Francisco Cardinal Jiménez de Cisneros: Encyclopedia II - Francisco Cardinal Jiménez de Cisneros - Final years

Francisco Cardinal Jiménez de Cisneros - Final years

On January 28, 1516 Ferdinand died, leaving Cisneros as regent of Castile for Charles (afterwards Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor), then a youth of sixteen in the Netherlands. Though Cisneros at once took firm hold of the reins of government, and ruled in a determined and even autocratic manner, the turbulent Castilian nobility and the jealous intriguing Flemish councilors for Charles combined to render Cisneros position peculiarly difficult. In violation of the laws, Cisneros acceded to Charles's desire to be proclaimed king; he secured the person of Charles's younger brother Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor; he fixed the seat of the courts at Madrid; and he established a standing army by drilling the citizens of the towns.

In September 1517 Charles landed in the province of Asturias, and Cisneros hastened to meet him. On the way, however, he fell ill (not without a suspicion of poison³). While thus feeble, he received a letter from Charles coldly thanking him for his services, and giving him leave to retire to his diocese. A few hours after this virtual dismissal (which some say the cardinal didn't have time to learn about) Cardinal Cisneros died at Roa, on the 8th of November 1517.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Final years", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki