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Francisco de
Vargas y Mexia (?-1566)
- Spanish diplomat and
ecclesiastical writer, b. at Madrid, date unknown; d. At the
Hieronymite monastery of la Cisla in 1566. He belonged to an
old family of the lower nobility and studied law at the University
of Alcalá, receiving the degree of licentiate in law.
He became a government official, and by his energy and education,
especially by his excellent knowledge of law, rose to the position
of fiscal of the Council of Castile (Fiscal del Consejos de Castilla),
that is, attorney-general. In 1545 Charles V sent him to the
Council of Trent. In January, 1548, he protested, as Charles's
representative at the council, against its transfer to Bologna,
and in 1551 he congratulated the council on its return to Trent.
During the years 1552-59 he was the Spanish ambassador at Venice;
in 1558 he negotiated at Rome with Paul IV regarding the recognition
of Ferdinand I as emperor, and in references to the founding
of new dioceses in the Netherlands. From 1559 he succeeded Gigueroa
as the Spanish ambassador to the Curia. As such he took an important
part in the election of Pius IV. When Pius IV brought suit against
the relatives of Paul IV, Vargas exerted himself to save the
Caraffa. For some time was not regarded favorably by the pope,
who tried to have him recalled by spain; however, Vargas again
obtained the confidence of Pius IV, and was commissioned by the
latter in 1563 to prepare an opinion on the question of the papal
jurisdiction, as to which the Council of Trent had become involved
in a dispute. The document Vargas prepared was published at Rome
in the same year under the title of "De episcoporum jurisdictione
et de pontificis maximi auctoritate responsum". In this
Vargas speaks as a strict supporter of the papacy. Another theological
question that he took up was that of granting the cup to the
laity; to this he was decidedly opposed. His reports and letters
are important for the information they contain on the doings
of the Council of Trent; still, he cannot be regarded as an entirely
unprejudiced witness, because his interest was that of a diplomat
in the service of his king. His keen powers of observation were
also chiefly directed to the scrutiny of earthly motives, and
of the evidence of human weaknesses and shortsightedness. He
was prominent in the affairs of the council for the last time
when, in conjunction with the Spanish ambassador at Trent, he
tried to postpone the close of the council. After his return
to spain he was made state councillor, but soon resigned all
his offices and retired to the Hieronymite monastery of la Cisla
near Toledo, in order to prepare himself for death. His contemporaries
praise him as a highly educated man and a patron of learning.
He as also a zealous, skilful, and conscientious servant of his
king and a pious Christian.
LE VASSOR, Lettres et memoires
de Francois de Vargas touchant le Concile de Trente (Amsterdam,
1700); WEISS, Papiers d'etat du Cardinal de Granvelle, VI (Paris,
1846); VILLANUEVA, Vida literaria, II (London, 1825); Coleccion
de documentos ineditos para la hist. de Espana, IX (Madrid, 1846),
81-406; 518-551; LA FUENTE, Hist. Eclesiastic de Espana, V (2nd
ed., Madrid, 1874), 276-281; DOLLINGER, Beitrage zur politischen,
kirchlichen u. Kulturgesch., I (Ratisbon, 1862), 265-478; MULLER,
Das Konklave Pius IV (Gotha, 1889), 41-43; SUSTA, Die romische
Kurie u. das Konzil von Trient, I-III (Vienna, 1904-1911), passim.
Autor: KLEMENS
LOFFLER. Transcribed by Michael T. Barrett. Dedicated to the
Poor Souls in Purgatory. The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume XV.
Copyright © 1912 by Robert Appleton Company. Online Edition
Copyright © 1999 by Kevin Knight. Nihil Obstat, October
1, 1912. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal
Farley, Archbishop of New York. Texto: D.R.
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