Portocarrero, Luis Manuel Fernández de [key], 1635–1709, Spanish statesman, cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. Created cardinal in 1669, he served temporarily as viceroy of Sicily (1677–78) and in 1678 became archbishop of Toledo. His influence was crucial in persuading Charles II to name Louis XIV's grandson (later Philip V) heir to the Spanish throne in 1701—an act that led to the War of the Spanish Succession (see Spanish Succession, War of the). Under Philip, Portocarrero, one of a ruling triumvirate, put through important but unpopular financial reforms. In 1703 he fell into disgrace at court because of political intrigues by the princesse des Ursins, was reinstated by Louis XIV, but resigned anyway. Portocarrero later supported the cause of Archduke Charles, the Austrian contender for the Spanish throne, until Charles's defeat by Philip in 1706.
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