Francisco Cardinal Jiménez de Cisneros: Encyclopedia II - Francisco Cardinal Jiménez de Cisneros - Rise to power

Francisco Cardinal Jiménez de Cisneros - Rise to power

Gonzalo Jiménez de Cisneros was born to a poor family in Torrelaguna in Castile in 1436 and studied at Alcalá de Henares and Salamanca. In 1459 he traveled to Rome to work as a consistorial advocate where he attracted the notice of Pope Sixtus V and returned to Spain in 1465 carrying an "executive" letter from the Pope giving him possession of the first vacant benefice. That turned out to be Uzeda, however Carillo (the Archbishop of Toledo and Primate of Spain) refused to accept the letter, wishing instead to bestow the benefice upon one of his own followers, and when Cisneros insisted he was thrown in prison. For six years Cisneros held out for his claim, free to leave at any time if he would give it up, but at length in 1480 Carillo relented at Cisneros' strength of conviction and gave him a benefice. Cisneros exchanged it almost at once for a chaplaincy at Siguenza, under Cardinal Mendoza the bishop of Siguenza, who shortly appointed him vicar-general of his diocese.

At Siguenza Cisneros won praise for his work and he seemed to be on the sure road to success among the secular clergy, when in 1484 at the late age of 48 he abruptly decided to become a Franciscan friar. Giving up all his worldly belongings, and changing his baptismal name, Gonzales, for that of Francisco, he entered the Franciscan friary of San Juan de los Reyes, recently founded by Ferdinand and Isabella at Toledo. Not content with the normal lack of comforts for a friar, he voluntarily slept on the bare ground, wore a hairshirt, doubled his fasts, and generally denied himself with enthusiasm; indeed throughout his whole life, even when at the height of power, his private life was rigorously ascetic.

He retired to the isolated friary of Our Lady of Castanar and built a rough hut in the neighboring woods, in which he lived at times as an anchorite, and later became guardian of a friary at Salzeda. Meanwhile Mendoza (now Archbishop of Toledo) had not forgotten him, and in 1492 recommended him to Isabella as her confessor. Jimenez accepted the position on condition that he might still live in his community and follow the religious life, only appearing at Court when sent for. The post was politically important, for Isabella took counsel from her confessor not only private affairs but also matters of state. Cisneros' severe sanctity soon won him considerable influence over Isabella, and in 1494 he was appointed Minister Provincial of the order for Spain. Cardinal Mendoza died in 1495, and Isabella had secretly procured a papal bull nominating Cisneros to Mendoza's Archdiocese of Toledo, the richest and most powerful in Spain. With this office was also given the office of chancellor of Castile. Isabella tried to surprise him by presenting the bull as a gift in person, but Cisneros did not react as she had expected. Instead, he fled her presence, and ran away, only to be overcome by Isabella's guards and forced to accept the position against his will. Despite this, Cisneros personally still maintained a simple life; although a message from Rome required him to live in a style befitting his rank, the outward pomp only concealed his private asceticism.

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