VALDÉS, FERNANDO de. — Spanish Grand Inquisitor, b. at Salas (Asturias) in 1483, d. at Madrid on 9 Dec. 1568.
He studied at the College of St. Bartholomew in Salamanca, where he graduated in law (1512). In 1516 he became a member of the Council of the Inquisition. He was canon of Alcalá, visitor of the Inquisition of Cuenca, and governor of the Council of Navarre. He accompanied Emperor Charles V to Flanders and was later sent on a mission to Portugal. Upon his return to Spain, he held the episcopal sees of Elne (1524), Osma (1529), Oviedo (1533), and Sigüenza (1539). He became Archbishop of Seville (1546), president of Castile, member of the Royal Council, and Grand Inquisitor. As Inquisitor, he conducted Carranza (v.), in which, according to some, personal rivalries were not absent, and he published the Index of Prohibited Books three times (1551; 1554; 1559), disregarding the one issued by Paul IV. Wealthy and generous, he left numerous endowments for charitable works; he founded colleges in Oviedo and Salamanca and had a large church built in his native town, where he is buried.