Diego Meléndez de Valdés

Diego Meléndez de Valdés (Zamora, 1447 – Rome, 27 December 1506) was a Castilian Roman Catholic prelate and art patron who served as Bishop of Astorga (1493–1494) and Bishop of Zamora (1494–1506). A member of an influential Zamoran noble family, he spent most of his career at the papal court in Rome, where from 1498 he served Pope Alexander VI as magister domus (majordomo) of the papal household. He never took up residence in his Spanish sees, governing Zamora through vicars, but used the diocesan revenues to fund extensive building and furnishing campaigns at Zamora Cathedral and the church of San Pedro y San Ildefonso, and in Rome he was a governor and major benefactor of the church and hospice of Santiago de los Españoles, where he founded a chapel and was buried in a Renaissance tomb attributed to the workshop of Andrea Bregno. In 1494, he was appointed during the papacy of Pope Gregory XIII as Bishop of Zamora. He served as Bishop of Zamora until his death in 1506.