Albornoz, Gil Álvarez Carrillo de

Albornoz, Gil Álvarez Carrillo de (hēl äl`värĕth kärē`lyō dā älbôrnôth`), 1310?–1367, Spanish and papal statesman and general, cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. Under Alfonso XI of Castile he became archbishop of Toledo and distinguished himself fighting the Moors at Tarifa and Algeciras. He also served as chancellor of Castile. Created cardinal in 1350, he left Spain and entered the service of the pope, then at Avignon. He was put in charge of the papal armies and sent (1353) to the Papal States with Cola di Rienzi to restore papal authority. By skillful diplomacy and force of arms, he reduced the communes and petty local tyrants to obedience, thus preparing the way for the return (1378) of the popes from Avignon to Rome. He compiled the law code of the Marches, known as the Constitutions of Aegidius (1357), which was in use until 1816. He died soon after becoming papal legate at Bologna, where he founded a college for Spanish students.