CALDERON, RODRIGO (d. 1621), COUNT OF OLIVA AND MARQUESS DE LAS SIETE INGLESIAS, Spanish favourite and adven turer, was born at Antwerp, the son of a Spanish army officer. In 1598 he entered the service of the duke of Lerma as secretary. He was created count of Oliva, a knight of Santiago, commendador of Ocana in the order, secretary to Philip III. and made an ad vantageous marriage with Ines de Vargas. As an insolent up start he was peculiarly odious to the enemies of Lerma. Two re ligious persons, Juan de Santa Maria, a Franciscan, and Mariana de San Jose, prioress of La Encarnacion, worked on the queen Margarita, by whose influence Calderon was removed from the secretaryship in 161r. But he retained the favour of Lerma, and in 1612 he was sent on a special mission to Flanders, and on his return was made marques de Las Siete Inglesias in 1614. When queen Margarita died in that year in childbirth Calderon was ac cused of having used witchcraft against her. Soon after, it became generally known that he had ordered the murder of one Francisco de Juaras. On Lerma's disgrace in 1618 he was arrested, despoiled, and on Jan. 7, 162o, was savagely tortured until he confessed to the murder of Juaras, although he steadfastly denied all the other charges. He met his fate firmly with a show of piety on Oct. 21, 1621. Lord Lytton made Rodrigo Calderon the hero of his story Calderon the Courtier.
See Modeste de la Fuente, Historia General Espana, vol. xv. pp. 452 et seq. (18o-67) ; Quevedo, Obras, vol. x.—Grandes Anales de Quince Dias (1 Q94) . A curious contemporary French pamphlet on Calderon, Histoire admirable et declin pitoyable advenue en la personne dun Jawory de la Cour d'Espagne, is reprinted by M. E. Fournier in V ariet es Kist oriq ues, vol. i. .