García de Avellaneda y Haro

Garcia de Avellaneda y Haro, Count of Castrillo (Écija, 1584 – Madrid, 1670), was a Spanish noble and politician, who held important positions in the Spanish government.

Biography He was the second son of Luis Méndez de Haro and Beatriz de Sotomayor y Haro, IV Marchioness of Carpio, and therefore brother of the V Marquess of Carpio, Diego López de Haro. Decisive for his career was the protection given to him successively by three leading men of the Kingdom with whom he was related: Bernardino de Avellaneda, his grandfather-in-law, Gaspar de Guzmán, Count-Duke of Olivares, his brother-in-law, and Luis Méndez de Haro, his nephew.

At the Colegio Mayor de Cuenca (Salamanca) he was a professor and rector. His relationship with the Count Duke of Olivares helped him to occupy important positions in the service of Philip IV and Mariana of Austria: he was a knight of the Order of Calatrava, President of the Council of the Indies (1632–1665) and simultaneously President of the Council of Finance (1643–1645).

After his return to Spain, he was Mayordomo mayor of the King (1658–1660) and president of the Council of Castile (1658–1668). After the death of Philip IV in 1665, he continued to play a significant role, since it was the Count of Castrillo who actually signed the royal will due to the physical inability of the Monarch. He was also one of the seven witnesses of the aforementioned will, and in the clauses of the same, his appointment to two fundamental positions is found : that of member of the Council of Guardians, provided for in the event of the death of the King with minor children, as would finally occur, and that of member of the Governing Board of the royal minority, in which he intervened as President of the Council of Castile, who was considered the most important public figure after the Monarch. During the minority of Charles II, the Count of Castrillo maintained an excellent relationship with Mariana of Austria and a clear enmity towards John Joseph of Austria, who would remove him from power in 1668.