Jimenez de Cisneros, << hee MAY neth day thees NAY rohs, >> Francisco (1436-1517), was a Spanish cardinal. He strengthened the Roman Catholic Church in Spain by improving the training and discipline of priests. His reforms helped Spain remain Roman Catholic during the 1500’s, when Protestantism spread across much of Europe. Jimenez also established a university at Alcala de Henares in 1508. Under his direction, scholars there published the Complutensian Polyglot Bible (1517) in Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic, and Latin.
Jimenez was born in Madrid Province in Spain. He became a cardinal in 1507. That same year, he was made head of the Inquisition, a court that sought and punished persons opposed to church teachings. He was regent (temporary ruler) of Spain in 1516 and 1517, during the childhood of Charles I.
