inquisition for the reign of

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 ...

. Great-uncle of Pedro Fernández de Castro y Andrade, Conde de Lemos. He was closely linked to the city of Monforte de Lemos in

Galicia Galicia may refer to: Geographic regions * Galicia (Spain), a region and autonomous community of northwestern Spain ** Gallaecia, a Roman province ** The post-Roman Kingdom of the Suebi, also called the Kingdom of Gallaecia ** The medieval King ...

, where he was the founder of the

College of Our Lady of Antigua A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a University system, constituent part of one. A college may be a academic degree, degree-awarding Tertiary education, tertiary educational institution, a part of a coll ...

Travels and studies

Popularly known as "Cardinal Rodrigo de Castro'", was a renaissance man, considered by many authors as the last great ecclesiastical prince. His birthplace is disputed, with some authors arguing that he was born in Valladolid in 1523. He studied canon law at Salamanca, where his brother, Pedro de Castro Lemos, who later became bishop of Cuenca (1553–1561), was named cardinal on 15 December 1583, by Gregory XIII. His restless spirit led him to travel across Flanders, Portugal, France, Italy, and Germany ''(Farinelli indicates that the National Library of Spain, is the Daily Cardinal last trip, made in 1598, two years before his death, in order of Philip III of Spain, to receive the Archduchess Margaret of Austria, future queen of Spain. This is a manuscript in folio, a collection of Jesuit Alenda registered No 365: "quel Cardinal my Jornada Mr. made from Seville to Madrid and what they pass until they left for Valencia, Year 1598 ")''

Features and Charges

Assigned an important role in the court of

, where he was given important diplomatic missions, in addition to joining the Council of State and the Supreme Council of the Spanish Inquisition. The cardinal was widely criticized for his taste for pomp and magnificence. He held expensive hunting parties, and large numbers of attendants and servants, besides the taste for luxury and art. He felt a great fondness for

falconry Falconry is the hunting of wild animals in their natural state and habitat by means of a trained bird of prey. Small animals are hunted; squirrels and rabbits often fall prey to these birds. Two traditional terms are used to describe a person ...

, which is recorded by the "Treaty ''hunting ''Bird" by Pero López de Ayala, which is preserved at the Museum of Our Lady of Antigua, which belonged to his personal collection. Criticism also arose over the

to surround himself exclusively with servants and associates from

. His other traits were his generosity and humanism, creating a home for girls in difficult circumstances, struggling for humanization of treatment in prisons and aid to impoverished clergy aid for construction and improvement of temples, hospitals and hospices, as well as exercise patron of the arts.

College of Our Lady of Antigua and death of Cardinal

During convalescence from a serious illness, during 1592, Rodrigo decided to start the monumental work of the

. Administered, at the beginning, by the Society of Jesus, had consolidated financially the College of Jerez de la Frontera, and contributed to the maintenance of the college-seminar of the British Jesuits from Seville and since its foundation, in addition to being instituted a protector of the congregations that the company had in that city, that of the Annunciation.A. Cotarelo Valedor, Don Cardinal Rodrigo de Castro, Spanish Teacher, 1945 The school was his greatest legacy to Monforte de Lemos, making it one of the very few examples of

Style Herrera Style is a manner of doing or presenting things and may refer to: * Architectural style, the features that make a building or structure historically identifiable * Design, the process of creating something * Fashion, a prevailing mode of clothing ...

. It is named after the

Virgin of Antigua Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...

, the object of devotion of the cardinal, and popularly named the "'Cardinal College" or "Company'". About this same time, the cardinal established a party in honor of the relics that had been treasured and preserved in the museum of the convent of Santa Clara (popularly known as the Poor Clares of Monforte). The Madrid writing school's endowment is awarded, and his nephew Pedro Fernández de Castro y Andrade would develop in his lifetime many of the features of humanism and love for the arts like his uncle. He died in Seville in 1600. Leaving in his will the perpetual and hereditary Trustees of the college, referred to in these terms:''For good and useful for my country''; that patronage is bound and tied to the title of county of Lemos. It also provides for the transfer of his remains to Monforte de Lemos, which lie in the

, under a statue made by

John of Bologna Giambologna (1529 – 13 August 1608), also known as Jean de Boulogne (French), Jehan Boulongne (Flemish) and Giovanni da Bologna (Italian), was the last significant Italian Renaissance sculptor, with a large workshop producing large and small ...

References

External links and additional sources

* (for Chronology of Bishops) * (for Chronology of Bishops)

Sources

* ''Los señores de Galicia'' (''The Lords of Galicia''), Eduardo Pardo de Guevara y Valdés, *''History of Monforte de Lemos and Earth'', Vazquez Germain, *''Pedro Fernandez de Castro, O Great Conde de Lemos'', Monica Martinez Garcia, *''The Cardinal'', Don Rodrigo de Castro, Armando Cotarelo Vallador, 2 vols. Editorial Teaching Spanish, Madrid, 1945. {{DEFAULTSORT:De Castro Osorio, Rodrigo Roman Catholic archbishops of Seville University of Salamanca alumni