PEREZ, pri'rkli, ANTONIO ( 1539-1011). A Spanish statesman. minister of Philip II., born at Monreal he Ariza, Aragon. He was a nat ural son of Gonzalo Perez, one of the ministers of Charles V. and of Philip, and entered upon adormsiraove duties in 1567. after studying at Louvain, Venice, and Madrid. He was the trusted agent of Philip. In 1578 Juan de Esco veil() arrived at Madrid to solicit aid for John of Austria, then engaged in the struggle against the Netherlands. Escovedo incurred the hatred of the King of Perez, and with the consent of Philip Perez brought about his assassination (March, 1578). The family of Escovedo de nounced Perez as the murderer, and all hit: ene mies joined against him. The King at first sought to shield him, but on learning of the relations between Perez and the Princess of Dion, mistress of Philip, caused his arrest in 1579. He was tortured and forced to confess his crime. In 1585 he was found guilty of embez zlement while in Mice and was condemned to a long term of imprisonment. In 1590 he suc ceeded in escaping to Aragon and demanded pro tection in the courts of that privileged kingdom.
The justicia major, or highest court of justice in Saragossa, refused to deliver him up. The King applied to the Inquisition for aid in 1591, and the Aragonese court surrendered him to its agents, but the people rose and liberated him. At last, in September, 1591, Philip IL entered Aragon with a powerful army, abolished the old constitutional privileges of the country, and exe cuted a number of the leaders. Perez, however, escaped, avoiding the plots which the King laid for his assassination. Ile was condemned in Spain as a heretic, but was well received in Paris and London. Ile spent the later years of his life in Paris, and died there November 3, 1611, in great poverty. Perez wrote an account of his experiences, which was published under the title of Rclariones (London, 1594), and other works. Consult : Mignet, Antoine Perez et Philippe 11. (Paris, 1845) Muro, Vida de la princesa de Eboli (Madrid, 1877).