Antonio Pérez del Hierro

Antonio Pérez
Antonio Pérez. Painting by Antonio Ponz, Monastery of El Escorial.
Born	Antonio Pérez del Hierro 1540 Place of birth disputed
Died	April 7, 1611 Paris
Occupations	Secretary of the Chamber and Secretary of the Council of State of Philip II
Spouse	Juana Coello
Parent	Gonzalo Pérez

Antonio Pérez del Hierro (Valdeconcha, Guadalajara, Spain; 1540 – Paris, France; April 7, 1611) was Secretary of the Chamber and of the Council of State of the King of Spain Philip II. He was the son of Gonzalo Pérez, who was in turn secretary to Charles I.

Found guilty on the charges of treason against the Crown and of the murder of Juan de Escobedo, he used his Aragonese descent (the family came from Monreal de Ariza) to place himself under the protection of the Justicia Mayor of Aragon, and thus gain time and support to evade royal justice and be able to flee to France.

Biography

His place of birth is disputed. It is known that in 1542 he was legitimized by the Emperor as the son of Gonzalo Pérez, one of the most prestigious secretaries of Charles I. Since Gonzalo had been ordained a priest, his enemies accused him of having fathered Antonio after his ordination, an accusation always denied by Gonzalo but which would tarnish Antonio's origins.

On the other hand, Gregorio Marañón considers that there are indications that Antonio might have been the natural son of the Prince of Éboli (Ruy Gómez de Silva), on whose lands he was raised and whose protection he received on various occasions, with Gonzalo Pérez lending himself to acknowledging paternity as a favor to the prominent aristocrat.

In any case, Antonio Pérez del Hierro was educated at the most prestigious universities of his time, such as those of Alcalá de Henares, Salamanca, Leuven, Venice and Padua.

Secretary of State

His father, Gonzalo Pérez, initiated him into affairs of State. In 1553 Antonio was appointed secretary to Prince (and later King) Philip. In 1556 Emperor Charles abdicated and left his son Castile (which included the American territories), Aragon (which included the Italian kingdoms of Sardinia, Naples and Sicily), and Burgundy (the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Franche-Comté), in addition to the Duchy of Milan, who thus became King Philip II; Antonio Pérez continued as his private secretary while his father, Gonzalo Pérez, remained Secretary of State.

Gonzalo Pérez died in 1566 and his son Antonio was made Secretary of State a year later, although his competences were reduced compared with those of his father, being in charge only of Atlantic affairs (the Netherlands, France, England and Germany). Through his secretaryship in the Council of Castile he also had access to internal correspondence. Mediterranean affairs were left in the charge of Diego de Vargas, after whose death Antonio tried by every means to obtain that secretaryship as well. This caused Philip II to begin to distrust him. With the support of the Marquis of los Vélez and Archbishop Quiroga, Antonio Pérez requested Vargas's vacant office for himself in 1568, which was opposed by the Count of Chinchón and all those who feared Antonio Pérez's power. Philip II finally granted Mediterranean and Italian affairs to Gabriel de Zayas.

During his first ten years as secretary, Antonio Pérez exercised great influence over Philip II, who normally followed his advice, recognizing his intelligence, knowledge of affairs of State and infallible instinct. This royal confidence served him to obtain more power and, like most of his contemporaries, to enrich himself in his office.

Since the time of Charles I there had been two factions at the Spanish Court: the "liberal" party headed by Ruy Gómez de Silva, Prince of Éboli, and his secretary Francisco de Eraso; and the "conservative" party headed by Fernando Álvarez de Toledo y Pimentel, 3rd Duke of Alba de Tormes, and the Inquisitor General Fernando de Valdés. After the death of the Prince of Éboli in 1573, Antonio Pérez came to head the liberal faction and began his association with Ana de Mendoza de la Cerda, Princess of Éboli, which was advantageous for Antonio as it improved his relationship with the aristocracy, and which benefited both of them financially. Antonio Pérez revealed State secrets to the Princess of Éboli and together they trafficked in government information. Against him were the Duke of Alba, the Álvarez de Toledo and the Count of Barajas.

Fall of Antonio Pérez

Antonio Pérez freed from prison in 1591, by Manuel Ferrán, 1864. (Museo del Prado, Madrid).

