Juan Alonso Pimentel de Herrera (baptisised 29 June 1553 – 7 November 1621) was a Knight of the

Order of Santiago The Order of Santiago (; ) is a religious and military order founded in the 12th century. It owes its name to the patron saint of Spain, ''Santiago'' ( St. James the Greater). Its initial objective was to protect the pilgrims on the Way of S ...

Grandee of Spain Grandee (; , ) is an official royal and noble ranks, aristocratic title conferred on some Spanish nobility. Holders of this dignity enjoyed similar privileges to those of the peerage of France during the , though in neither country did they ha ...

, 5th Duke of Benavente, 8th Count of Mayorga, 3rd Count of Villalón, President of the

Council of Italy The Council of Italy, officially the Royal and Supreme Council of Italy (, ), was a ruling body and key part of the government of the Spanish Empire in Early Modern Europe, Europe, second only to the monarch himself. It was based in Madrid and ...

, 15th

Viceroy of Valencia This is a list of viceroys of the Kingdom of Valencia from 1520 to 1707. *1520 : Diego Hurtado de Mendoza, 1st Count of Melito *1523 : Germaine of Foix and Johann of Brandenburg-Ansbach *1526 : Germaine of Foix and Ferdinand of Aragon, Duque ...

and 25th

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, first for a short time by the King of France and later by Spain and the Hab ...

Early life

Juan Alonso was baptisised on 29 June 1553 on Villalón. He was the second son of Antonio Alonso Pimentel y Herrera de Velasco, 3rd Duke of Benavente and María Luisa Enríquez y Téllez-Girón, daughter of Fernando Enríquez de Velasco, 5th Admiral of Castile. His elder brother was Louis Pimentel de Herrera, 4th Duke of Benavente.

Career

When his brother Louis died without issue in 1576, he succeeded him as 5th Duke. During the time of Kings Philip II and Philip III, the Duke was an influential politician and military man. He had experience in the defense of the Spanish coasts and territories, and had supported unity with Portugal in 1580 with 8,000 infantry and 600 cavalry. He also participated in the Enterprise of England in 1588 and helped the Monarch financially. Between 1598 and 1602, he was

, until he was appointed

between 1603 and 1610. In July 1610, Juan Alfonso Pimentel returned to Madrid. He remained in power as a State Councillor and, in 1618, as President of the

. He was also Governor of the Kingdoms in the absence of Philip III, when he travelled to Portugal in 1619. After the death of the King, whom he assisted in his final hours, he became Queen Isabel's Chief steward in April 1621. However, he was not able to enjoy this new favour for long, as he died in Madrid on 8 November of that same year.

Personal life

In 1569 he married Catalina de Quiñones Vigil de Quiñones (–1574), 6th Countess of

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. Before her death in 1574, they were the parents of two children: * ''Don'' Antonio Alonso Pimentel y Quiñones, 6th Duke of Benavente (1570–1633), who married Countess María Ponce de León, a daughter of Rodrigo Ponce de Leon, 3rd Duke of Arcos, and Teresa de Zúñiga y Mendoza. * ''Doña'' María Pimentel y Quiñones, who married Pedro Fajardo y Fernández de Córdoba, 2nd Marquis of Molina, 3rd Marquis of los Vélez. After the death of his first wife, he married his cousin Mencía de Zúñiga y Requeséns in 1582. Mencía was a daughter of Gerónima Esterlich y Gralla and

Luis de Requesens y Zúñiga Luis de Requesens y Zúñiga (25 August 1528 – 5 March 1576) was a Spanish general, sailor, diplomat and politician. He served as governor of the Duchy of Milan (1572–1573) and as governor of the Spanish Netherlands (1573–1576). Biography L ...

Governor of the Duchy of Milan The governor of Milan was a political and military office of the Duchy of Milan, the title of the representatives of the foreign sovereigns who held dominion over the Milanese area, substantially from the 16th century until the Unification of It ...

from 1572 to 1573 and

Governor of the Spanish Netherlands The governor () or governor-general () of the Habsburg Netherlands was a representative appointed by the Holy Roman emperor (1504-1556), the king of Spain (1556-1598, 1621-1706), and the archduke of Austria (1716-1794), to administer the Burgundi ...

from 1573 to 1576. Together, they had 11 children, including: * ''Don'' Pedro Pimentel y Zúñiga (b. 1582) * ''Don'' Fernando Pimentel y Zúñiga (b. 1582) * ''Don'' Domingo Pimentel y Zúñiga (1585–1653), a Cardinal who was

Archbishop 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 ...

from 1649 to 1653. * ''Don'' Manuel Pimentel y Zúñiga (b. ), who married Joana Forjaz Pereira, 6th Count of Feira, a daughter of João Pereira Forjaz, 5th Count of Feira. * ''Don'' Juan Pimentel y Zúñiga, 1st Marquess of Villar de Grajanejos (b. ), who married Antonia Fernández de Córdoba, 5th Countess of Alcaudete, a granddaughter of Alonso de Córdoba, 2nd Count of Alcaudete. * ''Doña'' Mencía Pimentel y Zúñiga (b. ), who married Fernando Álvarez de Toledo Portugal, 5th Count of Oropesa. * ''Don'' Rodrigo Pimentel y Zúñiga, Knight of the Order of Alcántara. * ''Don'' Alonso Pimentel y Zúñiga, Knight of the

. * ''Don'' Diego Pimentel y Zúñiga, Knight of the Order of Alcántara who was Commander of Mayorga, Captain General of Naples. * ''Don'' García Pimentel y Zúñiga, who married Octavia Torniel. * ''Don'' Gerónimo Pimentel y Zúñiga, 1st Marquess of Bayona (b. 1631), who served as

Viceroy of Sardinia This is a list of viceroys of Sardinia. Aragonese Viceroys From 1418 to 1516 Sardinia was ruled by viceroys from the Crown of Aragon, which merged into the Monarchy of Spain in 1516. * Lluís de Pontons (1418-1419) * Joan de Corbera (1419-1420) ...

from 1626 to 1631; he married María Eugenia de Bazán y Manrique de Lara, 4th Marchioness of Santa Cruz, and, after her death, Clara Lucadelli. Juan Alonso also had an illegitimate son with María Gallega: * Enrique Pimentel (1576–1653), who was Bishop of Valladolid from 1619 to 1623 and Bishop of Cuenca from 1623 to 1653. He died in Madrid on 7 November 1621.

Descendants

Through his daughter Mencía, he was a grandfather of

Duarte Fernando Álvarez de Toledo Duarte may refer to: * Duarte (name) Duarte is an Iberian given name and surname, being an alternative Portuguese form of the name Edward (another version is Eduardo). Given name * Duarte Alves (born 1991), Portuguese politician * Duarte Ba ...

(–1671), 7th Count of Oropesa, 6th Count of Deleytosa, 3rd Marquess of Frechilla and Villarramiel, 3rd Marquess of Jarandilla, who served as Viceroy of Navarre, of

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

, of

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, President of the Council of the Military Orders and of the

and as the Spanish Ambassador to the Holy See.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pimentel de Herrera, Juan Alonso 1621 deaths Viceroys of Naples Viceroys of Valencia Dukes of Benavente Grandees of Spain Counts of Spain Knights of Santiago Year of birth unknown