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In-Depth Information
V
Valdés, Alfonso de (1490-1532)
Spanish official and political writer
The details of Valdés's background are not
clear, but his intelligence and skill won
him the patronage of C HARLES I (Holy
Roman Emperor Charles V), who appointed
him to a position in the imperial chancel-
lery in the early 1520s. In this capacity he
carried out many assignments relating to
Spain's dominant role in the affairs of
Europe. These affairs reached a critical
stage during 1527 when the I TALIAN W ARS
(1494-1559) produced a collaboration
between Spain's persistent enemy, France,
and Pope Clement VII. Failing to persuade
the pope to abandon this strategic alle-
giance, the emperor sent a German army
to besiege Rome. The outcome was the
capture of the Holy City and a prolonged
sack, accompanied by shocking murders
and outrages. The general indignation that
swept Europe was countered by Valdés in
a defense of his master, titled Diálogo de
Lactancio y un arcediano (Dialogue between
Lactancio and an archdeacon). Using the
conventional format of a dialogue between
a seeker after truth and a knowledgeable
person, Valdés exonerated the emperor of
all blame, blamed the “Sacco di Roma” on
the understandable battle rage of the sol-
diers, and attempted to show that the
pope's advisers bore the true responsibility
for what had happened. To this end he
quoted various documents allegedly prov-
ing the villainy of high-ranking clergy-
men. Valdés's skillfully composed
vindication of the Spanish monarch's
honor did not go unchallenged. A papal
envoy lodged complaints against him with
the Council of Castile and the inquisitor
general without success.
Valdés was however living on borrowed
time. He had already acquired a reputation
as a disciple of Erasmus and had exchanged
correspondence with that proponent of
ecclesiastical reform. He had gone so far as
to write another dialogue, Diálogo de Mercu-
rio y Carón, in which he defended the
emperor against both foreign and domestic
critics through pointed and daring satire. In
this essay he was particularly scathing
regarding the vanities and improprieties of
the clergy. When a campaign against Eras-
mus was launched at the end of 1529, the
Dutch thinker's followers in Spain were
vigorously targeted by the S PANISH I NQUISI -
TION , and Valdés's name stood high on the
list. He was forced to leave Spain to avoid
prosecution. He found refuge in Vienna
and might have benefited from the patron-
age and protection of the emperor, but a
plague outbreak in 1532 ended Valdés's
promising career.
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