During the government of John of Austria in the Netherlands, Antonio Pérez and his allies (the Marquis of los Vélez and Cardinal Quiroga) advised the King to seek a negotiated peace with the rebels and an invasion of England, advice which the King ignored for the time being, since he did not consider himself prepared for such an invasion. For unknown reasons, Antonio Pérez played upon the already tense relations between Philip II and his brother John of Austria and made the latter's aims regarding England appear subversive in the eyes of the King. But Philip II already distrusted his secretary, so in 1578 Juan de Escobedo (secretary to John of Austria) came to the Court to explain his master's position to the King, which could expose Antonio. For this reason, Antonio blamed Escobedo for Don John's ambitions and advised the King to eliminate him.

The King apparently agreed to Escobedo being eliminated. Antonio Pérez first made a failed poisoning attempt and then hired a group of assassins who took Escobedo's life in Madrid on March 31, 1578.

A rumor soon spread about his involvement in the murder of Juan de Escobedo. Philip II at first tried to protect Antonio Pérez, partly out of his own sense of guilt and partly because of what he might reveal, but when his brother Don John died and his papers reached Madrid, he discovered Antonio Pérez's plot and lies, realizing that Don John had always been loyal. Considering himself betrayed, Philip II began to distrust the association between Antonio Pérez and the Princess of Éboli, and suspected a traffic in State secrets.

On the night of July 28, 1579, Antonio Pérez was arrested after leaving his office. The Princess of Éboli was likewise placed in custody, first in the Tower of Pinto, then in the Castle of Santorcaz and, finally, she was confined in her own palace of Pastrana, where she spent the rest of her life. Shortly afterward Antonio Pérez's post was taken by Granvela.

Antonio Pérez had freedom to move about Madrid, while being watched by the Crown, since the King needed his papers (which could also implicate him in the murder of Escobedo). Later, the Escobedos and their allies, after exerting pressure at Court, managed to have Antonio Pérez arrested a second time in 1585 on charges of trafficking in secrets and corruption (without mentioning the murder); he was found guilty and sentenced to two years in prison and an enormous fine. In 1590, under torture, he acknowledged his involvement in the murder of Escobedo.

The Children of Antonio Pérez before Rodrigo Vázquez de Arce, by José Bermudo Mateos. 1892. (Museo del Prado, Madrid).

In April 1590, helped by his wife, Juana Coello, Antonio Pérez escaped from his prison in Madrid and fled to Zaragoza, where he obtained the protection of the fueros. In the Kingdom of Aragon he found the support of the Duke of Villahermosa, the Count of Aranda and above all Diego de Heredia (of the lesser nobility). Meanwhile, and in his absence, he was sentenced to death in Madrid (without his knowing it). Philip II brought a plea before the Justicia of Aragon against Antonio Pérez on the charges of the murder of Escobedo, trafficking in State secrets and escape from prison. Philip II, exasperated by the slowness of Aragonese justice and because he did not expect a favorable verdict, withdrew the charges and used a tribunal that the Aragonese fueros and Aragonese justice could not oppose: the Inquisition. Pérez was not a heretic, but it was not difficult to build a case against him. In May 1591, Antonio Pérez was transferred from the prison of the Justicia to that of the Inquisition, whereupon his defenders organized a revolt in Zaragoza, known as the Revolt of Antonio Pérez or Alterations of Aragon. He was returned to the prison of Aragonese justice and from there waged a campaign against the Crown. In September he was again transferred to the prison of the Inquisition. Heredia and his followers took him out once more and this time set him free, whereupon the situation turned into a crisis in Aragon over the defense of the fueros.

In October 1591 Philip II sent an army to Zaragoza; when Juan V de Lanuza, Justicia of Aragon, placed himself at the head of the protests, he was arrested and executed without prior warning, which put an end to the uprising. Antonio Pérez fled to Béarn, where he received the support of Henry of Navarre for an attempted French invasion, which failed. Later, Pérez moved to England, where he offered information that was used for the English attack on Cádiz in 1596, and fueled the Black Legend against Philip II. After trying without success to obtain the Crown's pardon, Antonio Pérez died in Paris in the most absolute poverty in 1611.

Writings

Antonio Pérez left various writings, which attempt to justify his conduct. Notable among them are the Relaciones, published under the pseudonym Rafael Peregrino in Paris in 1598, and the Cartas, whose literary value was already noted in the 18th century, when they were included in the Catalogue of the Diccionario de Autoridades of the Castilian Language of the Royal Spanish Academy.

Chronology

Antonio Pérez Receiving His Family after Torture, by Vicente Borrás y Mompó. 1884. (Museo del Prado, Madrid).

