Jiménez de Cisneros, Francisco [key], 1436–1517, Spanish prelate and statesman, cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. An austere Franciscan, he was appointed (1492) confessor to Queen Isabella I and later became (1495) archbishop of Toledo. He undertook the forcible conversion of the Moors in Granada, thus provoking a Moorish uprising (1500–1502). After acting (1506–7) as regent of Castile until the return of Ferdinand II from Italy, he was made inquisitor general and cardinal. He financed and personally led the expedition (1509) that captured Oran, in Africa. On Ferdinand's death (1516) he again assumed the regency pending the arrival of Charles I (later Holy Roman Emperor Charles V) from Flanders. When Charles arrived, he dismissed Jiménez peremptorily on the advice of his Flemish counselors, but the cardinal died before learning of his fall. Jiménez founded (1508) the Univ. of Alcalá de Henares and had the Polyglot Bible compiled at his expense. He enacted clerical reforms, eliminating many abuses and introducing better education of the churchmen. His name also appears as Ximénez and Ximenes.
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