Álvaro de Oca y Zúñiga, from Celme to Viceroy of Navarre

Álvaro de Oca y Zúñiga was born in Celme (Rairiz de Veiga) in the 16th century and died in Pamplona on 8 January 1638. He was a professor at the University of Salamanca, dean of Zamora, corregidor of Villena-Chinchilla, judge (oidor) of the Chancelleries of Granada and Valladolid, regent of the Royal Council of Navarre, interim viceroy of Navarre, judge of the Council of Orders and councillor of the Royal Council of Castile, and superintendent of military justice in Flanders. He was a knight of the Order of Santiago ^[1].

Career

He was a fellow of the College of San Bartolomé and rose to hold the chair of Vespers of Canon Law at Salamanca. After ordination as a priest he became dean of Zamora. He then served as corregidor of Villena-Chinchilla and, in 1629, as judge of the Chancellery of Granada, until on 21 April 1631 he was removed from the post because of a conflict with the Inquisition. From there he moved to the Chancellery of Valladolid and then to Navarre as regent of the Royal Council ^[1].

Navarre

He was appointed regent on 19 June 1633 and the kingdom welcomed him warmly: he met every demand that the Cortes had put to the monarch, to the Count-Duke of Olivares and to the Count of Castrillo, and letters of thanks were sent to him in July 1633. In 1635 he was elected a knight of the Order of Santiago ^[1].

He was interim viceroy from the death of Luis Bravo de Acuña (7 January 1634) until the arrival of the Marquis of Valparaíso (1 May of the same year). During the interim there were complaints about his slowness in resolving the kingdom’s petitions in the Cortes, and he had serious disagreements with the widowed vicereine over the government of Navarre; in 1636 he was adviser to the viceroy in the Cortes ^[1]. He was also one of those caught up in the excommunication issued in 1636 by the bishop against the viceroy, the regent and several councillors and court magistrates, who had protested because the bishop had been censed before the civil authorities at the eve of Corpus Christi. He always showed great interest in matters of ceremonial ^[1].

Final years

On 29 May 1636 he was granted 1,000 ducats in aid towards the cost of settling in Pamplona; in November, on his promotion to the Council of Orders, he received a further 500 ducats for the move. Shortly afterwards, on 18 November 1637, he became councillor of Castile, where he dealt with a wide range of matters. He fell gravely ill, left the Court, returned to Pamplona and died there, where he was buried with full solemnity ^[1].