Gaspar de Borja y Velasco
Gaspar de Borja y Velasco (Villalpando, 26 June 1580 – Madrid, 28 December 1645) was a Spanish cardinal, ecclesiastic and politician. He served as Primate of Spain, Archbishop of Seville, Archbishop of Toledo and viceroy of Naples.
Family
Gaspar's father was the 6th Duke of Gandia, the son of Francis Borgia (4th Duke of Gandia and 3rd Father-General of the Society of Jesus). Gaspar's mother was Juana Enríquez de Velasco y de Aragón, daughter of Iñigo Tovar y Fernández de Velasco, 4th Duke of Frías and 10th Constable of Castile.
Life
He graduated from the Universidad Complutense, in the Colegio Mayor de San Ildefonso, with a degree in Theology. He was made a cardinal in August 1611 by pope Paul V and participated in the 1621 and 1623 conclaves, as well as acting as Camerlengo in 1627.
He was appointed Spain's ambassador to the Holy See and accused pope Urban VIII of failing to defend Catholicism in its war with the Protestant nations - in response the pope made a contribution to the Spanish exchequer, which was then running out of money to finance the war. Borja's approach to the pope lacked diplomacy and he was forced to end his diplomatic career with this mission, returning to the archdiocese of Seville, of which he was titular archbishop. The patent enmity between Urban VIII and Cardinal Borja showed itself when Urban refused Philip IV's proposal of Borja for Archbishop of Toledo, though he received the post from Urban's successor pope Innocent X in 1645, shortly before Borja's death later that year.
References
External links
- ^ Template:Es icon Virreyes de Nápoles, by José Raneo with notes by Eustaquio Fernández Navarrete, pages 398-408, included in the "Colección de documentos inéditos para la historia de España", vol. XXIII.