Álvaro de la Quadra (Naples, 1500-1510 – London, 1564) was a Spanish churchman and diplomat.
He also had to defend Spanish trade from English privateers and act as an intermediary to get a suitor for Queen Elizabeth who met the necessary requirements for the Spanish monarch, that is, that he was a good Catholic and exerted a positive influence over the Queen towards an alliance with Spain.
[1] According to Enrique García Hernán, on 9 January 1563, the Irish Chief Shane O’Neill, in rebellion against Elizabeth I, requested Spanish military assistance through Quadra, then Spanish Ambassador in London.
Although O'Neill received a negative answer, Elizabeth I asked Madrid to recall Quadra.
De la Quadra was depicted by James Frain in the 1998 film Elizabeth.