Alfonso de la Cueva-Benavides y Mendoza-Carrillo

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Cardinal Alfonso de la Cueva-Benavides y Mendoza-Carrillo

Alfonso de la Cueva-Benavides y Mendoza-Carrillo (born July 25, 1574 in Bedmar y Garcíez, † August 10, 1655 in Rome ) was a diplomat and Spanish cardinal .

He was known for his conspiracies and for attempting to destabilize the government of Venice during his stay in Venice in order to annex the city to Spain. The failed attempt is still referred to as the Bedmar Conspiracy .

biography

Born in 1574 as the son of Luis de la Cueva y Benavides and Elvira Carrillo de Mendoza y Cárdenas, the Marquis of Bedmar, as everyone called him, proved to be a skilled diplomat. The Spanish King therefore sent him to Venice in 1607 . Here, after a few years, according to the results of the investigations of the Venetian government, he succeeded in creating a dense network of operative agents and "penetrating" every council or magistrate. Together with his colleagues from England and France (who offered him, if not cooperation, at least silence) he tried to overthrow the republic . These events were never fully revealed, so some people believe that it was all an invention of the Venetian government.

Bedmar was ordered back in 1618 after the discovery of this network. He devoted himself to his ecclesiastical career and was supported by Pope Gregory XV. on September 5, 1622 raised to the rank of cardinal in the consistory . He then succeeded in being sent to the Netherlands as an ambassador. After confronting the local government with his intrigues here too, he was recalled to Rome.

literature

Web links

Wikisource: Alfonso de la Cueva  - (Italian)
Commons : Alfonso de la Cueva  - collection of images, videos and audio files
predecessor Office successor
Domenico Rivarola Cardinal priest of Santi Silvestro e Martino ai Monti
July 18, 1633–9. July 1635 		Pier Luigi Carafa
Cosimo de Torres Chamberlain of the Cardinal College
January 8, 1635–7. January 1636 		Antonio Marcello Barberini , OFMCap.
Antonio Zapata y Cisneros Cardinal priest of Santa Balbina
July 9, 1635-17. October 1644 		Juan de Lugo y de Quiroga , SJ
Guido Bentivoglio Cardinal Bishop of Palestrina
October 17, 1644-10. August 1655 		Bernardino Spada
Antonio Henriquez Porres , OFM Bishop of Malaga
July 27, 1648-10. August 1655 		Diego Martínez Zarzosa
personal data
SURNAME Cueva-Benavides y Mendoza-Carrillo, Alfonso de la
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bedmar, Alfonso de la Cueva de
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Spanish diplomat and cardinal
DATE OF BIRTH July 25, 1574
PLACE OF BIRTH Bedmar y Garcíez
DATE OF DEATH August 10, 1655
Place of death Rome