Thomas of Villanueva was born at Fuenllana (Badajoz) in 1488. Entering the Augustinian Order in 1517, he became Prior of the Augustinians at Salamanca and in 1544 was nominated Archbishop of Valencia by the Emperor Charles V. He died in 1555. He was renowned for his charitable acts, being declared a Beato in 1618, and was frequently represented in Spanish art, particularly in the seventeenth century, although he was not canonized until 1688