Baltasar de Zúñiga

Baltasar de Zúñiga
Born	1561 Spain
Died	October 1622 Spain
Occupation	Diplomat, soldier and statesman

Baltasar de Zúñiga (1561 – October 1622) was a Spanish royal favourite of Philip III, his son Philip IV and a key minister in two Spanish governments. In control of foreign policy from 1618 to 1622, he was responsible for Spain's initially successful entry into the Thirty Years War (1618–48) and for the appointment of his nephew, the Count-Duke of Olivares to the position of prime minister for much of the reign of Philip IV. De Zúñiga was also notable as being one of the very few Spanish royal favourites of the period to die whilst still in favour.

De Zúñiga came from a powerful Spanish noble family; he had taken part in, and survived, the Spanish Armada of 1588, and had gone on to serve Philip III as the Spanish ambassador to Brussels from 1599–1603, Paris from 1603-8 and Vienna 1608-17. Philip's government had been dominated by the Duke of Lerma, a royal favourite whose excessive, lavish lifestyle had increasingly irritated other Spanish nobility. Lerma's position had become threatened in recent years however, not least by his own son, the Duke of Uceda, who had become concerned that his father's spending was threatening both his inheritance and the future political position of the family.

Arriving back in Madrid, de Zúñiga led efforts with Uceda to remove Lerma from power. De Lerma first responded by becoming a Cardinal, a defensive measure to afford him additional protection. In October 1618, one of Lerma's own favourites, Don Rodrigo Calderón, was successfully arrested for murder; using this as a pretext, de Zúñiga and Uceda made their move. The Duke of Lerma was forced from office and into retirement, his estates placed under administration. De Zúñiga became the key advisor to Philip on matters of foreign policy, using his influence to ensure his nephew, Olivares, was placed in the household of the young Prince Philip. When Philip III died in 1621, de Zúñiga then successfully replaced Uceda, then effectively prime minister, with Olivares, ensuring his family's dominance of Philip IV's court. He became also Sumiller de Corps to the King.

...
Wikipedia