Luis Francisco de la Cerda

Luis Francisco de la Cerda y Aragon, (El Puerto de Santa Maria, August 2, 1660 – Pamplona, January 26, 1711), 9th Duke of Medinaceli, was a Spanish noble and politician.

Eldest son of Valido Don Juan Francisco de la Cerda and Dona Catalina de Aragon Folc de Cardona y Cordoba, he inherited the titles of his father: Duke of Medinaceli, Duke of Alcala de los Gazules, Marquis of Cogolludo, Marquis of Tarifa and Marquis of Alcala de la Alameda, and from his mother Duke of Segorbe, Duke of Cardona, Duke of Lerma, Marquis of Denia, Marquis of Comares, Marquis of Pallars, and twice Grandee of Spain, making him one of the most important Spanish aristocrats of his time.

During the reign of King Charles II of Spain he served in Italy, being ambassador to the Holy See of Pope Innocent XII, and Viceroy and Captain General of Naples. From 1699 he was a member of the Spanish Council of State.

When Charles II died, he was appointed Prime Minister at the beginning of the War of Spanish Succession by the new King Philip V of Spain. More and more opposed to the strong French influence at the Spanish Court, he leaked in 1710 a secret French plan to the English about efforts to conclude a separate peace with the Dutch Republic. For this, he was incarcerated in the Alcazar of Segovia and later transferred to the castle of Pamplona, where he died the next year.

He married Maria de las Nieves Giron y Sandoval, daughter of Gaspar Tellez-Giron, 5th Duke de Osuna, who survived him. There being no surviving children from the marriage, his titles went to his nephew Nicolas Fernandez de Cordoba, son of his sister Feliche Maria de la Cerda y Aragon.