Ana de Mendoza y de la Cerda
Ana de Mendoza y de la Cerda (born June 29, 1540 in Cifuentes , Guadalajara Province , † February 2, 1592 in Pastrana ) was a Spanish - Portuguese lady in waiting and politician. Some legends about Ana as Princess of Eboli flowed into Friedrich Schiller's drama Don Karlos and Giuseppe Verdi's opera Don Carlos .
Life
Her parents were Diego Hurtado de Mendoza y de la Cerda and María Catalina de Silva y Álvarez de Toledo. In 1552 she was engaged to Ruy Gómez de Silva , Prince of Eboli (1516–1573), adviser to King Philip II of Spain , and married in 1559. Two years later, the first of ten children was born, six of whom survived. As de Silva's wife, she exercised political influence only through her husband. After his death in 1573 she turned to Philip's state secretary, Antonio Pérez (1539 / 40-1611). She is said to have entered into a love affair with him. In any case, the two were involved in the peace party against the strict policy of the Duke of Alba , got involved in the Portuguese succession and sold state secrets to the highest bidder. The two also played an important role in the uprisings in Flanders and are said to have committed a murder on behalf of Philip II.
In 1579 Ana de Mendoza was arrested as a schemer and treason in connection with the overthrow of State Secretary Alonso Pérez de Guzmán and sentenced to life house arrest in her own ducal palace of Pastrana. She died in the tower of her castle in 1592.
evaluation
The “one-eyed princess” (in her youth she had lost her right eye in a fencing accident) knew how to get involved in society and politics. Her contemporaries described her as scheming, haughty, domineering, lavish, disrespectful and hysterical.
literature
- Trevor Dadson, Helen Reed: Epistolario e historia documental de Ana de Mendoza y de la Cerda, princesa de Éboli. (= Tiempo Emulado. Historia de América y España. Volume 26). Vervuert, Frankfurt am Main 2013, ISBN 978-3-86527-735-0 .
- Carry curlew: The historical picture of Princess Eboli . In: Scientific supplement. Tuesday supplement of the Dresdner Anzeiger . No. 42 (October 15, 1929), pp. 167-168.
Individual evidence
- ^ Mariela Fargas Peñarrocha: Diego Hurtado de Mendoza y de la Cerda. Real Academia de la Historia, 2018, accessed March 15, 2020 (Spanish).
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Mendoza y de la Cerda, Ana de |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Spanish-Portuguese lady-in-waiting and politician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 29, 1540 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Cifuentes |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 2, 1592 |
| Place of death | Pastrana |