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the Napoleonic Wars, they did serve to
drain French supplies and manpower badly
needed to support Napoléon's campaigns in
central and eastern Europe, and the Span-
ish struggle has been described as a “run-
ning sore” that sapped the strength of the
French empire. From the Iberian perspec-
tive the conflict opened the way to the
revolt of most of the Portuguese and Span-
ish colonies in the New World and a whole
new pattern of internal political turmoil in
both countries.
the outgoing and engaging manner of one
to whom he would have to confide matters
of the gravest importance. Nevertheless
Philip appointed Pérez to succeed his father
as secretary of state in 1568. For the next
decade he was active at the highest level of
H
ABSBURG
government, privy to all of the
affairs of state and deeply involved in court
intrigues. These pitted the traditional Cas-
tilian elite, led by the duke of A
LBA
, against
a more flexible and cosmopolitan group, of
which Pérez was a recognized leader.
Pérez's reversal of fortune began in 1578
following the murder of Juan de Escobedo,
secretary of J
OHN
OF
A
USTRIA
, the king's
half brother and governor of the Nether-
lands. Although there are many versions of
what lay behind this event, Pérez was
detained and then spent some 10 years in
prison charged with a variety of offenses,
including an accusation of heresy laid
against him by the S
PANISH
I
NQUISITION
.
This murky business was never fully clari-
fied before Pérez contrived to escape from
confinement and flee to Z
ARAGOZA
, the
capital of A
RAGON
, where he claimed sanc-
tuary. Pérez made himself a local hero,
declaring that he was the victim of unjust
persecution and played upon Aragonese
fears and suspicions that Philip II was pre-
paring to abolish Aragon's remaining
autonomous rights (
fueros
) by force of
arms. The presence of Pérez provoked dis-
putes among the Aragonese elite, who
engaged in prolonged arguments over how
to deal with him. Pérez also managed to
incite the regionalist, and even separatist,
passions of the lower orders. While being
detained in a Zaragoza jail, he was rescued
by a riotous crowd that beat off militia men
sent to guard him and was hailed as the
champion of his people.
Pérez, Antonio
(1540-1611)
Spanish political intriguer
Of Aragonese descent (a fact that would
later be of vital importance), Pérez was the
son of Gonzalo Pérez (1500-66), one of the
most important advisers of C
HARLES
I (Holy
Roman Emperor Charles V). Educated in
universities both in Spain and abroad, the
younger Pérez accompanied his father on
many of his journeys as a Spanish diplomat
and as a shaper of the broader European
policy that the emperor was developing.
Although there is evidence that the Spanish
king's successor, P
HILIP
II, detected flaws in
the younger Pérez's character and was
uncomfortable with him, he found him
indispensable due to his level of training
and experience. Philip was clearly uneasy
about Pérez's illegitimate birth and the fact
that his father was in holy orders, although
the latter point has been disputed by some
historians, who have not found proof that
Gonzalo was ever ordained a priest (nor
verification of the exact ecclesiastical status
of Antonio himself). Apart from these issues
that would certainly worry the highly reli-
gious king, Philip's own personality—grim
and reclusive—was completely at odds with
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