Francisco Gómez de Sandoval, Duke of Lerma

Francisco Gómez de Sandoval, Duke of Lerma, was the favourite, or valido, of Philip III of Spain, who governed in his name from 1598 to 1618. His government made the Twelve Years' Truce with the Dutch, began the expulsion of the Moriscos in 1609 and moved the court to Valladolid in 1601–1606. Accused of corruption, he fell in 1618 after becoming a cardinal.