Francisco de los Cobos y Molina

Francisco de los Cobos y Molina, born in Úbeda in 1477, was one of the most influential and powerful personalities of the 16th century, both within and outside the Spanish crown.

Throughout his life, de los Cobos held positions such as Knight of the Order of Santiago, Commander Major of León, Accountant Major of Castile, and Adelanto of Cazorla; not forgetting his important position at the side of Charles I, as official secretary of state, and lord of the municipalities of Sabiote, Recena, Jimena, Torres, Canena and Velliza, in the province of Jaén, where he was much loved and adored by the people.

Biography

Francisco de los Cobos y Molina was born into a noble family. He was the son of Diego de los Cobos, regent of the city of Úbeda, and Catalina de Molina, who was from a noble family and had good contacts among the nobility of the time. Throughout his life, de los Cobos experienced political, personal and economic growth that catapulted him to become one of the most influential people.

His first steps in his professional career were taken as an assistant in the office of his uncle Diego Vela y Vedma, who was secretary to Queen Isabella I of Castile, better known as Isabella the Catholic. It was the first time that de los Cobos approached the bureaucracy of the empire for the first time, at a very young age.

From assistant secretary to dean of the queen"s secretaries. Hernando de Zafra, well positioned in the society of the time, helped him along the path of administration, and in 1503 he was appointed scribe of the chamber.

When Zafra died, he went to work with Lope de Conchillos, the royal secretary, with whom he began the rise of his political career. Thanks to his contacts and his good work, he was appointed Accountant Major of Granada in 1508, at the same time as he was proclaimed Alderman of Úbeda. In 1510, King Ferdinand the Catholic himself appointed him in charge of concessions, payments and grants, Regidor of Granada (1511) and scribe of crime in Úbeda in 1513.

When Ferdinand the Catholic died, Francisco de los Cobos y Molina decided to travel to Flanders to gain the confidence of Charles I, the new monarch of Spain. This trip was a resounding success and earned him the title of secretary to the king in 1516. Only three years later, in 1519, he acquired the habit of the Military Order of Santiago. In 1529, de los Cobos was appointed Commander Major of León for the Order, the highest position he could hold in it (let us not forget that he was a nobleman, below the nobility).

In 1520, and thanks to the successive trips he made with the monarch Charles I to Flanders and Germany, he established himself as the best advisor on Spanish matters to the king, and was appointed a member of the Royal Council in 1522.

In 1528, his appointment as advisor and secretary to the Council of State brought Francisco de los Cobos y Molina to the zenith of his political career. He thus became an indispensable figure in both national and international politics.

Wealth and Patrimony

Francisco de los Cobos y Molina had an undeniable desire to accumulate wealth and noble titles. It was this eagerness that led him to buy the towns of Sabiote in 1537 and Torres in 1538 with advantageous privileges and powers, such as dismembering territories and jurisdictions and being able to sell portions of them.

Being lord of several municipalities in Jaén led him to seek ways to mark his legacy for posterity. Through architecture, and with the help of the architect Andrés de Vandelvira, Francisco de los Cobos y Molina began a series of projects that would make his wealth and influence on the society of the time known. These buildings housed some of the most valuable works of art in Francisco"s collection.

In addition to his struggle for power and the attainment of his artistic patrimony, de los Cobos obtained the salt exploitation of Nicaragua and the mining sites and exploitations of Azuaga, Toledo, Vera, Cartagena, Lorca and Navarre, extending his influence throughout Spain.

His salary as royal secretary, the income from the leasing and exploitation of his estates, agricultural estates, encomiendas and public offices and positions were not enough for Charles I to grant him the power to levy taxes on the supply of meat in his hometown, Úbeda, and on tobacco throughout Andalusia.

In the last years of his life, Francisco de los Cobos y Molina was beginning to face economic difficulties arising from the European wars in which he was involved, given the emperor"s war policies. Finally, de los Cobos died in Úbeda on 10 May 1547.

Patron and collector

One facet of Francisco de los Cobos y Molina that should be highlighted is his support for art. Although there was no real artistic devotion, de los Cobos"s real passion was to accumulate valuable works, influenced by Italian society.

On his first trip to Italy, in 1522, he discovered the Renaissance movement, which he would try to capture in all the architecture of Jaén. Nowadays, Úbeda is recognised as a World Heritage Site for being a jewel of the Renaissance.

Returning to the Italian journey of 1522, de los Cobos met the artist Titian, with whom he began a true and beautiful friendship. Ten years later, in 1532, and thanks to a meeting between the two friends, the idea for the painting of Charles V with a dog was born. It is thanks to this painting that Titian was appointed Knight of the Golden School and onde Palatino.

Such was the fame of Francisco de los Cobos y Molina that, from 1521 onwards, he received numerous gifts and presents which, together with his extensive patrimony, confirmed his impressive artistic collection. Among his collection, most of which is now lost, were portraits of members of European royal houses, as well as portraits of his wife"s ancestors, such as Diego de Mendoza (a member of one of the most illustrious families of the time) and Pedro González de Mendoza (a nobleman, poet and military man).

A series of paintings from the Municipal Council of Lucca and the famous Pietà of Úbeda, painted by Sebastiano del Piambo and praised by Michelangelo himself, belonged to the exclusive art collection of Francisco de los Cobos y Molina. It also included other exotic objects from the Americas, being gifts from Hernán Cortés and Pizarro.

After the death of Francisco de los Cobos y Molina in 1547, inventories of the art collection were made on several occasions in order to qualify and quantify the goods belonging to the Sacred Chapel of the Saviour in the Church of Úbeda.