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Scienze della comunicazione Università degli Studi di TeramoPhD Program in Historical studies
Scienze della comunicazione Università degli Studi di TeramoPhD Program in Historical studies

Pedro Franqueza

FranquezaPedro Franqueza (1547-1614) was one of the main allies and protégés of the Duke of Lerma. A native of the Crown of Aragon, he arrived at court at the age of sixteen, in 1563, but it was only with the beginning of the reign of Philip III (1598) and Lerma’s valimiento that he became one of the most powerful men of the monarchy. A holder of various secretariats, including the Secretary of State with jurisdiction over Italian affairs, the secretary of the Consejo de Inquisición (the Council of the Inquisition) and the cámara (chamber) of the queen, Franqueza was a member of prime importance of many juntas which arose in the early years of the seventeenth century and was able to obtain titles, honours and mercedes for himself and his family. Appointed Count of Villalonga, Villafranqueza and Benemeli, as well a member of the Order of Montesa, he was arrested in January 1607 on charges of corruption and illicit enrichment. Sentenced to life imprisonment and a long series of penalties, he died in prison in 1614.

Read more :

  • J.M. Torras i Ribé, Poders i relacions clientelars a la Catalunya dels Austria, Barcelona 1998.
  • B.J. García García, Pedro Franqueza, secretario de sí mismo. Proceso a una privanza y primera crisis del valimiento de Lerma (1607-1609), in «Annali di Storia moderna e contemporanea», 5 (1999), pp. 21-42.