Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

VALENZUELA, FERNANDO DE (163o-1692)

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V27, Page 857 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

VALENZUELA, FERNANDO DE (163o-1692) , See also:Spanish royal favourite and See also:minister, was See also:born at See also:Naples on the loth of See also:January 163o. His See also:father, See also:Don Francisco de Valenzuela, a See also:gentleman of See also:Ronda, had been compelled to flee from See also:Spain in consequence of a brawl, and had enlisted as a soldier in Naples, where he married Dona Leonora de Encisa. Francisco de Valenzuela having died See also:young, his son was placed by his See also:mother as a See also:page in the See also:household of the See also:duke of Infantado. He lost his See also:place owing to a reduction of the duke's -See also:establishment, and for several years he lived obscurely; but by See also:good See also:fortune he succeeded in persuading Maria de Uceda, one of the ladies-in-waiting of See also:Mariana, second wife of See also:Philip IV., to marry him. By her help Valenzuela obtained a footing in the See also:palace. He was appointed introducer of ambassadors on the 12th of See also:October 1671, and it became notorious that whoever had a See also:petition to See also:present or a place to ask for must apply to him. He became popularly known as the duende, the See also:fairy or brownie of the palace, and was believed to be the See also:lover of the See also:queen. In 1675 a See also:court intrigue, conducted by his rivals and supported by the younger Don See also:John of See also:Austria, was so far successful that he was driven from court; but the queen gave him the See also:title of See also:marquis of See also:Villa Sierra, and appointed him See also:ambassador to See also:Venice. Valenzuela succeeded in getting the See also:embassy exchanged for the governorship of See also:Granada. His stay at this See also:post was See also:short, for he was able to organize a See also:counter-intrigue which soon brought him back to court. The queen-See also:regent now openly appointed him See also:prime minister, gave him See also:official quarters in the palace, and conferred a grandeeship on him, to the profound indignation of the other grandees. In January 1678 a palace revolution See also:broke out against the queen-regent, who was driven from See also:Madrid, and Valenzuela fled for See also:refuge to the monastery of the See also:Escorial.

He was, however, taken out by force, and his See also:

house was pillaged. His See also:property was confiscated—his jewels, See also:furniture and ready See also:money were estimated to amount to £12o,000-he was degraded from the grandeeship and exiled to the Philippines. At a later See also:period he was released from See also:close confinement and allowed to See also:settle in See also:Mexico, where a See also:pension was given him. He died in Mexico, from the kick of a See also:horse he was breaking in, on the 7th of See also:February 1692. See also:Part of his property, and the title of Villa Sierra, but not the grandeeship, were restored to his wife and See also:children. The career of Valenzuela probably helped to suggest the subject of Ruy See also:Bias to See also:Victor See also:Hugo. See Documentos Ineditos See also:Para la Historia de Espana, vol. lxvii. (Madrid, 1842, &c.), which contain an artful and well-written See also:defence of himself addressed to See also:King See also:Charles II. of Spain from Mexico.

End of Article: VALENZUELA, FERNANDO DE (163o-1692)

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
VALENTINUS 		[next]
VALERA Y ALCALA GALIANO, JUAN (1824-1905)

Site © 2006 - Net Industries