HISTORICAL DICTIONARY A–Z - Spain and Portugal: A Reference Guide from the Renaissance to the Present - page 194

of war on Britain in 1779. Spanish support
of the American Revolution did lead to the
recovery of F LORIDA (lost in 1763), but the
joint Franco-Spanish siege of G IBRALTAR
ended in failure. Floridablanca's waning
influence was accelerated by the death of
Charles III in 1788, and the rise of M ANUEL
DE G ODOY (already a favorite of C HARLES IV)
assured his downfall in 1792. Floridablanca
was imprisoned on dubious charges for
three years. After his release he remained
relatively inactive until the Napoleonic
invasion of 1808 provided dramatic justifi-
cation of his consistently anti-French policy.
Floridablanca was named president of the
Junta Central (Central Committee) of the
loyalist government but died soon after.

tion to Mexico, although he was suspicious
of and obstructive to both men. He also had
a hostile relationship with B ARTOLOMÉ DE
L AS C ASAS . Other conquistadores were
favored and assisted by him because they
were less innovative and more accepting of
complete royal authority.
Fonseca was recognized as a master of
world business who lacked either the spiri-
tual or imaginative qualities that might
have set Spain's conquest of the New
World on a more positive course. However,
as a faithful servant of the Crown whose
work continued into the early days of
C HARLES I, he laid a solid foundation for
imperial expansion. Fonseca was also a
patron of the arts whose lavish adornment
of the principal churches and shrines in
such cities as Palencia and Burgos (in both
of which he served as bishop) reflected his
religious and artistic enthusiasms. Fonseca
has been hailed by some contemporaries
as a noble and virtuous statesman but con-
demned by others for his harsh and nar-
row judgments.

Fonseca, Juan Rodríguez de
(1451-1524)
Spanish prelate and colonial administrator
A confidant of I SABELLA I of C ASTILE , who
presided over Spain's initial discoveries in
the New World, Fonseca was born in Toro
into a family with important political and
ecclesiastical connections. His own clerical
career—even before ordination to the
priesthood—brought him into the service
of the queen and gave him great influence
at court. He held four bishoprics in succes-
sion and eventually became archbishop of
Rossano, in the Kingdom of Naples. From
1493 to his death he served as president of
the Council of the Indies and head of the
Casa de Contratación (Board of Trade). As
such he was essentially Spain's first minis-
ter of colonial affairs and presided over the
formation of policy during the first phase of
discovery and conquest. He was charged
with organizing C HRISTOPHER C OLUMBUS 's
later voyages and H ERNÁN C ORTÉS 's expedi-

Franche-Comté, Spain in the
The “free county” of Burgundy was a sepa-
rate offshoot of the French duchy of Bur-
gundy and was bounded by French territory,
the Swiss Confederation, the Italian duchy
of Savoy, and the independent duchy of
Lorraine. In the early 1500s, Franche-
Comté began to play an important part in
the grand politics of Spain, whose H ABSBURG
rulers had inherited this strategically located
region. C HARLES I and his successors drew
upon the material wealth and the intellec-
tual capital of their French-speaking sub-
jects in Franche-Comté, employing many
of them as diplomats and state councillors.