Gondomar, Diego Sarmiento de Acuña, conde de
Gondomar, Diego Sarmiento de Acuña, conde de
(gŏn`dəmär, Span. dyā`gō särmyān`tō thā äko͞o`nyä kōn`dā thā gōndōmär`), 1567?–1626, Spanish ambassador to England (1613–18, 1620–22). He gained great influence over James IJames I,1566–1625, king of England (1603–25) and, as James VI, of Scotland (1567–1625). James's reign witnessed the beginnings of English colonization in North America (Jamestown was founded in 1607) and the plantation of Scottish settlers in Ulster.
..... Click the link for more information. and dissuaded him from giving real assistance to James's son-in-law, Frederick the Winter KingFrederick the Winter King,
1596–1632, king of Bohemia (1619–20), elector palatine (1610–20) as Frederick V. The Protestant diet of Bohemia deposed the Roman Catholic King Ferdinand (Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II) and chose Frederick as king.
..... Click the link for more information. , at the outset of the Thirty Years WarThirty Years War,
1618–48, general European war fought mainly in Germany. General Character of the War
There were many territorial, dynastic, and religious issues that figured in the outbreak and conduct of the war.
..... Click the link for more information. . He also demanded the execution (1618) of Sir Walter RaleighRaleigh or Ralegh, Sir Walter
, 1554?–1618, English soldier, explorer, courtier, and man of letters. Early Life
As a youth Raleigh served (1569) as a volunteer in the Huguenot army in France.
..... Click the link for more information. . Gondomar was highly unpopular in England and was attacked in Thomas MiddletonMiddleton, Thomas,
1580–1627, English dramatist, b. London, grad. Queen's College, Oxford, 1598. His early plays were chiefly written in collaboration with Dekker, Drayton, and others.
..... Click the link for more information. 's play A Game at Chess.