Juan Everardo Nithard () (Falkenstein (

Upper Austria Upper Austria ( ; ; ) is one of the nine States of Austria, states of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, and Salzburg (state), Salzbur ...

), 8 December 1607 – Rome, 1 February 1681) was an Austrian priest of the

Society of Jesus The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...

, confessor of Mariana of Austria (Queen and Regent of Spain),

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

, and ''valido'' (royal favorite) of Spain.

Biography

Born in a Catholic family in Tirol, at the age of 21 he entered the

and studied at the University of Graz. Emperor Ferdinand III made him preceptor of his children Leopold and Mariana. When Archduchess Mariana married her maternal uncle King

Philip IV of Spain Philip IV (, ; 8 April 160517 September 1665), also called the Planet King (Spanish: ''Rey Planeta''), was King of Spain from 1621 to his death and (as Philip III) King of Portugal from 1621 to 1640. Philip is remembered for his patronage of the ...

in 1649, Nithard accompanied her as her confessor to the Spanish Court. When the King died, Queen Mariana became regent for her four-year-old son

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...

. She made Nithard Grand Inquisitor in 1666, which gave him access to the Regency Board, from where he became the most important person of the Spanish Court. From then on he was the de facto prime minister or ''valido'' of Spain. He allied himself with the influential royal favorite Mariana Engracia Álvarez de Toledo Portugal y Alfonso-Pimentel. When Nithard signed the disadvantageous

Treaty of Lisbon (1668) The Treaty of Lisbon of 1668 was a peace treaty between Portugal and Spain that was concluded at Lisbon on 13 February 1668 with the mediation of England in which Spain recognised the sovereignty of Portugal's new ruling dynasty, the House of Bra ...

with Portugal and Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1668) with France, the members of the Councils and in particular John Joseph of Austria started plotting to overthrow him. In 1669 he was dismissed by a military '' pronunciamiento'' led by John. After his dismissal, Nithard was named ambassador in Rome, Bishop of Agrigento, and later Archbishop (Titular bishop) of

Edessa Edessa (; ) was an ancient city (''polis'') in Upper Mesopotamia, in what is now Urfa or Şanlıurfa, Turkey. It was founded during the Hellenistic period by Macedonian general and self proclaimed king Seleucus I Nicator (), founder of the Sel ...

. In 1672 Pope Clement X made him a cardinal. He wrote his ''Memorias'', died in 1681, and was buried in the Church of the Gesu in Rome.

References

External links

* *https://www.psupress.org/books/titles/978-0-271-08339-1.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Nithard, Juan Everardo Spanish politicians 1607 births 1681 deaths 17th-century Austrian Jesuits Grand Inquisitors of Spain Bishops of Edessa Jesuit cardinals Court of Charles II of Spain 17th-century regents