Gondomar, Diego Sarmiento De Acuña, Conde De

Related Category: British and Irish History: Biographies

(gŏn´dəmär, Span. dyā´gō särmyān´tō thā äk´nyä kōn´dā thā gōndōmär´), 1567?–1626, Spanish ambassador to England (1613–18, 1620–22). He gained great influence over James I and dissuaded him from giving real assistance to James's son-in-law, Frederick the Winter King, at the outset of the Thirty Years War. He also demanded the execution (1618) of Sir Walter Raleigh. Gondomar was highly unpopular in England and was attacked in Thomas Middleton's play A Game at Chess.