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Rodrigo de Castro Osorio | |
|---|---|
| Cardinal,Archbishop of Seville | |
 Bust inMonforte de Lemos | |
| Church | Roman Catholic |
| Appointed | 20 October 1581 |
| Installed | 15 February 1582 |
| Term ended | 20 September 1600 |
| Other post(s) | Cardinal-Priest of Santi XII Apostoli (1585–1600) |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 1559 |
| Consecration | 7 November 1574 by Gaspar de Quiroga y Vela |
| Created cardinal | 12 December 1583 byPope Gregory XIII |
| Rank | Cardinal-Priest |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 5 March 1523 |
| Died | 20 September 1600 (aged 77) Seville,Spain |
Rodrigo de Castro Osorio (5 March 1523 – 20 September 1600) was a Spanishcardinal and churchman. He was Bishop of Zamora (1574–1578) and theDiocese of Cuenca (1578–1581),Archbishop of Seville, (1581–1600), a member of theCouncil of State of Spain and the Supreme Council of theSpanish Inquisition during the reign ofPhilip II of Spain. He was the Great-uncle of Pedro Fernández de Castro y Andrade, Conde deLemos. He was closely linked to the city ofMonforte de Lemos inGalicia, where he was the founder of theCollege of Our Lady of Antigua.
Popularly known as Cardinal Rodrigo de Castro, he was arenaissance man[citation needed], considered by many authors[who?] as the last great ecclesiastical prince. His birthplace is disputed, with some authors arguing that he was born inValladolid in 1523.
He studied canon law atSalamanca, where his brother, Pedro de Castro Lemos, who later became bishop of Cuenca (1553–1561), was named cardinal on 15 December 1583, byGregory XIII. His restless spirit led him to travel across Flanders, Portugal, France, Italy, and Germany (Farinelli indicates his last trip, made in 1598, two years before his death, was by order ofPhilip III of Spain, to receive the ArchduchessMargaret of Austria, future queen of Spain. This is a manuscript in folio, a collection of Jesuit Alenda registered No 365: "quel Cardinal my Jornada Mr. made from Seville to Madrid and what they pass until they left for Valencia, Year 1598 ")[1]
Rodrigo de Castro was assigned an important role in the court ofPhilip II of Spain, where he was given important diplomatic missions[clarification needed], in addition to joining theCouncil of State and the Supreme Council of theSpanish Inquisition.
The cardinal was widely criticized for his taste for pomp and magnificence. He held expensive hunting parties, and large numbers of attendants and servants, besides the taste for luxury and art. He felt a great fondness forfalconry, which is recorded by the "TreatyhuntingBird" byPero López de Ayala, which is preserved at the Museum ofOur Lady of Antigua, which belonged to his personal collection. Criticism also arose over theArchbishop of Seville to surround himself exclusively with servants and associates fromGalicia.
His other traits were his generosity and humanism, creating a home for girls in difficult circumstances, struggling for humanization of treatment in prisons and aid to impoverished clergy aid for construction and improvement of temples, hospitals and hospices, as well as exercise patron of the arts.
TheMaestro de capillo,Cristóbal de Medrano, a prominent musician in Castro's private music chapel, dedicated hisMissa Voce Mea to the Cardinal-Archbishop Rodrigo de Castro, in 1594.[2]
During convalescence from a serious illness, during 1592, Rodrigo decided to start the monumental work of theCollege of Our Lady of Antigua. Administered, at the beginning, by theSociety of Jesus, had consolidated financially the College ofJerez de la Frontera, and contributed to the maintenance of the college-seminar of the British Jesuits fromSeville and since its foundation, in addition to being instituted a protector of the congregations that the company had in that city, that of the Annunciation.[3]
The school was his greatest legacy toMonforte de Lemos, making it one of the very few examples ofStyle Herrera inGalicia. It is named after theVirgin of Antigua, the object of devotion of the cardinal, and popularly named the Cardinal College, or Company.
About this same time, the cardinal established a party in honor of the relics that had been treasured and preserved in the museum of the convent of Santa Clara (popularly known as the Poor Clares of Monforte). The Madrid writing school's endowment is awarded, and his nephew Pedro Fernández de Castro y Andrade would develop in his lifetime many of the features of humanism and love for the arts like his uncle.
He died inSeville in 1600. Leaving in his will the perpetual and hereditary Trustees of the college, referred to in these terms:For good and useful for my country; that patronage is bound and tied to the title of county of Lemos. It also provides for the transfer of his remains toMonforte de Lemos, which lie in theCollege of Our Lady of Antigua, under a statue made byJohn of Bologna.
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