The role of confessor-ambassador

Abstract

Franciscans to Castile was granted by the petition of Father Lorenzo da Brindisi (1559-1619), extraordinary papal legate and special ambassador of the Duke of Bavaria at the Spanish court. Brindisi (canonised as a saint in 1881), with his many theological attributes, earthly concerns, and charisma, represented a glowing model for Quiroga. 5 Quiroga became a leader of the Castilian Capuchins due to his role in the foundation of the convents in Toledo (1611), El Pardo (1613), and Salamanca (1614). After that, he was elected Provincial of Valencia (1615-1618) and then of Castile (1622-1627). 6 The reputation he gained among his peers explains how Quiroga became the main interlocutor and assistant to his fellow, Father Giacinto da Casale, the second Capuchin ambassador, who arrived in Madrid in 1621, after Lorenzo da Brindisi. Like Brindisi, Casale accumulated several recommendations, from the emperor, the pope, and the Duke of Bavaria, to convince the Spanish court to support transferring the imperial electoral title from the Calvinist rebel, the Elector Palatine, to the loyal, Catholic, Duke of Bavaria, whom the Spanish authorities mistrusted, and saw as a challenge to the House of Austria in the empire. 7 In May 1622, Casale sent Quiroga to report the progress of the negotiations to the courts of Munich and Vienna. Thus, the role of Capuchin friars as reliable diplomatic agents for confessional-related issues between Central Europe and Iberia was consolidated. Moreover, Quiroga acquired first-hand experience of the functioning of the Spanish embassy in the empire and gained the confidence of Emperor Ferdinand II and the Duke of Bavaria. 8 This experience heightened Quiroga's credit when he returned to Madrid at the end of 1622, in time to be elected provincial of the Capuchins of Castile, in December of that year.Soon after, he represented his order in the discussions on the English Match. Since 1620, the Infanta María Ana of Austria, sister of Philip IV, had been the candidate to marry Charles, Prince of Wales, who arrived, incognito, in Madrid in February 1623, to ask for her hand in marriage. This quixotic gesture was not enough to convince Philip IV and his favourite, the Count Duke of Olivares, to accept a match with a Protestant prince. As Spanish statecraft required that all critical decisions should be made with religion in mind, a Junta Grande de Teólogos was summoned. This Junta was a board of 54 theologians with representatives from every royal council and religious order called by King Philip IV to dictate if the marriage was beneficial for Christendom, and if so the conditions to demand. Quiroga was invited to the meetings and demonstrated his ambition, initiative, and zeal in contrast to most of his colleagues, who followed a mild and temporising position that would not disappoint Olivares. Quiroga was among the few genuine opponents to the English Match, who would only support it if the prince would convert to Catholicism. This condition for the marriage had been articulated by the papal nuncio, Mas...