Alfonso was born at
Bedmar, now
Bedmar y Garciez, province of
Jaen,
Spain. At an early age, he pursued a military career at the side of his father, who was the
captain general of the
Canary Islands. After 1590, he took his father's place in his absence, and a year later was named captain of the
Harquebusiers. After the death of his father in 1599, he became the 3rd lord of his house and became a commander of a Cavalry company. On 23 December 1606
King Philip III of Spain made him the Spanish
ambassador to the
Republic of Venice. This was an important position due to the amount of information concerning European affairs which passed through the hands of the Spanish representative. On 16 April 1610 King Philip III awarded him the title of Knight of the
Order of Alcántara. In 1614, aged around 42, he was made
Marquess of Bedmar (), which he would resign when promoted to the cardinalate. In 1618 King Philip III charged him with the
devolution of the territories conquered by the Spanish forces in
Piedmont to the
duke of Savoy. In 1616 had Venice concluded an alliance with
France,
Switzerland, and the
Netherlands to counter Spain's power. Bedmar was supposedly the originator of a plot against the Venetian state, a
scheme that was to be carried out on
Ascension Day in 1618. Whatever the truth of the matter, Bedmar left Venice. Bedmar went on to
Flanders as president of the council. In 1622 he received the red hat of a cardinal. Later, he became the
ambassador extraordinary and counselor of
Governor of the Habsburg Netherlands,
Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia and the
Junta of War in
Flanders. The authorship of an anonymous work,
Squitinio della libertà Veneta (Examination of Venetian liberty), published at
Mirandola in 1612, has been attributed to him. == Cardinalate and episcopate ==