Francisco Jimenez de Cisneros

Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros , 1436-1517, Spanish prelate and statesman, cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. An austere Franciscan, he was appointed (1492) confessor to Queen Isabella I and later became (1495) archbishop of Toledo. He undertook the forcible conversion of the Moors in Granada, thus provoking a Moorish uprising (1500-1502). After acting (1506-7) as regent of Castile until the return of Ferdinand II from Italy, he was made inquisitor general and cardinal. He financed and personally led the expedition (1509) that captured Oran, in Africa. On Ferdinand's death (1516) he again assumed the regency pending the arrival of Charles I (later Holy Roman Emperor Charles V) from Flanders. When Charles arrived, he dismissed Jiménez peremptorily on the advice of his Flemish counselors, but the cardinal died before learning of his fall. Jiménez founded (1508) the Univ. of Alcalá de Henares and had the Polyglot Bible compiled at his expense. He enacted clerical reforms, eliminating many abuses and introducing better education of the churchmen. His name also appears as Ximénez and Ximenes.

Ximénez de Cisneros, Francisco (1436–1517), Cardinal Abp. of Toledo. He was vicar general in the diocese of Siguenza before he became an Observantine friar in Toledo. He attracted crowds of penitents and retired to a remote monastery. In 1492 he reluctantly became confessor to Queen Isabella; his advice was sought on matters of state as well as on spiritual matters. He became Abp. of Toledo in 1495; the office carried with it the High Chancellorship of Castile. On Isabella's death (1504) he managed to establish concord between Ferdinand and his son-in-law, Philip of Burgundy, who succeeded to the throne of Castile. On Philip's death (1506), Ximénez virtually ruled Castile until Ferdinand returned from Naples, bringing for him a cardinal's hat (1507). When Ferdinand died in 1516, Ximénez was regent during the minority of Charles V; he died, possibly by poison, on his way to meet Charles, who had landed in Asturias and virtually dismissed him from office. A great patron of learning, from his private income he founded the university of Alcalá and commissioned the Complutensian Polyglot.

Ximenes variant spelling in English of Spanish Jiménez in the name of the Spanish cardinal and statesman Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros (1436–1517), Grand Inquisitor for Castile and Léon from 1507 to 1517.