• 1500 — Charles (future Emperor Charles V) is born in Ghent.
• 1504 — Isabella of Castile dies.
• 1506 — Gonzalo Pérez is born in Segovia.
• 1516 — Ferdinand of Aragon dies. Ruy Gómez de Silva, Prince of Éboli, is born.
• 1527 — Philip II is born.
• 1533 — Gonzalo Pérez becomes a citizen of Zaragoza.
• 1536 — Gonzalo Pérez is knighted by Emperor Charles.
• 1540 — Antonio Pérez is born in Valdeconcha, and Ana de Mendoza y de la Cerda (later Princess of Éboli after her marriage to Ruy Gómez de Silva, Prince of Éboli) in Cifuentes.
• 1543 — Gonzalo Pérez becomes secretary to Prince Philip.
• 1544 — In November Philip II marries Maria Manuela of Portugal, who dies in childbirth when Prince Charles is born a year later.
• 1547 (or 1545? The date is doubtful) — Don John of Austria is born.
• 1552 — Ana de Mendoza, by order of Emperor Charles, marries at the early age of 12 Ruy Gómez de Silva, Prince of Éboli, who was 36 years old.
• 1555 — Joanna I of Castile dies.
• 1556 — Charles I (V) abdicates and his son Philip inherits the kingdoms of Castile (including the Indies), Aragon (including Naples), the Netherlands, etc.
• 1559 — Philip II acknowledges Don John of Austria as his brother.
• 1560 — Philip II marries Elisabeth of Valois.
• 1566 — Gonzalo Pérez dies.
• 1567 — Antonio Pérez marries Juana de Coello.
• 1568 — Antonio Pérez is appointed secretary. The star of the Duke of Alba declines after he beheads the ringleaders in Flanders and his policy fails. December: Revolt of the Moriscos in Granada.
• 1569 — April: Don John (22 years old) heads toward Granada to suppress the revolt. June: first victory over the Moriscos. The campaigns continue until the end of 1570, when Don John returns to Madrid.
• 1571 — In May the Holy League is constituted and Don John (24 years old) is chosen Captain General. June: Don John leaves Madrid. October 7: Battle of Lepanto.
• 1572–1573: Don John remains in command of the fleet.
• 1573 — March: Venice accepts a disadvantageous agreement with the Turks and hands over Cyprus to them, the reason for which the Holy League had been constituted. July: Ruy Gómez dies and his widow becomes a nun that same day. This lasts 6 months, but she remains in Pastrana. October: Don John conquers Tunis and La Goulette and then winters in Naples.
• 1574 — Summer: the Turks reconquer Tunis and La Goulette without Don John's fleet being able to prevent it. Don John returns to Madrid at the end of the year.
• 1575 — Antonio Pérez induces Philip II to appoint his friend Juan de Escobedo as secretary to Don John of Austria, with the intention that Escobedo should spy on Don John. Don John of Austria at first objects but ends up giving him his confidence, which causes Antonio Pérez to stop trusting Escobedo. Don John leaves for Naples.
• 1576 — Spring: Ana returns from Pastrana to Madrid because of her mother's death. Requesens dies and Don John (29 years old) is appointed Governor of the Netherlands. In August he returns to Madrid for a few days and stays in Antonio Pérez's house, called La Casilla and located on Calle de Santa Isabel. He arrives in the Netherlands in October.
• 1577 — Juan de Escobedo comes from Flanders to Madrid. Antonio Pérez distrusts him and Don John of Austria and thinks of killing him. He convinces the King that Don John of Austria and Escobedo are conspiring against him and that it is necessary to kill Escobedo without judicial proceedings for "reason of State". Philip II agrees.
• 1578 — Failed attempt to poison Escobedo. March 31: murder of Escobedo as he leaves the house of the Princess of Éboli, behind the Church of Santa María, on what is today called Calle de la Almudena. Insausti deals the fatal thrust, Juan Rubio and Miguel Bosque help him, and Diego Martínez (Antonio Pérez's steward), Antonio Enríquez (Antonio Pérez's escort) and Juan de Mesa provide support. Shortly after the murder rumors are already circulating that Antonio Pérez is behind the crime, and Escobedo's family takes care to keep the matter alive. The King realizes that he has been deceived by Antonio Pérez and gradually withdraws his confidence from him. September 31: Don John dies in Flanders at the age of 31. He is buried, but five months later his body is cut into three so that it can be taken through France and brought to El Escorial.
• 1579 — July 28: Arrest of Antonio Pérez in his house on the Plaza del Cordón, who is taken to the house of the Alcalde, and of the Éboli, who is taken to the Tower of Pinto for 6 months.
• 1580 — Philip becomes King of Portugal. February: the Éboli is transferred to the Castle of Santorcaz (10 km from Alcalá de Henares). November: Antonio Pérez is transferred to his house on the Plaza del Cordón, where he remains a prisoner. Quevedo is born.
• 1581 — February: the Éboli is transferred to Pastrana.
• 1582 — Philip deprives the Éboli of her civil rights. Alonso de Contreras is born.
• 1584 — Antonio Pérez is under a visita proceeding, accused of corruption and of altering messages. He rents a house on the Plaza del Cordón, opposite the Church of San Justo.
• 1585 — January 31: fearing that he will try to flee to Aragon, where the King was, the alcaldes go to arrest him before notifying him of the sentence of the visita proceeding. Antonio Pérez jumps out of the window and takes refuge in the Church of San Justo. The alcaldes force the door and arrest him. After a few hours in the house of the Alcalde he is sent in shackles to Turégano. The Church sued the State over the forced entry and demanded the return of Antonio Pérez, but to no avail. March 2: he is notified of the sentence: 2 years of confinement, 10 of banishment (counting those of confinement) and suspension from office during that time. From the small village of Muñoveros, near Turégano, his henchmen organize an attempt to free Antonio Pérez, which fails mainly because of the skill of the warden of the castle of Turégano, who deceived the attackers. Antonio Pérez is sentenced to three months in shackles and in a dungeon, his property is seized and his wife and children are taken to Madrid and locked up.
• 1586 — March: Philip II returns to Madrid and orders Antonio Pérez to be brought there. He was held under mitigated imprisonment. It is not known where he stayed. Perhaps in the house of Cisneros.
