Gaspar de Zúñiga y Avellaneda (1507 – 2 January 1571) was a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

and

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

Biography

A member of the

House of Zúñiga The House of Zúñiga is a Spanish noble lineage who took their name from their domain. Various members of the family were distinguished in the service of the Spanish crown in Europe and the Americas as viceroys, governors, military, diplomats, wr ...

, Gaspar de Zúñiga y Avellaneda was born in

Cáceres, Spain Cáceres ( , ) is a city and Spanish municipality located in the center of the autonomous community of Extremadura. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the province of Cáceres and houses the headquarters of the Superior Court ...

, the son of Francisco de Zúñiga, 3rd

count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

Miranda del Castañar Miranda del Castañar is a municipality located in the Salamanca (province), province of Salamanca, Castile and León, Spain. As of 2016 the municipality has a population of 426 inhabitants. The town of Miranda del Castañar is labeled "Historic ...

, and María de Cárdenas y Henríquez. His father's brother was Cardinal

Íñigo López de Mendoza y Zúñiga Don Íñigo López de Mendoza y Zúñiga (1489 – 9 June 1535), cardinal, archbishop of Burgos and bishop of Coria, was a Castilian clergyman and diplomat in the service of Emperor Charles V. Biography Don Íñigo was born in Aranda d ...

. He attended the

University of Salamanca The University of Salamanca () is a public university, public research university in Salamanca, Spain. Founded in 1218 by Alfonso IX of León, King Alfonso IX, it is the oldest university in the Hispanic world and the fourth oldest in the ...

, where he studied

Christian theology Christian theology is the theology – the systematic study of the divine and religion – of Christianity, Christian belief and practice. It concentrates primarily upon the texts of the Old Testament and of the New Testament, as well as on Ch ...

under

Francisco de Vitoria Francisco de Vitoria ( – 12 August 1546; also known as Francisco de Victoria) was a Spanish Roman Catholic philosopher, theologian, and jurist of Renaissance Spain. He is the founder of the tradition in philosophy known as the School of Sala ...

. After he was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

as a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

, he served as a cleric in

Osma Burgo de Osma-Ciudad de Osma is the third-largest municipality in the province of Soria, in the autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain. It has a population of about 5,250. It is made up of two parts: *the smaller Ciudad de Osma (city ...

. From 1547 to 1550, he taught theology at the University of Salamanca. He became

Abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the head of an independent monastery for men in various Western Christian traditions. The name is derived from ''abba'', the Aramaic form of the Hebrew ''ab'', and means "father". The female equivale ...

of Castro (near

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

) and of San Isidoro. On 27 June 1550 he was elected

Bishop of Segovia The Diocese of Segovia () is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church located in the city of Segovia in the ecclesiastical province of Valladolid in Spain.

and was subsequently

consecrated Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...

as a bishop. He attended the last two sessions of the

Council of Trent The Council of Trent (), held between 1545 and 1563 in Trent (or Trento), now in northern Italy, was the 19th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. Prompted by the Protestant Reformation at the time, it has been described as the "most ...

in 1551–52. He was appointed to the commission to redact the decrees on the Mass and the sacrament of Holy Orders on 18 July 1558. He did not attend the close of the Council because he was recalled to

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

to serve as a judge at the cause of

Bartolomé Carranza Bartolomé Carranza (15032 May 1576, sometimes called de Miranda or de Carranza y Miranda) was a Navarrese priest of the Dominican Order, Theology, theologian and Archbishop of Toledo. He is notable for having been persecuted by the Spanish Inq ...

Archbishop of Toledo The Archdiocese of Toledo () is a Latin Church archdiocese of the Catholic Church located in Spain.

. On 22 June 1569 he was transferred to the

Archdiocese of Seville The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Seville () is a Latin Church archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Seville, Spain. The Diocese of Seville was founded in the 3rd century. It was raised to the level of an archdiocese in the 4th century. The curren ...

. He accompanied Francisco Diego de Zúñiga, 4th Duke of Béjar and Plasencia to the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

to accompany Anna of Austria, the daughter of

Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II (31 July 1527 – 12 October 1576) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1564 until his death in 1576. A member of the Austrian House of Habsburg, he was crowned King of Bohemia in Prague on 14 May 1562 and elected King of Germany (Kin ...

, for her impending marriage to

Philip II of Spain Philip II (21 May 152713 September 1598), sometimes known in Spain as Philip the Prudent (), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from 1580, and King of Naples and List of Sicilian monarchs, Sicily from 1554 until his death in 1598. He ...

Pope Pius V Pope Pius V, OP (; 17 January 1504 – 1 May 1572), born Antonio Ghislieri (and from 1518 called Michele Ghislieri), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 7 January 1566 to his death, in May 1572. He was an ...

made him a

cardinal priest A cardinal is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. As titular members of the clergy of the Diocese of Rome, they serve as advisors to the pope, who is the bishop of Rome and the visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. Ca ...

in the

consistory Consistory is the anglicized form of the consistorium, a council of the closest advisors of the Roman emperors. It can also refer to: *A papal consistory, a formal meeting of the Sacred College of Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church *Consistor ...

of 17 May 1570. He received the

red hat Red Hat, Inc. (formerly Red Hat Software, Inc.) is an American software company that provides open source software products to enterprises and is a subsidiary of IBM. Founded in 1993, Red Hat has its corporate headquarters in Raleigh, North ...

and the

titular church In the Catholic Church, a titular church () is a Churches in Rome, church in Rome that is assigned to a member of the Holy orders in the Catholic Church, clergy who is created a Cardinal (Catholic Church), cardinal. These are Catholic churches in ...

of Santa Barbara on 16 June 1570. He died in

Jaén, Spain Jaén () is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain and the capital of the Jaén Province, Spain, province of Jaén, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. The city of Jaén is the administrative and industrial centre for the provinc ...

on 2 January 1571. He was buried in

Seville Cathedral The Cathedral of Saint Mary of the See (), better known as Seville Cathedral (), is a Catholic cathedral and former mosque in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. It was registered in 1987 by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, along with the adjoining Alc� ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zuniga, Gaspar de 1507 births 1571 deaths Roman Catholic archbishops of Seville Cardinals created by Pope Pius V University of Salamanca alumni Academic staff of the University of Salamanca 16th-century Spanish Roman Catholic theologians Archbishops of Santiago de Compostela

Biography

See also

References