Granvelle, Antoine Perrenot de (1517–1586)

French diplomat and prelate, adviser to Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and Philip II of Spain. As president of the Netherlands' Council of State (1559–64), he introduced the Inquisition to the Netherlands, where he provoked such hostility that Philip II was obliged to recall him.

He was born in Besançon, eastern France, which was then part of the Holy Roman Empire. He was a diplomat in the service of Charles V, became bishop of Arras in 1543, and imperial chancellor in 1550. In 1554 he helped with the negotiations for the marriage of the future Philip II and Mary I of England. After Charles V's abdication in 1555 he served Philip II of Spain, negotiating a number of important treaties and acting as prime minister to the regent in the Low Countries (1559–64). He was created cardinal in 1561. His career after his recall from the Netherlands was less important. He returned from retirement to be viceroy of Naples (1571–75), then president of the supreme council of Italy (1579–84) and later of Castile.