Juan de Zúñiga y Pimentel

A member of the House of Zúñiga, Juan de Zúñiga y Pimentel was born in Béjar in 1465, the son of Álvaro de Zúñiga, duke of Plasencia, and Leonor de Pimentel, duchess of Arévalo.[1]

At a young age, he took an interest in arms.[1] On January 23, 1475, he became Grand Master of the Order of Alcántara.[1] With the Reconquista of the Emirate of Granada ongoing, he participated in the sieges of Málaga, Baeza, and Granada.[1]

On November 20, 1494, he resigned as Grand Master of the Order of Alcántara and retired to Villanueva de la Serena where he had a monastery built and lived with other former knights following the Rule of Saint Benedict.[1] At the monastery, he studied under the direction of Antonio de Nebrija, who taught him Latin; Gutierre de Trejo, who taught him law; and Fr. Domingo, who taught him Christian theology.[1] During this period, he acquired a prebend at Burgos Cathedral.[1]

In 1502, the Catholic Monarchs named him Archbishop of Seville; after he accepted, he was elected as archbishop on May 5, 1503.[1] He entered the diocese in June 1504 and occupied the see until his death.[1]

At the insistence of the Catholic Monarchs, Pope Julius II made him a cardinal priest in the consistory of November 29, 1503.[1] He received the titular church of Santi Nereo e Achilleo on December 6, 1503; the red hat was sent to him with a papal bull on February 24, 1504.[1]

On July 17, 1504, he left Seville for the court, but fell ill on his journey.[1] He died at the monastery of Santa María de Guadalupe in the Province of Cáceres on July 26, 1504.[1] He was initially buried in that monastery, but in 1533, his remains were transferred to the monastery of San Vicente de Ferrer, Plasencia, a monastery that had been founded by his mother.[1]