OLIVARES, GASPAR DE GUZMÁN de. – Known as the “Count-Duke,” Spanish minister, b. in Rome in 1587, d. at Toro (Zamora) on 22 July 1645. Son of Enrique, Spanish ambassador to Rome. Philip III appointed him in 1615 gentleman-in-waiting to the heir-apparent. When the latter became Philip IV, he entrusted Olivares with the direction of state affairs.
Olivares began his administration with a vigorous purge of all powerful and corrupt favorites, reduced expenditures, and sought to restore the national economy. Yet he failed to uproot abuses and was himself accused of illicit enrichment. To restore Spanish prestige, he involved the country in the Thirty Years’ War, which drained its resources. His responsibility has, however, been exaggerated, for Spain’s decline did not begin with him, and he had to contend with a statesman like Richelieu. Military reverses, the Catalan revolt of 1640, and the Portuguese secession of 1641 brought about his disgrace, and he was dismissed in 1643.