• 1587 — End of summer: Antonio Pérez is transferred to Torrejón de Velasco. The proceedings for the murder of Escobedo are opened. The Count-Duke of Olivares is born.
• 1588 — March: Philip II orders him to return to Madrid. He stays at Puerta Cerrada. Summer: Invincible Armada.
• 1589 — Antonio Pérez is transferred to Pinto for two months. August: brought to Madrid to the house of Cisneros.
• 1590 — February 4: Pérez is tortured in Madrid. Judge Rodrigo Vázquez interrogates Antonio Pérez; he shows him a note from the King ordering him to testify, but Antonio Pérez answers with vague statements. Fear of a death sentence. March 18: With the help of his wife, eight months pregnant, he escapes at 9 p.m. With Gil de Mesa and Gil González he travels by post-horse to Aragon in precarious conditions owing to his physical state. Mayorín followed them in order to tire out the post horses a second time. At 2:30 a.m. they reached Guadalajara. Having crossed the border of Aragon, which at that time was at Arcos de Jalón, they rested at the Monastery of Santa María de Huerta (182 km from Madrid), which was near Ariza and Monreal, where he had friends and from where fresh mounts were brought to him. At Bubierca an escort joined them and they continued to Calatayud. Gil de Mesa went to Zaragoza to request the manifestación, which was granted immediately. On May 1 he was taken to Zaragoza in a triumphal procession. On April 23 the criminal proceedings against Antonio Pérez were transferred from Castile to Aragon. On July 1, Rodrigo Vázquez de Arce (President of the Treasury and judge of Antonio Pérez) pronounces a death sentence in Castile. In the prison of the manifestados Antonio Pérez had a great deal of freedom. He received visitors and had copies made of his pleadings. The Marquis of Almenara, the King's representative in Aragon, placed a guard in front of the prison, to the great scandal of the defenders of the fueros. When it was suspected that Antonio Pérez would be acquitted, a private accusation for two deaths was filed and the King's was withdrawn. The courts obstructed the progress of the new proceedings. September 5: initiation of the enquesta proceedings, which accused Antonio Pérez of having served the King of Aragon badly in matters of that kingdom. The Justicia, supreme guardian of the fueros, admitted it for consideration. Antonio Pérez defended himself by arguing that he had not acted as an officer of Aragon nor dealt with matters of that kingdom. (Note: It must be understood that Castile and Aragon were completely distinct and independent Kingdoms, with different laws and fueros, and that the King was simply King of both kingdoms, but that these kept their separation and independence. Once Antonio Pérez entered Aragon, he was protected by the Aragonese fueros and he, very skillfully, managed to spread propaganda that his persecution was an assault on the fueros, and this led the Aragonese to protect him.)
• 1591 — In May there was still no sentence in the proceedings over the deaths. An attempted escape and several plans for attacks against Antonio Pérez. May 5: he is accused of heresy, which was a farce. The aim was to bypass the jurisdiction of Aragon and transfer him to the jurisdiction of the Holy Office. May 13: his transfer to the Aljafería Palace in Zaragoza, the prison of the Inquisition, is ordered; it is carried out on the 24th, provoking riots. Attack on the house of Almenara. The old Justicia, Juan de Lanuza, tries to mediate, but Almenara is wounded during the transfer to the prison and dies days later. After the attack on the Aljafería, Antonio Pérez is triumphantly transferred to the prison of the manifestados, where the Inquisition would watch over him. Pérez waged a public opinion campaign linking his fate to that of the fueros. Another escape attempt by Antonio Pérez. Juan de Lanuza dies and is succeeded by his son. September 24: a new attempt to transfer Pérez to the Aljafería provokes riots, a battle in the market square and disorder. Antonio Pérez, triumphantly freed, breaks the chains of the Santa Engracia gate and flees. He intended to cross into France but was ill and spent three days resting in a cave. On October 2 he returns to Zaragoza and hides in the house of Don Martín de Lanuza. The authorities flee Zaragoza and on October 15 the King gives the order to invade Aragon, always in order to defend the fueros. The fuerista army collapses and the royal army enters Zaragoza on November 12 without resistance. November 10: Antonio Pérez had fled with Lanuza's help and on the night of the 23rd to the 24th, disguised as a shepherd and in falling snow, crossed into France as far as Pau, where Catherine, sister of Henry IV, was governor of Béarn. The leaders of the fuerista movement, instead of going over to the King's side, persisted in their attitude. On December 20 the head of the Justicia, Juan de Lanuza, was displayed to the public. Villahermosa and Aranda were imprisoned and died in suspicious circumstances in August and November 1592.
• 1592 — February 12: the Éboli dies at the age of 52. In January the King published a partial pardon, but Antonio Pérez was condemned in absentia by the Inquisition and burned in effigy. In Pau Antonio Pérez tries to organize an invasion by people of Béarn, but fails. The King summons the Aragonese Cortes in Tarazona. They meet in December, modifying the fueros and preparing their abolition by Philip II.
• 1593 — At the beginning of the year Antonio Pérez travels to England.
• 1595 — In August Antonio Pérez returns to France at the request of Henry IV.
• 1596 — In May Antonio Pérez makes a very brief trip to England.
• 1598 — Philip II dies and Pérez's wife and children are set free. In Paris Pérez sends to press the definitive version of his Relaciones, the crowning work of the Black Legend against Philip II.
• 1603 — In December Antonio Pérez makes his third trip to England.
• 1611 — Antonio Pérez dies in Paris and is buried in the convent of the Celestines, which is destroyed during the French Revolution, and his remains are lost. November: Doña Juana and her children open rehabilitation proceedings before the Inquisition.
• 1615 — Acquittal. Doña Juana de Coello dies.

