Resumen:
This article reconstructs the trajectory of Jaime Serra (c. 1427-1517), a Valencian ecclesiastic and "maestro teologo" who served the Borja family, reaching the highest positions in the Curia as cardinal and governor under four successive popes. A confidant of the vice-chancellor Rodrigo de Borja later Alexander VI he was sent to the Iberian Peninsula to oversee the affairs of the Duke of Gandia (1483-1496), and then to Umbria and Romagna to restore papal authority (1499-1503). Of robust constitution and gifted with a clever if hard tongue, the Cardinal proved himself to be an effective ruler, even if his moral reputation suffered from his female company. Despite sporadic misunderstandings with Julius II, he adapted to post-Borgian Rome, helping. Pope della Rovere in the schismatic crisis, and Leo X in his ascent to the throne he himself had toyed with that goal during the first balloting of 1513. Politically he opted for the Spanish and Venetian alliance, while maintaining a friendly relationship with Ferdinand the Catholic, which showed up especially in his promoting the African campaign and exalting its triumphs. His ecclesiastical benefits allowed him to promote notable prelates, and to maintain a household close to a hundred people who led a festive and literary life animated by humanists (Marcellino Verardi, Baltasar del Rio) and playwrights of the caliber of Juan del Encina. His patronage places him at the forefront of the cardinals who consolidated Spanish power in the Eternal City, and contributed to enhancing the prestige of Spanish letters, neo-Latin literature and artistic forms of the Roman Renaissance which may be seen in the Chapel of Santiago founded by him.