Luis de Ávila y Zúñiga

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Luis de Ávila y Zúñiga (* around 1504 in Plasencia ; † September 24, 1573 ibid) was a Spanish diplomat , general and historian .

Life

Luis de Ávila y Zúñiga was the son of the Count of Risco and entered into an advantageous marriage with a member of the house of Zúñiga and Marquesa of Mirabel, which enabled him to establish ties with the Castilian nobility. He enjoyed the trust of Charles V , who appointed him Grand Commander of the Order of Alcántara . In 1535 he accompanied the emperor on the Tunis campaign and in 1541 on the failed expedition against Algiers . He then commanded part of Charles V's Spanish cavalry during his war against the Schmalkaldic League from 1546–47 and the cavalry in front of Metz in 1552 , when the emperor tried unsuccessfully to regain control of this city. Shortly afterwards he returned to his hometown and from there he often visited Charles V in the monastery of Yuste , where the emperor had retired after his abdication in 1556. In 1558 he was also at the death bed of Charles V. His son, King Philip II of Spain, he served as envoy to Popes Paul IV and Pius IV to push for a resumption of the Council of Trent .

plant

Ávila y Zúñiga wrote a historical account of the Schmalkaldic War , although partisan to Charles V, but clear and concise in simple, lively language. The work, written in Spanish, Comentario de la guerra de Alemania hecha por Carlos V en 1546 y 1547 , was first printed in Madrid and Venice in 1548 (often since then, most recently in the Bibliotheca de autores Españoles under the title Comentario de la guerra de Alemania , Madrid 1852) and also edited in Italian by Ávila y Zúñiga ( Brieve Commentario nella guerra della Germania… , Venice 1548, etc.). Charles V highly valued it, noting that Alexander, despite performing more glorious deeds, had not found such a good chronicler.

The historical work has been translated into several other languages, for example by Wilhelm Malinaeus into Latin ( Commentariorum de bello Germanico, a Carolo V Caesare maximo gesto, libri duo a Gulielmo Malinaes Brugensi latine redditi… , Antwerp 1550). French translations were provided by Matthieu Vaulchier, herald of arms of Charles V ( Commentaire de D. Loys d'Avila et Çuniga… de la guerre d'Allemaigne, faicte par Charles-Quint empereur, en 1546 et 1547 , Antwerp 1550) and Gilles Boilleau de Buillon, Overseer of Cambrai ( Commentaire du seigneur de don Loys d'Avila, contenant la guerre d'Allemaigne, faicte par l'empereur Charles V ès années 1546 et 1547… , Paris 1551). A third French translation appeared under the title Histoire de la guerre civile d'Allemagne, sous l'empereur Charles-Quint (Paris 1672). Translations into German were written by Duke Philipp Magnus von Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel (Wolfenbüttel 1552), and Colonel Schulz ( History of the Narrow Kaldic War with additions and explanations , Berlin 1853). John Wilkinson made an English translation ( The Comentaries of Don Lewes de Auela and Suniga, great master of Acanter, which treateth of the great wars in Germany, made by Charles V Maximo, Emperoure of Rome… , London 1555).

According to the Spanish bibliographer Nicolás Antonio (1617–1684), Ávila y Zúñiga wrote an unprinted history of Charles V's campaigns in North Africa, but the relevant manuscript does not seem to have survived.

literature

personal data
SURNAME Ávila y Zúñiga, Luis de
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ávila y Çuñiga, Luis de
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Spanish diplomat, general and historian
DATE OF BIRTH around 1504
PLACE OF BIRTH Plasencia
DATE OF DEATH September 24, 1573
Place of death Plasencia