Miguel Pérez de Almazán (

Calatayud Calatayud (; 2014 pop. 20,658) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Province of Zaragoza, within Aragón, Spain, lying on the river Jalón (river), Jalón, in the midst of the Sistema Ibérico mountain range. It is the second-largest ...

, Aragón, ? -

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, Castile, 1514) was a Spanish hidalgo.

Life

The son of converted Jews, Almazán served as the private secretary of Ferdinand the Catholic, and later the Royal secretary of the

Catholic Monarchs The Catholic Monarchs were Isabella I of Castile, Queen Isabella I of Crown of Castile, Castile () and Ferdinand II of Aragon, King Ferdinand II of Crown of Aragón, Aragon (), whose marriage and joint rule marked the ''de facto'' unification of ...

, after the death of Juan de Coloma. He became a member 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 ...

, Commodore of Beas and of Valdericote.Dimas Ortega López (25 y 26 de noviembre de 2005). III Congreso Turístico Cultural del Valle de Ricote, ed. La sociedad del Valle de Ricote en los albores del S. XVI He was described as meditative, careful, intelligent and self-assured. Almazán ascended quickly in the ranks of the court and become one of the senior members. Almazán arrived to Madrid under the protection of Juan de Coloma, and quickly ascended to the rank of

Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

. In that position he signed the decree of expulsion in

1492 Year 1492 ( MCDXCII) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. 1492 is considered to be a significant year in the history of the West, Europe, Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Spain, and the New World, among others, because of the ...

. He became one of the monarch's most important and trusted

secretaries A secretary, administrative assistant, executive assistant, Personal assistant, personal secretary, or other similar titles is an individual whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project manageme ...

; the equivalent of a modern minister of international affairs. His signature can be found in the

Capitulations of Santa Fe The Capitulations of Santa Fe between Christopher Columbus and the Catholic Monarchs, Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon, were signed in Santa Fe, Granada on April 17, 1492. They granted Columbus the titles of admiral of t ...

together with

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus (; between 25 August and 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506) was an Italians, Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed Voyages of Christopher Columbus, four Spanish-based voyages across the At ...

. Later in his career, Almazán oversaw Portugal's international diplomacy with

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and

Flanders Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...

. One of his responsibilities was finding a suitable husband for the royal daughters, Juana and Catalina. Almazán participated in the Treaty of Villafáfila.

References

{{Authority control Encomenderos Spanish people of Jewish descent Conversos