Gaspar de Guzmán y Pimental, count-duke de Olivares

Gaspar de Guzmán y Pimental, count-duke de Olivares (born January 16, 1587, Rome, Italy—died July 22, 1645, Toro, Spain) was the prime minister (1623–43) and court favourite (valido) of King Philip IV of Spain. He attempted to impose a strong centralizing policy and eventually provoked rebellion and his own fall.

Early life

Olivares’s father, Enrique de Guzmán, was the Spanish ambassador to Rome. His mother, María Pimental Fonseca, was of the Castilian nobility. As second-born son of an aristocratic family, Gaspar studied for the priesthood, obtaining a degree from the University of Salamanca in law, theology, and the arts (1601–04). With the death of his older brother, however, he renounced his position as canon in Sevilla (to which he had been appointed by Pope Clement VIII) and joined his father in Valladolid, then the location of the Spanish royal court. In 1607, orphaned and heir not only to a noble title but also to one of the largest fortunes of the kingdom, Gaspar married his cousin and niece (they were related through both sides of the family), Inés de Zúñiga y Velasco, lady-in-waiting to Queen Margaret.

In 1615 Olivares became one of Prince Philip’s six personal attendants. When Philip was crowned king in April of 1621, he had just reached 16 years of age, and Olivares was nearly 34. By this time Olivares, a man of unpleasing appearance and changing moods, had become the young king’s irreplaceable companion. As Philip’s favourite he was given the rank of grandee, the title most coveted by Castilian nobility. Reluctant to drop any part of his title, he styled himself “conde-duque.”

Prime ministry

From 1623 until January 24, 1643, Olivares served as prime minister of Spain. He was unswervingly loyal to the king and was vehemently patriotic. He was also avid for power—both for himself and for Spain. The main objective of his domestic policy was to engender national unity among the separate kingdoms of the peninsula, kingdoms that he described as “anachronistic as crossbows.” He attempted many economic reforms aimed at relieving the difficult situation that had arisen as a result of long reliance on the influx of precious metals from the New World. Among these programs were restrictions on granting favours (except for honorary titles); recoining of the old copper-alloy monies; introduction of paper money; promotion, with the aid of the Castilian Cortes (representative assembly), of various royal decrees to stop the industrial and commercial decline of the kingdom; and a project whereby the shipping companies would be able to compete more advantageously with the Dutch, English, and French commercial fleets. However, his attempts to promote trade and industry met with failure, owing largely to the fact that aristocratic Castilians, slaves to the idea of a rigid class structure, looked down upon all mercantile professions. Perhaps his most significant reform was the Union of Arms (1625), which was intended to strengthen Spain’s military by requiring all territories of the Spanish Crown to provide a set number of soldiers. His moves toward centralizing power in the hands of the king and his ministers were partly responsible for the revolts of the Catalans and the Portuguese, which began in 1640, and for an abortive conspiracy to form a separate Andalusian kingdom (1641). In foreign policy Olivares was guided by the dream of austracismo, a joint European hegemony of the Austrian and Spanish Habsburg kingdoms. This policy meant continued Spanish involvement in the Thirty Years’ War and ended with the eclipse of Spanish power by France. Yet in the period of the Counter-Reformation it is difficult to conceive of Spain following a different course; in this sense it was almost inevitable, and Olivares can hardly be judged in terms of its ultimate failure.

As a result of a court intrigue headed by the queen (Elizabeth of France), Philip removed his ailing favourite from office in January 1643. Although the king would undoubtedly have liked to recall him later, other grandees, long jealous of his power, continued to discredit him. Eventually Olivares was exiled, along with his wife, to the city of Toro. In December 1644 the Inquisition began to investigate his conduct. He died in Toro the following year.