Works about Antonio Pérez

• Gregorio Marañón published (Espasa Calpe, 1947) a biography of Antonio Pérez and, separately in the same year, Los procesos de Castilla contra Antonio Pérez. Later, in 1970, both were published by Espasa Calpe in a single volume, which constitutes volume VI of Marañón's Obras completas. They are probably the most complete and well-documented works on the life of Antonio Pérez and the judicial proceedings brought against him after his fall from power.

• Antonio Gala published (Planeta, 2007) the novel El pedestal de las estatuas, in which he transcribes a supposed lost manuscript by Antonio Pérez in which the latter narrates the history of Spain in the 15th and 16th centuries from his point of view.

External links

• Selection of letters by Antonio Pérez, in E. de Ochoa, Epistolario español (BAE), vol. 1, Madrid, 1850, pp. 463 ff.
• Works of Antonio Pérez, with their first editions
• Information on the oldest editions of his Pedaços de Historia, o Relaçiones, assy llamadas por sus auctores, los peregrinos
• Portrait of Antonio Pérez with a rather favorable summary of his life, included in the book Retratos de Españoles ilustres (published in installments in Madrid, Imprenta Real, between 1791 and 1820).
• Two portraits wrongly attributed to Antonio Pérez (according to Maria Kusche, Retratos y retratadores, Madrid 2003, pp. 432–435).